“²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord… ²⁵ For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her ²⁶ to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. ²⁷ He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault… ³² This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”(NIV) Ephesians 5:22-27,32

The mystery behind marriage, God’s own institution, has escaped most of us to the extent that today, divorce rate is so high; others are discouraged to even attempt marriage. But the truth is our failure to understand this will not only cost us our lives here on earth but our future in heaven as well.

I don’t wish to scare you but wish to bring to our common understanding that, the mystery of marriage equals the mystery of salvation. What Christ did for us is the same as what happens when two people (man and woman) decide to join in a holy matrimony before God.

When God made a helper for Adam in the garden, He put in place the structure for salvation. And like Eve, the church is the helper for Christ. You and I are members of Christ’s body (the Church, the lover of Christ) of which He died to save (Ephesians 5: 25, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27). We are therefore helpers / partakers in his divine glory (2 Peter 1:4).

His divine goal is therefore to bring the church (His helper / partner), spotless and without fault before the father. Being in a relationship with Christ therefore ensures that we are constantly being nurtured to the kind of wife he desires. And when all is said and done, when the trumpet sounds, He will do His presentation of us, His wife, to the Father.

The question is how well do we understand this mystery- marriage? How well do we as wives (church) submit to our husband (Christ) and ensure that we are indeed helpers suitable for Him? Today, God desires that we seek to understand this relationship / institution He has set up for us. For it is by knowing and understanding that we will surely be prepared for the end time, when the trumpet sounds. The time is but now! Wives (members of the church) give yourselves to your Husband (Christ), just as He, the husband loved and gave His life for us (wives). This institution is for all and sundry to accept. There are no exemptions. Make sure you are found in God’s love marriage with Christ when He comes.

The heart, not the building || More