God Promises Pain

Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
 
THE LORD now addresses Eve. Remember as we began to learn of God’s promises, we discussed he sometimes promised judgment. There seems only a bleak future for Eve and all who follow her.
   God had mandated that child-bearing was essential for his new world: Genesis 1:28a God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” This was God’s assurance and promise to Adam and Eve of a wonderful, perfect relationship with him and with each other. The couple created in his image was to perfectly bear his creation image as they produced offspring. This would be a blessed, joyful work for the couple.
   Furthermore, Eve was created out of Adam’s rib. God made her to be an equal helpmate to her husband. They were to rule the earth together in submission to God and in communion with each other.
   But sin corrupted God’s holy relationship with the couple and it marred the holy marriage union. Now the pain of childbearing would be a constant reminder of sin’s penalty. The woman’s desire for the husband is considered to be a desire to rule over the man. Eve ruled over Adam in the Fall. This disrupted the equality and freedom of their God-ordained relationship. Now God decreed the man to rule the woman, but she will desire to rule over him.
   The sin nature causes a natural conflict in a marriage. A husband and wife must understand that when they enter into marriage, they will need to fight against Satan’s desires to destroy their relationship. What was an easy, free unioin between husband and wife became an imprisoning struggle for control over one another. The promise that “he will rule over you." defines more of a governing authority than a loving relationship.
   This is why marriages require consistent devotion to God’s Word and to each other. The sin nature competes for control. The desie to rule disrupts effective communication in a marriage.
   The promise of this scripture is to know God’s plan to redeem marriage. The only way to restore the broken marriage relationship is for a couple to move toward God together. Marriage is God’s plan to unite people toward a common love relationship founded in the image of his love.  
   The hope for the marriage union to overcome the curse is, of course, in Jesus. A husband and wife must each be devoted to the Savior, who points the way to a redeemed relationship. As each is more closely united with Christ, they will become more closely united with each other. The desire to rule over one another will become a desire to be equal in God’s purpose. When a husband and wife set their minds on God’s will, they will discover the joy of Jesus’ promise: John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
          May the desire of your marriage be a longing to love God and love one another.