Prayer: Our Father we bow before you, we give you praise for the way you have brought

us to this
point again in this program together with our listeners. Our Father, we are praying that You will
continue to give wing to this message, that it will go forth with your power, it will go forth with
grace; it will go forth with your very presence that Lord as people listen to us it might do them good,
that it might cause a definite measurable change in their walk and in their experience with you. Our
Father we are asking that today particularly you might grant us entrance into your Word that it
might bring light and life into our lives and cause each one of us to walk in the light of Your wisdom.
Thank you Father for hearing us for we know that you are going to help us since we have prayed in
Jesus Name. Amen.

We want to praise the Lord for this opportunity God is granting us again to relate with you on this
program. We are trusting God that as we come your way from week to week that the Spirit of God
will continue to create a cumulative effect of His will in your life as you listen to the Scriptures. We
are trusting also that you will become responsible as you listen to these messages, that the Spirit of
God will use you, both in your own life and in your community to reflect the glory of God. Our desire
is that whichever place you are coming from, whichever denomination you belong to, whatever be
your affiliation in life that Jesus might be formed in you and you yourself might become a blessing to
several others. In this way we are trusting that as you listen to todays message you will pray along,
you will open up your heart and ask God to teach you. There is a reason why you are listening to us
today: may that reason and the purpose of God for bringing you to His Word today come to pass in
the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

We have been on this program for some weeks now and we thank God that the Holy Spirit is still
moving us to look at the Christian Home. By the time we were ending last week, I began to introduce
you to an interruption that wrecked, that destroyed and that changed the pattern of the family in
Genesis Chapter 3. Therefore almost all marriages - in fact every marriage - can either fall in Genesis
2 pattern or in Genesis 3 pattern. For the vast majority of us, what we grew up to know as marriage
is the Genesis Chapter 3 kind of marriage. So today I will be dealing with Genesis 3 marriage under
the title: The Principle that wrecks and frustrates the Christian Home. This is the issue I would like to
draw your attention to as we study the Scriptures.

It is Genesis 3 interruption that brings about the issues of divorce, the issues of struggles, the issues
of what Paul called trouble in the flesh as we are going to see in several scriptures as we go along in
our study in this series.

To begin our study, I would like you to look again at Genesis chapter 2 and we shall read verses 24
and 25 and we shall continue to Genesis chapter 3 verses 1, 6, 7, and verses 9 to 20.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I
hid myself.

Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat.

Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the
woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou
eat all the days of thy life:

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow
thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wifes name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

May God bless His word to our hearts in Jesus Name.

While we were signing off last week and the last edition of this program, we noted that the Genesis
2 marriage had a beauty, we saw what God wanted: we saw that the man shall leave his father and
his mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall be one flesh. We saw that Gods eternal
purpose is that the husband and wife is to cleave, is to hold tightly together so that nothing comes in
between them and that they are no more two but have become one; they no longer live separate,
they no longer think separate, they no longer plan separate - they are one: they are willing to
embrace each other and there is no difference between them. They were one flesh. They have
cleaved! The weakness of the husband has been made up by the strength of the wife and the lack in
the wife has been supplied by the husband. The Bible said - and they were both naked, the man and
his wife and were not ashamed. The husband was naked, the wife was naked - they were both open,
they were both relaxed, there was nothing in between them, there was no problem and no reason
to be ashamed. None of them looked at the other one and said - so you are like this, unh, if I knew
you were like this I would not have married you. There was nothing like that! They were living
together, they were both naked - the husband and the wife - and they were not ashamed.

I want you to note that in Genesis chapter 2 the wife was called woman and the simple reason is
because she is taken out of man. I believe that God can bring each one of you listening to this
message into the kind of Genesis chapter 2 relationship where there is nothing you dont know about
your wife and there is nothing you are hiding from your husband! Everything is open and everyone is
naked - it is not as if the husband is insisting for the wife to bring all her salary yet he is hiding his
own salary. There was nothing like that! The two of them were both naked, they were one flesh:
nothing in between, nothing to separate them - they were together and were rejoicing, there was
total and complete acceptance between these two people. They were living together in the
presence of God.

And do you know what happened?

Gods presence was with them, every evening at the cool of the day, God came to fellowship with
them, God came to share with them. They were always having a good communion with God. T-h-i-s
is what Genesis 2 marriage was supposed to have done in our lives. We were supposed to have lived
together in total openness, complete nakedness and total acceptance of each other and yet in the
presence of God, having communion together with God, relating with God, and getting to fulfill the
call of God and the purpose of God in our lives as a family; rejoicing and you know going hand in
hand as one flesh, planning together, living together, facing life together not differently not
separately; having a common friend - they were one flesh. That was what the Bible said.

But you see the Scripture in Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 introduces a stranger. That is the beginning of
the Genesis chapter 3 type of marriage which we want to deal with now. Lets look at Genesis
chapter 3

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

It looks to me as if every-time God is about bringing men unto a joyful relationship, unto a fulfilling
married life - the serpent more subtle… comes in. I would like you to know what the Bible said about
him - he was more subtle than any beast in the field. Which means the devil is never straight
forward. He will never come and attack your home directly as the devil, he comes in a subtle
manner, he comes with a cunningness that you will never suspect. It is this cunningness that has
spoilt many homes, it is this interruption of Satan that has turned the husband against the wife,
people that used to live together, discuss things together, share things together now cannot see eye
to eye. Some of you listening to me have separated your bedrooms: you used to sleep in the same
bedroom before but now Madam sleeps in one room and you the man of the house sleep in a
different room. And what is the matter? What are you doing that now your wife has become a
disturbance to you? What exactly is the problem? What is now in your wifes life that you can no
longer tolerate her, that you are saying - keep to your room please and if you want to see me you
have to take permission? Things are as bad as that in some Christian families.

I want to say to you - maybe you should take note that the serpent, that enemy of yours had already
eroded your family life. You will notice that Adam was not around when the devil came in, Adam was
out when the devil was interrogating his wife! The devil is always looking for an opportunity to come
in when your partner is absent. The devil sometime has interrupted your family with a strange
woman when your wife went out of town on a training course. Do you remember what I am talking
about? That it was when your wife went to a University for one Diploma course for just one year and
before she returned things have changed. Some have slept with their house girls, some brought in
even the close friend of their wife and have slept with them, some have committed terrible
atrocities that if those things were known, the earth itself would not be able to bear it. Some have
gone into all kinds of mischievous things in the absence of their partner. For some others, it was
when your husband travelled that some of your relatives came in and poisoned your mind. The
serpent! I want you to note that his activities must not escape your perception if you want to fulfill
the purpose of God for your marriage.

As we continue to look at Principles that wrecked the home, let me show you something. Adam was
not around when Eve was tempted. Adam was away when Eve was tempted! I dont know what
happened, I dont know why Eve stayed back. I am not preempting or presuming anything but I just
want to say to you that IF the devil must not have a space in your relationship, you and your partner
must learn to go together, you must learn to walk together, you must learn to relate together. I have
seen so many couples - the husband is living in Lagos and the wife is living in Kaduna; I dont know
how serious your business is that will make you and your wife separate yourselves over a period of
time thereby giving the devil an opportunity for the devil to poke his nose into your home. I want to
note here that it was when Adam was away that the devil came in. Some of you may not know that
the thing that wrecked your home is this separation, this business that you keep going up and down
for.

Madam! I dont understand why you have left your home and you left your husband for three
months, four months, five months! When you return he behaves to you like a stranger and you keep
wondering what has turned the heart of your husband? I must tell you it is the serpent!.He always
looks for a loop-hole, he always looks for a problem! I want you to watch it! If your home will not be
destroyed I want you to take note how the devil will want to sneak in when your partner is absent.
There are times that in discussion with someone outside your marriage that person says - excuse me
please there is something I want to say to you, I dont want your wife to hear about it. A person that
says such is an example of agents of the serpent; they are very subtle. What is it that someone is
saying to you that your wife cannot hear? Dont you think the serpent is crawling around when that is
the case? What could anyone say to you that your wife cannot hear about? Such a person wants to
split your life! The serpent is more subtle than any other beast in the field! I want you to know that
the devil is much more subtle and wiser in his own conceit than any creature. Dont give him a
chance, otherwise your marriage that is joyful today may enter into the Genesis chapter 3 type
without your knowing it. Let me say something to you: you will notice that between chapter 2 verse
25

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

- right there at the end of that chapter we didnt hear anything again, the whole place was quiet. The
next chapter we saw was chapter 3 when the man was away, the devil came in. There is no stage at
which the devil cannot interrupt a marriage! Are you hearing me? Some people have been married
for 10 years before the devil started coming in. Some people were married for 25 years before the
devil started coming in. Some people have even given their first daughter in marriage yet the devil
came in to scatter their marital relationship.

Why is this? It is because at any point in your life the serpent can always come in.

I want us to move on because it looks to me today that the first principle you must mark carefully if
you will not let your home spoil is the principle of the serpent-lurking-around, the serpent who looks
for the absence of your partner, who looks for a loop-hole, who looks for a time when your spouse is
not around to create mis-understanding.

Lets quickly see the next principle that destroys the home; I want to be chronological as I study
Genesis 3 with you. When the woman disobeyed God and sin entered into the life of the man and
the woman, there was no way the marriage could hold together. I need to say this to you now:
Genesis 2 marriage is only based on the fact that God is relating with the man and God is relating
with the woman. When your relationship breaks down with God as a man, it must affect your
marriage. Are you listening to me? When the relationship of the woman with God breaks down, her
marriage will be affected. There are some of you listening to me; maybe because your husband is so
loving and you are enjoying him that is why you are compromising your personal walk with God and
you compromise your personal quiet time when you listen to God and God ministers to you, you are
cutting it for your husband and your relationship: I want to say to you that you are destroying the
basis for the sustenance of this home that God is raising for you. THE BASIS OF ANY CHRISTIAN
HOME IS A WORKING AND FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP OF EACH PARTNER WITH GOD! When this
breaks down because of sin, marriage also cannot survive. If you want your home to stand well, as
we are looking at Genesis 3 you must avoid disobedience to the word of God and you must also
avoid the problem of sin. When your husband is not walking with God let me tell you there is no way
he can work well with you. When your wife is no longer obedient to the word of God there is no way
she can be submissive to you. The major issue you have to watch in your relationship as husband
and wife is that each one of you must remain in constant communion and in an unbroken
relationship with the Lord Jesus in your life. Every day, every evening there must be communion
between you and God.

Mark that something happened in this scripture: the woman broke her relationship with God, the
husband also broke her relationship with God. Therefore their marriage also broke down.

Lets quickly look at something else in verse 7, hope you are following me. The Bible says in Genesis
3: 7 if you have your Bible please turn to it quickly.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

That really touched my mind because in verse 25 of Genesis chapter 2 the Bible says - and they were
both naked, the man and his wife and they were not ashamed.

But then in verse 7 of Genesis 3 the Bible says - the eyes of them were both opened and they knew
that they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron. There are few
things that are touching my mind as I draw your attention to some more issues - the Bible says the
eyes of them both were opened. The next principle that destroys and wrecks the Christian home is
what I would call the Principle of open-eye: open-eye will not allow you to relate together: open-
eye, personal wisdom will not allow you and your wife to be together. As your husband is talking I
hear you also saying - do you think I dont know what I am doing? do you think I am a foolish
woman? do you think I am just here for nothing? I know what I am doing please, dont tell me that!
Before your husband has said one thing, you have said two; before your wife can explain anything
you will stop her and say - keep quiet please, dont tell me what I should do, dont advice me, you
cant be controlling me; my eyes are also open, I know what you are doing, I know where you are
going and I also know what I am going to do to you! Open-eye! This principle of open-eye will always
break a home. Madam it is your open-eye that will not allow you to have a stable home. Some of
you are listening to me today, open-eye is not allowing God to bless you, it is not allowing you to
submit to your husband. Open-eye is not allowing you to trust your wife again. Open-eye! Open-eye
of civilisation. Open-eye of association of so many women outside; many of you now come back
from your many ventures outside and say you are now civilised because you have gone to meet
those women that have no home, that have no husband, that have married two, three, four, five
husbands! Right now such women have nowhere they call home, right now some of them their lives
have scattered and they are planning how to scatter yours. Such people are the ones that tell you -
how can you allow a man to be riding you around like a horse! I want to say to you, one of the subtle
principles that destroy the Christian home is this principle of open-eye. I told you before that the
Christian home that God is setting up for us is not competitive, it is not a ground for fighting and
rivalry. It is not a matter of - whatever my husband knows I must know it. No! That is not the issue.
The issue is that you are brought in to complement each other, you are brought in to support and
stand by one another, that as the two of you fit into each others lives, things will turn around and
God will bless you. God will cause your life to break forth in the way God wanted it to be.

It looks very clear that I may not be able to complete these principles of Genesis chapter 3 marriage,
principles that wreck the Christian home, principles that bring trouble into the Christian family. I
would like to yet draw your attention unto these issues - that God wanted your home to be trouble-
free; God wants to bless you but look at these principles I am talking about; i.) Satan seeking an
opportunity to come-in in the absence of your partner. The devil seeking an opportunity to sow a
wrong seed into your heart in the absence of your partner. Some time it is some wrong news that
the devil will bring into your heart about your partner, some other time it is some kind of incursion
that the devil will bring into your life in the absence of your partner. As I stop here, I want you to
look into your life: is there any of these principles I have been able to deal with today that is dealing
with your family in a wrong manner? Is there any of these principles that you have allowed? the
principle of separation that allowed the devil to come in?

I want you to bow your heart now. I believe that your home is not beyond repairs, God can turn
things around but these principles that God is revealing to you, you must take note of them and
repent of them. You must surrender them to the Lord and let us see what God will do with your life.

Bow your head as I pray with you right now.

Prayer: Father in heaven, I just want to present each of our listeners to you especially those that are
crying to you personally, they have noticed this principle destroys the Christain family and they have
noticed how it came into their lives subtly, may you touch their hearts to confess it to you; to repent
rather than criticise one another, and to confess one to another so that You the Lord may come in
and heal them: those of them that have broken their relationship with you and are no more walking
with you and no more relating to you, sin has broken their lives in Your presence. God I ask as they
repent, step back into their lives, restore them to Yourself from today. Thank you for hearing this
prayer, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen

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God bless you.