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Marriage of the Church
by A.J. Wilson

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

“But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.” 1 Corinthians 7:28

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. “Ephesians 5:25-29

After attending two weddings in two weekends, and recent Sunday School lessons on divorce and love, I’ve been thinking about marriage and its relationship to the church.  Marriage is often used in the Bible as an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church.  Let us look at the scriptures to get a biblical perspective about marriage and our Savior.

Marriage began in Genesis (above) when God commanded man to “leave”, “cleave”, and “weave”, as I heard it explained by a preacher recently.  As a society it appears we have gotten the leaving down pretty well, but we do not cleave only to our spouse, or inter-”weave” our lives together. Ephesians 5:22-33 is a wonderful passage describing the marriage relationship, yet Paul also says that those who get married “will have trouble.”  What about a marriage is so hard that causes so many to lose heart, and rip lives apart?

At the risk of over-simplifying the subject, I believe it boils down to being “selfish.”  In verse 22 of the Ephesians passage, wives are told to “submit” to their husbands, and verse 29 tells husbands to “cherish” their wives, each of which is a two-way street and a major challenge in our self-driven world today.  To submit and cherish means we must give up some of the things we would like to do or get.  Submission is not a figurative blank check, allowing the other person to choose everything; yet should be viewed as compromise, foregoing your own will at times.  Paul’s description causes me to think of a man with a prized car.  The car is always freshly washed and dusted and the owner always seeks something new to make it a little better.  When was the last time you submitted your will, and made an investment into your relationship?  What will you give up this week in order to invest time and/or resources into your relationship with your spouse, and with Jesus?

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