2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Ephesians 1:18-20 - I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 3:7 - …of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
Ephesians 3:16 - …that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man…
Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Romans 15:13 - Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit…
4 Spirit-empowered actions that must be present to facilitate unity in husband and wife relationships
I. Understand the Ultimate Marriage for God’s People
A. The Bible both begins and ends with a marriage
1. Adam and Eve - Genesis 2
Genesis 2:18 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:18-25 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
2. Marriage supper of the Lamb - Revelation 19
Revelation 19:7-9 - “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
B. The Lord uses the picture of marriage to describe His relationship with His people throughout His Word
1. Isaiah 54:5 - For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth.
2. Hosea 2:19 - I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion…
3. Isaiah 62:5 - For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
4. Romans 7:4 - Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
C. Our marriage to God gives us direction, guidance, power, and hope as we navigate human marriage and other relationships
Ephesians 5:31-32 - For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
II. Be Humbled because of what You Brought into the Marriage
1 Peter 5:5-8 - …all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
A. Paul has emphasized this repeatedly to the Ephesians
Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Ephesians 4:17-19 - So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
B. The Lord uses stark imagery to help us understand this point
1. Ezekiel 16:4-5 - As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
2. The amazing story of Hosea and Gomer
Hosea 3:2 - So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
III. Recognize what Your Groom Did for You
A. Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
B. Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
C. Ezekiel 16:6-14
“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God. “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.
IV. Relinquish Your Rights to Another in Awe of Your Husband, Christ
- I recently went to visit family and I was helping my mom and dad with some yard work, landscaping and we were looking at two of the big trees that are in their yard and the trees were growing into each other…and the branches were sort of all over the place….
My mom asked me if I could cut some of the limbs off and trim it up….I said sure…I found an old wood saw and just, it was bad…I got a couple small branches, but I couldn’t reach much, and it was difficult to cut through big branches with an old carpentry saw…
So my dad has a nice little chain saw, and so I fired that thing up, and it worked good, but the branches got higher…and I started using a step stool and a chain saw, and wisdom prevailed and chain saws and ladders just don’t mix well…
it just so happens my parents had recently bought one of the yard tools where you can get attachments and change the tool….
So we went and got an attachment that is basically a chain saw on a stick….it’s called a pole saw, and it was awesome…I could reach up high, and deliver cutting power right where I needed it…I gave that tree such a good haircut….and I was pretty safe….
But you feel like you have so much power when you have a chain saw…and with a pole saw there was such stability and control with that power…like you are on stable ground, and you have the power to cut big limbs far above your head…there is something about having the power to do a job, and to have that power right when and where you need it…
- I realize you might say – well, thanks I don’t really need a chin saw let alone a chain saw on a pole….but the point is we all need power…we all need the resources to actually get things done….that well we can’t do on our own…
- and if you’re married… you know your need resources outside of yourself…
- being what God wants you to be is a challenging task…
- and if you’re not married at this point in your life and you think about your other relationships in your family, and at work, and in your neighborhood…you know that being what God wants you to be there can be a challenging task as well…
- here’s the good news – if you have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord…you’re a Christian…your relationship with Him can give you power and stability, and direction and guidance that is even more powerful than a chain saw on a pole…and accessing it won’t even cost you a dime…
- with that in mind, please open your Bible to Ephesians chapter 5…page 1172 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you…
- this is our church’s 60th anniversary – so we’ve selected the theme of Building on Our Heritage
- as part of that, we’re taking this year to work our way verse-by-verse through the wonderful book of Ephesians…
- this morning we’re starting a mini-series on the family…because that’s what Paul focuses on at the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6…
- now we know that a rather significant percentage of the people who attend our various campuses are single…so how do we plan to approach this material?...
- I suppose the answer is – the same way we teach anything from the Word of God…we just unpack what it says…
- sometimes passages are more directly applicable to a particular person than others…
- however, Paul told Timothy that…2 Timothy 3:16–17 - All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
- so even if a verse isn’t directly applicable to a Christian…we still consider it to be profitable…because it’s God’s Word…
- a certain percentage of the people in churches in Ephesus who originally received this letter would not have been married either, but apparently Paul still thought it was important enough to give them the information…
- I think we would also say this – if we really want to build on our heritage this year – part of that is helping every married couple know what God’s Word says about marriage…so I know you would want that even if it doesn’t directly impact you…
- there’s also the issue of how many of these principles are easily applied to our friendships, relationships in the workplace or with extended family members…so we’ll do the very best we can to broaden our applications out whenever possible…
- we would also want to say over and over and over that we highly value the single people in this church… the blessing to the church by each member of the body, single, married, people in all sorts of life situations cannot be understated…
- now, with that in mind, let’s read our passage – read Ephesians 5:21-33
- so we’re talking this morning about The Power of Marital Unity…and we’d like to use this morning to set the stage for our next several weeks together by looking for Four Spirit-empowered actions that must be present to facilitate unity in husband and wife relationships
- now, we probably need to take a moment or two to unpack what we mean by that one…
- throughout the book, Paul has been alluding to the issue of people like you and me understanding the spiritual power that is available to us in Christ…
- we don’t have to trim the trees with a hand saw…for example…
- Ephesians 1:18–20 - I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
- understanding that changes the way we think about any relationship challenge…hopefully it fills our hearts…with hope…
- or in chapter 3, speaking about the ministry assignment God had given him with the Gentiles, even though he was Jewish…
- Ephesians 3:7 - of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
- or the way that wonderful section of the book begins to draw to a close…Ephesians 3:16 - that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
- and then a few verses later…Ephesians 3:20–21 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
- it’s amazing when we stop and think about the kind of spiritual power that is available to us in Christ…
- no wonder Paul said this to the Romans…Romans 15:13 - Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- if you’re married, you might want to pause and consider any challenges you might be having and simply ask – are you viewing them through the lens of what might be achieved through your own power and wisdom…or are you thinking about what the Holy Spirit is doing in the situation and the power available to you when you think about things with the Lord being the focus…
- now Paul picks this up again just before his discussion on the family when he says…Ephesians 5:18 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- that’s one of the primary concepts that frames all he’s going to teach about the family…
- what does it mean to be a Holy Spirit-empowered husband?
- what does it mean to be a Holy-Spirit empowered wife?...
- parent, child, employer, employee?...
- We understand that we are far from a perfect church…but on the other hand, we have many people in our church family who have been married for a very long time…
- and if you asked them – what’s the secret?...
- they won’t say things like…I met my soulmate so its all come very easy…
- or, we never have to work on it…or we never have problems…
- many would say – by the power that comes from the Holy Spirit of God…[repeat Romans 15:13…]
- so, Four Spirit-empowered actions that must be present to facilitate unity in husband and wife relationships
I. Understand the Ultimate Marriage for God’s People.
- see, the book of Ephesians is a relatively short book…and yet there is a good amount of focus on marriage…why might that be?...the reason is because human marriage is to be a picture of God’s relationship to His people….
- isn’t it interesting that…
The Bible both begins and ends with a marriage.
1. Adam and Eve – Genesis 2
- Genesis 2:18 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
- Genesis 2:18–25 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
- God didn’t first institute work…or government…or the church…
- He first instituted marriage…again in part perhaps because human marriage is to be a picture of God’s relationship to His people….
- we also know that the Bible ends with not just any supper, but…
2. Marriage supper of the Lamb – Revelation 19
- Revelation 19:7–9 - “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
- can you imagine what that event will be like?...it’s hard to even put into words…
- but who’s invited?...the people of God…and in what role?...
- we’re the bride of Christ…
- we also know that…
B. The Lord uses the picture of marriage to describe His relationship with His people throughout His Word.
- for example…
1. Isaiah 54:5 - “For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth.
- the same kind of terminology is used in…
2. Hosea 2:19 - “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion,
- instead of God being aloof, or indifferent, or distracted or disgusted with our weaknesses…
- He chooses to be married to us…our God is intrinsically relational and wants to be with us…
3. Isaiah 62:5 - For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
- I think back to all the weddings I’ve had the privilege of doing over the years…
- there’s nothing like that moment when I’m standing next to the groom and his bride-to-be comes through the door on her father’s arm…
- and the music is playing and everyone’s attention is on the bride…
- Pastors often steal a look over at the groom and just appreciate the way he looks longingly and lovingly…excitedly about His bride.
- the Lord chooses that imagery to help us understand His love for us?...
- Paul said…
4. Romans 7:4 - Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
- to be joined, to be in union means to be in a covenant relationship with God…to be inextricably connected to Him…forever…and for that relationship to bear fruit…
- and the point is…
C. Our marriage to God gives us direction, guidance, power, and hope as we navigate human marriage and other relationships.
- Ephesians 5:31-32 - Ephesians 5:31–32 - For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
- the reason you can have hope for your human marriage is because of the spiritual power available to you in and through your spiritual marriage…
- if you interviewed couples who have been married for decades at our church….many of them could speak about the integral role their faith plays in the way they think about all their earthly relationships…
- you could say it this way – they are constantly talking to their spiritual spouse about how to please Him in the way they relate to their physical spouse…
- or – their spiritual marriage to Jesus Christ gives them hope as they navigate the challenges of their physical marriage to their husband or wife…
- one of the lines of questioning that we often have in counseling is – regarding the particular problem we’re discussing…
- how does your relationship with the Lord affect...that?...
- and does…that…affect your relationship with the Lord…
- and too often – people treat those two relationships like two pieces of Tupperware…or you know those divided plates…when I was a kid I never wanted my food to touch…we don’t let those two things mix…
- which is why someone can say – I can’t stand my spouse but everything in my relationship with Jesus is fine…
- mac and cheese, yogurt and apple sauce…or Bibimbap…let me tell you about Bibimbap..
- the Christian life is designed to be lived/eaten much more like a Bibimbap than like a separate course meal…now I am like I want each bite at thanksgiving to have turkey, mashed potatoes and corn in it…I want to bring the Lord into everything…
- that’s true of marriage and it’s true of any human relationship…
- one takeaway from all of this would be – how are you connecting your walk with the Lord – your spiritual marriage – with your walk with your spouse?...
- now, how else can our spiritual marriage guide and direct us?...
II. Be Humbled Because of What You Brought into the Marriage
- what does humility have to do with it?...
- pride is one of the poison pills in marriage…or in a friendship, or an extended family relationship, or conditions at work, and certainly in the church…
- this is why Peter said…1 Peter 5:5–8 - …all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- well, reflecting on what we brought into our marriage with Jesus Christ, does that make us proud, or does that make us humble?...
Paul has emphasized this repeatedly to the Ephesians
- Ephesians 2:1–3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
- Ephesians 4:17–19 - So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
- this is why it’s so important to understand that salvation is not by works…it’s by grace alone…please consider this question…
- if you had the phrases – that would likely make a person proud…and that would likely make a person humble…
- and you had to connect them to one of these appropriate phrases…salvation by works, or salvation by grace…which one matches up with which one?...
- salvation by works is likely to make a person proud…because the focus is on all the good things that I’ve done…
- salvation by grace is likely to make a person humble…because the focus is on how I needed someone else to die for my sin so that I could be redeemed and reconciled to a holy God…
- well, does the Bible teach salvation by works, or salvation by grace?...
- the more we reflect on that…what kind of people ought we to be in relationship to the Savior to whom we’re married…
- humble people because of what we brought into the marriage…hopefully preparing us to respond humbly to our human spouses and other relationships…
The Lord uses stark imagery to help us understand this point.
1. Ezekiel 16:4–5 - “As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. “No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.
- this imagery of begin helpless, alone, unprotected is what it is like when we ignore the Lord, trust ourselves, and don’t think about Him in every situation…
- When you read the OT, and you read about the covenant unfaithfulness of the children of Israel and then God…and you consider how God chose to marry people like that…anyway…
- and it’s a pretty short walk from there to…and God was willing to marry a person like me…anyway…
- one of the most graphic illustrations of that principle is found in…
2. The amazing story of Hosea and Gomer
- where God instructs his prophet to marry a prostitute…to illustrate the way His people had been living
- and after their marriage and conception of several children…all with names dripping with theological significance…Gomer returns to her life of prostitution…
- and Hosea quietly provides food and provision for her even while she is living that way…
- and finally it becomes so bad that Gomer is being sold as a slave at an auction…
- and do you remember what God commanded his prophet to do?...
- to attend the auction…and buy her back…and Scripture says…Hosea 3:2 - So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
- what did she bring into the marriage?...and what did you and I bring into the marriage?...
- the more we allow that kind of biblical truth to humble us regarding our relationship with the Lord, the better prepared we are to respond humbly to our human relationships here on earth.
- thankfully, that’s not the end of our spiritual wedding story…
III. Recognize What Your Groom Did for You
Ephesians 2:4–7 –
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5:1–2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
- you might be in a marriage relationship, or a family/friend relationship that feels fairly loveless…and be tempted to think…nobody loves me…
- friend, can a follower of Jesus Christ ever legitimately say that?...and will God’s love for His people ever fail?...assuming that you know Him personally, will his love for you ever fail?...
- would you agree with this sentence…the more I focus on God’s unfailing and undeserved love for me…the less I…I need to feel loved by others in my life, or feel appreciated, or feel affirmed…
- and the Lord sometimes lays that out in rather graphic terms…like this…
Ezekiel 16:6–14 –
“When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, ‘Live!’ “I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God. “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. “I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. “I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. “I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. “Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. “Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.
- thank the Lord for graphic pictures in His Word intended to grip our hearts and focus our attention on truth as it really is…
- our groom did that for us…
- you know, this might sound like a strange marriage tip…but what do you think about this – your marriage will be better, if you faithfully attend Church Family Night…
- why is that?...because we celebrate the Lord’s Table at Church Family Night…
- Jesus said – do this, in remembrance of me…
- and as we remember His great love for us, we’re freed up to serve and love others because we don’t need from them what we already from Him…
- if we receive it from the humans in our life – that’s great – it’s a bonus…but we don’t have to have it to survive and even thrive because of what we already enjoy in Him…
- which allows us to…
IV. Relinquish Your Rights to Another in Awe of Your Husband, Christ
- in the coming weeks, we’re going to be looking specifically at the role and responsibilities of husbands…and then of wives…and then of parents, and children, and employers, and employees…
- and a lot of it has to do with submission to the instructions God gives us that are increasingly at odds in the culture in which we live…
- well, where are we going to find power for our earthly marriages and other relationships on earth?...
- from our heavenly marriage to the One who loves us like no other…
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