62. Marriage and the Trinity (Marriage Series Part 1)

The PRODCAST iconThe PRODCAST

3 views

“if the enemy hates God, and everything that reminds Him of God, then is it any wonder that he so despicably detests marriage, since it is dripping with the divine? Marriage was not patterned off our opinions, and it does not exist to advance our preferences. Instead, God made marriage to reflect His holy, loving, intimate, joyful, and sacrificial love that He has eternally cherished among the members of the Godhead.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theshepherdsprodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theshepherdsprodcast/support

0 comments

63. It's Very Good To Be A Man (Marriage Series Part 2)

00:04
Welcome back to the podcast where we prod the sheep and beat the wolf. This is episode 62, the marriage and the
00:12
Trinity. Recently I remembered why
00:29
I stopped noticing the sounds of war during my deployment in Operation Iraqi Freedom. You see, when we first entered the country, every cell in my body was on heightened alert.
00:40
My adrenaline was constantly pumping, every staccato rat -a -tat of a distant AK -47 was enough to make my hair stand on end.
00:50
Every civilian standing in a crowd could be a potential suicide bomber. Every vehicle could deliver the IED that would send me home looking like Lt.
00:58
Dan. And with every mortar round fired, the reality of going home in a box and my mother receiving a triangular folded
01:05
American flag pressed heavy upon my mind. Yet as the deployment wore on, these sounds sort of melded into a strange kind of normalcy for me.
01:16
For instance, every morning around 3am, the reverberating shock and rumble of incoming mortar round would agitate the little mud -brick house that we were living in.
01:25
Those first nights in the Iraqi theater, I awoke in great alarm from every blast, putting on my gear, ready for combat, trying to get myself ready and protected.
01:35
But once I realized that the Iraqis with their mortar rounds were about as effective as hitting sand when falling off of a camel,
01:42
I eventually settled down and slept right through the explosions as if nothing strange was happening to me.
01:50
See, the thunderous eruptions that once jarred me became the ethereal drum tap of the desert's lullaby.
01:57
Time, like an ancient spell, had wove its enchantment upon my senses, leaving me unconscious of my surroundings, which is exactly what
02:06
I believe has happened to the modern American church. You see, in Satan's timeless malice, he has assailed the sacred bond of marriage for so long that the sounds and the signs of warfare have sort of faded into the cacophony of noises that we have become accustomed to.
02:23
We have grown numb to the relentless onslaught at the devil's hand so that divorce, infidelity, and broken homes have become the normal tapestry woven together into the threads of our society.
02:35
For this reason, it is incumbent upon us to wake up from our slumber and to recognize that there is a war being waged all around us and that we need to cling to the weapons of warfare that our compassionate general has given us.
02:50
For all who call themselves Christians, it's time for us to rekindle our love for the hallowed word.
02:58
As followers of Christ, we must valiantly thwart the adversary's advances on marriage in general and on our marriages in particular by embracing
03:08
God's design for us, for our marriage, for our children, for our homes, that is all revealed in Holy Scripture.
03:17
Today, we're going to begin a brand new series on the broadcast on marriage by traveling back to the genesis of it, by seeking solace in the profound wisdom that is spoken by our
03:28
God in his word, and in this collection of essays or episodes, depending on where you're reading or listening to this content, we're going to lean into what
03:38
Scripture teaches about marriage. We're going to glean from our maker's timeless intentions for this institution that's going to illuminate our path forward.
03:49
And today we're going to be speaking about the actual design of marriage from the very first biblical text on marriage, which is
03:58
Genesis 1, 26 through 28. This is the text. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
04:19
God created man in his own image in the image of God. He created him male and female. He created them and God blessed them.
04:28
And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
04:38
Genesis 1, 26 through 28. Now, what we see here is that there is a
04:43
Trinitarian design for marriage. The Bible describes the creation of man in marital language.
04:53
God did not merely create two distinctly gendered individuals, calling them very good in their disconnectedness or individuality.
05:01
Instead, he created a pair of people who would become one flesh together. In the same way that shoes come in twos and socks come in pairs,
05:10
God made man as a male and female unit that would join together to become one very glorious thing, which of course was the very good part that he was talking about.
05:24
Now in this, we must also notice that the creation of man was a Trinitarian event.
05:30
God does not create the first domestic commune without blueprints. Instead, he patterns it off the divine community that has existed forever in eternity.
05:41
At the height of the creation enterprise, God speaks saying, let us, the Godhead, make man in our triune image.
05:50
When God does this, it not only serves to prove the Trinity for us, which that is important, but it also proves that God intended the same kind of intimacy that has existed in the triunity to be a part of human marriage.
06:09
Now let's look at the triune community. What kind of fellowship do they have? Well, for all eternity, members of the
06:15
Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have existed in perfect harmony, in self -giving love, an exquisite dance of divine affection.
06:24
This celestial community lives in exquisite blissful intimacy, lavishly pouring out fragrant love upon one another, heralding each other's praises and melodious harmonies that have echoed across the unformed realms, holding back nothing from one another across eons of affectionate fellowship.
06:42
In the embrace of the Father, love emanates as an eternal wellspring, an outpouring of perfect affection towards the
06:50
Son and the Spirit. The Father's love, boundless and unchanging, encapsulates the essence of nurturing, care, and tender compassion.
07:00
It is a love that delights in the Son's obedience and wholeheartedly affirms His eternal
07:06
Sonship. It is a love that seeks to glorify and honor the Son above all things.
07:14
The Son, in response, reciprocates this love with perfect devotion and filial obedience.
07:20
His passion for the Father is marked by complete surrender and an unwavering desire to fulfill the
07:26
Father's will. It is a love that willingly steps into the realm of humanity, taking upon Himself the weight of the world's transgressions, offering
07:35
Himself as a perfect sacrifice, a demonstration of love that knows no bounds.
07:42
The Holy Spirit, the breath of life within the Trinity, embodies the love that flows between the
07:48
Father and the Son. It is a love that unites and empowers and guides. The Spirit's love is like a gentle wind constantly moving and animating the divine dance.
07:59
It is a love that testifies to the unity and oneness of the Godhead, bringing forth the fruit of eternal love in the hearts of believers.
08:08
Together, the love within the Trinity is a symphony of self -giving, perfect love.
08:16
It is a love that transcends time and space, existing in boundless eternity.
08:22
It is a love that invites us to behold the divine dance and to participate in its harmonious rhythms.
08:31
Through the love of the Trinity, we catch a glimpse of the infinite depth of love that we have been invited to enter into in a transformative relationship with the
08:42
Triune God on the basis of Christ by the power of the Spirit, where we too can experience the boundless love that has united Father, Son, and Spirit together forever.
08:53
This is best pictured in human marriage. Many scholars and authors will attest that when our
09:01
Triune God patterned man according to God's image, he was undoubtedly creating individuals with rational and creative capacity to think, feel, love, and do.
09:14
But the Bible was not written in an individualistic society, and there's more to the story. God also was making man a community of persons, male and female, with whom it would not be suitable or good for them to be alone.
09:32
Thus, that community patterned off the Godhead would possess an innate desire to enjoy, participate, and be satisfied by holy intimate fellowship that imitates the eternal inner
09:46
Trinitarian realities that are observed in God. Let me say that simply. Humans want relationship because we were made by a relational
09:55
Triune God. The height of human relationships is marriage.
10:00
This finite expression, this intimate, joyful, loving, and sacrificial community that is at the height of intimacy and care is what we call marriage.
10:12
And that is what was created by God to image the
10:18
Trinity. Now, we need to talk about how this works itself out in marriage.
10:25
How is the marriage meant to image the Trinity? How do we, in a very small sense, picture the very big thing that is the
10:35
Trinity? This is not an easy topic for anyone to speak about. When you talk about the
10:40
Trinity, you are tiptoeing near the line of heresy.
10:47
I want to be very careful in the way that I speak about these things. You can flippantly, easily try to talk about these things and not understand them.
10:56
That is a completely different thing. What I want us to do is I want us to see what does it look like for human marriages to image an eternal, infinite
11:06
Trinity? And once we understand that, how are we going to progress in that, grow in that, which are valuable questions for us to consider.
11:15
Now, if we're going to get near to an answer to this, we must first catch a glimpse of the divine community that human marriage was designed to resemble and imitate.
11:24
If you want to understand how the marriage relationship functions, especially at the design level, then we need to understand how the designer engages in relationships and then let that inform our theology and our practice of marriage.
11:36
So in the ensuing minutes, what I'm going to do, it's not going to be an exhaustive exposition by no means.
11:43
That's not feasible nor prudent for me to endeavor upon at this moment. But what we are going to do is we're going to confront the enigma of the unfathomable deity whose essence transcends all human comprehension.
11:54
And instead of doing that with a comprehensive theological approach, we're just going to present a few concise examples, offering a glimpse into the very select facets that draw parallels between the
12:08
Trinity and marriage. And then we're going to show how marriage is supposed to image the
12:14
Trinity. So we're going to look at 16 attributes of the Godhead and we're going to show how those 16 attributes are imaged in marriage.
12:23
So number one, love. At the core of the Trinity resides an eternal and impeccable affection, a boundless, unreserved and unblemished love shared in perfect unity among the
12:35
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now similarly, in the sacred covenant of marriage, love assumes a foundational role, demanding unfaltering presence between the husband and the wife, just as the divine persons mutually love and selflessly care for one another, so are spouses called to emulate this sacrificial love with unwavering care for their marriage partner.
13:04
The Trinity loves each other unreservedly, marriages are called to love each other in the same way.
13:12
We are to shadow or to picture or to image what is already happening in the
13:18
Trinity. That's number one. Number two, unity. The members of the Trinity exemplify a sublime state of perfect unity.
13:27
They seamlessly embody their divine essence and purpose. There is nothing of discord or disunity among the members of the
13:36
Trinity. They are in perfect harmony with one another. Now, analogously in the institution of marriage, unity is supposed to be a paramount significance both to the husband and the wife as they merge into union with one another, becoming in essence one flesh.
13:52
There's to be no discord there, no division there. They are enjoined to diligently pursue a godly and biblically aligned unity that aligns their lives, their overarching direction, and the purpose that they are committing to with unwavering fidelity throughout a shared lifetime together.
14:12
As the Trinity has unity, marriages were designed by God to be in his triune image so that marriages are supposed to have great unity.
14:23
A marriage without unity is a marriage that is rebelling against its paradigm.
14:30
Number three, submission. The interrelationships within the Godhead unveil a symphony of mutual submission and a harmonious concord between the
14:40
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Son willingly submits to the will of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds forth from the
14:48
Father and the Son. Likewise, within the sacred bond of marriage, the principle of mutual submission finds expression as both husband and wife reverently yield to one another, motivated by love and by mutual respect for each other, while the husband assumes the mantle of servant leadership, offering guidance and stewardship to his family.
15:12
In the same way that there is a hierarchical structure in the Trinity, there's a hierarchical structure in the marriage.
15:18
In the same way that there is mutual submission and respect and love in the
15:23
Trinity, there's mutual respect and love and submission in the marriage. Number four, selflessness.
15:30
Within the Triune Fellowship, an ethos of selflessness permeates every interaction as each divine person ardently seeks the glorification and exaltation of the others.
15:42
They are not in it for themselves, but they are praising and acting and working and doing everything for the benefit of the other.
15:52
In the same way, in the realm of marriage, selflessness assumes a pivotal role with both partners intently prioritizing the needs and the aspirations of their spouse above their own.
16:02
If you have a marriage where there's selfishness, it's not patterned off the Trinity and it will destroy that marriage.
16:08
Marriage functions only when it resembles the Trinity. So if you want a healthy marriage, it can't have selfishness, it must have selflessness, which is because it was designed by a
16:21
Triune God who made it in His image. Number five, intimacy. The Trinity partakes in an intimate, boundless communion, a sacred fellowship unmarred by boundaries or reservations.
16:34
There are no walls in the Triune God, characterized by perfect knowledge and unceasing bliss.
16:41
Analogously, intimacy assumes a crucial dimension in the sanctity of marriage, encompassing emotional intimacy, spiritual intimacy, and physical intimacy between the man and woman.
16:53
It engenders an environment of trust, vulnerability, and profound understanding, mirroring the intimate dynamics that we see within the
17:00
Godhead. Put simply, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have perfect intimacy.
17:06
There is no division. There's no walls. There's no borders. There's nothing that they've hidden.
17:11
Everything is out front, perfect vulnerability and intimacy, which is why a marriage that does not have these things will not flourish, because marriage was made by God to resemble the
17:26
Trinity. So, if you want a healthy marriage, you need intimacy, because that's the way the
17:32
Godhead functions. Number six, faithfulness. Within the eternal bond of the Trinity, a tapestry of unparalleled dedication weaves the divine persons together, unfailingly loyal, pure in devotion, and unblemished by the need for improvement or apology.
17:48
They are faithful to one another, unreservedly so. Similarly, faithfulness assumes a paramount role in the institution of marriage, embodying an unwavering commitment, steadfast loyalty, and resolute devotion throughout the sacred union.
18:03
Just as the Trinitarian members epitomize unwavering faithfulness to one another, so too are spouses called to manifest unswerving faithfulness and devotedness, constancy, and faithfulness within their marriage.
18:21
If you have a marriage that is built on unfaithfulness, whether it be in communication, or whether it be in sexuality, or whatever it is, if you have a marriage based on unfaithfulness, it will not work, because it was not patterned by a
18:36
God of chaos. It was patterned by the one true and living God, who is a faithful God, who exemplifies faithfulness throughout eternity in the
18:46
Godhead. 7. Communication At the heart of the
18:52
Triune God, there is a mystery that lies perfect in complete communication, a divine exchange that has resonated with unbridled joy between the
19:01
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit since the dawn of eternity. Before time and space were even a thing, the divine persons were engaged in celebratory, harmonious, and passionate dialogue with one another.
19:14
Effective communication between God, the Son, and the Spirit has always been, there has never been anything less than perfect communication within the
19:23
Godhead. That plays a pivotal role in the covenantal fabric of marriage, nurturing, understanding, harmonizing conflicts, fostering mutual growth, communication is critical.
19:38
Spouses are encouraged to cultivate this, an atmosphere of open, honest, and respectful communication which will enrich their relational dynamics and bring them into alignment with the divine example.
19:49
Put simply, the Father talks to the Son, the Son talks to the
19:55
Spirit, they speak with one another, they communicate with one another perfectly, and if they made marriage, male and female, together to be an image of them, then you would assume that communication is an essential component of human marriage.
20:13
8. Complementarity The Trinity embodies a harmonious symphony of distinct roles and functions seamlessly interwoven within the divine essence.
20:23
In the same way, the sacred institution of marriage encompasses a complementary interplay between the husband and wife, wherein their unique strengths, gifts, and roles converge to establish a balanced and flourishing relationship.
20:39
This complementarity, far from implying inequity, embodies an appreciation for the diverse contributions of each spouse, divinely ordained, brings to the union, and fosters a unity that echoes the
20:52
Trinitarian harmony. Again, God is not the Father, the
20:58
Father, the Father. There's not three Fathers, it's Father, Son, and Spirit, which means that there's a complementarity of roles.
21:04
There's a Father who plays out His role, there's a Son who plays out His role, and there's a
21:09
Spirit who plays out His role. And all of that, one God, three persons, demonstrates that there is a harmonious aspect, a complementarity, a difference in role but in equality in person that exists within the
21:25
Trinity, and that is the exact same thing that we see in marriage. There is one marriage and two persons in the same way that there is one
21:33
God and three persons. There's one marriage with two distinct human beings who play different roles, and in those different roles, they're equal in person but different in the things that they've been called to do.
21:47
This is designed by God to reflect the Trinity. Number nine, sacrifice.
21:55
The Triune God embodies sacrificial love in its purest form. As the Father dispatched the
22:00
Son to pour out His life for the redemption of humanity and the Son willingly embraced that ultimate sacrifice, the
22:06
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit demonstrate that they are a sacrificial union. Within, similarly, the sacred covenant of marriage, sacrificial love finds its embodiment through selfless affection and through the deliberate relinquishment of personal needs for the sake of the spouse.
22:26
It entails acts of self -sacrifice and intentional choices that prioritize the well -being and the flourishing of the beloved.
22:35
Moreover, the husband assumes the role of Christ in his sacrificial leadership, mirroring his sacrificial love for his church.
22:43
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for all eternity, have been sacrificing and giving sacrificial love to one another, looking out for the needs of the other above the needs of themselves, and as they've been doing that, they've been pouring out love on one another forever, and their love actually abounds in this glorious symphony because they're not focused upon themselves, but they're focused on the love that they have for one another.
23:11
In the same way, marriages are made, not for husbands to seek their own good, not for wives to seek their own gain.
23:20
It's for the husband to pour out everything upon his wife, the wife to pour out everything upon her husband, for the two to sacrificially serve one another, to meet the needs of one another, to live selflessly entirely, like the husband is supposed to live like the wife is his chief affection and that she is the one that he's going to serve in every possible way.
23:44
He's going to outdo her in service, and the wife is supposed to reciprocate by pouring out her love, her affection, her respect, her service onto her husband so that everybody's needs are being met, but their needs are not being met through selfishness or through self -seeking, but their needs are getting met through the other.
24:06
The wife's needs are getting met from her husband. The husband's needs are getting met from his wife, and both are imitating
24:14
God. Number 10, forgiveness, mercy, and grace, and it is here that we need to recognize that within the divine community of the
24:24
Trinity, there is no such thing as sin, transgression, or the need for forgiveness. There's no need for mercy, and there's no need for grace because God the
24:32
Father or Son or Spirit has never sinned, yet God, perfect in every facet of his being, reveals himself as a
24:41
God of forgiveness, a God of compassion, and a God of grace, extending these divine attributes, not within the
24:49
Trinity, but from inside to without to fallen humanity, to recipients of his undeserved favor and love.
24:58
So God, from all of eternity, has been pouring out his love within the Trinity, and then once sin occurred, he's now pouring out his grace from without the
25:08
Trinity. In the same way, spouses are supposed to imitate this divine attribute, but in a different way.
25:15
Though spouses bear inherent imperfection within the sacred tapestry of their marriage, they are called to emulate the divine example by extending forgiveness, showing mercy, and bestowing grace upon one another.
25:29
So they start with pouring out forgiveness, mercy, and grace within the marriage, because unlike the
25:36
Father, Son, and Spirit, they're not perfect, so they need to start there. But also recognizing their own frailty, they also unite together in a shared endeavor to grant forgiveness and demonstrate understanding, and to extend grace to their covenant children and to the world around them, reflecting the divine paradigm that is set forth by the
25:57
Heavenly Father. So not only do they have forgiveness, mercy, and grace for each other, but like the
26:05
Father, Son, and Spirit, they pour out that forgiveness, mercy, and grace upon people who are external to them.
26:12
So that would be covenant children, that would be people in the community of the church, and then you can keep going on and on out in different rungs of society.
26:20
Number 11, trust. Trust stands as a foundational pillar within the
26:26
Trinitarian relationship. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit exemplify unwavering belief in one another, relentless in their devotion and unyielding in their fidelity.
26:37
Well, in the same way, trust assumes paramount significance within the covenant of marriage.
26:43
Spouses are called to cultivate a profound trust in one another, relying upon the steadfastness of their partner's faithfulness and finding solace in the unwavering commitment that they share together.
26:57
The Father implicitly trusts the Son, the Son implicitly trusts the Father, and the Spirit. There is a kind of trust there, a believing the best in one another, that is glorious and beautiful, and we are supposed to imitate that.
27:10
Now, as sinful creatures in marriage, we have to grow in trust. Sometimes we break trust. But trust, if it is not in a marriage, it will not survive.
27:19
Trust must be a part of marriage because God designed it. It imitates or images
27:25
His triunity. Number 12, perseverance. The members of the
27:30
Trinity showcase unwavering determination in pursuing their divine purposes and plans. They don't give up.
27:36
Within the realm of marriage, perseverance becomes an indispensable virtue, enabling couples to navigate the challenges and the hardships that arise on their shared journey.
27:47
Spouses are summoned to embody steadfast determination in their commitment and love and relentless pursuit of the flourishing of one another, even when confronted with trials that beset them.
28:00
You think about, in the Old Testament, how God persevered with great longsuffering through every bump and every trial and every idolatry and sin that His people walked through.
28:13
And there were times where God needed to bring down the hammer, and there were times where God was very patient and very gracious, and there was great wisdom in that, which is the next attribute.
28:24
But before we get there, in the same way, the covenant marriage is supposed to have perseverance. We're not supposed to fall apart at every bump in the road.
28:33
We're supposed to cling to one another, to leave father and mother, cling to our bride, cling to our husband, and to persevere together with fidelity and faithfulness for a lifetime.
28:43
So we image the Trinity. Marriage is not just a human institution that works well for us.
28:50
Marriage is a picture of the triune God, and it is one of the chief ways that we can give glory to God.
28:57
As we persevere in our marriage, we declare to the world, this is what God is like.
29:03
When we love each other, we declare to the world, this is who God is, because marriage images the
29:09
Trinity. Number 13, wisdom. Infinite wisdom and perfect understanding grace the members of the
29:14
Trinity. In the context of marriage, wisdom assumes a paramount role, guiding couples and making sound decisions, navigating conflicts with grace and humility, and seeking divine guidance in all facets of their union.
29:28
Couples are urged to pursue wisdom together, anchoring their decisions in the timeless truth of the word of God and seeking wise counsel from others in their community when needed as a way of imaging the triune
29:40
God. In the same way that God is wise, he's created us to be wise. Think about a marriage that has no wisdom.
29:46
Well, that would be a marriage that would be in shambles. The reason why marriages need wisdom is because they pattern the triune
29:53
God. And he has perfect wisdom. Number 14, fruitfulness. Abundant fruitfulness permeates the divine work and purposes within the
30:04
Trinity. Similarly, within the covenant of marriage, couples are called to embrace a multifaceted view of fruitfulness, encompassing not only the physical procreation of offspring, but it does include that, but also extending to their shared endeavors of building a family and building a home, serving others, leaving a lasting impact and a legacy, a heritage, a reward, an income, a retirement, building
30:30
God's kingdom. All of these things that the couple is called to be fruitful in, raising children, all of it.
30:38
And the reason that we're called to be fruitful in all of these things is because we were made by and marriage was created by a very fruitful
30:45
God. Number 15, the penultimate, which is joy, perfect and boundless joy characterizes the eternal fellowship of the triune
30:56
God. Joy is vital in the Godhead, and it's also vital in nurturing a vibrant and thriving relationship in marriage.
31:05
Couples are encouraged to cultivate happiness in their shared experiences together, cherishing moments of celebration, finding delight in life's simple pleasures, having fun together, fostering an atmosphere of joyous contentment that permeates their union.
31:20
When we think about God, we're not thinking about a dour, somber, very morose kind of being.
31:28
No, we are we're thinking about a joyful, happy God, a God that sings over us and dances and takes our worship and and abounds it for his own glory.
31:38
We're talking about a happy God who is happy within the relationship of the Trinity, who pours out his joy upon his son and his son receives that and celebrates.
31:48
We're talking about a celebrating community of joy. Why would marriage need to be this dour, morose, boring kind of thing?
31:55
No, let your marriage be joyful. Let your marriage have fun. Let your marriage have blessedness and happiness and let your joy be filled with with all of the blessings that Christ has given you.
32:08
You're called to have joy. Think about a joyless marriage. A joyless marriage is an unhappy marriage, is a marriage that may continue together in drudgery, but it's not patterned off what the
32:19
Bible says. It's not patterned off of who God is. Number 16, the final one that we're going to be discussing, there's more that we could discuss, but in keeping this article and in keeping this podcast relatively concise, this is number 16.
32:36
This is our final one, eternity. The relationship within the Trinity transcends the confines of time, embracing an eternal nature without beginning or end.
32:48
Well, in marriage, as spouses are called to mirror this eternal perspective as well, committing themselves to a lifelong partnership that reflects the enduring nature of love and fidelity guided by the everlasting covenant that they have entered into in their salvation, couples are encouraged to anchor their marital covenant in the timeless principles and values that reflect the eternal nature of that bond.
33:15
Because God is eternal without beginning or end, faithful throughout all phases of his eternality and an infinitesimal existence, we, in a very finite way, get to pattern that by being faithful and temporal for a lifetime.
33:35
That's why marriage is between one man and one woman for a lifetime because that is the time that we've been given and the time that God has been in, which is sort of an oxymoron because he created time, but in his realm, he's been faithful from beginning to end.
33:54
In our realm, we have a very short window of time, but we're called to do the same, to be faithful from beginning to end.
34:03
Conclusion. A multi -volume work could and probably should be written on the comparisons between the
34:11
Trinity and human marriage. There's so much more that needs to be said. I don't know if you noticed how dense this episode was just in trying to say as much as I could possibly say with as few words as I could possibly use, because this could be a multiple series or a full -length tome on this topic.
34:32
There is so much to say, but my point was not to be exhaustive.
34:38
My point was simply to demonstrate that this reality of us resembling the
34:44
Trinity in our marriages was not by accident, but it was by design. And it sprang forth not by happenstance, but it sprang forth when
34:54
God deliberately said, let us make man in our image.
35:00
And we know that the man that he made, he called male and female, mankind.
35:07
Now, knowing this, the question that we have to wrestle with is what picture is our male and female marriage imaging?
35:17
If my marriage is supposed to point to the Trinity, what is it pointing to? Is it pointing to the magnificent character of God, the glory of his inner
35:26
Trinitarian love, the beauty and the selflessness of his divine, intimate communion and fellowship?
35:31
Is that what my marriage is pointing to? Or is my marriage telling the story of chaos, selfishness, joylessness, and misery?
35:42
No marriage on earth is going to tell the story perfectly, but every marriage is going to say something.
35:49
Take some time today and diagnose your marriage and have the courage to repent where your marriage is falling short.
36:00
Maybe where you as a spouse is falling short. If your spouse, if the one that you're married to is falling short, pray for him, pray for her, pray that repentance would come and that the two of you together would image the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, mercy, grace, long suffering, perseverance, forgiveness, kindness, creativity, joyfulness, all of the aspects of who
36:30
God is, that your marriage would embody that and that your marriage would be a picture of the gospel.
36:37
As you fight for your marriage today and you seek to grow up into this glorious institution, remember that the enemy hates what marriage represents and the enemy hates it because he hates
36:47
God and he hates everything that reminds him of God. And there should not be any wonder at all why he so despicably detests marriage because marriage is dripping with the design and purpose that was given to it by the almighty
37:02
God. Marriage was not patterned off our opinions and it does not exist to advance our preferences.
37:08
Instead, God made marriage to reflect the holy, eternal, loving, intimate, joyful, sacrificial love that he has always cherished among the members of his
37:20
Godhead. In that sense, marriage is not about you, but it is certainly for you.
37:28
God has invited you today, you're married, to participate in and imitate his triune love.
37:37
Perhaps this is why scripture calls marriage the mystery of the gospel, because unlike any other human relationship or institution, it most clearly and most beautifully pictures the divine.
37:51
Join us next week as we look at another crucial aspect of marriage. But until then, love
37:56
God with all you've got. Love your spouse in a way that showcases God's triune love and spend your days cultivating joy.