COV LIFE BLOG

IMPRINT Marriage Conference 2017

There is a different kind of unity enjoyed by the joining of diverse counterparts than is enjoyed by joining two things just alike. When we all sing the same melody line it is called “unison,” which means “one sound.” But when we unite diverse lines of soprano and alto and tenor and bass, we call it harmony, and everyone who has an ear to hear knows that something deeper in us is touched by great harmony than by unison.

Everything has purpose and meaning. When God engaged to create man and woman and to ordain the union of marriage, he didn’t roll dice or draw straws or flip a coin. He patterned marriage very purposefully after the relationship between his Son and the church, which he planned from eternity. And therefore marriage is a mystery — it contains and conceals a meaning far greater than what we see on the outside. What God has joined together in marriage is to be a reflection of the union between the Son of God and his bride the church. Those of us who are married need to ponder again and again how mysterious and wonderful it is that we are granted by God the privilege to image forth stupendous divine realities infinitely bigger and greater than ourselves.

Husbands and wives, recognize that in marriage you have become one flesh; therefore, if you live for your private pleasure at the expense of your spouse you are living against yourself and destroying your own highest joy. But if you devote yourself with all your heart to the holy joy of your spouse you will also be living for your joy and making a marriage after the image of Christ and his church.

John Piper

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SCRIPTURES FOR THIS SUNDAY
Read Genesis 2:24-25, Matthew 19:4-6, and Ephesians 5:22-33 and consider God’s glorious purposes for marriage. How do these verses affect your own marriage, how you care for the marriages of those around you, or your potential future marriage?

SONG FOR THIS WEEK
Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery by Matt Papa