Relationships & Sexuality: Marriage

This last Sunday Alex Rettmann gave a teaching on Christian marriage as covenant, sanctification, and as an image of Christ and the Church.

All the way back in Genesis 15  we see that covenant is this: “I will be to you as I should be even if you are not to me as you should be.” This type of love is only possible when the marriage runs on reverence to Christ, not just chemistry. If you have Christ as your source of love and identity, you are filled up to the degree that you can give your spouse love and respect even when they are not giving it to you.

Marriage exists to make you holy. It strips you of all self protection and lays you bare before your partner so they can join in on your sanctification — to present you even more beautiful before God. Marriage will put demands on you that actually make you more beautiful, more serving, more loving and more self-sacrificing.

Lastly, marriage is to be an image of Christ and the Church. The Bible gives us the principle of Christ as the model of leadership. It is the job of each married couple to figure out how this works itself out in their specific context in a way that the wife feels loved and served like Christ has loved and served the Church, and the husband feels honored and respected. Again, this type of marriage only exists where the husband and the wife submit to each other out of reverence for Christ.

Christian marriage is a beautiful reflection of the love of Christ — the One who loved us not because we were worthy of love, but to make us lovely through His love. If you missed this teaching, you can go back and listen to it on our podcast. See you Sunday!