marriage God's way...
The truth is, marriage is hard. I don't think that God intended it to be that way. Actually, I know he didn't. God created the institution of marriage and deemed it good. In fact, God created it as a solution. The only thing that wasn't "good" after God created the world was the fact that man was alone. And so he created Eve. A helpmate, a bride. Not so that Adam would be happy. Not so that Adam would be complete. Not so that Adam could sit back and pass the buck. But simply because it was not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18)
God created marriage. He defined it. He established the institution. It was a good thing. It is a good thing. But it didn't take long for things to go south. You know the rest of the story. The fruit, the temptation, the fall, the blame, and marriage was broken.
People were broken.
But God didn't create it that way. His design for marriage was clear, and it didn't include all of things we've added to it. No, God's design for marriage was based on holiness, on goodness, not on popular opinion or the desire of man's flesh. But man took the goodness of God's creation and put a personal spin on it making the holy, unholy. The pure, tainted. Man said, "God, this is fine, but we have a different idea. A different design. Another way." And we ushered in sin, in all forms and fashions, and broken people created a broken design of marriage.
The real intent, the real meaning of marriage, was never about man. God created marriage as a tangible reflection for the world to see the relationship between Christ and the church. A way for us to kind of get it, to understand what he meant when he said, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one." (Ephesians 5:31-32)
Marriage is about Christ and the church. It's not about us. It's not about what we want. It's about what God wants. It's about what God established. Because God's plans are perfect, so are His ways. They aren't our ways, so we don't always understand them. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, so can't always comprehend them. But if we really trust the Lord, if we really believe that God is sovereign and that His word is true, then we follow it. All of it. We fight for the sanctity of our marriages because we understand there's a bigger picture than what we can see. We strive to have God-centered, holy, pure covenants because we know that it honors God, that it reflects His character, and that it shines a light into the dark. We understand that no one is perfect, that all have fallen short, yet we don't give up when the going gets hard. We remain faithful because He is faithful. And we cling to Him, to His ways and His commands, because we know that in them, in Him, we find truth and life.
"Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself." - Revelation 19:6-7
God created marriage. He defined it. He established the institution. It was a good thing. It is a good thing. But it didn't take long for things to go south. You know the rest of the story. The fruit, the temptation, the fall, the blame, and marriage was broken.
People were broken.
But God didn't create it that way. His design for marriage was clear, and it didn't include all of things we've added to it. No, God's design for marriage was based on holiness, on goodness, not on popular opinion or the desire of man's flesh. But man took the goodness of God's creation and put a personal spin on it making the holy, unholy. The pure, tainted. Man said, "God, this is fine, but we have a different idea. A different design. Another way." And we ushered in sin, in all forms and fashions, and broken people created a broken design of marriage.
The real intent, the real meaning of marriage, was never about man. God created marriage as a tangible reflection for the world to see the relationship between Christ and the church. A way for us to kind of get it, to understand what he meant when he said, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one." (Ephesians 5:31-32)
Marriage is about Christ and the church. It's not about us. It's not about what we want. It's about what God wants. It's about what God established. Because God's plans are perfect, so are His ways. They aren't our ways, so we don't always understand them. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, so can't always comprehend them. But if we really trust the Lord, if we really believe that God is sovereign and that His word is true, then we follow it. All of it. We fight for the sanctity of our marriages because we understand there's a bigger picture than what we can see. We strive to have God-centered, holy, pure covenants because we know that it honors God, that it reflects His character, and that it shines a light into the dark. We understand that no one is perfect, that all have fallen short, yet we don't give up when the going gets hard. We remain faithful because He is faithful. And we cling to Him, to His ways and His commands, because we know that in them, in Him, we find truth and life.
"Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself." - Revelation 19:6-7
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