Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
We're going to jump into this exciting message this morning or this afternoon now that I. I realized, wow, I don't think I actually ever preached on marriage, which I need to repent about that.
I don't know why. I don't know how that happened.
But one of the things I realized that a healthy marriage is the best gift you can give your children.
A healthy marriage is the best gift you can give your church.
A healthy marriage is the best gift you can give yourself.
And God cares about our marriage. And, you know, when we think about what that looks like, it gives us the ability to build it correctly. Because marriages don't happen because of luck or meeting the right person.
I'm sure some of those things play a role.
But good marriage happens because it's built. It's built intentionally. And so we're going to look at that.
The title of the message this morning is the Truth About Marriage. The Truth About Marriage.
Some of you are like, man, I got this figured out.
So, you know, I want to challenge you to approach this with humility. And some of you are like, I'll take notes for my spouse because he or she needs to hear this. But I think all of us can approach this with humility because there is more. And I think as we look at God's definition for marriage, I want it to provoke jealousy in us for more. How many of you experienced this where your marriage got gooder and you were like, whoa, I didn't know I was missing out on this. Anybody can relate to that. Like, I didn't know it could be this good. But when it got gooder and you're like, wow, I actually like this.
You. You actually become jealous for more because you're like, what else am I missing out on that I'm not aware of? And so as we look at God's definition, God's intention for marriage, let it provoke that jealousy in us. Not shame, not condemnation, but jealousy for all that he has for us in the covenant of marriage.
So would you bow your heads with me for just a moment?
Father, we come before the scriptures today with humility, with a heart posture, to obey and to apply and to practice the truths of your word. And we pray that it will transform our lives, it will transform our marriages, it will transform our children.
And we pray God, as we look at these scriptures, as we behold you, that your anointing would actually be released and your Holy Spirit will bear witness to these truths in our life.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Let's go to the first Book of the Bible and the very first chapter.
And I'm gonna cover just three main points today. And the first point is marriage is the image of God.
Marriage is the image of God. Marriage represents the image of God. So let's go to Genesis, chapter 1, verse 26.
Then God said, let us make man in our own image.
And the word man here is mankind. It's male and female in our own image. Say with me, image according to our likeness. So you can see out of union, God is creating marriage for union, according to our image, according to our likeness.
And let them so not one person, not Adam, let them have dominion.
Verse 27.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him. Male and female. He created them.
Then God blessed them.
And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply.
Fill the earth and subdue it.
So we see that in this covenant relationship that actually represents heaven, there is a blessing, there is an authority, there is a grace that is commanded there.
You know, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden in the very presence of God, this is before the fall of man. This is before sin, before that separation.
He's enjoying the presence of God.
In that context, God looks at Adam and says, it is not good for man to be alone.
Not lonely, but alone. And he created a helper suitable for him. And that word helper is the same word used for the name of the Holy Spirit.
In that context, it was a wife. It was Eve.
The other interesting thing we see in Genesis here is that the devil never attacked Adam until he had a wife.
The devil doesn't show up in the scene until Eve happens.
Why? Because the devil hates the image of God.
The devil is after the image of God. He wants to corrupt the image of God. And when Adam and Eve came together and the two became one, there was a glory there, there was a power there. There was a blessing there. And that's where God blessed them. And that's where God gave them dominion. And that's where God said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.
I believe that when we build marriage God's way, we step into the authority he has given us, the grace he has given us. Not to just experience that in our marriages, but to have dominion in our regions, in our cities, in our families.
The Bible talks about the power of that unity, that when two agree about anything they ask, it will be done.
When two come together in unity under the lordship of Christ, they experience the authority of heaven and the supernatural power of God, look at what Jesus quotes in Matthew chapter 19, verse 4.
Haven't you read the scriptures? Jesus replied, they record that from the beginning God made them male and female. And he said, this explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife.
And the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.
So this is again repeating the same thing that was released in Genesis and now by the words of Jesus that it's no longer two, but one.
Later, Paul refers to this as a great mystery that is being revealed.
And you know how that great mystery is being revealed?
Through the life, the love and the sacrifice of Jesus on earth.
Because he became the picture of marriage. His life and the church became the picture of that union. And it was a mystery hidden that was revealed through the cross, that was revealed through the love of Jesus. And so he says, the two have become one and let no one be separate. What God has joined together.
There is a quote I want to read by an early mentor in the area of marriage for us and his name is Jimmy Evans. I don't know if you guys ever listened to the Marriage Today podcast or any of those messages, very Christ centered teaching around the topic of marriage.
And one of the quotes he gives is this, that marriage is brutal on selfish people.
And he goes further to say, in fact it is a death chamber for a selfish spirit.
Why? Because where two have become one, there is no more selfishness there.
Once selfishness dies, marriage thrives.
And so we look at that and we see that God's intent for marriage out of his union, he created them in his image and likeness, was to bear his image. And you know what? They live. Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in perfect harmony.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit represent perfect harmony. And that's what God designed marriage to represent.
Even though it's three different persons in one, that's marriage. It's God.
Husband and wife triune model that God designed out of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us create man in our image. Not my image, not let me let us in our image.
And so for marriage to succeed, for us to do marriage God's way, our first highest priority relationship is with God.
Our first responsibility as a husband or a wife is to give ourselves to pure devotion, to abide in the love of God, to be good receivers of the love of God, to walk in intimate relationship with Jesus, to practice the scriptures. How many of you guys have been hurt by your spouse?
You know, I heard testimonies of people that are like, man, we've been married for 10 years, we've never argued.
And I like, look at my wife, and I'm like, I don't even know if they know each other.
We've experienced pain in marriage, right? And when we make it our responsibility to come under the lordship of Jesus as a wife, as a husband, we come under his lordship, under his authority to function in the grace of that God has given us.
And so the highest, second highest relationship and the first highest priority relationship on the planet is actually your spouse, not your life group, not your ministry, not your calling, not your friends, not your mama, not your dad, not your kids. And it's actually your spouse. And if you operate and build outside of that law of priority, you're going to miss it.
And actually, the words that are spoken in Genesis, repeated in Ephesians and repeated by the words of Jesus is that they will leave and cleave. And that refers to the man, the husband. He will leave his father's house and he will cleave to his wife.
And that word actually represents active, passionate pursuit.
So the cleaving doesn't happen, the joining doesn't happen on a wedding day as a moment, even though that is a defining moment. But the joining is an active word that's in context to pursuit men. You're called to pursue your wife.
We're 19 years in. My calling is to actively pursue my wife. That's the joining.
That's the ingredient. That's the bond of two becoming one.
The second thing that marriage represents is, is it represents Christ and the church.
Marriage is meant to reflect Christ.
Marriage is the gospel being embodied in covenant love.
I don't know if you ever thought about this, but your marriage could be the most powerful sermon you'll ever get to preach that your marriage, when it happens correctly, becomes the message because becomes the sermon, becomes the revelation of Jesus himself.
And In Ephesians, chapter 5, we might not be able to get through all of this here, but the context is from Ephesians 5:22 through 33.
And as Paul is revealing this mystery, this revelation, the context of that chapter starts. Chapter five, verse one, starts imitate God.
The context that puts us into this conversation is talking about walking in the light, being holy, being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And then it starts talking about marriage, responsibility, right? The different roles. And it says to wives, wives, submit to your husbands as unto the Lord.
And a lot of times husbands would like to use that to get their way.
But you know what it, what it actually means There, because then it says a lot more to husbands. And it says, husbands love your wives the way that Jesus loved the church.
In other words, what Jesus did and his relationship with his bride became the mystery that is being revealed through his life.
And so the standard there for husbands is to love their wives in a way that Jesus loved the church and the Bible says, and he gave himself up for her.
And so before a husband uses the word, you must submit. I want to submit something to you.
Does she have something to submit to?
In other words, are you first living and loving your wife the way that Jesus loved the church?
If you're not there yet, you don't need to use the word submit.
You don't have to do that. In fact, the word first there and the word husband is the head of the house. The leader is not dominant, controlling, ruling, authoritative. That's not what it means at all. It's, it actually proposes the way of Jesus, which was completely different.
You know what it meant? It meant husbands, you're first, you're the head of the household, you represent Christ to your wife. And that means you forgive first, you love first, you serve first, you display humility first, you lead by example first.
And the cross references to that scripture is actually referencing Jesus. And the words of Apostle Paul that have this mind be in you, that was also in Christ. He humbled himself, he became a servant right in that posture of humility that Jesus, who was king of kings and Lord of lords, would get on his knees and wash his disciples feet. And he says, you call me Lord and you call me teacher. Now that you've seen me, who is all of that do this to you, you go and do it.
So marriage is two servants in love.
It doesn't work without humility. It doesn't work without seeing the right model. Don't let culture define what marriage is. Don't let women's rights or equality define what marriage is. God has defined what marriage is. And there's so much beauty, power and authority when we do it God's way.
And I want to propose to you, I understand that there's people in the room who are divorced.
There's people in the room who have been abused.
There's people in the room who have been manipulated. There's people in the room that maybe have the wrong image of this. And what I'm proposing to you is let's look at Jesus again so that we can see this rightly, so that we can see God's message and what marriage is designed to be. Or maybe you're in this room and you're on the last thread in your relationship, in your covenant relationship, and you're getting ready to walk because you're so hurt. I believe God wants to heal you.
I believe that your life aligned with the lordship of Jesus can transform your marriage. God.
And you know the result of Jesus's sacrificial love, which again, I want to speak to the men, I want to speak to the husbands. You're called to go first. You're called to be the leader. In fact, one day God's going to ask you of your wife.
And I forgot what I was saying next.
It was a holy pause, but I'm like, where did the thought go?
It was deep. Holy Spirit, bring it back.
There it is.
The result of Jesus's sacrificial love.
His humility was preparing a glorious bride.
The result of Christ centered leadership is presenting a glorious bride.
So some of the husbands that are complaining about their wives, maybe you got some growing to do, maybe you got some maturing to do. Maybe there's a different path for the transformation that you want to see in your covenant relationship called marriage. And I want to remind us, because I needed that reminder that marriage is your number one. This is law. This is, this is not even a principle.
Your number one highest priority relationship on the planet.
There is no other. Your relationship with your pastor is not that important. Your relationship with any other close person to you that you love is not, not as important as this one. And when we do this right, it becomes the greatest gift. It becomes a fragrance, it becomes a glory to first, our children. You know how many people grow up in broken households where marriage is not modeled in Christian families the way that Jesus designed it to be.
And they grow up and they're afraid to get married.
They grow up not being able to receive love freely.
I believe God wants to restore that. God wants to change that. And it doesn't matter where we are today on that. It can get better.
And maybe you're on the last thread. Today could be the day where that changes.
God has a future for every person here. Even if you're divorced and you're wondering, is my life too broken? Is my life too shattered? Am I too messed up? Am I too broken to experience this in my life? No. God has a future for you. God wants to heal you. God wants to redeem what marriage means to you.
And the last point, number three is that marriage represents covenant.
Marriage represents covenant.
We won't open there. But how many of you guys remember the story of Jesus's first miracle.
What was the miracle?
He turned water into wine.
And where did that miracle take place?
At a wedding.
Think about this.
Jesus, God in the flesh, chose his entry point as Christ to be revealed through this miracle that forever, 2,000 years later, we're going to look back and talk about the principle of first. Well, the first miracle Jesus did was not raising a dead person, even though that's pretty powerful. It wasn't healing a blind person.
It wasn't multiplying bread.
It was actually turning water into wine at a wedding.
And I believe that the coming of Jesus, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus had something to do with redeeming what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Redeeming and restoring that union, that family, that love that we are called to experience in this holy covenant.
Would you stand to your feet with me?
So we know that God's model for marriage, God's design, He didn't design marriage, create marriage for failure.
How many of you guys would agree with that statement that God created marriage to have a 100% success rate?
That means that if we learn what that looks like and we submit to his lordship and we build marriage God's way, we have a 100% chance to succeed.
And I know that there's more to talk about this. I know it takes two people, and I know that there's different stories. This is a deeper conversation, but the principle is true.
And I want to quote, before we pray, I want to quote a lady who, whose name is Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham's wife.
You know, they. Billy Graham did a lot of great things. How many of you guys ever heard of this evangelist? He did mass crusades, met with almost every president during his lifetime, had a massive impact and influence on this planet.
But you know what more people talk about more than that was his marriage.
They had a beautiful marriage. They lived a simple life.
I actually got to visit in Charlotte there, their house, it still stands there today with all the original, you know, things.
And they lived in that house pretty much their entire life, a simple life.
And they had a beautiful marriage.
And she has, she has a quote, and it says this. A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
And so I. I want the Holy Spirit to provoke jealousy in us for our marriages to flourish, for our marriages to become the gospel message that is preached. For Jesus to be revealed to our children through our marriage, for Jesus to be revealed to the world through our. Our marriage. Because marriage represents his image, it represents Christ and the Church, and it represents covenant.
Would you take a moment and I want you to ask, as we take this moment in worship and just in the presence of God, I want you to ask.
I want you to put down the notes you took for your spouse and I want you to ask the Holy Spirit.
What are you saying to me?
What are you saying to me?
I want you to approach this with humility.
And I want you to allow the lordship of Jesus to just come under the lordship of Jesus right now. Not what you think is fair, not what you feel is right, not where your spouse needs to change, but. But actually surrender all of that. Come under the lordship of Jesus and hear from the Holy Spirit about what he wants you to do.
Amen. Would you lift your hands as a sign of surrender? And we're going to go into worship for just a few moments, and then we're going to pray together.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: I sent my only son to be with whom I love.
And you are all I want.
The wonder of it all.
From heaven's gates you catch my gaze.
Cause I love you. In the morning, in the noontime, in the evening. You're my one thing. You're my dearest. Here's my love.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: No.
[00:29:23] Speaker B: Can you hear it? And I love you.
In the morning, in the noontide, in the evening. You're my one thing. You're my dearest. Here's my love. No. Can you hear it?
Oh, can you hear it?
And I send my only son
[00:30:02] Speaker A: to
[00:30:02] Speaker B: be with whom I love.
You are all I want.
Oh, the wonder of it all.
From heaven's gates you catch my gaze.
And I love you.
In the morning, in the new time, in the evening. You're my one thing. You're my dearest. Here's my love.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: No.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Can you hear it?
Cause I love you. In the morning, in the new time, in the evening. You're my one thing. You're my dearest. Here's my love.
[00:30:57] Speaker A: No.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: Can you hear it? Cause I love you.
In the morning, in the noon time, in the evening. You're my one thing. You're my dearest. Here's my love.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: No.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: Can you hear it?
[00:31:14] Speaker A: Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you for speaking to us, Lord. Right now we just come under your lordship.
We bring our covenant relationships. We bring this holy marriage for those of you who are married, bring it under the lordship of Jesus.
We break off every demonic attack, every just demonic influence over marriages and the name of Jesus.
We prophesy life. We prophesy life in the name of Jesus.
And just like Ephesians 5. It starts with imitate Christ.
I want all of us to see what that looks like today. What does it look like to follow Jesus?
What does it look like to take the next step?
And maybe for some of us, the next step is forgiveness.
Maybe to some of us the next step is repentance.
Maybe to some of us, we've given up pursuit and the next step is a decision to be a pursuer.
And maybe for some of us, it's as simple as choosing every day to put God first in this covenant and to just pray together, maybe to just grab hands in the morning or whenever that is. And for 60 seconds, even if it's 60 seconds, to invite Jesus to invite his lordship to pray together in your marriage.
I don't know what that looks like, but I want us to imitate Christ because he is not just the truth, he is the way, and he's also the life. So I'm going to invite the ministry team to come forward.
We're gonna pray. And I want to ask you to respond.
Maybe you're in this room and you need to respond to this specific message. Maybe you're a couple, maybe you're, maybe. Maybe you're not here with your spouse, but you want to respond, you want to receive prayer. I want you to come first. If that's you in the room, just go ahead and come and receive prayer. You can come together with your spouse. Or maybe you're in the room and you've been affected by a marriage that was not healthy, a marriage that didn't represent what Jesus called it to represent. And you also feel fear to, like, get married. You feel confused about what that looks like, like, or you, you. You are a hurt because of the way you've seen that modeled even in your parents. I believe God wants to heal you. I believe God wants to touch your life. God wants to touch marriages today. God wants to strengthen marriages in the name of Jesus. So if that's you, I want you to just respond right now in this worship and just come first. We're going to open up the altars for everybody else, but I want to give you priority to just come first.
Come first. We're going to believe that God is going to strengthen this area. And if you're just jealous for more, maybe there's no, like, issues happening and your marriage is thriving, but you're like, wow, I'm provoked for. To jealousy for more, go ahead and come forward as well. Receive prayer.
And as you're doing that, I want to open up the altars as well as we continue to worship. If you have need in any area of your life, whether it's healing in your body or breakthrough in the area of your finances or just you're hungry for more and you want the Holy Spirit to fill you, this is also a time for you. If we can get more leaders to come up Ali, can you come up a search? Let's pray for people and you're just hungry for more. If you have need in any area of your life, I want you to also respond. I believe that there's power when we humble ourselves, when we agree together. God does the supernatural. So we're going to believe that God's going to touch you.
God's going to breathe upon your situation with His Holy Spirit and your life will never be the same. Amen.
Thank you for joining Kingdom Movement Online. I pray and hope that that sermon impacted you deeply. I would love if you shared this with a few friends and family. And before you go, don't forget to subscribe. See you next week.
