So much to consider about marriage and what it means to God and therefore what it means to followers of Christ. We have been studying marriage seriously over the years, it is a special bent Dirt and I have. Our study has brought about many changes in us, in our own marriage, in how we raised and are raising our girls, in what we don’t joke about, in what we tell other followers of Christ about marriage, about dating, about weddings, about relating to others, about raising children.
We just keep going deeper and deeper. My husband loves to talk about how our marriages, Christian marriages, but also marriages in general, is a picture that God uses in his discussion of His relationship with His church, Christ and His Church. He swings it both ways, using Paul’s discourse in Ephesians as an example, Phil often uses an ill-conceived idea of marriage as how God does not desire to relate to us; then also using the relationship Christ has with us as how we can freely relate to our spouses with confidence.
It is the example of who God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is to us that encourages us to find freedom, ease and confidence in our relationship to each other but more than that it is what brings us to get over hurts and betrayal that we think are impassable. God’s love and mercy is to be our example of our love, mercy, commitment for our spouse and then after we can accomplish submission to our spouse as unto Christ by His Church then we are able to embrace others perhaps like we have never been able to do, honestly and sustainably.
We have recently come to a profound realization about the marriage covenant, the depths of it, the extent of it, as God prepared us to speak to a young man about his marriage. We have no idea how that situation will play out but the human outcome does not change the truth of our realization, one that goes against current preaching in most churches or discussion in most Christian circles.
A conversation with my second oldest daughter on the subject caused me to look up John Piper’s position on divorce and remarriage and I was pleasantly surprised to find a preacher, well known and respected, say very much what Phil and I and our good friends, Mike and Rebecca, have come to on the subject and for very much the same reasons, the same scriptures, the same sense of the Bible and God’s set up of who he is to us and how he desires us to be with our spouses.
So instead of me babbling on incoherently, quoting snippets here and there I hope you check out what John Piper has to say in his position paper even if you are not contemplating divorce and/or remarriage, it may just speak to you about the depths God desires you to go in your presently comfortable marriage. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1986/1488_Divorce_and_Remarriage_A_Position_Paper/Check out these two video clips be sure to watch both the second one is very very good and answers some questions http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/2209/Video/ http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/2233/Video/.
I couldn’t seem to find the video clip of John Piper’s that I first watched, the two I give links to here are good but they are not the one I thought so hunt around his site maybe if you need to see it you will. It is very very good in conveying the heart and commitment of God that we are to witness to in our marriages and the privilege of being a witness to his love.
