Matthew 19:3-6... When questioned about what is permissible in marriage, Jesus Himself could not have been more clear as to the foundation of the marriage union and the authoritative word on these matters. He responds: “Have you not read?...” with reference to the authoritative Word of God. He continues: “He who created them from the beginning...” with reference to the sovereign will of God exercised in the created order establishing the ethical framework for His world for all of time. He reminds His objectors that God has made mankind male and female and cites Gen 2:24 instructing him to leave, cleave, and hold fast as one flesh punctuating His authoritative appeal with an emphatic command: “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” The history of man's rebellion against God from the fall is a long, foolish, stubborn, record of attempts to separate what God has joined together, trying to rearrange the architecture of reality to accommodate our self-worshipping priorities and preferences. Yet the history of the fall illustrates time and again that “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass, the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever...” (I Pet 1:24-25a). In studying Genesis 2 today, we are heeding Jesus' admonition to read and submit to God's Word on marriage from the very beginning. The details of the creation account in Gen 2:18-25 establish the significance of marriage in manifold ways...