Self-Sacrificing Love
This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:32
Read John 2:1-12
The secret to a blessed Christian marriage can only be understood when we
know the meaning of the relationship between Christ and His Church. The
beauty and intimacy of a good marriage can only be understood by faith.
Then the eyes of our understanding are opened to see the value of this divine
institution.
Ephesians 5 gives specific details about the marriage bond. A God ordained
marriage is a faint representation of the relationship between the bridegroom,
the Lord Jesus, and His sin-laden bride, the Church. Just as Eve was
made from a rib of Adam, the Church has its origin from the side of Christ.
For this reason, the Church is bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
In order to know true love, our lives must be hid in Christ. God’s love for His
people has been revealed in His Son. Christ, as head of the Church, has given
His life for the body, to pay for her guilt. That was pure, self-sacrificing, unchangeable
love; the Lord denied Himself.
Do you know something of that love of Christ? Do you understand the
miracle He completed by laying down His life on the cross for sinners? He
poured out His love for a filthy bride. If we are to truly understand what a
Christian marriage consists of, we need to come to the knowledge of Christ.
Every engagement and marriage in which Christ is absent brings decline
to the Church. Therefore, consider carefully with whom you hope to share
your life.
Thought: Conversion is necessary to have a blessed relationship with the
opposite sex.
Psalter 94:2,3 (based on Psalm 36)
Lord, Thou preserves man and beast; Since Thou art ever kind,
Beneath the shadows of Thy wings We may a refuge find.
With the abundance of Thy house We shall be satisfied,
From rivers of unfailing joy Our thirst shall be supplied.
