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FROM THIS DAY FORWARD… a one-day celebration of marriage commitment at the SID Leadership Summit – February 5, 2013

One full day, the first day, of the Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division (SID) Leadership Summit (February 5, 2013) was exclusively dedicated to celebrate the marriage commitment of Leaders and their spouses.  Placing the need for such a conference at the heart of the gospel mission Willie Oliver declared that: “Indeed, we need to Strive for excellence in our marriage and families so Jesus Christ can come soon.”

Elaine Oliver, in her introductory remarks commended the President of SID, Dr Paul Ratsara and his leadership team for placing such a high value on Family Life issues, by dedicating an entire day for such program.

Dr Jongimpi Papu, with his wife, Patricia (Family Ministry Leaders, SID) continued with the sessions, interchanging with Willie and Elaine Oliver, addressing sensitive issues around marriage and intimacy.

The different sessions explored different spheres of marriage such as:

The Joy of Oneness, Communication, Problem Solving, Sexual Oneness and Forgiveness,

“Issues related to marriage can be seen in their true light only as they are viewed against the background of the divine ideal for marriage. Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus Christ to be both monogamous and heterosexual, a lifelong union of loving companionship between a man and a woman. In the culmination of His creative activity, God fashioned humankind as male and female in His own image; and He instituted marriage, a covenant-based union of the two genders physically, emotionally, and spiritually, spoken of in Scripture as “one flesh.”

Arising from the diversity of the two human genders, the oneness of marriage images in a singular way the unity within diversity of the Godhead. Throughout Scripture, the heterosexual union in marriage is elevated as a symbol of the bond between Deity and humanity. It is a human witness to God’s self-giving love and covenant with His people. The harmonious affiliation of a man and a woman in marriage provides a microcosm of social unity that is time-honored as a core ingredient of stable societies.

The monogamous union in marriage of a man and a woman is affirmed as the divinely ordained foundation of the family and social life and the only morally appropriate locus of genital or related intimate sexual expression. However, the estate of marriage is not God’s only plan for the meeting of human relational needs or for knowing the experience of family. Singleness and the friendship of singles are within the divine design as well. The companionship and support of friends looms in importance in both biblical testaments. The fellowship of the Church, the household of God, is available to all regardless of their married state. Scripture, however, places a solid demarcation socially and sexually between such friendship relations and marriage.

To this biblical view of marriage the Seventh-day Adventist Church adheres without reservation, believing that any lowering of this high view is to that extent a lowering of the heavenly ideal. Because marriage has been corrupted by sin, the purity and beauty of marriage, as it was designed by God, needs to be restored. Through an appreciation of the redemptive work of Christ and the work of His Spirit in human hearts, the original purpose of marriage may be recovered and the delightful and wholesome experience of marriage realized by a man and a woman who join their lives in the marriage covenant.

Dr Paul Charles

SID Communication – We Connect…

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