Marriage is a vehicle to declare and demonstrate the Gospel. The call on husbands and wives is to love one another in such a way that Christ’s work on the Cross is put on display. Uniquely created and positioned in the relationship, but uniformly aligned in purpose and mission, husbands and wives partner together as recipients of redemption through Jesus and as agents of redemption towards one another. While personal companionship, physical intimacy and emotional accord are great benefits of the marriage covenant, these aspects in the end exist to serve the greater and higher purpose of putting Jesus on display in this world.

When applying the principles of the Gospel to the particulars of the husband and wife relationship, Paul ends with this caveat: “This mystery is profound…it refers to Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:32)

In other words, Paul says the dynamics of marriage are such that they refer to (or point to, illustrate, promote, explain) the relationship between Jesus and His people. Marriage is the signpost that points our eyes to Jesus’ redeeming love for His bride.

In light of that, husbands are to sacrificially lay down their lives for their wives as an expression of the sacrifice Jesus has made on our behalf (Ephesians 5:25-29). Wives, likewise, are to submit themselves to the loving, sacrificial leadership of their husbands as an expression of the humble submission Jesus has demonstrated on our behalf (Ephesians 5:22).

The unique callings on husbands and wives in terms of the roles and responsibilities they play in marriage are not issues of rank, value or competency. Rather, they are the sacred design of marriage God has creatively implemented in order to most clearly put on display the work of Jesus on our behalf.

In the end, the greater and higher purpose of marriage is to declare and demonstrate the Gospel…not only to one another as husband and wife in redeeming, nourishing and life-giving ways, but also to a world desperately in need of Jesus.

Join us this Sunday, February 13th as we begin a new series, “Family Defined“, where we will explore how the Gospel defines marriage, family and parenting. Click HERE for diretions.

Incoming search terms:

• marriage
• marriage in christ
• husbands wives series
• marriage diagram
• purpose marriage
• marraige
• marriage love in christ
• marry for love
• love one another
• mission dynamics christian

Tags: Acts 29, church in the woodlands tx, family, gospel, gospel centered church, headship, husbands, marriage, marriage series, roles, submission, the woodlands tx, wives, woodlands point community church

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 at 9:44 am and is filed under Pastor's Blog.