(Old) Marriage: A Parable of Christ’s Union with His People Pt. 2

Introduction

The Intimacy of Marriage

Not only do we see the blessing of marriage and the blessings we receive from our faithful God, we also see the intimacy of marriage.

As God brings the woman to the man, he sings the first song ever sung.

And then we see the intimacy experienced between husband and wife:

Genesis 2:24–25 (ESV)

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.

While all the men are cheering at this point to hear of the man and his wife were naked and without shame, we need to know this is more than just physical nakedness. It includes the physical side of things, but the physical is only possible because of the spiritual and emotional openness they have with one another.

To be naked means you have nothing to hide. There is nothing emotionally, physically, or spiritually that the man and his wife are keeping from one another. There are no masks, no facades, behind which they are hiding. They are completely and totally open with one another. Because of this complete and total intimacy emotionally and spiritually, it leads to a deeper physical intimacy that God has given to them.

How do they attain this intimacy?

Covenant Faithfulness

Leaving All Others Behind

First, we see that a man will leave his father and mother.

Essentially, this is leaving his past behind to begin this new family with his wife.

He is leaving behind his old identity as son to adopt the new identity as husband.

He is also leaving behind his identity as being a single individual to be joined as a unified whole with his wife.

Which means, as he is joining with his wife, he is leaving behind all the other options he might have had before he joined with her. It means he is going to keep his eyes only for her. True intimacy cannot be attained as long as he is keeping one eye roaming around for others.

True intimacy can only be attained as one has left behind everything else to be joined with his wife and vice versa.

A New United Creation

Next, we see that the man will hold fast to his wife. Other versions will say to “cleave” to his wife.

This is the means by which both man and wife will seek to become one with each other.

Again, there is a symbolism of that oneness that is expressed through the physical union, but it goes beyond the physical oneness to becoming one in spirit and in will.

Now, this does not mean that the husband and wife each lose their individuality. They are still two unique persons. But they are meant to come together to prioritize the relationship over their own individual desires. It doesn’t mean that the husband and the wife can’t have their own interests and hobbies, but it does mean that we sacrifice some of our time with those individualized activities to come together to build a unity with our spouse. I am called to sacrifice time with some of my own interests in order to build the unity that I long to have with my wife.

It’s the commitment to lead both husband and wife to lay down their own wants and needs to be able to meet the needs of the other.

Union with Christ

This leaving and cleaving of the husband and wife gives us an image of how God wants us to relate to Him.

When Christ calls a person to follow Him, He calls them to forsake the world and to cling to Him.

This is what He means when He says, Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Now, we are saved simply by grace received by faith! We are not saved by any good works we do. But, if we have received God’s grace by faith in Christ, it is going to change our hearts. We will not want to continue to live the way we used to live.

Christ has died, not simply to save us from our past, but to give us a new heart of love for Him as we go into the future.

So He says, if you are to be His disciple, if you are to be a part of His church, a part of His people, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.

What is He saying? You must leave your old life behind, and cleave to Him alone for your joy and satisfaction!

Picking up your cross is painfully difficult when we feel like we are leaving something valuable behind.

But picking up our cross becomes easier as we realize that what we are leaving behind is worthless to what we are gaining. It is this heart that leads us to leave our sin behind, strive for holiness, and receive the joy that comes from clinging to Christ.

Do you want to feel intimacy with God? Do you want that closeness? We are called to leave the world behind and cling to Him, but we can’t do that as long as we are still clinging to our sins.

Holiness is not the way to earn our relationship with God. But holiness is what is given to us to grow in intimacy and closeness with Him.