The Wedding of Nathan and Jess

Prayer

Father, in this brief time with your word, grant your servant boldness that I may speak your truth with clarity and that your Spirit would work in the hearts of all who are gathered here, in Jesus Name.

The problem of marriage

What can a preacher possibly say that would convince you, a young couple moments away from exchanging their wedding vows, that this most beautiful moment of your lives is not about you. Now, that’s a wierd thing for me to say considering the fact that so much of “this” is about you. And yet, it’s not really about you.

But allow me in these brief few minutes to take your attention off of all this, and show you what matters most. To show you all what matters most.

It is often said, and rightly so, that next to placing your faith in Christ, one of the most imporant, if not the most important, decisions of your life is who you get married to. There is a permanence to the exchange of these vows that you’re about to make to each other, which is grounded in the statement “till death do us apart”. Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:4-6

Matthew 19:4–6 NASB95

4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

However, such a commitment is often tested by two realities. On the one hand, man has no reason for confidence that he will keep his vows. And on the other hand, this seemingly permanent vow is a temporary one.

If our confidence rested in our ability to keep our word, then let it be known that since creation, mankind has had a depressing track record of keeping their word. You need only look around you in this world and see how many marriages have fallen apart, even among Christians.

Although “till death do us apart” has a permanent ring to it, let me remind you that death will do you apart. Marriage is not a permanent reality, it is a temporary one. And since life is short, everything about life will pull you to reconsider your vows. Matthew 22:30

Matthew 22:30 NASB95

30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

And so, if your marriage, or any marriage, is rooted in your ability to keep your vows, or in a false romantic fantasy of foreverland, you’re building your house upon the sand. These pillars will not hold your house.

Therefore, we are faced with the question - what then is the foundation and the appeal of marriage?

The problem of life

In order to answer that, we need to ask a more fundamental question. What is the foundation and appeal of life itself?

The Bible tells us that God created a beautiful world, that was corrupted by the disobedience and sinfulness of man. And because of our sins, we are guilty before a holy God who must now judge the world and all who live in it.

If man keeps the law, he is still guilty for his sinfulness, and if man were somehow absolved of his guilt, he has no confidence, in fact no ability to keep the law of God. Romans 8:6-7

Romans 8:6–7 NASB95

6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,

All die. Where is the appeal to live when you know that everything that you do here will come to an end?

Life itself presents us with the same two problems, of our ability to keep our word (to obey God’s law), and of our ability to see the true beauty of life.

The Gospel

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Ephesians 5:22–33 NASB95

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 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. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.