The purpose of marriage is to paint a picture for the world of the eternal love and commitment that Jesus has for His followers...

This week we have been asking the question “Why does marriage matter so much to Jesus? What is marriage for?” So far this week, we looked on as the Apostle Paul made a parallel between the relationship between husband and wife and the relationship between Christ and the church to reveal for us the reality that God commands husbands to love their wives the same way that Christ loved the church.

Paul revealed two specific results that Jesus' selfless and sacrificial love had when it came to His relationship with the church. First, Paul stated that Jesus love for His church resulted in those who were once on the outside when it came to having a relationship with God were now being able to be an insider and a part of the family of God as a result of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Second, Paul stated that Jesus loved the church selflessly and sacrificially so that the church would possess an inherent quality of splendor and purity that is extraordinary. Jesus loves the church so that the church would respond to His selfless and sacrificial love by being devoted and dedicated to Him. And Jesus loves the church with the desire that the church would respond to His love with a life that reflects His character and His conduct; a life that is faultlessly focused on pleasing Him.

Paul then called husbands to strive to provide and to care about the comfort of their wives physical, emotional, relational and spiritual needs.  Paul explained that the reason that husbands are under obligation to provide and to care about the comfort of their wives physical, emotional, relational and spiritual needs is because that is exactly what Christ does for His body the church.

As we have talked about in the past, the church is divinely designed to be the vehicle that God uses to reveal Jesus to the world. Jesus Christ is the head and we are the body or the vehicle that reveals and reflects Jesus to the world. And Jesus provides and cares for the physical, emotional, relational and spiritual needs of His body, the church. 

After revealing the obligation that husbands have when it comes to how they live in relationship with their wives; after explaining the reason behind the obligation, Paul provides a second parallel between a marriage relationship and the relationship that Christ has with the church. So, let’s look at that parallel together, beginning in Ephesians 5:31:

FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

Here we see Paul point the readers of his letter to a section of the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, which we have looked at throughout this series. Just as we saw Jesus do last week, Paul quotes Genesis 2:24, to reinforce the reality that “For this reason”; in other words, because it is not good for man to be alone in his unique distinctiveness; because it is not good for a woman to be alone in her unique distinctiveness; a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh.

Just like Jesus, Paul’s point here is that marriage is an institution that was created by God by which a man and woman cut the cord, so to speak, from their parents and join together in a covenant commitment that involves one man and one woman for one lifetime and become one flesh, in a relationship that is marked by vulnerability, transparency and intimacy. After quoting from Genesis 2:24, Paul makes a statement that is perhaps one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible.  And it is in this profound statement that we discover the timeless answer to the question “Why does marriage matter so much to Jesus? What is marriage for?”  So, let’s look at that statement together in verse 32:

 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Now when Paul uses the word mystery here, this word refers to a timeless truth about God and His Divine Plan that was once hidden, but now has been made known through Christ. This once hidden timeless truth about God, according to Paul, is of utmost importance. He then proclaims exactly what this great mystery that has now been made known is not the relationship between a husband and a wife. Instead the great mystery that was once hidden but has now been made known is this: but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

The profound point that Paul is making here is that marriage has been divinely designed by God to be a picture on earth of the intimacy that followers of Jesus will have for all eternity with Jesus. Marriage was designed by God to be a word picture to the world of the vulnerability, the transparency, and the intimacy that followers of Jesus will experience for all eternity with Jesus.  

And it is here that we see revealed for us the timeless answer to the question “Why does marriage matter so much to Jesus? What is marriage for?” And that timeless answer is this: The purpose of marriage is to paint a picture for the world of the eternal love and commitment that Jesus has for His followers. The timeless reality is that God has a purpose for marriage; and that purpose is that marriage is supposed to paint a picture for the world of the eternal love and commitment that Jesus has for His followers.  

You see, marriage matters to Jesus because God has a Divine desire and design for marriage in that a man and woman are to cut the cord, so to speak, from their parents and join together in a covenant commitment that involves one man and one woman for one lifetime and become one flesh. And that covenant commitment is supposed to paint a picture for the world of the eternal love and commitment that Jesus has for His followers

That is why God hates divorce. God doesn’t hate divorce because divorce breaks one of His rules. God hates divorce because divorce mars and misrepresents the eternal covenant relationship that Jesus has with His followers that is supposed to be portrayed to the world through marriage. The covenant relationship that Jesus selflessly and sacrificially died for; the same selfless and sacrificial love that Paul commands husbands to love their wives with. 

You see, God hates divorce because divorce mars the opportunity for people to experience a glimpse of the intimacy that we will experience for all eternity with Jesus in a healthy marriage. And when our marriages are marked by confusion and conflict, we end up portraying a flawed picture of the relationship that we were designed to have with God for all eternity.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, that sounds great, but how can I have a marriage that looks like that? How am I supposed to deal with the confusion and conflict that I often experience in my marriage?” If that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that is a great question to be asking.

And next week, we will spend our time together asking and answering that question...