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Another reason God created marriage, or at least something seen throughout the Bible, is to help us understand His relationship with us. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all describe God as the husband of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus is called the bridegroom of the church, and the church is called the bride of Christ. And the Bible ends with the wedding supper of the Lamb.
The analogy extends to sexuality. Multiple times in the Old Testament, worshipping other gods is likened to adultery. In Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul links marriage and the sexual “one flesh” union to the mystical, spiritual union between Christ and the church, calling it a profound mystery.
This analogy means a couple of things for us.
First, a bad marriage is a bad witness. If marriage is supposed to show how God cares for us, a bad marriage reflects poorly on God. If folks who go to church had much better marriages than folks who do not, it would be far easier to get people to come to the Lord. Statistically, Christian marriages are better, but it’s not enough of a difference for most people to see.
The analogy was created to help us understand our relationship with God. But it can also help us understand how we should be with our spouse. A husband abusing his wife is like Jesus abusing us. The silent treatment is like the Holy Spirit refusing to commune with us. Being too busy for our spouse is like being too busy for God. And sexual refusal is like refusing to worship God.
Does your marriage make God look good? What should you change to improve that?
~ This is Paul, and Doing Marriage Well will preach!
These sunflowers were planted because they face the driveway everyone uses.
In the foreground are blackberries that will start being ready this week.
Image Credit: © Paul H Byerly created with Nano Banana 2
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