Free Samples or a Wedding Feast?

 

Have you ever been to a wedding?

If you asked a random person what the happiest day of his life was, there is a good chance he might say his wedding day.  Others might describe the day their child was born (more on this in a future post).

A wedding is a glorious event, when the radiance of heaven cuts through the gloom of our mundane lives and brings us a glimpse of heavenly joy.

Marriage carries heavy meaning in Scripture.  It is a symbol that points to foundational spiritual realities, and the joy that it gives us is a hint, a small piece of the eternal joy that Christ wants to give us in his coming Kingdom.

The Apostle Paul taught the church in Ephesus about this in his letter to them (Ephesians 5:31-33), "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

Throughout Paul's writings he uses this language of "mystery".  He does not mean that it is something impossible to understand, or something that is hidden from us, like a secret code.  What he means is that at one point in time we did not know the truth about marriage, but now we do.  It was a mystery at one point, but now it is not.

When we watch an episode our favorite decretive drama, and we get to the end of the episode and the hero has not figured out "who done it," we feel get worried and feel dissatisfied.  We know the story is not complete; the mystery must be solved.  We know this usually means the story will continue in the next episode and then the mystery will be solved and all will be right with the world.  They always figure out who did it, the mystery always gets solved.

There is a mystery around marriage, Paul is saying, but it is a mystery God wants us to understand.  The mystery has been solved.  It was hidden but now it is revealed.  This mystery is revealed through Christ, and through our spiritual union with Him.

Chapter 5 of Ephesians is filled with instructions to husbands and wives, and Paul continually draws on the relationship of Christ and the church.  Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church and wives are to respect their husbands just as the church respects Christ.

But there is something more here.  We like to think of marriage as an end in and of itself, and as a good in and of itself.  But this goodness is drawn from something bigger, something more important.  Marriage is good because marriage is telling the story of deeper spiritual reality.  It is meant to illustrate our spiritual union with Christ.

When we trust in Christ, we are joined to Him in an eternal, covenant relationship.  A relationship meant to bring us delight and satisfaction here on earth and infinitely more so in the life to come.  Marriage is meant to be a sampling, a preview clip, of our glorious, eternal relationship with Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul again writes this, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."  As wonderful as marriage and family life can be here on earth, heaven will be all of that and so much more beyond our imagining.  We tend to focus on the pleasures of this world, including marriage, as if they are all there is, and if we miss out on them, our lives will be unfulfilled and unsatisfying.  Paul wants us to refocus and understand that one moment in heaven will be more gloriously satisfying than a lifetime filled with every earthly delight.  Eternity contains so much more far beyond what we can comprehend.

The Apostle John was given a glimpse of Heaven, and he used the language of marriage to describe it.  In the book of Revelation he wrote this: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.  And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."  (Revelation 19:7-9)

I remember as a young man, it was common for friends of mine to say things like, "I don't want to die until I get married!"  Implying that they wanted to have sex before they went to heaven.  As wonderful as heaven is, they thought they would be missing out.  Our culture has this fixation on the sexual relationship and we have warped it into something God never intended it to be.  We either make it something greater than it was meant to be, as though we cannot have a fulfilled, satisfied and happy life without it.  Or we cheapen it and treat it like a toy, little more than a recreational activity like playing tennis or riding a bike.

For many years I was guilty of treating my sexuality like a cheap toy.  I was caught up in pornography addiction.  Instead of using my sexuality as it was rightly intended, to glorify God, to serve others, to produce new life and bring delight and union within the bonds of marriage(which I have never had), I used it to indulge my selfish pleasures.  I was fixated on the Hot Wheels car, while God had a Ferrari waiting for me.

Much of the sexual difficulty and deviancy we see in our culture is due to the fact that we have lost sight of the higher purpose God has for our sexuality.  It was never meant to used as a recreational activity or as a means of self-indulgence, self-actualization or self-satisfaction.  Our highest and truest identity and deepest satisfaction are meant to be found in Christ alone.  A sexual relationship is a bonus.  It is icing on the cake.

Today I am living in complete celibacy.  I am channeling all of my energy into serving God and striving to bring Him glory.  While I may not enjoy that replica of joy that can be found in marriage here below (that is in God's hands), in Heaven I will celebrate and revel in the bliss that I will find in my eternal union with Christ.  I may never enjoy the marriage embrace, but I know deep peace and joy in my relationship with Christ.  I am fully satisfied in him, and long for the day when I will see him face to face and enjoy that Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

I remember hearing people say, "Wedded bliss."  I have not heard that too much lately.  God has given us marriage and the sexual relationship as a good and glorious gift, meant to give us pleasure and purpose.  He wants us to enjoy marriage, but that is not all the enjoyment there is.  There is a deeper and more profound joy to be found in our relationship with Christ, both here on earth and in our life to come.  Marriage is God giving us free samples of the eternal glory that is waiting for us in heaven.  Marriage is not the climax of our life's story, it is the prologue. To be satisfied with marriage is like riding the tram to the front entrance of Disneyland and never going inside.  It is like stopping the meal at the appetizer.

[All Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible]