The Mystery of Marriage

Well, it's good to be back home so to speak back among you we certainly missed you over this past week and Thankful for the time that we had away, but are also very thankful to be back

Be back here this morning to be back in Genesis this morning as we finish chapter 2 together and look forward to beginning chapter 3 next week and the

Focal point for the message today is as you can tell the mystery of marriage Which really begins in verse 18 and following?

And the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to See what he would call them

Note that that's very significant Whatever Adam called each living creature that was its name

So Adam gave names to all cattle to the birds of the air and to every beast of the field But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

I'll just pause there for a moment The pattern we've seen from chapter 1 moving forward is

God Creating God completing a creation and then God declaring that creation good

So this is the repetition the pattern of chapter 1 God acts God creates

He creates as it were a category and upon completing that category. He declares it to be good

Give you some examples 1 verse 3 God said let there be light and there was light and God saw the light that it was good

Verse 9 and 10 God said let the waters under the heavens be gathered together Into one place and let the dry land appear and God saw that it was good

On 120 and 21 God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves and God saw that it was good

So God acts God creates God completes God declares that it's good The goodness of God's creation is the constant refrain of chapter 1

But then we come to chapter 2 as we just read we come to verse 18 and read God saying it is not good

That man should be alone So we have this break from God Completing a creation declaring a good when it comes to Adam Another way of looking this would be to say

God's will for Adam was not yet complete God had not yet completed his intention in designing man

And that is why in a certain sense It was not good for Adam to be alone

God's intention for mankind had not yet been accomplished And this takes us back to our passage

The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place

Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from the first man He made into a woman and he brought her to the man and Adam said

This is now bone of my bones flesh of my flesh She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man

And we'll come to verse 24 shortly Now you'll notice as we work through the beginning of chapter 2 bidding in verse 18

God was bringing the creatures that he had made from the field to Adam birds from the air and beasts from the field and whatever the

Lord brought before him Adam named That's very significant because it's establishing a relationship of authority

So God brings a creature and Adam names the creature and in so doing there's a certain sense of God Authorizing Adam to have authority over these creatures

We already saw that flowing out of Genesis 1 28 and the great Dominion that God had given to Adam as vice -regent or co -ruler over all that God had made notice again

The same verbal pattern is repeated here God takes woman and God brings her to man brings her to Adam and Adam says

This is now bone of my bone flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman. He names woman This again is establishing a certain relationship of authority between man and woman

This is a creational order Creational pattern we see the fact that Adam is in the position to name the woman grants a certain authority

Of the first man over the first woman But we also have to keep the uniqueness of this in view

As we read these words, we have to keep Genesis 1 127 in view because there's a very big difference between the

Dominion that's given Adam over creation and And the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures of the sea the very big difference between that and The woman that is named by Adam that is made from her

We go to 127 and we have again this very stylized poetic sentence It stands out from the narrative if you have a study

Bible that likely stands out just as our passage here and in verses 2 23 and 24 likely that's a part in your study

Bible is indented Why because it's highly structured highly stylized. It's poetically parallel We come to the three lines from Genesis 1 27

God created man in his image That's the first line in the image of God. He created him.

That's the second line male and female he created them now this is

Establishing the narrative of God's creation of man And it's also giving us the order between Genesis 1 and 2

God created man in his image. He created him Singular that's Adam male and female he created them

But all of this is parallel to man and female being made in the image of God So is there a perfect equality between male and female as image bearers in the image of God?

Yes Does that take away from the order of creation? No, does that take away from the distinction of roles that God declared to be good in creation?

No, it was good that Adam found a comparable helper. It was not good that Adam was alone

So roles are embedded within the creation order But this does not take away from the perfect equality that both male and female have as image bearers of God They complete each other in this sense, and this is part of the mystery that we'll uncover this morning

What we have in Genesis 2 18 and following is essentially the space

Between the second and third line of Genesis 1 27 in the image of God. He created him

That's Genesis 1 all of Genesis Genesis 2 happens and then male and female he created them.

Do you see? We come to Genesis 1 27 God created man in his image in the image of God He created him chapter 2 is zooming in on that and then it's summarized in the third line male and female he created them

This is important for the creation order and later revelation builds on it

I'm sure many of you in this room are familiar with the importance of this for 1st Timothy 2 for 1st

Corinthians 11 scriptures Put role emphasis from the very beginning on Genesis in the creation order

So this is very important that we realize this perfect equality and yet distinction

The fact that there's a distinction in roles does not take away from the equality and the fact that there's perfect equality

Does not take away from the distinction in roles Scripture assumes this Paul assumes this when he's writing to the church at Corinth or when he's instructing

Timothy And so we come to verse 24 Therefore a

Man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh

This is an incredibly important verse and the rest of our time this morning will just be on Genesis 2 24

This is incredibly important This is one of the foundation stones really of marriage as a creation ordinance

The fact that people get married by the design of God is embedded. It's all flowing out of chapter 2 verse 24

This is not only the foundation stone of marriage as an institution at creation a creation ordinance

But it's also the foundation of marriage being a theological mystery Something that draws us back into eternity and so we want to look at this verse and see how scripture builds upon it

It's hardly surprising that we find both Jesus and Paul quoting Genesis 2 24

Returning back to the creation story to help clarify and instruct and and apply what marriage is to be how

God designed marriage to be So first, let's just consider how Jesus uses Genesis 2 24 in the context

We find Pharisees testing Jesus with the question about divorce. This is Matthew 19 parallel with Mark 10 he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the

Jordan and Multitudes gathered to him again and as he was accustomed he taught them

The Pharisees came and asked him is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? testing him

And he answered and said to them. What did Moses command you? they said Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her and Jesus answered and said to them

Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote to you this precept so notice what's taking place in this interaction

The Pharisees are coming to test Jesus and the test they have for him is Is it lawful for any reason for a man to divorce his wife and this was a debate

There was different rabbinical schools that had a different take on what Moses was actually permitting in terms of a divorce

What was fair grounds for divorce in terms of the culture? And this is a this is a test and it's interesting that it's a test because This isn't just happening anywhere.

It's happening in the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan This is the region of Herod's Authority you remember what

John the Baptist had been saying to Herod. It's not lawful for you to have that woman

And so this test is really a trap. It's not just let's see how good your theology is It's let's see if we can get you in the same prison as John the

Baptist Jesus says what did Moses command you and the

Pharisees are sharp enough to know that Moses never commanded divorce They say Moses permitted a man so they notice already.

There's a permission here not a command. There's a permission Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her and the question is why did

Jesus say? What did Moses command you by asking? What did Moses command?

He's inviting these Pharisees to acknowledge that Moses never commanded divorce. He only permitted it divorce then was and remains a concession from God through Moses because of human sinfulness

And Jesus seems to be drawing a contrast then between what God originally intended what

God Ultimately wills and therefore because of sin what he'll permit and that's this language

Moses permitted verse 4 But already just framing it this way shows that you cannot look at marriage and divorce in terms of loopholes

What can we get away with and it's still to be considered lawful Jesus is already saying have you thought through the design and intent of marriage?

What is God's will for marriage if you can understand that then you can understand the nature of divorce

So these Pharisees came to Jesus not seeking God's truth for marriage Not seeking how they might grow in faithfulness to that great institution how better to lead

God's people in it They don't mention marriage at all. Instead. They only speak about divorce and Jesus response is that divorce was never part of God's intention for marriage.

How does he do that? He goes back to the beginning he goes back to Genesis 2

In fact, he goes back to Genesis 1. This is very significant to this is from Mark 10 verses 6 and 8

From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

That's Genesis 1 27 From the beginning of creation God made them male and female and now he quotes 2 24 for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh

And now he adds His sort of exclamation point on that so then they're no longer two but one flesh

Therefore what God has joined together let not man separate Notice what

Jesus is doing He's not responding from the rabbinical interpretations of the day He doesn't say

Oh Shammai is right Hillel's wrong or Hillel's right Shammai is wrong He's not looking at the latest statistics in government measures

Oh If only you could see the decline and the decline in birth rate and how we have to really labor to try to restore marriage

In the culture, he's not even interested in the general flow of the culture. He's responding from God's design in creation

Jesus points to creation in Genesis 1 and 2 as the foundation as the paradigm for what marriage is

Jesus brings them back to the beginning Frankly there's a lot of evangelicals that aren't willing to do this

They want to talk about human flourishing and they want to look at the impact of having marriage decline and the child rate decline

They tend to say things like well If if the marriage dissolves and a child grows up in a single -parent home if they're a girl they'll they're three times more likely to grow up and and be

Pregnant out of wedlock and be in poverty if they're a male They're three times more likely to go to prison and can't we just get back on marriage so that humanity can flourish once more

Well, that's a very roundabout way of reasoning toward The significance of God's design for marriage, but Jesus is rather just direct

God created male and female God created marriage. What was God's design in doing that?

We don't look at Rates and statistics so much as we look at scripture. This is our authority

We should not reason from this neutral ground as though if only we could agree that marriage is in fact a healthy thing for a

Happier society and it has a better trajectory for most people That's not a Christian way of viewing this

Christians say from the beginning it was not so God created man male and female and for this reason a man should leave his

Mother and father and be joined to his wife and those two become one flesh. That is Jesus response

Because here we see God's intention for marriage Like the

Pharisees and for that matter the disciples many are unsettled by Jesus teaching here The disciples, what do they go on to say if this is true it's better not to marry this is unsettling teaching

Boy, you mean absolute loyalty and commitment Maybe it's better not to marry it shows how flippant this view was in the culture even 2 ,000 years ago.

Well, how much more so today? So much of the cultural eclipse of Christian morality is bound up to marriage so much

More specifically the fact that Christians have not stood upon Jesus teaching And also not followed

Jesus teaching in marriage in the way that they pronounce proclaim and live out

Covenant obligations as husbands and wives as one said we cannot reclaim marriage unless we reclaim the clear

Christian witness That our sexual desires must be ordered to their proper end male female union in the context of marriage

That's why Jesus quotes 127 before he quotes 224 this was

God's design for male and female And as soon as God created male and female this mysterious picture of marriage becoming a one flesh union

Becomes the foundation for how humanity is meant to flourish for how humanity is meant to cover the earth

We live in a time that views marriage as a social construct Just something that society decides to do and the government should defend it for any individual that so chooses it

It's just an arrangement that can and should be changed to include any and all relations But we're seeing

Legislation moving toward polyamory and all sorts of new variations on marriage Everything's up for grabs because the idea is well society constructs and defines what marriage is it's up to us

It's our arrangements for what works best for our society And so marriage does decline and family then is deconstructed because Family as an institution rests upon marriage and so this is how a whole civilization begins to collapse when society

Systematically denies the difference between male and female In their cultural forms in their laws in their customs

Not only do you fundamentally take away the dignity of what it means to be made in the image of God as male and female

But you also begin to legislate unreality It's not for no reason that we say

Marriage is between one man and one woman. This is marriage. Everything else is not marriage

It does not matter what the government says or what the laws sanction marriage is defined by God.

It's instituted by God at creation Our culture would then look at us and say How dare you you irrational bigots?

Which is quite frankly what we are in the eyes of the culture just for holding Genesis 2 24

Just for teaching Genesis 2 24 as Jesus taught Genesis 2 24

How out of touch we are how irrational how unloving how cruel how mean -spirited?

What happens when the culture of the land dictates the law of the land in such a way That it accelerates the dissolution of marriage

Because it denies the distinction between male and female and therefore because marriage declines the family is destroyed

What happens when the law no longer recognizes the fact that male and female are meant to complement each other and meant to come?

Into union as one flesh and become mother and father. This is the original intention and design of God at creation

Now we live in a fallen world in a broken world and this ideal this intent is not always realized we live in a world with singleness and widowhood with Miscarriage and infertility and and all of this of course we we grant

But we're trying to look at what God designed his intention for men and women from the beginning

So I asked a question What happens when this takes place in our culture in our laws when we deny the difference between male and female and therefore dissolve?

The the impetus for marriage and therefore destroy the family what happens? This is partly what happens the family

Soon becomes the creation of the state The state says we define what marriage is and who can rightly be married and therefore will define

Who can have children under what circumstances? Not only does the state then define what marriage is the state defines what a family is therefore children become in a circumstance property of the state

That's taking place around us We Deny the difference between male and female we deny this mystery of a one -flesh union

That's given to us by God and instead of viewing children as a gift the state says well children are a right who will legally grant them to Man and man couples or woman and woman couples you see all of this

Comes from a fundamental denial of what God has created from the very beginning So what do we say to the charge that marriage is merely a social construction

Defined by our will not by God's institution. This is what we should say to that From the beginning of creation

God made them male and female for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined

To his wife and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh.

That's the answer the answer is right there in Genesis to Look at how

Paul uses Genesis 2 as we take a step further We come to Paul's letter in a very different setting not a

Jewish setting but predominantly a Gentile setting Not in a place where Jesus being tested, but where we have people gathering who believe in Jesus and they want to follow

Jesus But of course there's difficulty in following Jesus There's relational difficulty in following Jesus and so G in Paul is giving instructions to these believers

About what their marriages are to look like now that they're following Christ and this passage is oh so familiar to us

But I hope that we can look at it for its boldness Look at it as though you've never heard it or read it or heard

Joel Beakey preach on it before Ephesians 5 22 and following Wives submit to your own husbands as to the

Lord For the husband is head of the wife As also Christ is head of the church and he is the

Savior of the body Therefore just as the church is subject to Christ.

So let the wives be to their own husbands and everything Husbands love your wives

Just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word

That he might present her to himself a glorious church not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing

But that she should be holy and without blemish Here's this beautiful Sort of the veil of the mystery being pulled apart by Paul notice at the very beginning here.

We have this just as Dynamic just as the church is to Christ just as Christ is to the church.

Here's this moral Sort of tapestry to marriage that exists as a parallel between the church and the marriage relationship

Paul continues where members of his body Of his flesh and of his bones

Well, that's very interesting language. Where's that coming from? For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh

What's that? That's Genesis 2 24 This is a great mystery But I speak concerning Christ in the church

What does Paul say about Genesis 2 24? He says Genesis 2 24 is a great mystery, but it's actually about Christ in his church

Does that mean that it has no bearing then on the husbands and wives of the Church of Ephesus?

Does it mean that there's really no fair? Application to be made to the husbands and wives here in Berry, Massachusetts.

No, of course not Paul himself is using this to apply and deal with the marriage relationship in the church

But what he's saying is in a mysterious way This verse is actually not just about marriage as a social institution ordained by God This is about Jesus Christ and the church that he gave himself for And that's why verse 23 begins with Adam really saying this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh

Christ looks at the church and he says this is my body. This is my flesh

I'm the head of the church the head of my body. There's this Mysterious way that the church has become united has become one with Christ And then he quotes to Genesis 2 24

The way Paul is quoting it's very deep. He's basically saying God does not pattern the union of Christ After human marriages

As though he's saying well, we're really close to Christ where you know, we're kind of one in him What's what's a good analogy for it?

Oh, you know, it's kind of like a marriage. It's kind of like a marriage That's not what Paul's doing He's saying every marriage has always been about Christ and his church.

This is a great mystery but the whole reason that God created Humanity as male and female and instituted the fact that they would become married and in the context of marriage

There would be a consummation by which they would become one flesh. They would become united Leaving the mother and the father being joined as one that this was always about Jesus Christ and his people his bride always from the very beginning

What we see in Scripture as it's underlined by Jesus and also here by Paul Is that God designed marriage to be the union of one man and one woman?

What Paul's enlarging is this great mystery that the one man is the last Adam And the one woman is his bride the same bride that we open the service with in Psalm 45

The daughter who's to forsake her home and not look back and come to the glorious one come to the bridegroom

And there's this one flesh union in this mysterious way What was separate becomes one a single entity and an entity that demands allegiance over every other relation

Leave the father leave the mother Even over your own individual rights That's how Paul develops it in 1st

Corinthians 7 now you as a husband no longer have authority over your body Your wife does and the wife no longer has authority over her body, but the husband does now

There's this there's this amazing surrender over to the other and of course a man and a woman complement each other physically, but This goes beyond just the design of God and physical creation

This is a theological mystery. This is a redemptive projection When you're married you become one flesh and that's why the

Bible can say he who loves his wife loves himself Because he's one flesh every marriage

However, imperfectly followed is patterned after the mystery of Christ and his bride

And this is where the gospel mystery is unveiled Earlier in Ephesians 5 just before this in the same chapter

Paul says this, you know, no fornicator No unclean person no covetous man

Who's an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God let no one deceive you with empty words

Because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience Therefore do not be partakers with them

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord Paul saying no unclean person will inherit the kingdom of Christ But then he says you were once darkness

They were once darkness They didn't just have unclean tendencies they were uncleanness

And Paul saying no unclean person enters into the kingdom of Christ. No unclean person has an inheritance in Christ And Paul's not saying so go clean yourself up try really hard What does he say?

He says Christ loved you when you were unlovable He chose you to be a bride.

Holy He devoted himself completely to you and when it cost him everything he gave everything

And he did that so that he could cleanse you you were once darkness now your light

You were once unclean and cut off now your cleanse that brought near your sins have been purged and He rejoices in you.

He delights in you He's preparing a place. He's he's washing scrubbing preparing you for the day that you'll be arrayed glorious He's anticipating the day that the oneness will be fully consummated now

You see it in part, but then you'll see it fully when you see him. You'll be like him This is all flowing out of what we saw in Romans 5 a couple weeks ago

Paul's one flesh union It's all about Christ as the second Adam Through Adam we fell into sin, but through the one man's obedience many are made righteous

Romans 5 is dealing with Adam as the one who brought the curse of sin into the world But then Christ the last

Adam he brings redemption to that curse and why does he do that? He does it so that he might present to himself a glorious church

Not having a spot or a wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish

Marriage is this mysterious picture of the gospel because it was the whole plan of God's redemption from the very beginning

Marriage was instituted first and then Adam and Eve fall into sin and then in a certain sense redemption begins

But Paul's saying this is a great mystery The fact that there is marriage the fact that there is male and female has always been about Christ Relating to his bride a bride that was chosen that was appointed in eternity

And when she was chosen She was chosen to be glorious to be full of light

To be pure to be radiant to be arrayed in splendor He chose her to be that way

And when she was defiled by the fall in the fullness of time he came and As the last

Adam he entered into that deep sleep of death and From his bloody torn side

God created a bride a bride And that's the church

Paul saying this is a great mystery. He gave himself her Jesus whole ministry encapsulates this from the very beginning.

We see that this was the intention and plan of God Where was Jesus first miracle you can you can pronounce this out to me a little

Bible trivia. Where was Jesus first miracle? Cana it was had a wedding

That's very significant Jesus begins the demonstration of his power as the

Messiah at a wedding And you know the story how the feast is sort of going downhill and The good wine is running out and the host is very concerned.

He doesn't want to lose that that social status He doesn't want to dishonor the guests and certainly then bring shame upon the groom and the bride

And so Jesus is there and his mother compels him. Surely you can do something And so he orders these great

Stone jars that were used for ritual cleansing He orders them to be filled to the top with water and as you know, he changes the water to wine

We read when this is John 2 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and did not know where it came from But the servants who had drawn the water knew the master of the feast called the bridegroom

And he said to him Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine and when the guests have well drunk then the inferior you've kept a good one until now

This beginning of signs John writes Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory now as far as miracles go we might think of giving someone who's blind sight making someone who's paralyzed walk

Cleansing a leper so that their skin is perfectly healthy and functioning casting out someone who's been demon -possessed and tortured in the cave

Stilling storms and making the sea as smooth as glass Transfiguring on the mount and being as radiant as the

Sun these are the kinds of things that we would expect to be displaying the glory of the

Son of God, but Changing water into wine and that's impressive, but Couldn't we find that on YouTube?

Couldn't we find David Blaine or some street magician doing something eerily similar? How is this so glorious?

Why is this preserved? It's preserved because of Genesis 224 and the great mystery of the gospel

Jesus doesn't go around doing occasional tricks and stunts hoping to gain a following we saw that in Mark, right?

He's actually repelling a following He only did what was given for him to do by the father

I'm sure Mary could be very persuasive But it wasn't because Mary was asking or Mary was persuasive that Jesus relented and decided to show his power

It was because the father had given it to him So the opening revelation of the divinity of Christ Is at a wedding where he takes water and makes it the greatest wine and And there we understand why this is recorded and why this is the beginning of Jesus ministry

It's because we're getting a glimpse of who Jesus is and what he's come to do We get a glimpse of the last

Adam as the perfect bridegroom We get a glimpse of the beloved one of song of Solomon of the groom of Psalm 45

Here we get this picture of the husband to Israel The head of the church the

Savior of the body here We get a glimpse of Jesus saying my ministry is going to lead to a marriage supper on like any other to a consummation that was prepared for from eternity an infinitely greater feast at an infinitely greater wedding and The same gospel writer

John when he comes to the end of the Bible when he comes to Revelation We read about this don't we in Revelation 19 beginning in verse 6

I heard the voice of a great multitude the sound of many waters the sound of mighty thundering saying hallelujah

For the all -powerful Lord God reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the

Lamb has come And his wife Has made herself ready and to her it was granted to be arrayed in linen clean and bright.

Do you see what John is doing? John is bookending how he began his gospel The gospel sort of begins with Jesus turning water into wine a glimpse of this marriage supper

And at the very end of Revelation here it is We're ushered into the marriage feast and the bride has been made ready to her

It was granted to be arrayed in glory and cleanliness and purity Revelation 21

He says come I will show you the bride the lambs wife And John in this vision is seeing the church and all her splendor

She's this bride, but she's also this glorious city. She's Jerusalem Descending out of heaven having the glory of God her light like a precious stone like jasper as clear as crystal

Here's this this bride this city And how is it that the bride is granted to wear fine linen clean and bright?

It's it's right out of Ephesians 5, isn't it? Christ loved the church Christ loved his wife

The lamb loved his bride and he gave himself for her So that he could sanctify her so that he could cleanse her with the washing of water by his word

This is just this is just the glory of this mystery We relate to each other as those who are part of this bride

We relate to our Savior not just as a Savior of our individual soul, but as the

Savior of this corporate body And there's a certain sense in which we all keep our lamps full waiting for his return waiting for this marriage feast waiting for this one flesh union

The mystery of the gospel is that God's Son from an infinite depths of an eternal love would become the

Savior of the bride the church of his body For all those who've repented and come to him in faith

Being made one flesh with him one flesh with him through the

Spirit through the cross There's nothing more intimate

There's nothing more deep than this That we've been brought near by the blood of Christ Not just next to but into him as one with him

Partakers of the divine nature co -heirs joint heirs with Christ So as we come to a close, let's remember this mystery of marriage

We don't We don't go to the battle lines that our culture has formed against us trying to use statistics

Trying to use some utilitarian reasoning as to why we should we should save traditional marriage

We go back to the beginning we go back to Genesis 2 We'll talk about what marriage is all about and why

God gave it And we know that its ultimate meaning is deeply mysterious. It's all about Christ and his church

And so brothers and sisters we we proclaim as we worship as We live as we love as we love our spouse as we love one another as brothers and sisters

We proclaim that Christ loved the church and gave himself for her If Christ were not faithful to his own bride we would all be undone

But Christ is faithful the same yesterday today and forever He bound us with the same love he has toward us this morning

He bound us in that same love in eternity There was a time that we were not and in that time

Christ's love Bound us to him Revelation 19 as I close just listen to the invitation of this

And he said to me right blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the

Lamb 2117 the spirit and the bride say come

That beautiful The spirit and the bride say come Let him who hears say come

Let him who thirsts come In the spirit of God the spirit of Christ compelling drawing leading scrubbing washing cleansing purifying sanctifying

Persevering saying come But then the bride to say come

The spirit working through the bride through the church saying come come if you thirst come if you hear come

Come For blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the

Lamb. Let's pray Father we thank you for this great mystery

Lord This great great mystery That our marriage is ultimately about your marriage

That our love is ultimately about your love That our desire to be united to a wife or to a husband

Is ultimately this great mystery about your desire? To unite yourself to a people that you would save at the cost of your own blood

But you would sanctify to make glorious to make

Fully in splendor arrayed in glory. Oh Father what a great mystery this is help us as my brother exhorted us in prayer help us to live with great zeal

Knowing your plan your intention your purpose in establishing marriage, but ultimately that must give way

To this great marriage this marriage supper of the Lamb this great consummation that is hurtling toward us

Help us to live as as wise virgins with lamps full waiting for this consummation even in our marriages

Lord let these marriages be Sustained and upheld and undergirded by the beauty and the display of this divine marriage between you and your people

Let us find joy and peace and hope and satisfaction in our marriages because we have that in you

And let our marriages then be a display a powerful display Let it not be the statistics or the declines of the divorce rates that compel a culture to preserve marriage

But let it be this glorious display of the gospel Let people be convicted and ashamed that they've torn asunder what

God has given Not because of of the cultural pressure, but because of the beauty and the glory of what you've made and why you've made it

But our marriages Lord not just be about status quo Some return to the the halcyon days of the 1950s, but let it be about the gospel

What our lives here Lord be shown according to that perfect design that most perfectly displays your son and his love for his people his love for his bride and Let us

Lord as that bride Be zealous Lord to prepare ourselves to meet with him.

Let us as a church Put on Lord that armor and that wedding gown.

Let us Lord be fully equipped to stand But to stand Lord in purity and in holiness these things we ask in your son's name.