Marriage is a three party covenant with Christ at the Centre.
Eph 5:21-25 – In this whole passage, Paul constantly points both the husband and the wife to Christ as their source. Jesus holds the marriage together.
A blessed marriage consists of two healthy singles held together by Christ.
- YOU ARE NOT WALKING ALONE
Lk 24: 13-17 – A husband & wife On Emmaus Road
They were traveling together.
They were living under one roof.
Only one of their names is mentioned – they were Mr. & Mrs. Cleopas.
As they walked down from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they were both sad. Maybe your marriage is going downhill and you’re sad – guess what? The Resurrected Jesus wants to take a walk with you and give you the best marriage counsel.
In fact, this is how marriage began. God walked Adam to Eden. Then God walked Eve to Adam. And then in the cool of the day God walked with both Adam and Eve. God was the centre of their marriage.
- THE REASON FOR THEIR SADNESS?
Emmaus Journey
Lk 24: 18-21 They saw Jesus only as a servant who was present to save Israel; Jesus was only a prophet who came to serve Israel. Israel was the Center.
Lk 24:25-27 – As Jesus walked with the couple, He brought both their attention to Himself.
What is your “Israel” today?
Building a house, a church, a business, raising a child – All these are important, but do all of these as you build your marriage on Christ. Don’t neglect your marriage. Prioritize marriage.
Are your children the central focus of your marriage?
One day your children will leave you after they get married. Then you may do what many couples who built their marriage around their children do: control your child after marriage and demand grandchildren.
How to work on your marriage?
1) Seek Jesus together
2) Keep yourselves healthy in Christ
3) Submit to the wisdom of the word
4) Align yourself to His purposes
- MAKE JESUS THE CENTER: ADAM & EVE
The tree of life was the center (Gen 2:9) – It points to Jesus Christ. But Eve had the forbidden tree as the center (Gen 3:1-3) Sin came & their marriage hit a wall.
They hid from God and played the blame game.
Gen 3:21 – The same solution – God brought Adam and Eve’s attention to Jesus. A sacrifice had to be offered for God to give them coats of skin – The sacrifice speaks of Jesus who brings them together!
- SUPERNATURAL RESTORATION
LK 24:28-32 – They reached their house, where Jesus took the place of the host as if he were the owner of the house, and they finally recognized Jesus.
They said – Didn’t our heart burn while he opened the scriptures to us? The word heart is CARDIA – Singular!! They had become ONE!
When Sin entered, Adam and Eve’s hearts were cold because of fear and shame. But here we see their “heart” burned with love for Jesus! They loved him so much that they walked back 12 kms / 7 miles to Jerusalem – they were strengthened supernaturally. You will climb back to Jerusalem – the city of Peace again!!
They preached the resurrected Christ – The ultimate purpose of marriage is to depict the relationship between Christ and the church: Your marriage in itself must become a gospel message!
Three Questions every couple needs to ask –
- Are we healthy singles in Christ?
- Are we pursuing God’s purposes for our family?
- Are we preaching Jesus Christ through our marriage?
The story of the Tablecloth and the Cross in the Middle – Husband and Wife reunited after 35 years.
THE TABLECLOTH – The Cross Unites A couple after 35 years
True Story – submitted by Pastor Rob Reid: The brand-new pastor and his wife were newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn. They arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run-down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.
They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. And on December 18, they were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19, a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm – hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster, about 20 feet by 8 feet, to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit.
The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor. Not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, he headed home. On the way, he noticed that a local business was having a flea market-type sale for charity, so he stopped in.
One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory coloured, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colours and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.
By this time, it had started to snow. An older woman running in the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus, but she missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus, which was 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers and other tools to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked. Then he noticed the woman walking down the centre aisle. Her face was like a sheet.
“Pastor,” she asked, “where did you get that tablecloth?” The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG, were crocheted into it. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the tablecloth.
The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. She was captured, sent to prison and never saw her husband or her home again.
The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, which was the least he could do.
She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house-cleaning job.
What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighbourhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.
The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall, because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war, and how there could be two tablecloths so much alike. He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety, and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again for all the 35 years in between.The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride.
They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door, and saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine