The most revelatory text in the Bible about marriage is found in Ephesians 5. In verse 31, the Apostle Paul writes: "For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
When Paul talks about "becoming one flesh," he's actually quoting Genesis 2:24. Paul goes on to write, "This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband" (Eph. 4:23-33).
He is talking about marriage and this verse is just a small part of a bigger picture that he's painting in this passage. But I want us to note that, in the middle of discussion of marriage, Paul says This is a mystery.
And here is the mystery: marriage reveals the heart of God and the power of God's love more than anything else on earth. When you see a married couple loving each other the way they should, then you are seeing a picture of God's love.
That is why the devil hates marriage so much. That's why the devil attacks marriage with a vengeance.
When he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he wasn't attacking an individual man and woman; he was attacking marriage. He was doing violence to an institution that was created in the second chapter of Genesis.
A godly marriage is high on the list of things the devil can't stand, because a man being a sacrificial, Christ-like leader to his spouse is a testimony of the love of God. A woman being an honoring helpmate to her husband is a testimony of the love of God.
And nothing infuriates the enemy like the love of God. That's why it is so important that we have loving, biblical marriages. They are a weapon against darkness.
As you might know, Karen and I married when we were 19 and were totally unprepared for what that meant. Our marriage was in trouble early, and only through the grace of God were we rescued from the brink of divorce.
It was at this point that we saw the power a loving, healthy marriage could display to the world. We never hung out a shingle or pretended that we were experts at anything, but people saw what our marriage had become and kept approaching us for marriage counseling. Finally, one day, our pastor asked me to come on staff as a marriage counselor.
That was the beginning of MarriageToday. God used our marriage to bring hope to our lives, then he used our healed marriage to bring his love to the lives of others. Through this ministry-which didn't come about through our plans at all but only through God's plan-many other marriages have been strengthened, and have become agents of God's love in the world.
If you are facing struggles in your relationship with your spouse, it is because your marriage has so much potential to proclaim God's power and healing to a hurting world. Your marriage can communicate hope. Your marriage can communicate God's love.
That's the kind of marriage God designed back in the Garden of Eden, and that's the kind of marriage I want you to have.
Blessings,
