Marriage has always been the bedrock of God’s design. Marriage is the main way God describes His relationship with Israel. (Children are the number two way!) He talks about pursuing Israel, wooing her, dating her and eventually marrying her. He talks about how He joined Himself to Israel for better or for worse. Over and over, God goes into detail about how His heart is broken over their sin and then He calls their sin unfaithfulness (the same way we describe adultery today). There are entire books dedicated to this analogy. All of this culminates in Christ. John sums it up well in chapter three of his book: God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life. I look at the way Jesus loves the Church, His bride, and the deep love He has for the Father. I would say Jesus’ love for us grows directly out of His love for God. I would also say the same for couples. The way we love each other is a direct reflection of our love (or lack of love) for God.
God honors the faithfulness of His people and never more so than in the marriage relationship. When two people submit to His authority over their relationship, God blesses. This means He begins to do things in them and through them that are unspeakably great. And this works both ways. The couple that chooses to honor God will work under His favor. The couple that chooses to reject God will work under His discipline. I’ve talked to at least a hundred couples in 25 years who’ve chosen the hard road. They do what they want, when they want, how they want to and then don’t understand why things are so hard. “Why won’t my children obey me? Why can’t I get along with my husband? Why does he keep looking at pornography? Why does she keep flirting with other guys? Why are our finances so difficult to manage?” These questions mingled with a thousand others are just the tip of what life looks like for the couple who honors God with their lips but rejects Him in their hearts. I challenge you today to consider which side of the line your marriage is on with God. If your marriage is something you value (and if you are seeking Christ, it should be!), what are you doing to make it stronger? What parts of your life are draining the life out of your marriage and making it easier for you to think about giving up?
Marriage will not work when one or both parties try to be king. Neither the husband or the wife can rule. In order for marriage to be successful, Jesus must be King and we must be willing to cede our will to Him. Can you do that? Everything in your body screams “No!” Everyone around you says you’re crazy for choosing to submit to him or choosing to love her sacrificially. But just like every other value we see, Kingdom values are upside down from the rest of the world. The world laughs at purity. God says it is a top priority. The world scowls at wisdom. God says it is the way to life. The world scoffs at honesty. God says truth is so important He wrote a whole book to explain it. The world says marriage is a take it or leave it thing. Try it out before you jump in and live together. It’s fine to step out and have sex with someone else when you don’t agree. You don’t like the agreement, just divorce and marry someone else. Eventually you’ll find what you’re looking for. But this is not God’s design. He has always been exclusive and the marriage relationship is no different. Honor Him in the way you live and He will stand with you. Reject Him in your home and He will stand against you.
God says the ultimate goal of marriage is for your most treasured relationship to put the spotlight back on Him; to give Him glory. All the supernatural aspects of marriage look back at this. God glues two people together, making them one. God provides for them as they trust Him to do so. God heals and restores all the destruction the enemy has worked into their lives. God brings children into the family over time. God protects and nurtures every member of the family as they grow and seek to form new families of their own. Each of these realities are supernatural and all are gifts for the married couple to enjoy.
There are hundreds of initiatives against marriage and family right now. The best way we can push back is to invest in the treasury of marriage. Will you go along with the crowd or will you go the way less traveled?
*Stats all retrieved from public sources ranging from Focus on the Family, to census.gov, to usnews.com.