This past Sunday David continued C3’s sermon series on marriage, in which he focused on the importance of beginnings. For marriage, it’s important to spend time where Scripture first introduces the idea of marriage. The beginning of marriage is found in Genesis chapters one through three, and it’s in these chapters that David spent our time unpacking God’s Word.
In his breakdown of Genesis 1-3, David presented two principles that provide us with a foundation for our understanding of marriage. First, in chapter one of Genesis we’re presented with the truth that God created man and woman in His image for His glory. This truth, further broken down, means that humankind, both men and women, were created to resemble and represent God to the world. We were created to resemble God, meaning that everything that we are is like God. In John 14:8 Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” in which Jesus responds, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus was acknowledging the fact that he was “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 ESV), meaning that he so perfectly resembled God the Father that to look at him was to see God. The bride of Jesus, who is one with Him (Ephesians 5:31-32), was established to do the same. Men and women who follow Jesus are being conformed to His image (Romans 8:29), so that they may reflect the image of God to a broken world. Marriage is such a sweet gift from God, through which men and women are made able by the power of Christ to resemble God with their relationship. Likewise, men and women were created to represent God. Not only do men and women who follow Christ resemble God with their lives like Christ, but their task is also identical to Christ. Like Christ, we are called to be ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) who proclaim the good news of Jesus in which people place their faith in Christ and submit to the sovereign rule of God. This is what it means to usher in God’s kingdom and continue the work that Christ began until His return. In the sermon David mentioned Philippians 2:14-15, in which believers are challenged to do all things without “grumbling or questioning, so that we may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world.” The challenge is clear, that we would so resemble and represent God with our lives that we shine as lights in the midst of darkness. Again, marriage is such a sweet gift from God in which believers are able to do so. As men love their bride as Christ loves the church, and as women willfully submit to their husband as the church does unto Christ, the image of God is on display and the gospel is proclaimed, in which the power and righteousness of God is seen (Romans 1:16-17) both of which provide testimony to His glory. Therefore, this first principle is essential in understanding marriage, man and woman were created in God’s image for His glory.
Second, David presented us with the principle that while men and women were created equal they were also created distinct. There is no doubt that men and women equally share in their identity in Christ (Galatians 3:28), and therefore are equals through Christ in resembling and representing God for His glory. However, God purposefully created man and woman with equal but distinct roles in which to do so. There is little doubt that this truth, specifically in the context of willful submission by wives, is under attack in our culture today, but the cultural attack should not change our understanding of God’s truth. There seems to be a heavy amount of shame and disdain attached to the thought of submission in our world today, but for us there should be no shame in identifying with Christ. Jesus willfully submitted to His Father’s will by making himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7), and Christ so willingly submitted to His Father’s will and the hands of men that He allowed Himself to be crucified. There is no shame in submitting; there is only the opportunity to further identify with Christ. Marriage is a sweet opportunity for both men and women to further identify with Christ, as men love their bride as Christ loves the church and women willfully submit to their husbands. Therefore, the second principle is essential in understanding marriage, men and women were created equal but distinct.
For me, in personally reflecting upon the sermon, it can be challenging seeing as though the message was speaking to marriage and David spent a lot of time addressing the woman’s distinct role. It can be challenging, because as many may not know this about me, I am both single and a man. Nevertheless, the truth that all believers, whether man or woman/ single or married, were created in God’s image with distinct roles to both resemble and represent Him stands true. I was created in God’s image, an image that is being restored in Christ, and is an image that I am called to reflect to the world around me. This is a truth that has shaped everything about who I am and how I live, and it is a truth that I love. Also, although being single, I am not quick to overlook the fact that God has used married men and women to train, equip, and transform me. I love the marriages that I see all around me, because it is from these marriages that I have learned what it truly means to be a man of God and what a woman truly pursuing an identity in Christ looks like. For me this marriage series is sweet, because as I listen to David preach and look around at the marriages all around me, I am reminded that marriage is such an amazing gift from God when rooted in Scripture and pursued through Christ.
--C3 College Minister - JT
