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Various Scriptures

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called “Foundations of Marriage,” and we are taking four weeks to look at the all-important subject of marriage. Last week we looked at the beginning of marriage. We saw that when Jesus was asked about the nature of marriage, he went back to the beginning, back to creation to show us God’s original design for marriage. That design has not changed, and through Jesus’ words we were able to determine the following Biblical definition of marriage:

“Marriage was created by God as a sacred, covenant relationship between a man and a woman based on a public vow of lifetime faithfulness.”

Today we will be looking at a variety of Scriptures relating to God and marriage, but let’s begin by reading these beautiful verses from Ephesians 5. (Read Ephesians 5:25-28 and pray.)

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What does God have to do with marriage? Or just as important, what does marriage have to do with God? Last week we saw that God created marriage, that marriage was his idea, that it is part of the original created order. As such we can see that God is underneath and behind marriage – creating it, designing it, defining it, and upholding it.

But as we continue through the Bible we learn that God is not only underneath and behind marriage, but he runs all the way through it. God and marriage are remarkably intertwined, and God’s fingerprints are all over marriage. Marriage was designed by God to be a picture of God and to teach us important truths about God. Marriage is not only sociological and biological; it is profoundly theological. Marriage is meant to teach us about God.

And so, today we are going to look at a variety of Scriptures that speak of God and marriage, and how marriage is a picture of God. There are three specific pictures of God and marriage we will look at this morning. 1) Marriage is a picture of God as Trinity. 2) Marriage is a picture of God and his people. 3) Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church.

I. Marriage is a picture of God as Trinity

Let’s begin with our first picture: marriage is a picture of God as Trinity.

   A. Male and female as part of God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27)

When God created us, he created us male and female as part of his image. We read in Genesis 1: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26-27).

God created us male and female as part of his image. Every single human, whether male or female, is created in God’s image, but there is also a sense that it takes both together to fully reflect the image of God. And that sense takes place especially within marriage (see Geoffrey W. Bromiley, God and Marriage, pp. 1-2).

One of the amazing aspects of marriage that the Bible brings out again and again is that when a man and a woman marry, the two become one. They are still two individual persons, but they are also one entity in marriage. And so, marriage is the coming together of two persons in unity.

God as Trinity is also a unity of persons. God is one God and yet three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is a mystery that we cannot fully explain, even as we cannot fully explain the unity of husband and wife in marriage. The Trinity is a mystery that we cannot explain, and yet it is clearly revealed in the Bible as Scripture proclaims that there is only one God, and yet God the Father is God, Jesus the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

Now God as Trinity is of course a much bigger concept than marriage as a unity. For one thing, marriage is a temporary union for this life only, whereas God has always been a Trinity. God has always existed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he always will exist as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also, in marriage it is only two who become one, whereas God in Trinity is three-in-one. And yet God created us male and female in his image so that in marriage the two becoming one would form a small picture of who God is. Marriage is a picture of God as Trinity.

   B. The headship of God and man (1 Corinthians 11:3)

We see this also in the New Testament when God is giving instructions about worship in the church. We read Paul’s words in in 1 Corinthians 11: “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor. 11:3). This verse takes place in a very difficult passage relating to the roles of men and women in the church. We won’t get into the direct application of those verses to the church today, but I do want you to see some of the theology that underlies the passage, especially as it relates to the headship of God and man (see Geoffrey W. Bromiley, God and Marriage, pp. 70-72).

We learn from this passage that God is the head of Christ, and that man is the head of woman. In other words, the man stands in relation to the woman similar to the way that God the Father stands in relation to Christ. The headship of God the Father to Christ is reflected in the headship of the man to the woman. Other passages of Scripture show that this headship of man to woman has particular applications in church leadership and in marriage. And so, the headship of the man to the woman in marriage is a picture of the headship of God the Father to Christ.

The Genesis passage teaches us that God created us male and female as part of his image. The Corinthians passage teaches us that the headship of the man to the woman reflects the headship of God the Father to Christ. Together these two passages teach us that marriage is a picture of God who is one God yet three persons. So that’s our first picture of God in marriage this morning. Marriage is a picture of God as Trinity.

II. Marriage is a picture of God and his people

Secondly, marriage is a picture of God and his people. We see this in the Old Testament with regards to God and his people Israel and in the New Testament with regards to Christ and the church. We will treat the special case of Christ and the church momentarily, but right now let’s look at how marriage is a picture of God and his people in the Old Testament.

   A. God is described as a husband to Israel (Isaiah 54:5)

First of all, God is described as a husband to Israel. We read in Isaiah 54:5: “For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5) “Your maker is your husband.” What an amazing proclamation – that God who created the heavens and the earth, who called the nation of Israel into existence, would stand in relation to his people as a husband to his wife. And this is not an isolated verse of Scripture. This is just one example of many where God is described as a husband to Israel. This is part of the theology of marriage. Marriage is a picture of God and his people.

   B. Our unfaithfulness to God is described in terms of adultery (Jer. 3:8-10; Ezekiel 16)

We see this even more clearly when we look at how our actions towards God and God’s actions towards us are described in terms relating to marriage. For example, our unfaithfulness to God is described in terms of adultery. Adultery is a marital term signifying sexual unfaithfulness in marriage. And yet, again and again the Bible describes our unfaithfulness to God in terms of adultery. For example, in Jeremiah 3 God says:

“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9 Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord. (Jer. 3:8-10)

Israel and Judah were both guilty of idolatry. They abandoned their primary relationship with God and worshiped idols made of stone and wood instead. And God describes this unfaithfulness in terms of adultery.

Ezekiel 16 is one of the saddest passages in the Bible. We won’t read the whole passage, but it is an allegory of unfaithful Jerusalem. God speaks of finding Jerusalem as an abandoned baby in a field. He gave her life and protection, and she grew up into a young woman. In verse 8 we read: “Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine” (Ezek. 16:8). And so, the tender marriage between God and his people was formed.

Next, God goes on to describe how he took care of Jerusalem and made her beautiful. We read in verses 13-14: “You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD” (Ezek. 16:13-14).

And how did Jerusalem return God’s kindness? We read in verse 15: “But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his” (Ezek. 16:15). The passage then goes on in heartbreaking detail as Jerusalem abandons the God who lovingly committed himself to her and instead commits adultery with the surrounding nations. This is just one of many examples in the Bible where our unfaithfulness to God is described in terms of adultery.

   C. God’s faithfulness to us is described in terms of marital faithfulness (Hosea 2:19-20)

Our unfaithfulness to God is described in terms of adultery, but God’s faithfulness to us is described in terms of marital faithfulness. God says to his people in the book of Hosea: “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord” (Hos. 2:19-20). Ezekiel 16 may be one of the saddest passages in the Bible, but this passage from Hosea is one of the most beautiful. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, God makes a covenant relationship with his people to betroth them forever.

Do you know that that means? It means when you come to God for salvation through Christ, you belong to him forever. He will never cast you out. God has made a covenant of salvation with you that he will never break. You may slip and fall, but God won’t. The Bible says: “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim.2:13). When you come to Christ, your sins are forgiven, and you have the assurance of eternal life.

Now we see why the Bible forbids adultery and divorce. Marriage is a picture of God and his people. Adultery and divorce distort that picture and give us the wrong picture of God. We will talk more about this next week when we look at five challenges to marriage in our day and time.

III. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church

We are looking at three pictures of God and marriage this morning: 1) marriage is a picture of God as Trinity; 2) marriage is a picture of God and his people; and then finally, 3) marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. We see this in three ways.

   A. The relationship of husband and wife reflects the relationship of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-25)

First of all, the relationship of husband and wife reflects the relationship of Christ and the church. Look at Ephesians 5 with me where we read: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:22-25).

Verse 23 tells us that the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. What does that mean in terms of relationships? Wives, you are to submit to your husbands as the church submits to Christ. And husbands, you are to love your wives and sacrifice for them as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The relationship of husband and wife reflects the relationship of Christ and the church. Once again, as Christians, if we get the marriage relationship wrong, we give a wrong picture of Christ and the church to the watching world.

   B. The oneness of husband and wife reflects the oneness of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:28-33)

Not only does the relationship of husband and wife reflect the relationship of Christ and the church. The oneness of husband and wife reflects the oneness of Christ and the church. Going back to Ephesians 5, look at verses 28-30 now: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body” (Eph. 5:28-30).

Just as we saw earlier how the oneness of husband and wife reflects the oneness of God as Trinity, here we see that the oneness of husband and wife also reflects the oneness of Christ and the church. This shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus prayed for this type of unity in John 17: “I pray … for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).

There is a mystery in the oneness of Jesus with God the Father, there is a mystery in the oneness of husband and wife, and there is a mystery in the oneness of Christ and the church. Here in Ephesians, Paul goes on to quote from Genesis 2:24, the same passage we saw Jesus quoted from last week: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” He then goes on to say: “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31-32).

In other words, Christ and the church are primary; marriage is secondary. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, not the other way around. The oneness of husband and wife reflects the oneness of Christ and the church.

   C. The marriage of husband and wife reflects the future glory of Christ and the church (Revelation 19:6-9)

So, the relationship of husband and wife reflects the relationship of Christ and the church. The oneness of husband and wife reflects the oneness of Christ and the church. And finally, the marriage of husband and wife reflects the future glory of Christ and the church. Look at Revelation 19 with me now where John shares his great vision of heaven:

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” (Rev. 19:6-9)

Do you like weddings? I like weddings. I love weddings! And the greatest wedding of all is nearer than you think. Every wedding you have ever been to, every wedding you will ever go to, no matter how beautiful, no matter how glorious, is just a pale picture of the great wedding feast to come when Christ and the church are joined together in heaven forever.

Why is marriage secondary, and Christ and the church primary? Because marriage is a temporary relationship for this life only. But the marriage of Christ and the church is an eternal reality that will last forever. The marriage of husband and wife reflects the future glory of Christ and the church.

CONCLUSION: Last week we looked at God’s design for marriage in the beginning:

“Marriage was created by God as a sacred, covenant relationship between a man and a woman based on a public vow of lifetime faithfulness.”

This week we have learned why God designed marriage as he did. HHe designed marriage to be a picture of himself. Marriage is a picture of God as Trinity. Marriage is a picture of God and his people. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. And when we mess with marriage, we distort the perfect picture that God gave us to teach us about himself.

Now, we all know there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. We have all failed in this area of human relationships. But I don’t want you to leave this service discouraged or beat down by your present struggles or past failures. There is forgiveness in Christ for the past; there is strength in Christ for the present; there is victory in Christ for the future. God’s grace is greater than all our sin. So let us take our sins and failures to the cross of Jesus, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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Notes: 1. “In some way that is not defined, this creation of man as male and female seems to stand in relation to creation in God’s image, which is also not defined. Possibly the existence of two distinct beings, man and woman, who are both generically man, reflects in a loose way God’s own being as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are all equally God. If so, Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 takes on a deeper significance. But whatever the connection, God obviously planned and created human life as life within this distinction in unity, and by associating it with his own being, he conferred on it a high ranking and dignity.” (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, God and Marriage, pp. 1-2)

2. “The truth and basis of the man/woman (or husband/wife) relationship rest and are to be sought in Christ himself…. Christ, first of all has a downward relationship to man in which he is the head of man: ‘The head of every man is Christ’ (11:3). If we think of man here as every man, whether Christian or not, this does not imply radical inequality, for, although Christ is the divine Son, in virtue of the incarnation he is also man among men…. Yet there is differentiation too. One cannot reverse the statement that Christ is man and say that man is Christ. While true man, Christ is also true God; this can be said of no other man…. Differentiated or ordered equality characterizes the relation between Christ and man which scripture proposes as a model for the relation between man and woman (or husband and wife).

“Christ also stands in an upward relationship and this time the roles are reversed, for while Christ is the head of man the Father is the head of Christ: ‘And the head of Christ is God’ (11:3). From what we read elsewhere in scripture this relationship as well entails no inequality. Father and Son are coequally God. Again, however, it involves an ordered differentiation. Within the unity of the triune being God the Father is not the Son nor the Son the Father. When Paul says that the head of Christ is God, we have another irreversible statement. One could not say that the head of God, or even the head of the Father, is Christ. Quite apart from the incarnation, in which the incarnate Son subjects himself to the will of the Father, the Father comes first and the Son second. The Father, as the fount of deity, eternally begets the Son. Differentiated or ordered equality again characterizes the relation which serves as a further model for the relation between man and woman (and husband and wife)” (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, God and Marriage, pp. 70-72).

© Ray Fowler

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