Main Thought
We’ve seen and heard mixed messages about marriage. They come from places like movies, music, and the lives of other people. These mixed messages produce mixed results. God wants to fix the marriage message!
The Bible teaches us that marriage is meant to mirror the “Gospel,” or the good news about Jesus. If we can understand the love of Christ for us, and how He relates to us, then we’ll understand God’s desire for marriages. What does the Gospel teach us about the love of Christ? Jesus rejected sin. He remained committed to His love for God and us. His sacrificial love brought Him to the Cross, where He died in our place for our sin. His sacrifice created a covenant with us. (In the Bible, a “covenant” is an unconditional promise - often motivated by what one gives rather than by what one receives.) His love sanctifies us, cleansing our character, as we become more and more like Him.
These elements of the Gospel message create a lens by which we can view marriage more clearly. Marriage is meant to be committed and exclusive. It’s founded on sacrificial love, which informs our motives and actions even when passionate emotions fade. Marriage is meant to be a covenant. And marriage should cleanse us. In marriage, we’re meant to help one another become the best possible versions of ourselves. This beautiful vision of Marriage becomes reality when it reflects the love of Jesus Christ, revealed in the Gospel. That’s how the marriage message can be fixed.
Main Passages
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
- Ephesians 5:15-17
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
- Ephesians 5:25-32
Discussion Questions
What stands out to you in last week’s sermon, the Main Thought, or the Main Passages above?
What’s one or two things that created “mixed messages” regarding love or marriage for you? It could be the media, the lives of people you know, etc.
How does the Gospel help you understand marriage more clearly?