Side by Side

This past weekend my sister got married! It was an exciting day with family and friends that was filled with joy, happiness, and honor to the Lord. I had the awesome privilege of being a groomsmen and I would like to share with you 4 lessons that came to my mind as I was standing their witnessing their wedding ceremony.  

1) Bible-centered Weddings illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church – I cannot understand the duties of husbands and wives unless I understand the truth about Christ and the church. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “The relationship between the husband and wife, and wife and husband, is comparable to that between Christ and the church and the church and Christ.” What is the point? The intimate relationship that exists between a husband and wife clearly pictures the relationship that the church has with Christ. Ephesians 5:23 states, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” From here everything else falls into place.

• The wife must submit to her husband’s leadership just as the church must submit to Christ’s leadership (see Eph. 5:24).
• The husband must sacrificially love his wife just as Christ sacrificially loves His church (see Eph. 5:25, 28).
• The husband must strive to keep his wife pure just as Christ seeks to purify His church (see Eph. 5:26-27).
• The husband must provide for his wife just as Christ provides for His Church (see Eph. 5:29-30).
• The husband must be exclusively united to his wife just as Christ is exclusively united to His Church (see Eph. 5:31-32). Furthermore, marriage between a man and a woman is God’s divine plan from the beginning (see Gen. 2:24).
• The wife must reverence (respect) her husband just as the church must reverence (respect) Christ (see Eph. 5:33).

Wow! Marriage is a wonderful thing that visually expresses Christ’s love for His church!  

2) Bible-centered Weddings communicate the gospel – From the very beginning the officiating Pastor clearly presented the gospel of Jesus Christ. He biblically and plainly communicated to the guests that Jesus Christ died on the cross of their sins, that they must repent of their sins and be saved (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-10, 13), and that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way of salvation (John 14:6). At one point during the gospel presentation he told the congregation that the wedding party would be happy and willing to temporarily put the wedding on hold if someone needed to trust Christ as their Savior. Praise God! I’m so thankful for a sister and brother-in-law that wanted to use this special day in their life as a platform to communicate the gospel to others!  To read more about God’s bridge to eternal life, click here.

3) Bible-centered Weddings establish the right foundation for the marriage – When it was time for the vows my now brother-in-law clearly and boldly stated his unconditional, sacrificial, and selfless love for his bride, and then publicly pledged his responsibility to lead, guide, and protect his bride. My mind quickly flew to God’s instructions for marriage in Ephesians 5:25-28, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.”

Then, my sister clearly vowed that she would willingly submit to his God-given authority, unconditionally love him as a person, and humbly follow his leadership. Once again, my mind flew to God’s command in Ephesians 5:22-24, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

As I was standing there I couldn’t stop rejoicing (yes, through tears) and thinking how the foundation that my sister and her husband were establishing is biblical and God-honoring! This is God’s way for marriage! God was magnified in the wedding and will be magnified in their marriage!

On a side note, any marriage where the husband stops leading and/or the wife stops submitting is doomed for failure and disaster! Why? Because it’s not God’s way! The devil endlessly labors to reverse the roles of a marriage relationship (i.e. wives lead and husbands submit). This leads me to my 4th lesson…   

4) Bible-centered Weddings are convicting – Finally, my sister’s wedding was convicting. As I observed their wedding ceremony I was re-reminded of my responsibility to spiritually lead, physically provide for, and unconditionally love my wife! What a great responsibility I must carry out. If I choose to be passive or selfish I would train wreck my marriage and it won’t just impact my family, but generations! I must be a “doer of the word.” (James 1:22).

Weddings are a great opportunity for Christians to do a “check-up” to evaluate how their marriage falls in line with Scripture. God loves Bible-centered weddings, but more importantly God loves Bible-centered marriages!