Christ and the Church, Marriage and the home —Part 1

Marriage mirrors God’s relationship with Man.

Throughout the Word of God, God often used earthly examples to allow us to see heavenly truths... From the very beginning, God desired man to worship Him and bring Him glory... He desired a relationship with us... He gave us all free will —the ability to choose. Yes, He could have made us all puppets without a choice if we wanted to commune with Him... but He wanted us to be able to choose without any presets...When man chooses to worship and serve Him, it brings great delight to the heart of God.

Because God is all about having a close relationship with us, He used an earthly example to demonstrate His love and his pursuit of a close, intimate relationship with man. He chose to use the conduit of marriage... By creating men and women to desire that bond of marriage, He is displaying yet another way of pointing us back to Him... God designed marriage to be a mirror of HIS love and sacrifice to man! So really, the Biblical purpose of marriage is much greater than just the physical, temporal sense —in the spiritual realm, it becomes more about God than us.

All throughout the Bible, we see God using marriage as a illustration of our relationship with Him. Christ is described as our Husband or Bridegroom and we are the Bride of Christ.

Luke 5:34-35 —[34] And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? [35] But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Revelation 21:9—And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

Revelation 21:2 KJV—And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 22:17 —And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

We see the concept repeated over and over in the Word of God. Marriage is a type and shadow of Christ and His love for the church.

Ephesians 5:22-33 —[22] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. [24] Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. [25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. [28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. [29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. [31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. [32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. [33] Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 —Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

God wanted to use the relationship between a man and his wife to bring Glory back to Him and to reveal more about Himself to man through the lense of marriage.

When we look at marriage, everything about its design represents the heart of God. Marriage mirrors God's unconditional love for man. A husband and wife must grow to love each other unconditionally. God loved us so unconditionally that He gave His only Son to redeem mankind back to Himself. By doing this, He made a way for man to bridge the gaping chasm between God and man. The first man’s sin way back in the beginning caused that intimate fellowship between God and man to be broken. Although God provided a way of temporary atonement (the sacrifices of lambs and bullock) to be the go between between Himself and men, He longed to partake in a closer, more intimate relationship with men... one that was on a personal level...with no go-betweenness, no priests, no yearly sacrifices of atonement...

But there had to be a ultimate sacrifice! Christ Jesus loved us so much and He, too, desired to restore man back to fellowship with God the Father! He gave His life for us as a ransom to atone for the iniquities of all mankind!! Wow!! What unconditional love! What great sacrifice!!

In Ephesians chapter 5, God again referenced marriage and how it should be set up. God’s command here is for wives to submit to their husbands — He compares the role of a husband in a home to that of Christ in the church... He command us wives to be under subjection to our husbands just as the church is under Christ’s authority. Yet again, in this passage, He uses the symbolism of marriage to signify the relationship he desires with man.

The church’s job should be:

to follow Christ,

to submit to His authority,

to follow His leading,

to love Him with a whole heart,

to bring Him Delight,

to be loyal and faithful to Him,

to commune with Him,

to spend time with Him,

to fellowship with Him,

to trust Him in every aspect of life,

to bring honor and glory to Him,

to fear Him,

to respect Him,

to tell others of His goodness,

to travail and bring forth children,

to be willing to be available for Him and His

work,

to sacrifice the flesh and become more like Him

to serve him sacrificially with a willing heart.

Wow!! That’s a tall order for just what God (Christ) requires of the church— Now, let’s change that wording up a little....

A wife’s job should be:

to follow her husband,

to submit to His God ordained authority,

to follow his leading,

to love him with a whole heart,

to bring Him Delight,

to be loyal and faithful to him,

to commune with him,

to spend time with him,

to fellowship with him,

to trust him in every aspect of life,

to bring him honor,

to fear Him,

to respect Him,

to tell others of his goodness,

to travail and bring forth his children,

to be willing to be available for him and to care for his needs,

to sacrifice the flesh and become more like

Christ, to serve him sacrificially with a willing heart

That wasn’t too hard or a stretch of the imagination to substitute “a wife” for the church and “husband” for Christ... If we truly could grasp the meaning of these verses, it would revolutionize our marriages !!

Again: Ephesians 5:21-33—21] Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. [22] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. [24] Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. [25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. [28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. [29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. [31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. [32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. [33] Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Our husbands, however, have an even taller commission... Everyone thinks because God designated the man to be the head of the home that the husband gets “the good job”—He gets to be the boss...But in reality, they are called to so much more!! They are commanded to love us ladies as much as Christ loves the Church...In so much, that He willingly laid His life down for it. That is true sacrificial love, my friend—Dying out to self to become the right kind of leader!

Another directive for the husband in regards to marriage/home in contrast to Christ/the Church in this passage is to sanctify and cleanse his marriage/home by the washing of the water by the Word--what does that mean? It is a husband's responsibility to use the Word of God in every avenue of his marriage and his home. The Word of God has mighty cleansing, *sanctifying POWER!! Knowing the Word of God, believing the Word, using the Word, speaking the Word, living the Word, applying the Word are all powerful ways that husbands can allow the truth of God's Word to saturate the very fibers of their marriages and their homes...

"that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

*sanctify--to cleanse and set apart for a specific or special purpose

God also instructs the husband to nourish his wife and to cherish her just like He would do to his own body, just as Christ does to the church...Husbands are also called upon to be the spiritual leaders of their homes...While we, women, are responsible for our own salvation through Jesus and maintaining a personal relationship with Him, our husbands bear the responsibility of the spiritual protection of our home and are tasked with shielding our homes from anything unlike God and His ways. A husband that will do his best to keep the enemy and sin (and even laying aside 'weights' that cool our passion for God) out of his home is emulating how Christ sanctifies the church and presents it back to Himself as a glorious church--holy and without blemish. Recognizing the fallen, sinful nature of man, this responsibility of the spiritual "guard duty" in a marriage and the home is not completely identical with the meaning of Christ and the church in this passage--but rather, it is to be symbolic of the husband's desire to present his home and his marriage holy unto the Lord. He should walk upright before the Lord and allow God to direct his steps in both his marriage and his home. A man that will be in authority while recognizing he is "under authority" is the epitome of a great leader.

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So sorry this post got so long.... I had trouble finding a stopping place! The Word of God is amazing--it is so vast! It contains so much truth! If we could only submit our will to God, and allow Him to have full control in our lives, and if we would determine to follow the directives that He has already given us in the "road map" (BIBLE) our lives could be so much more joyous and complete.

God knows how to make a marriage work. He knows how to run a home. He is an expert at raising children. Remember, HE is the "I AM"... surrender to His will and just wait and see what He will do in your life, in your marriage, and in your home!!

-Tiphanie❤️

part 2 coming tomorrow...