Weddings

The year end vacation is usually a time for couples to get married especially those working in the education sector.  I have no less than 5 wedding invitations during this year end period.  Weddings are usually joyous occasions celebrating the union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony.  I would like to share three thoughts concerning weddings and marriages.

1.  Whereas wedding is the ceremony that celebrates the union, marriage is living out the union through thick and thin (for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or health) till the death of one party does the union dissolve.  That is the sacred covenant that a Christian couple pledge to one another before God and the invited guests.  And what God had put together, let no one put asunder (Mt 19:6). However, many Christian marriages are dissolved today for reasons apart from death.  When the reality of living together sets in (responsibilities abounding) and love's euphoria evaporates, what it is required of each couple is the commitment to stay true to one other and learn to communicate with each other.

2.  Marriage is a great mystery according to Paul (Eph 5:31-32) because it typifies the living union between Christ and the church.  When a man and woman joins together in holy wedlock, they become one flesh.  But when a man joins himself with God, he becomes one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:16-17).  The church is the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom Christ is sanctifying through His blood and His word (Eph 6:25-27).  This union between Christ and His bride will take place in the near future at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-9).  When a Christian dies, his spirit is liberated and he is no longer bound to his wife.  This makes it possible for him to be united with Christ in heaven.  Jesus mentioned that there is no marriage in heaven as we know it on earth (Lk 20:34-36).  The permanency of earthly Christian marriages foreshadow what God intended our union with Him to be like in heaven.

3. When we think of marriages (apart from those marriage of convenience), we think of love.  If there's no love between two people, they wouldn't think of walking down the aisle.  Likewise, when we think about the marriage supper of the Lamb, we see God's love drawing us back to Himself.  Many times, it is a one-sided love where God reaches down to lost humanity.  But once we've experienced and tasted the love of God, we wouldn't want any other.  The love of God is such a powerful force that nothing can separate us from that love.  The apostle Paul puts it this way: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Rom 8:38-39 (NIV)

Let us cherish our spouses (and children) and live out the kind of marriage that God intends us to have in heaven with Him.  In a few days time, we would be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary.  By God's grace, we have come so far.