Every time I serve as a minister for a wedding, I’m reminded of how sacred it is, especially when the vows are performed. How frequent and common we make our words! No word should be spoken lightly, especially on the altar on your wedding day! These vows are sacred words, promises before God and witnesses to be faithful, to honor, to obey, to forsake all others. And marriage is of God, ordained by God, and should remind everyone of Christ and the Church. These words we speak, before one another and before God should be something that, each and every day, we should remind ourselves to keep. Jesus reminds us not to make any vow or promise, but to let our yes mean “yes” and our no mean “no.” The home created by these words is sacred, ordained by God since the beginning when Adam and Eve were presented to one another, and it is why Genesis 1:27 says “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.“
The Wedding itself points us to Christ and the Church. Today, the bride is presented to her husband, radiant and pure, in the time to come, we will be presented to Christ in the same way, and, as with marriage, we will be joined with Him forever. God does nothing by accident, He ordained marriage, and even makes our mistakes and joys and triumphs and tragedies a part of His beautiful masterpiece. Whether we’re married or not, if we’re in the body of Christ, we’re joined with Him as His bride. He desires to present us to Himself pure and washed by the water of the word, forsaking the world, the flesh, and all others. How will you honor this commitment? How will you seek to follow Jesus with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength? How will you honor the Father with your life, and be part of that bride, radiant and pure before Him?
Ephesians 5:15-33
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 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. “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. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
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