Steven A. Bush - March 3, 2019
Marriage: The Portrayal of Christ and His Church
Ephesians 5:25-27 says: "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." (ESV) God's intent from the beginning was for holy matrimony to depict the covenantal bond between Christ and His Church. The Church, as the Scriptures proclaim, is the Bride of Christ. What was ordained in Eden is this: Marriage between a man and a woman is meant to portray and foreshadow Christ--the choosing of His Bride, making her His own, by way of the cross, in the everlasting bonds of covenant. In Ephesians 5:31-32 Paul affirms what was first written in Genesis and declared by Jesus: "'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." (ESV) Nothing should motivate love and devotion between husbands and wives more than this revealed mystery as we prepare for that great wedding feast to come!