~Jeremiah 32:40 (ESV)
Today is the nationally-recognized day, Valentines Day. But for the Christian couple, the covenant of marriage is not something for which the celebration is reserved for one day out of the year, but the celebration is to be lived!
Why is marriage so precious to God? Why is the confusion of it due to sin such a grieving thing to Him? Why are we, as Christians, to protect it and hold it precious as our Creator does? The apostle Paul wrote, "'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). The reason that marriage is so dear to the Lord's heart is because it is what He has designed as the mirror of the everlasting covenant He has made with all who have called on His name for salvation. And that is why the confusion of it and the breaking of it is so grieving to Him, because it is completely unlike Him! The covenant He has made with us as His children he will never and cannot break! It is eternally and completely sealed by the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ!
So may today be a reflection to those who have joined in God's precious gift of marriage of the covenant life lived out every day. I can do nothing more useful right now than to let Paul take the microphone:
"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.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 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. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. '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 5:22-33)
So may Christians seek above all else in their marriages to reflect the covenant that God has made with us! Does this mean have the perfect marriage and never face rough learning experiences? No, that is one of the core elements of marriage--becoming more conformed to the likeness of God's Son as the presence of indwelling sin is continually revealed, conflicts are taken advantage of as opportunities to glorify the Lord and learn, and so much more! There is no perfect marriage, but the covenant of God is perfect, and that is to be the Christian standard.
What a joy! Why us? Why do sinners get to honor their spouse as a reflection of our very Creator? Wow! "Thank You, Lord, for showing sinners what is dear to Your heart and allowing us to live our lives for You."
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