Marriage: A Parable of Christ’s Love for His People Pt. 1

Introduction

Read Genesis 2:15-25

Genesis 2:18–25 (ESV)

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

As we have been examining these first two chapters of Genesis, we have seen some major fundamental doctrines and ideas that we must have if we are going to make sense of the rest of Scripture and of who God is and how He created the world to work.

We have seen God’s character and nature, both in who He is and how He has chosen to relate to the world He created.

Last week, we saw how we all are made in the image of God to display His glory to the world around us and to live for the flourishing of the created order.

Today, we are continuing to look at the image of God as demonstrated through the institution of marriage. God has placed humankind upon the earth to demonstrate His glory and rule over creation. The institution of marriage is the work of God to unite a man and woman together to display His glory and His covenantal and faithful love to His people.

Before we get started though, I want to give an encouragement to those of us who are in here who are not married, whether because you are still single, or you are widowed or divorced. As we talk about marriage, I want you to know that your purpose or value as an image bearer is not dependent upon whether you are married or not. While marriage is a good gift from God to humanity, it is actually a picture of a greater reality that God is inviting all of us into.

Your value and identity is not found in another human person, it is found in Christ Himself and His love for you as His own precious possession.

In fact, as we will see, marriage is a living parable God has created to demonstrate the relationship He desires to have with His people. He does not need us, but He wants us to experience the joy that is found in Him alone.

This is at essence, what Paul teaches in Ephesians 5, when he writes:

Ephesians 5:31–32 (ESV)

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

So, once again, as we look at marriage within the creation account, we are learning about how God created us in light of who He is and how He has chosen to love us!

The Parable of Marriage

It is no accident that the Bible begins and ends with a marriage.

In Revelation we see the image of the Bride getting ready for the Lamb and how the new Jerusalem, representative of all God’s people, is coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband.

All through the Bible, God has related to His people as a husband would speak to His bride.

So as we come to this first wedding, we are seeing God set the stage for how He is going to relate to us.

Therefore, it is essential that we as His people, view and uphold marriage as the sacred gift and institution that God has created it to be.

A Complimentary Companion

God has created marriage to be a blessing for humankind.

Marriage is God’s gift of companionship to mankind.

Genesis 2:18 (ESV)

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

This is the first time that God declares something in His creation to not be good. Man was not created to be alone and to accomplish his God-given task on his own.

God reveals man’s need to Adam.

God has Adam name all the animals.

As God brings the animals to him to name, Adam is seeing a common theme and recurrence.

Each kind of animal is not coming on their own, but are coming in pairs.

God has already created a male and female counterpart in each of the animals.

And now Adam is beginning to realize that he has a need for more than a helper. While the animals might be able to help in some ways, none of them can truly be the helper and companion that his soul longs for.

So God puts man to sleep and creates a helper and a companion that is fit for Adam.

Same

When God creates woman, He creates her, not out of nothing, but out of man. He created her to share the same essence, worth and dignity as man.

So the first thing we see about woman is that she is of the same essence as man.

Genesis 2:23 (ESV)

Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

Adam rejoices that this new creation, this helper and companion is just like him. She is of the same flesh and blood as he is.

Woman, therefore, is of equal value and standing before God as the man, despite what most of the cultures have tried to communicate.

Therefore, man has a responsibility to care for and protect the woman as he would care for and protect himself, since she is of his own flesh.

Ephesians 5:28–30 (ESV)

In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

There is no excuse for a man to exercise his strength and power to hurt or take advantage of a woman.

Different

But she is also beautifully different from man, and not just physically, although that in itself is a wonderful thing.

Man and woman are both the same, but also different in characteristics, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, so they can compliment each other in this marriage relationship.

God has created both to reflect and show forth His glory in a way that neither one can fully do on their own. The union of these two are greater than the sum of the individual members.

This is why God has designed marriage to be one man and one woman alone. Regardless of what our culture wants to believe, there is no other marriage besides that of a man and a woman. This is not to downplay the real emotional struggles that some people feel. But marriage is not simply about giving into our emotions, but it is first and foremost, a display of the image of God and every marriage and every family has been designed to include a man and a woman to reflect God’s holy image.

A Covenant Companion

So Marriage is a blessing because God has provided someone who compliments the other. Man compliments the woman and she compliments him. They are able to fulfill what the other is lacking in the relationship.

However, we see another aspect of this blessing through the covenant that is being established here.

A Marriage Created by God

First, this relationship is created by God, not by man.

God is establishing this relationship as he creates the woman and brings her to the man as a father would walk his daughter down the aisle to give her to her soon to be husband.

So men, know this, that your wife, is not just the daughter of your father-in-law. She is the daughter of God. Let that sink in as we consider how we respect and honor her and the relationship we have with our wives.

A Marriage Sustained by Covenant

Because God is the creator of this relationship, this is not a relationship to enter into and exit out of lightly. God is the One who has brought these two people together.

Matthew 19:3–6 (ESV)

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Therefore, the marriage relationship should be treated as a covenant, rather than as a contract that we so often times see.

Contract

We live in a society that wants to make sure that we get what we deserve. Many couples will sign pre-nuptial agreements that say if you don’t fulfill your side of this bargain, then I am leaving and you do not get my part of our possessions.

We treat marriage as simply a contract that says, I will do x for you if you do y for me. But if you fail to do this for me than the deal is off.

A covenant is different, however. A covenant is a promise to faithfulness no matter what.

Covenant

Instead of a transactional agreement where one party will do something in return for something else, a covenant says I will be there for you regardless of what you do for me.

This is the essence of what Paul is getting at in Ephesians 5 as he talks about marriage.

He tells wives to submit to their husbands as a believer would submit to Christ, and he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church and laid down his life for the church.

He is calling for commitment and faithfulness in the marriage relationship.

He is not saying, if your husband cleans the kitchen then submit to him or if your wife meets all of your needs, then love her. There are no qualifications here. Just faithfulness.

There is a reason why we make the vow, “For better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.” Of course, we only think of the better side when we are getting married, but our vows are communicating a covenantal relationship, not a contractual agreement.

Divorce

This does not mean there is not a place for divorce. The Bible does give some biblical reasons for divorce, such as sexual infidelity or abandonment. I would also include physical abuse as part of that infidelity. And if you are being physically abused, I would say get out immediately. You can continue to pray for and love your spouse, but do not remain in a place where they can continue to hurt you. There is no love in allowing sin to continue to take place like that.

But divorce should not be lightly taken nor rejoiced in. In Malachi, it tells us that God hates divorce. Why? Because it distorts the image of God and His faithfulness to His people.

In fact, other than cases where there is physical danger, reconciliation should always be the desired goal if possible.

Christ is Our Eternally Faithful Bridegroom

The reason why covenant faithfulness in our marriages are so important is because we are meant to reflect and to show a lost and dying world the faithfulness of our God!

The faithfulness of God means that He cannot change because of His eternal nature and thus will not break any promise He has made to His people.

Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV)

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Malachi 3:6 (ESV)

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Matthew 24:35 (ESV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Listen, you and I are not eternal so we do change. But we have a God who does not change and as a result, does not change His promises to us. Even in our change, He promises His faithful love to us to accomplish the work He has begun in us.

But how do we know that God will never go back on His Word to all those who place their faith in Him? How do we know that there will never be a time when He will leave us on our own?

Jesus has demonstrated the Covenantal faithful love of God for us, even before we were able to do anything to deserve His love.

During Biblical times, a young man who wanted to marry would go with his father to the chosen woman's house to meet her and her father. They'd negotiate a steep "bride price", the money or physical items that the woman's father would ask for in exchange for giving up his valuable daughter.

Then, the young man's father would hand his son a cup of wine. The son, in turn, would offer it to the woman and say, "This cup I offer to you." In effect he was saying, "I love you and I offer you my life. Will you marry me"? If she drank it (sealing their engagement), she accepted his life and gave him hers. If not, she simply declined.

The young man is initiating a covenant with this young woman. He is saying, I want you as my wife, no matter what, and I will give you my life.

In the same way, Jesus was essentially proposing to His bride, the Church at the Lord’s Supper:

Luke 22:19–20 (ESV)

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Here Jesus is instituting a new covenant with His people. And let me say, He was not caught off guard with what He was getting with us. He knew exactly what He was getting and He came to give His life as the brideprice for His people anyway.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Through His death on the cross, Jesus is demonstrating His covenantal faithfulness to His bride, even in spite of our sin and rebellion.

But Jesus demonstrates faithfulness, not just in making us His bride in spite of ourselves, but in purifying His bride. We know that we are His because of the work that He is doing within us.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul can say this because of the faithfulness of God. When God promises that He will save His people, He will be faithful to that promise. And when God saves us, He also purifies us and makes us holy and He will be faithful to complete that work of sanctification within us.

Christian marriages ought to be a shining light to a lost world around us that reflects the beautiful image of a God who never leaves nor forsakes us. Let us seek to be faithful to our spouse as Christ Himself is and will always be faithful to His Church!

Conclusion

Marriage is a beautiful picture of Christ’s faithfulness to us. It reminds us of His love for His church and the sacrifice He paid to make us His own.

Husbands and wives, let us live with the same covenantal love to be faithful to one another and to demonstrate the beauty of Christ in our marriages.