Perfection

Photo by David Thomaz

Marriage. Most of want a perfect one. And, if done right, marriage can become an amazingly beautiful and wonderful thing. If done wrong however, it can turn into an ugly, frustrating mess. To be honest, most marriages today are probably somewhere in between. That's not where they were designed to be. A marriage should really be perfection.

I am preparing to officiate at a wedding in a few weeks. At first I was going to speak on Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus from Ephesians 5 - Instructions for Christian Households. But then I heard something from the Book of Luke this past Sunday that altered my decision. It was during communion.

^"20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." - Luke 20:22

Before we get started today, we need to define a word - covenant. This is from Merriam - Webster's Dictionary.

Covenant - a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement, a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action.

Marriage is a covenant.

Now let's go to Ephesians 5. 2000 years ago, in a culture much different from ours today,husbands and wives had different roles. Women were treated much like property, with benefits, if you will. I'd like you to read the text and then linger a bit at verse 32.

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church - ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." - Ephesians 5:21-33

Paul describes a marriage relationship the same as our relationship with Christ! As Christians, we are "the bride of Christ." Jesus is the bride groom. We are to be dressed in white, pure, radiant, without stain or blemish. Holy and blameless!

How can we possibly do that? We are all sinners. We are all stained. We ALL have blemishes. None of us are worthy.

Ah, but God . . .

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

We are made perfectly blameless through our faith in Christ - "whoever believes in Him."

The best marriages today are the once based in faith. Why? Because that's how they were designed to work. Marriage is like a triangle. The closer a married couple gets to God, the closer they automatically get to each other. Draw closer to God today and then watch what happens to your relationships. Listen to this song, and while you do, remember that "God IS love."

The Wedding Song - Paul Stookey