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Renewal
As we're all standing, please join us while we begin this service by worshiping the Lord.
You may be seated.
Let us go before the Lord in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, you have done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Thank you so much for the incredible blessing of love and marriage. And we ask now for favor and blessing upon this wedding ceremony, that all things would be done for our joy and to your glory.
We commit this time to you and ask your blessing upon it in Jesus' name, amen. Marriage is a match made in heaven. I have really just three important things to say about marriage. And the first is that marriage, the very idea of it, the plan, was instituted by God.
In Genesis 2, verses 21 to 24, it says, When the man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman. Because she was taken out of man, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be united fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
These words are a beautiful picture of what God designed marriage to be. Do you notice where God took from Adam in order to fashion a wife for him? He did not take from Adam's skull or from his head in order that she would be above him, neither did God take from Adam's heel that she would be underneath him.
But where did God draw from? From his rib, that she would be the closest thing to his heart and under the arm of his protection and provision, as she then would be a helpmeet and a support to him in his mission on earth.
And together they are made in the image of God. It is a beautiful picture. There is a sweet complementarity between husband and wife. The helpmeet suitable is complementing or meeting the needs that he cannot meet on his.
Own.
This is a need for companionship, an intellectual equal. Someone to spend life with, with corresponding differences. This is also for the propagation of the race, to fill the earth and subdue it. This was God's design for marriage.
But notice that in God's original plan, Adam and Eve did not fulfill their roles rightly. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they did anyway and so sin entered the world, which gave need for a savior.
And this is the second great thing I would like to share today. And that is that marriage on earth reflects an even bigger plan of God. It is a heavenly plan that God would send his son to take on flesh and wash the fallen sons and daughters of Adam.
We learn this from Ephesians chapter 5. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a glorious church.
The comparison here is between husband and wife and Christ and the church. This is an amazing comparison because marriage here is picturing more than man and woman. As beautiful as that design is, it's picturing the love of God for those who would believe in him.
You see, Adam and Eve in the garden fell into sin, but there was a second Adam. One who came from God, who lived a perfect life. Where Adam in the garden of Eden rebelled against God, Jesus Christ was tested in a garden.
His last great temptation came just before the cross. He was tempted to not go through with it, but in his obedience, he fulfilled the will of God, praying, not my will, but yours be done. Unlike Adam, Jesus was perfectly obedient in the garden.
But I want you to notice a second comparison, and this is very interesting. Where was Eve drawn from Adam? From his rib. This required the opening of Adam's side, but he slept in the midst of this. It was a painless operation.
The fashioning of a woman from the man as he slept and he woke in peace to behold he had a bride. But once sin came into the world, there had to be punishment for sin. And notice this. The way God redeemed the world was by sending the second Adam, Jesus Christ, and he too opened up his side.
His side was opened by the piercing of a soldier's spear. It required blood. And from his side, we are told by the witnesses, blood and water poured out. This is where the church was born. See, the church is the bride of Christ, and we were born from his side by blood and by water, not from a rib, but from the spilling of blood and water.
You see, that water was necessary for the washing away of our sin. From the blood and the water of the groom's side, a bride was brought to him. The Spirit washes away sin and cleanses the sinner with the blood of Jesus and the water of washing.
Matthew Henry put it this way, this water and blood include all that is necessary for our salvation. By the water, our souls are washed and purified for heaven. By the blood, we are justified, reconciled, presented righteous to God.
And isn't it interesting that the two ordinances of the church are baptism and communion? When one becomes a Christian, they are washed underwater, buried with Christ in baptism. And then for the rest of our lives, we Christians, we receive communion.
We take the blood, the cup, in remembrance of the blood shed for us. The church was born, not from the rib of Jesus Christ, but from blood and water poured from his side, opened for a bride. And that brings me to my third and final quick point.
If this is the case, that Jesus has redeemed you by blood and water, and each of you stand here redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, then your Christian marriage is a picture to the world of the truth of this message.
This is a match made in heaven. So love one another as Christ has loved you. There are some beautiful words in 1 Corinthians 13 that exhort you how to do that. The most beautiful words about love ever written, given to us in the Bible.
Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. So now faith, hope, and love abide. But the greatest of these is love. So I have preached the truth about Jesus Christ, and many who have heard this message don't know me from Adam, but most of them, in fact probably everyone here, knows you.
And they will see your marriage as a representation of this message that we preach. Live in such a way that brings honor to Jesus Christ. His design is perfect. His love is displayed in Christ, and you are a reflection of that love.
At this time, we will celebrate what is called the Chord of Three Strands. This comes from Ecclesiastes chapter 4, two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up again.
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. The two brown cords on each side of the cross represent both Jacob and Morgan.
They are the color brown because we as human beings are all sinful and therefore corrupted by a symbolically dark color, representing all of our sin. The cord in the middle represents Christ. Christ's cord is the color white.
The color white symbolizes purity, and that is what Christ is, pure and sinless. Jacob and Morgan are now tying themselves around Christ to show that they are not only becoming one with themselves today, but also one with Christ, making them all into one threefold cord.
And if you remember, a threefold cord is not quickly broken. They are doing this all upon a cross to show that the cross is a symbol that this new bond and marriage is set upon. The cross represents Christ's death, where Jesus Christ was hung on a cross to die, and when he died, he took upon our sin.
Jesus took the punishment that we deserved on that cross because he loved us. This is the message behind the symbol of the cross that Jacob and Morgan are declaring to be the center point of their marriage.
United hearts, God has brought you here together to be united in his love. Joined in holy matrimony with faith in God above, let your faith guide your lives with a measure of God's grace, for this is what keeps love strong through whatever you may.
Face.
Keep building your marriage on the foundation of Christ. It will not crumble or give way through the daily pressures of life, but we will stand the test of time, growing stronger day by day. Just keep your hearts truly united, joined as one when you pray.
The cord that binds your hearts will not fray or break in two. When you build your lives on God, he will walk with you.
Wives, submit yourself to your husbands as it is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward, it is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving.
Love is the river that flows through. Love never fails.
You will sustain.
Love will provide. Love will not cease at the end of time. And love will protect. Love always hopes. And love still believes when you don't. Love is the arms that are holding you. Love never fails you.
My heart won't make a sound when I can't turn back around. When the sky is falling down, nothing is greater than this, greater than this. Love is the way, the truth, the life. Love is the river that flows through.
Love is the arms that are holding you. And love is the place you will fly to. Love never fails you.
He answered, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Matthew 19, 4 through 6.
Amen.
Praise the Lord. At this time, we consider the symbol of the wedding ring. Though the ring is small in size, it is very large in significance. It is made of precious metal, and that reminds us that marital love is neither cheap nor common.
But indeed, marital love is very valuable and very dear. Its design is in a circle. And its design tells us that love must never come to an end. Christ loved us first, so we are able to love. You must keep love continuous, whether together or apart, for just a moment.
The ring is a reminder that you will see every day, even on days when circumstances dictate that you not see each other very much. As you wear these rings, may they be a constant reminder of the love you share and the promises you are making today.
Please join hands. Each of you will repeat your vows after me, and then after the vow, please put the ring on the finger of the other to symbolize your vow. Jacob, you lead. I, Jacob, take you, Morgan, to be my wife.
And I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful husband in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health. As long as we both shall live, this ring I give to you in token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love.
And now, Morgan. I, Morgan, take you, Jacob, to be my husband. And I do promise and covenant before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful wife in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health.
As long as we both shall live, this ring I give to you in token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love. Let us pray. Father, we thank you so much for the giving and receiving of rings, which symbolizes something so important.
The vows given one to another to make husband and wife, two becoming one. We thank you for what you are doing right here in our midst in this moment. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, we are going to celebrate by praising God, singing the doxology.
Please all stand. And made your promises and celebrated your union with the giving and receiving of rings. It is at this time that I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Hoke.
