Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:31-33
So…This Is What Marriage Is Supposed to Look Like
Ephesians chapter 5 is well known passage as it addresses the relationship between husband and wife. However, the true relationship addressed here is the relationship between Christ and the church (all believers) – and our marriages are supposed to be a reflection of that relationship. Paul tells us in verse 32 that the “mystery” of why God created marriage is revealed and rooted in the Gospel. If we can understand the Gospel, then we can understand what marriage is supposed to look like.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24
We often focus on the “wives submit to your husbands” and “husbands love your wives” parts of this passage and tend to ignore the rest of it. We focus on what this means for marriage, but we fail to see what this means for us individually. This is a beautiful picture of what Christ did for the body of believers.
What Christ Did for Us:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… v. 25
Christ loves us and gives Himself up for us – through His death on the cross.
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word… v. 26
He sanctifies us and cleanses us with His sacrifice on the cross. The water that washes away sin and cleanses and purifies the soul, is the word. – Charles Spurgeon
so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. v. 27 Because of our Justification the moment we are saved, and our sanctification in our walk, we will be entered into glorification the moment we enter heaven. We are made this pure in heaven when we are joined to Jesus Christ in a way beyond all previous experience.
God designed marriage specifically for the purpose of teaching us about His love for us. Marriage – a true, selfless, sacrificing marriage - will make us more holy every day. God laid down His life for us and we lay down our lives for each other in selfless sacrifice. In marriage we are called to put the other’s needs before our own, selflessly.
God uses our relationships, not just marriage but all relationships, to teach us about Himself and make us more like Himself. This displays the Gospel message to the whole world through our lives.
Marriage gives us a picture of God’s grace. You love and live with someone in grace as Jesus gives us grace. Your children and the world also see this grace in action. Love, in its purest form, is the best display of God’s beauty and His love for us. Marriage is just a picture of God’s relationship with us – unity in togetherness. Separate, but one. It is a picture of Christ and the Church, so God created marriage as a gift to all the world and a reminder of just how much He truly loves us.
