Lesson for April 7, 2019
The Doctrine of Christian Marriage
Corporate Testimony of Christian Marriage
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12,“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
A corporation is a group of two or more people united in one body to act as one. A corporation includes:1) organization 2) authority/function 3) objectives. Once you have organization and authority/function you need to set up objectives. The objective in Christian marriage is to glorify God through advance in the spiritual life as a couple. Objectives must be defined in terms of Bible doctrine and God’s policies and procedures, i.e. the Protocol Plan of God.
The divine institution of marriage is the first corporate institution in all of history. Marriage was created by God and established for the purpose of stability and perpetuation of the human race and to create a witness for the Prosecution (God) in Satan’s appeal trial during the Church Age.
The first corporation was created by Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve became the only members of the first corporate institution when Jesus Christ (Jehovah) performed a “wedding ceremony” in the Garden of Eden.The next thing Christ did was to set up a system of authority or function. Adam was given the function of leadership in marriage. Eve was given the function of supportive partner.
The next thing Jesus Christ did was to define the objectives of marriage. Christ protected them, taught them Bible doctrine every day, provided a language for them. The objectives, policies, principles and doctrines were defined daily as Jesus walked with them in the Garden in the cool of the evening. (Genesis 3:8) The function and organization of the divine institution of marriage has been the same since the first corporation.
The divine institution of marriage was designed to make sure that the human race would not destroy itself. God created marriage to protect the human race from self-destruction. Nations survive because they have a large number of good marriages – believers and unbelievers. Stability of the Laws of Divine
Establishment regarding marriage and family often determine whether freedom continues in a nation. The break down in marriages and families has caused nations to fall.
The witness of two spiritually mature believers in marriage is used by God against Satan’s claim of unfairness and injustice. Because the Church Age is the rebuttal phase of the Prosecution in Satan’s appeal trial, the Christian institution of marriage is a corporate testimony to refute Satan’s arguments that God is unjust and unfair in sentencing him and the fallen angels to the Lake of Fire. The Christian institution of marriage is specifically related to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age as seen in the analogy of Christian marriage to Christ and the Church. (Ephesians 5:22-33) Only spouses executing the Christian Way of Life in accordance with the principles of marriage outlined in the Bible can be a credible corporate witness for God in this trial.
Marriage has been an issue in Satan’s appeal trial since the first man and woman failed. Satan has constantly argued that if the first marriage failed in perfect environment, no marriage can succeed. Since marriage is a testing ground for the spiritual life, marriage is a part of the testimony of Satan’s appeal trial in human history.Precedence for marriage was established in the Garden of Eden with the divine institution of marriage for believers and unbelievers. The first marriage was composed of a perfect husband and a perfect wife in perfect environment. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (representing spiritual death, Satan and his cosmic system) and the Tree of Life (representing eternal life, God and His Protocol Plan) was the only test of free will under perfect environment because under perfect environment knowledge of what is good and what is evil is not necessary.After the original sin of our first parents, the divine institution of marriage continued with two fallen human beings, Adam and Eve. They were created perfect, did not need to have a conscience, but did have a free will. They did not need to understand the difference between right and wrong. All they needed was one test. This test duplicated the circumstances of the prehistorical Angelic Conflict with regard to volition.
The spiritual life of the Church Age is unique. Every believer in the Church Age is a royal priest, an ambassador for Christ, in union with Christ, indwelt by all three members of the Trinity, and many other things. Church Age doctrine establishes a lifestyle that is designed to give the highest form of service to God that has ever existed in the human race. This means that Christian marriage is designed to be a corporate testimony for God to Satan, angels and the human race.
The foundation for Christian marriage and the family is the husband’s love for his wife. Without this mental attitude of love, he can expect no positive response from his wife or his children. When a man invests nothing in his marriage, he will receive nothing in return. The woman was made for the man and is a glory to him. (I Corinthians 11:7-9) The husband’s responsibility to the family does not end with being the bread-winner, which is just a small part of the responsibility in marriage. The husband should initiate a mental attitude of love expressing itself in conversation, behavior pattern and physical relationship. The husband should always have time for his wife and family.
The wife in a Christian marriage needs a sense of security which comes from knowing that her husband makes good decisions and has good judgment based on the knowledge and application of Bible doctrine. This develops respect, which is the highest form of love. The husband must not destroy that part of his wife’s soul that responds to him. A wife must have the freedom to respond to her husband’s love by using her own volition. There must be a desire, which begins with the freedom to respond. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. And it is the husband’s responsibility to make the marriage a success.
Ephesians 5:25-33, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.So, husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”
Christ from His own free will delivered Himself over to be crucified, the highest possible sacrifice, the sacrifice whereby we have eternal life. Therefore, much is required from any man the moment he becomes a husband. The whole principle here is sacrifice. When you love someone more than you love yourself then you are willing to sacrifice, and that is virtue-love.
So that He might sanctify her. The Greek word for sanctify is“agiazo,” which means to set apart or to consecrate. Believers are royalty because they live in the Church Age in union with Christ and they have been set apart as a result of this union. Christ is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and He is royalty forever, He is King forever. God the Father decided to set apart a royal family for Him – the Church. Therefore, every person who believes in Jesus Christ in the Church Age receives 40 spiritual assets. In the Church Age, God the Holy Spirit not only regenerates us, but He enters us into union with Christ making us royalty forever. He also indwells us, this is the sign of royalty.
Our relationship with God is a permanent contract and marriage is the illustration of it here in Ephesians 5:22-33. So just as the contract with God is between God and one believer, marriage is a contract between one man and one woman. This is the way God designed it. Jesus Christ shows His love to the royal family through providing everything necessary to fulfill the Protocol Plan of God and glorify Him to the maximum. (I Corinthians 2: 6-16)
That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.Glorymeans honored, distinguished, eminent, splendid, glorious. Having no spot or wrinkle orany such thing is a reference to our ultimate sanctification where we will be set apart to Christ for all eternity in a resurrection body.But that she would be holy and blameless. Holy means believers have been set apart to God for all eternity. Blameless means believers can never be condemned for sin. This is how Christ will present the Church to Himself in Heaven.
Christ nourishing and cherishing the Church is analogous to the husband nourishing and cherishing his wife. Just as a husband will provide food for his body, so he is to provide for his wife what she needs in the relationship. Christ has provided spiritual food for us called Bible doctrine. If a man loves his own body, he provides shelter for the extremes of weather, for cold, and if it is hot, he provides some place that is cool. This is analogous to the husband protecting his wife. The wife finds her shelter, as it were, in her husband. This is a reminder of the fact that in Satan’s world system Jesus Christ has provided shelter for the Church in Bible doctrine. If a man loves his own body, he clothes it. This is analogous to physical provision for his wife on the part of the husband. Jesus Christ has provided through doctrine spiritual clothing for us. This is the inner clothing of the soul, the Edification Complex of the Soul.If a man loves his body, he will get some sleep. This is analogous to the tranquility and security that the husband provides for his wife. Again, it also is a reminder to us that through the application of Bible doctrine we can have tranquility of soul from the Lord. If a man loves his body, he will have some kind of exercise for it. This is analogous to the husband working by the principle of “the sweat of his brow” to provide for his wife. This is a part of the curse which God ordained in the Garden of Eden. It also is a reminder to us of the principle of grace whereby God works on our behalf.
For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.In Genesis 2:24, God established the precedence for marriage. Marriage is between one man and one woman. Joinedis the Greek word “proskollao,” which means to glue, to cement, or to join fast together. Marriage was designed by God as a corporate testimony to the world. It is not only God’s desire that mankind trusts Jesus Christ as Savior, He also wants believers in marriage to be a testimony to the world as a couple. You cannot be a testimony to the world as a couple unless you are joined together in every area of your life, especially your relationship with God as advancing believers.
This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Mystery refers to the doctrine of union with Christ in the Royal Family of God. The Church is in union with Christ; the Church is royal family on earth. All doctrine pertaining to the Church Age should be well known to the royal family.Mysteryrefers to the doctrines of the Church. The Gospel was not a mystery, it was well known by the Old Testament writers. In this verse mystery refers specifically to positional sanctification, to the fact that each one of us is a member of the Royal Family of God. The Church Age believer, because he is royalty, because he is in union with Christ, because he has a different relationship with God from those who went before, he is under a brand-new set of doctrines, called here the doctrine of the mystery, which is Christ in you. (Colossians 1:27)In the same manner that Christ sacrificed Himself for the Church, the husband is to sacrifice himself for his wife. Christ sacrificed everything for us, and husbands are to sacrifice everything for their wives.