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'''Marriage''' is the divinely ordained [[covenant]]<ref>Marriage between the sexes is a covenant, not a [[contract]]. Since time immemorial, some men disposed of a wife (woman) after her childbearing years to pursue a younger female consort. God, being a defender of women, ordained marriage by his perfect will to protect women's rights and not allow a man (male) to abandon them to homelessness and poverty with no marketable job skills other than homemaking or child rearing. This however, is not the only reason the covenant of marriage evolved between the sexes.</ref>  between one man and one woman, and is intended to be for life. (Genesis 2:24)<ref> See also [[Perfect will of God]] vs [[Permissive will of God]].</ref> This is recognized by the majority of churches.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm Article 7, "The sacrament of matrimony"]</ref><ref>[http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp "Basic Beliefs," Southern Baptist Convention]</ref><ref>[http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/relations_04_marriage.cfm "Marriage"]</ref> <ref>[http://www.studylight.org/com/bnb/view.cgi?bk=39&ch=19 [[Albert Barnes]], Matthew 19]</ref><ref>[http://live.e-sword.net/app/ [[Matthew Henry]], Matthew 19]</ref>   

'''Marriage''' is the divinely ordained [[covenant]]<ref>Marriage between the sexes is a covenant, not a [[contract]]. Since time immemorial, some men disposed of a wife (woman) after her childbearing years to pursue a younger female consort. God, being a defender of women, ordained marriage by his perfect will to protect women's rights and not allow a man (male) to abandon them to homelessness and poverty with no marketable job skills other than homemaking or child rearing. This however, is not the only reason the covenant of marriage evolved between the sexes.</ref>  between one man and one woman, and is intended to be for life. (Genesis 2:24)<ref> See also [[Perfect will of God]] vs [[Permissive will of God]].</ref> This is recognized by the majority of churches.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm Article 7, "The sacrament of matrimony"]</ref><ref>[http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp "Basic Beliefs," Southern Baptist Convention]</ref><ref>[http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/relations_04_marriage.cfm "Marriage"]</ref> <ref>[http://www.studylight.org/com/bnb/view.cgi?bk=39&ch=19 [[Albert Barnes]], Matthew 19]</ref><ref>[http://live.e-sword.net/app/ [[Matthew Henry]], Matthew 19]</ref>   

The unity between a man and a woman in marriage is an expression of the spiritual relationship that God desires His creation to realize with Him. The first marriage occurred nearly 6,000 years ago in the [[Garden of Eden]], in the area of the world that we now know as the Middle East. The first couple was Adam and Eve, and the Lord Jesus specified that it was male and female that God joined together in marriage for life. (Matthew 19:4-6)   

The unity between a man and a woman in marriage is an expression of the spiritual relationship that God desires His creation to realize with Him. The first marriage occurred nearly 6,000 years ago in the [[Garden of Eden]], in the area of the world that we now know as the Middle East. The first couple was Adam and Eve, and the Lord Jesus specified that it was male and female that God joined together in marriage for life. (Matthew 19:4-6)  See also: [[Teachings of Jesus Christ and the New Testament on marital love]]

Marriage has been practised as such in most cultures across geography and time.<ref> "Because there is a natural complementarity between men and women - sexual, emotional, temperamental, spiritual - marriage allows for a wholeness and a completeness that cannot be won in any other way. ([[Bill Bennett]], ''The Broken Hearth'', Page 197) </ref>

Marriage has been practised as such in most cultures across geography and time.<ref> "Because there is a natural complementarity between men and women - sexual, emotional, temperamental, spiritual - marriage allows for a wholeness and a completeness that cannot be won in any other way. ([[Bill Bennett]], ''The Broken Hearth'', Page 197) </ref>