First Session

Last Saturday, we had our first counseling session with Manong Bel (Pastor Bel to others). He is our church's Senior Pastor and will be the one to officiate our wedding. We've had problems before with his schedule on December 28 and feared that he might not be able to officiate our wedding. We even already talked to Kuya Jong to officiate, we even scheduled already our counseling sessions. But upon returning to his US trip, he (Manong Bel, that is) told us to not close the matter yet. And so, our first pre-marital counseling session began. Hehe.

3:00 PM at the Bonsai Garden (our wedding venue, hehe). We studied the Genesis account of marriage, gender equality and leadership. This covers Genesis 1 and 2. We read what would be the passage for our wedding, Genesis 2:18-25 ---

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Here are some of the key points that we were able to discuss:

♥ Matthew 19:1-6 -- 1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" 4"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' 5and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? 6So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

♥ Matthew 22:30 -- 30At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

♥ Genesis 1:26-31 -- 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

♥ In Genesis 1: 26-31, there is a slowing down from the creation narrative; because it's the final creature.

♥ Egalitarian Thesis:
.....1 - Both were created in His own image
.....2 - The ruling over other creatures was given to both, i.e., "said to them"
.....3 - The filling of the earth (multiplication) was given to both.
.....4 - Eve is the only suitable partner for Adam: Only woman can provide him the human fellowship and only another human is capable of personal fellowship with the Maker. "Suitable" means face to face; "Helper" means hindi utusan na katulong but katulong na deliverer/ rescuer.
.....5 - They are both made from the same stuff "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh". Adam is a passive participant, not the maker of Eve.
.....6 - Both are to leave their parents.

♥ On Leadership: Man is the leader of the household. Although God created man and woman equally, He designed man to lead. Adam expressed his authority when he named her "woman" on 2:23 and "Eve" on 3:20.

♥ Equality needs to be affirmed; man to be a leader.

Things to Ponder: HOW DO YOU KNOW HE/ SHE IS THE ONE?

All Bible passages in this post is in New International Version from Bible Gateway.