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And the Lord Added

Any bride beginning a new marriage would have trouble if she only spent 1-3 hours with her husband, spoke to him only when she needed something, made excuses to not study him, and never wanted to spend time with his family.  Yet, that’s often how we treat our relationship with our Bridegroom, Christ (Acts 2:42-47).

I. Ephesians 5:21-24.  Our work in our relationship with Christ is to devote ourselves to Him.  One of the words used to describe how we are to work in 1 Corinthians 15:58 is ‘steadfast,’ which is the way that the KJV translates how early Christians approached their new relationship with their Bridegroom.  Other translations use ‘devoted,’ which Paul and James say is to wholeheartedly submit to our Husband (James 4:7-10).

II. Ephesians 5:25-27.  There’s mutual benefit when both work in a relationship.  Jesus sanctifies His bride, the church, so that it can glorify Him.  He died for us to give us life, so we set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4).  When someone’s hobby, such as fishing or cars, is his life, it’s obvious.  Christ is our life now, and so this ought to be obvious in what is important to us and how we live.  This was obvious with the early Christians.

III. Ephesians 5:28-30.  Faithfulness and steadfast love being the foundation of God’s character (Psalm 89:14), He never changes in our relationship with Him (2 Timothy 2:11-13).  He equips us out of love with what we need, but our job is to grow in Him (Ephesians 4:15-16).  In the ‘Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20, we can see the dating phase that with our Bridegroom’s authority, we are to make disciples.  The wedding occurs as they are baptized and the Lord adds them to His bride, the church.

Then, the marriage begins as we work to keep them as disciples with Jesus’ help.  Any relationship takes much work to maintain.  How are you growing in yours?

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The Two Shall Become One Flesh

It’s often said that God created two institutions: marriage (and so the family unit) and the church.  Hebrews 10:1 indicates that the Law is the shadow of the reality to come.  Since the overall theme of the Bible is a holy God redeeming sinful man, then Ephesians 5 describing marriage as the shadow to understand the reality of Jesus’ bride, the blood-bought church, being presented to the Bridegroom at the wedding supper of the Lamb makes sense.

I.  Ephesians 5:22-33.  In figurative language, something that is unknown is described by what is known.  In this case, the relationship between a husband and wife is explained as the one between Christ and His church … and vice versa.  The marriage verse of Genesis 2:24 is quoted and then is directly applied to Jesus and His bride.  We know that earthly marriage only lasts until death or judgment (Matthew 22:29-30; Matthew 24:38-39).  Therefore, to help us better understand the oneness we need to have with God, our heavenly Father gave us the shadow of earthly marriage here.

II.  John 10:30.  Several are described as walking with God (Genesis 3:8; Genesis 5:24; Genesis 6:9).  In Enoch’s case, his fellowship with the Almighty let him escape death (Hebrews 11:5).  The Son, who was sinless (Hebrews 4:15), was in perfect oneness with the Father.  Through His redeeming work at the cross and tomb, Jesus makes it possible for us to live in a restored relationship with Him once again (1 John 2:6).

III.  John 14:9-14.  In Revelation 21:2, the church is presented as a bride adorned for her husband.  Blessed are those who are at the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9) when the two become one flesh.  To be one with God, we first need to be baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-27).  Then we need to continue to abide in Him through obedience and continual repentance.

Earthly marriages fail because of wedges in the oneness.  Christians fail because they allow wedges of sin and selfishness to come between them and their Bridegroom and cease to remain in the bride.  God wants all to come to repentance.  Are you heading to a wedding?

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She wasn’t that way when I married her!

Many marriage partners become frustrated with the way their spouse has turned out. One husband approached Dr. Howard Hendricks with a list of gripes about his wife. Hendricks “consoled” the guy with his Columbo-type tactics. He told the man he was surprised that a man of his intelligence would marry a woman with so many blatant faults. The man quickly defended his prenuptial decision by declaring, “She wasn’t that way when I married her!”

Hendricks retorted, “Then I guess it means you made her that way.”

The fault we often pin on our spouse can frequently be—at least partially—ours.

—House to House

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Know her like a book?

Years ago I saw a TV interviewer talking to a couple who had just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.  He visited the delightful couple, more than 90 years old, in their nice home. As he sat with them on their little patio, he said to the man, “Well, I guess when you’ve lived with someone as long as you have, you know her like a book.”  The little man sat in thoughtful silence for a beat or two, then slowly said, “Well, you would think that, wouldn’t you? But every time I think I know all there is to know about her, she writes a new chapter!”

—Linetta McDonald, North Little Rock AR