Weddings are beautiful. My wife, Jenni, and I have been blessed to teach a class called “Marriage Dynamics” to the students in the Ranch’s discipleship program for over 20 years now. It is a yearly reminder of the amazing design and picture that God gives us of His relationship to His church.
Because the Ranch’s School of Discipleship is made up of college age students, weddings throughout the year for our alumni are the norm. We recently celebrated the wedding of our daughter Emily to the Ranch’s program director, Josiah Gross.
It’s interesting that scripture begins and ends with a marriage. It starts with the beautiful union between Adam and Eve and concludes with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Marriage contains so many wonderful pictures of what it is to live a life in pursuit of Christ. It challenges us to sacrificial love, not a conditional one. It’s a daily reminder to lay down our life for another. It speaks to oneness, selflessness, communication, joy, and so much more.
Many young ladies dream of that day when they get to be a bride. They envision the setting, dress, and groom. But one of the most beautiful aspects of that moment is that they have been CHOSEN, set apart, picked out of many, to be the bride of this groom. In that moment, she is lavished with the promises of commitment, faithfulness, sacrifice, acceptance, and love. She is pursued and wanted by her groom. That’s the picture of Christ to His church, to us. We have been lovingly pursued, though not because of any great attribute of our own. We are loved, but not because we were lovely. In fact, we were disgustingly sinful. We are wanted, not because we are worthy, but because His love for us is boundless. We are a bride that brings nothing to the altar but ourselves, just as we are. It’s only because of HIM that we can be presented spotless, blameless, pure.
In Martin Luther’s 1520 essay called “On The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther teaches how we are saved by grace and faith, not by works. He also draws parallels between marriage and our union with Christ. He explains that if in marriage, two become one flesh, then it follows that all they have becomes theirs in common. In marriage, both bride and groom bring all their resources to bear. In our union with Christ, Luther states “Sin, death, and hell will belong to Christ, and grace, life, and salvation to the soul. For, in giving her His own body and Himself, how can He but give her all that is His? And, in taking to Himself the body of His wife, how can He but take to Himself all that is hers?”
In other words, this is the picture of “imputed righteousness.” We take on all that is good, lovely and wonderful that He brings to this union, and He takes on all the filth and sin that we bring. There is not a greater picture of love than this. He has NOTHING to gain from us and we have EVERYTHING to gain from him!
People use the word magical when it comes to weddings. I prefer the word miraculous. The Miracle of a wedding between a bride and groom is that God does what only God can do when he takes two and makes one. How much greater the Miracle of our Salvation in making us one with Christ! This is truly a Miracle we should celebrate each day.
