HOLY MATRIMONY
The New York Times recently (November 13, 2018) reported that it’s a new day for weddings in our country as more and more people choose to move from sacred settings to secular locations for the actual ceremony. As marriage is becoming more and more what people define for themselves, it’s becoming more of a legal matter, a tax issue, and a question for courts to manage in terms of who gets the benefits. But when we talk about the biblical idea of marriage, there must come the realization that we can’t just shape things to our whims and desires.
With this in mind, let me share with you four foundational truths that the Bible teaches about holy matrimony:
- First, marriage is the initial and most foundational of all institutions (Gen. 2:21-24). Marriage was ordained by God before children, before the government, and even before the Church.
- Second, marriage best describes the supernatural union between Jesus Christ and His Church. Just as two become one through earthly marriage, we become one with Christ through a spiritual marriage.
- Third, marriage is the event that God has selected to consummate all of time (Rev. 19:1-7). At the grand moment when those in Christ are united with Him to enter into heaven with a resurrectional body, it is not going to be done through a coronation, or an installation, or an initiation. It will be done through a wedding!
- Finally, a fourth truth about marriage follows from the first three. Marriage is to be held in highest honor (Heb. 13:4).
So, Christ followers, let’s not just submit our wedding ceremonies to the Lord, but let’s fight the secular, individualistic mindset of marriage that is so prevalent in our culture today. So have your wedding in a barn if you wish. Two of our three children were married outdoors, and that’s fine. But let’s just make sure that these non-church settings don’t reflect the attitude that we can make marriage whatever we want it to be, because holy matrimony is a God-ordained institution.
Devotedly your pastor,
Bill Blanchard