Marriages
This weekend my niece is getting married. We will be with her and her fiance as they publicly declare their union. We'll miss you all but are excited and grateful to be a part of their important day.
The wedding day is a culmination of so much planning and preparation. Significant time is invested into inviting close friends and family, choosing a venue for the reception, creating the ceremony, meetings with the pastor, meetings with the florist, and so much more. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Our preparation for this one day consumes our lives for a period of time.
Our wedding day is one of the most significant moments in our lives. Before our friends and family we enter into a covenant with God and our spouse. Two individuals become one before God. In his letter to the church in Ephesus Paul says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.” (Ephesians 5:31 GNT).
In this pivotal moment we see the picture of unity that God calls us into as his creation through the lense of marriage. In his book *Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel”, Ray Ortland Jr, says, “Everytime a bride and groom stand there and take their vows, they are reenacting the biblical love story whether they realize it or not.”
The imagery of marriage is applied to Christ's relationship with the church. In Ephesians 5:25 we see that the way a husband loves his wife is supposed to look like the way Jesus loves God's people. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, we see the imagery of dedication to marriage applied to Christ and His church. Finally the imagery of marriage is carried through the powerful 21st chapter of Revelation as Jesus is eternally unified with His bride.
Indeed marriage is much more than two people declaring before others that they love each other. It is a union. It is a reminder of God's love for us and His calling of us into unity with him.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Matt
The wedding day is a culmination of so much planning and preparation. Significant time is invested into inviting close friends and family, choosing a venue for the reception, creating the ceremony, meetings with the pastor, meetings with the florist, and so much more. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Our preparation for this one day consumes our lives for a period of time.
Our wedding day is one of the most significant moments in our lives. Before our friends and family we enter into a covenant with God and our spouse. Two individuals become one before God. In his letter to the church in Ephesus Paul says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.” (Ephesians 5:31 GNT).
In this pivotal moment we see the picture of unity that God calls us into as his creation through the lense of marriage. In his book *Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel”, Ray Ortland Jr, says, “Everytime a bride and groom stand there and take their vows, they are reenacting the biblical love story whether they realize it or not.”
The imagery of marriage is applied to Christ's relationship with the church. In Ephesians 5:25 we see that the way a husband loves his wife is supposed to look like the way Jesus loves God's people. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, we see the imagery of dedication to marriage applied to Christ and His church. Finally the imagery of marriage is carried through the powerful 21st chapter of Revelation as Jesus is eternally unified with His bride.
Indeed marriage is much more than two people declaring before others that they love each other. It is a union. It is a reminder of God's love for us and His calling of us into unity with him.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Matt
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