Marriage Lesson 1 Marriage Purpose and Definition

Marriage Lesson 1 

Marriage Purpose and Definition

 

Marriage is The Display of the Covenant-Keeping Love Between Christ and His People.

 

Piper:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEdH-9mo0IE&t=7s

The Most Ultimate Meaning in Marriage John Piper

 

This Lesson is for:

•       Everyone who is married.

•       Everyone who knows someone who is married.

•       Everyone who is remarried.

•       Everyone who is not married; whether formerly married, widowed, widower, divorced, young single men, old single men, young and old single women, boys, and girls.

•       Married people who think things are “swell” but are not on heavens shores yet.

•       Single people who are wondering who is the right one or how to find the right one.

•       Single people who aren’t wondering who is or is not the right one, but they know other singles who are wondering – you have a ministry to everyone in your life. You must be prepared to point them in the direction of life’s authoritative answers and where to point them in it. (See Bible verses)

 

•       1Pe 3:15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

•       2Ti 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

  

LET’S GET STARTED…

 

What is the Binding Agreement
 or Nature of a Marriage?

 

Is it – 

•       The License?

 

•       The State?

 

•       Love?

 

•       The Ceremony?

 

Notice I DID NOT ask, 

 

“What is the Binding Agreement or Nature of a CHRISTIAN Marriage?”

 

Is there a difference between a Marriage and a Christian Marriage?

 

Read the Genesis Account of “Marriage”. Gen 2.20

 

God cast Adam into a magnificent scenario where He had Adam personally interact with all of His creatures which He had created by parading them before him for naming. It was during this object lesson that Adam realized that there was nothing created that would be suitable for unique companionship with himself.

 

It was after this grand presentation to Adam that God miraculously instituted the FIRST MARRIAGE:

 

Gen 2.21-25

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.”

 

Gen 2.21-25

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

 

“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;” They are from one-another…

Man and Woman naturally belong together.

 

Gen 2.21-25

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

 

Did Adam and Eve have a Father and Mother? Of course not.

 

God was Instituting the FIRST Marriage and Wedding VOWS for ages and ages to come!

(It was “A Place Setting”)

 

After the FALL, did the marriage of Adam and Eve cease? 

 

NO, nor did the INSTITUTION of marriage cease ….. But it changed forever.

 

What was to be the center of Love and communion in a Relational triad between God, Husband and Wife, became the seed of every potential evil pathway down through history.

 

The Institution of Marriage continues because GOD Continues. And He started it. He owns It.

 

Matt 19.5-6: Jesus said…

 

FOR THIS CAUSE A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, AND SHALL CLEAVE TO HIS WIFE; AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?

“Consequently, they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

 

Is man ever outside of GOD’s Jurisdiction? Of course not.

 

Can man really have his own “Universe” and function without God and not be subject to God’s Natural and Ordained Decrees and Laws? Of course not.

Marriage is Marriage whether Believer or Un-Believer because of its Source - GOD.

 

Marriage “works” for both “Believers” and “Unbelievers” alike because marriage is deeply rooted in GOD’s design – both as…

 

1. His creatures designed in His image and as 

2. His creatures designed Relationally with one another.

 

What is a VOW?

 

Vows are promises or oaths not permanent and are not entirely binding. And are completed after a term or condition or time.  EXAMPLES:

 

Num. 6:5  'All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the Lord; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. (God to Moses regarding a Nazirite Vow)

 

Judges 11.30f And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If Thou wilt indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

 

Judges11.34f When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came about when he saw her, that he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.”

 

Acts 18:18 And Paul...had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

 

Acts 21:23 "Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;                                       (shaved heads)

 

What is an Oath?

 

About the same as a Covenant.

 

 Gen 21.27-31 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech; and the two of them made a covenant. (to cut an oath or covenant)

 

Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” And he said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand in order that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well.” Therefore, he called that place Beersheba; because there the two of them took an oath. (to adjure or swear)

 

So, Abraham “CUT an Oath” which was a covenant with Abimelech.

 

What is a Covenant?

Covenants are FOREVER.

 

Covenants picture a death of one of the participants who violate the covenant or of the one who makes it. 

 

Making a Covenant with someone was initiated by “CUTTING”. 

“WE SHALL CUT A COVENANT”.

 

One can also make a covenant by building a pillar of rocks or by casting of salt, etc.

BUT the strongest of all covenants is to CUT A COVENANT. To bring about the death of something as part of the agreement. This cutting was the contractual agreement between the two.

Upon “Cutting the covenant”, the members would walk through the blood and decree, “Let what happened to these animals happen to me if I violate the terms of our agreement.”

 

Probably, one of the most memorable “Cutting Covenants” in the Bible was from Gen 15.7-21.

God Himself walked through the pieces of animals in His Oath to Abraham to give him Land and Descendants. 

The goal of this evil age is the total elimination of all marriage; thus, no more small sovereign unit, and your children are no longer yours…the “place-setting of redemption” is obliterated. The goal is no more family…no more covenants. 

  

Titus 1.2: in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago

Heb 6.16-18: For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

 

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie… (or die)

 

Is marriage a biblical covenant????

Meaning, “Will it last forever”?

 

 

If it is, then who or what died?

Is any part of this concept of, “Cutting a Covenant” applicable today in marriage?

 

Only The concept of “foreverness” and eternality is still present.

 

Can you imagine at a wedding during the Ring Exchange:

 

“In token and in pledge of our constant faith and abiding love, with this Carcass butt  I thee wed.”

 

Jesus Christ was the Lamb that was slain to secure our salvation (no direct correlation between the marriage covenant and the Death of Christ)

Luke 22:20 “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you isthe new covenant in My blood.”

 

There is a “foreverness” and eternality in our covenant with God in salvation and His people.

 

Rom 3.23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom 6.23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 3.25: God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.

In the New Covenant “Cutting”, The Death of Christ was the payment of wages TO GOD the Father - NOT TO US.

 

Here is how I think Covenants, Vows and 

Oaths work their way into marriage today:

 

 

Read Eph 5.22-33

 

In regard to Christ’s Crucifixion, we don’t emphasize the dying aspect of a Marriage Covenant.

 

We emphasize the Living aspect of the Marriage Covenant. Because Christ is Living!

 

The Living aspect of Marriage is understood by our Union with the Resurrected Christ.

 

The Living aspect of Marriage is understood by our Union with the “Living Christ” - not the “Crucified Christ” – His death was to the Father, His life is to Us!

 

Our Union with Christ is where we will go in the next Lesson and more deeply into Ephesians 5.

 

We will notice how the Living Aspect of Marriage is completely identified in our Union with Christ and the FOREVERNESS that we have in Him.

 

There are other verses where we will go when we talk about the “Till Death Do Us Part” aspect of Marriage.

 

Central Theme

All Marriages are Sacred.

Before the beginning of time, 

before the first man and woman, 

before the first sin of the first man and woman, 

GOD prepared beforehand a way of salvation before there was ever a need for redemption. 

 

How? How did He prepare the way of Salvation before the First Man and Woman ever Sinned?

By creating the Institution of Marriage. 

Marriage is REDEMPTIVE in its very nature and design – whether or not we know it or agree with it. 

 

Thousands of years before Ephesians 5 was ever penned, God designed an institution that would frame and house the concept of a redeemer who was to come. 

 

He gave us a Redemptive Structure in society, a “Redemptive Analogy”, an Institution that would point to the coming Redeemer in such a way that it would affect every aspect of our culture, every aspect of our thinking and every aspect of our entire lives – FOR ALL MANKIND- not just “Christians”. 

 

He gave us marriage.

 

From the birth of Mankind, Society has been acting out a forth-telling parable that would sustain the gospel narrative yet to come – that of a Love relationship between …

The Redeemer and His people…

A Savior and His redeemed…

A Groom and His Bride.

 

Marriage, a husband-and-wife union, male and female, has been all about preparing us for the Saviors union with us from ages and ages past. 

 

We were designed to think of a Bride and Groom before the Redeemer ever became Incarnate and walked among us. 

 

The forth-telling parable of a Redeemer was written in the Garden of Eden with the union of Adam and Eve.

 

Ever since before the Fall, History has always been poised for the Incarnation, 

The Crucifixion and, The Resurrection via the Family Institution.

 

The family was the presumptive epicenter for the Gospel Narrative yet to come.

 

In Summary

 

And now, 2000 yrs. ago, as the stage was set and society structured, Christ, the Groom comes to His bride and the marriage institution finds its true meaning. 

 

What once was a mystery about the coming Messiah and about the true meaning of marriage has been revealed, that:

 

1. Marriage has been the Redemptive Analogy throughout all history to prepare mankind for our coming Redeemer, and that...

 

2.  It represents the present relationship of Christ and the church.

Our marriage is bigger than the both of us. We are about the business of bringing redemption to the world.

 

Is there any question as to why there is such a horrendous and awful 

attack on marriage and family? 

 

MARRIAGE is the

redemptive center of mankind

 

Addendum #1

 

How does this now effect the individual who hears the gospel and doesn’t understand everything we just said about marriage. 

 

It Doesn’t matter…he understands the concept of marriage and that’s enough.

 

1. The idea of a family relationship with God through our Savior is not a foreign thought to anyone since we grew up in some family relationship…as tainted as it may have been. 

One still understands the nature of what a relationship is and means.

 

2. He is personally responsible for his acceptance and rejection of Jesus.

 

Note: I do not personally identify with being the bride of Christ, that is an objectionable thought to me as a male, but I do understand the picture of the Bride and Groom – Christ and the Church relationship because from birth I have grown up in a family union. 

 

Addendum #2

 

There is also a practical purpose for the union of one man and one woman in the Institution of Marriage:

 

Since marriage is so vital in God’s design - a “Redemptive Analogy”, and for ordered society, sensible civilization –civilization able to enjoy common grace – since marriage is…

By God’s design, His way to pass on order, to pass on peace, to pass on temporal blessing, and even to pass on righteousness from one generation to the next, family has always been under assault by the Evil One.

 

Families provide a small, sovereign unit that acts as a barrier against the corruption that seeks to dominate mankind. 

 

Shatter the family, destroy the family and the small sovereign barrier is disintegrated. 

 

The goal of this evil age is the total elimination of all marriage; thus, no more small sovereign unit, and your children are no longer yours…the “place-setting of redemption” is obliterated. The goal is no more family…no more covenants.