“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Eph 5:31-2)
Lord Jesus … I do.
When a rich man marries a poor woman, the two become one. They share one home, one life, one bed, one estate, and one purpose. As far as the law is concerned, everything the husband has belongs to the wife. His riches are hers. She may have come out of the slums, but now she is a duchess.
The Scriptures make the wild claim that the Christian is that poor woman who became a duchess.
Our original poverty is a result of our spiritual state in sin. Our natural home is a spiritual slum. It is a spiritually oppressive place, an ugly, smelly, dirty place, a hopeless place, though some entertain false hopes of earning their way out of it. People build their little shanties and make things as pleasant as they can, but they were born in the slums, they live in the slums, and if they insist on their own way, they will die there. We are poor spiritually because we sin. Our sin has separated us from our God and has consequently left us only what we can contrive on our own. Our sin has corrupted our bodies and souls. It has brought sickness and death, bitterness and meaninglessness. In sin we lose our purpose, our peace, and our hope, for in sin we lose God, and all good things are tied up in God.
But God calls us out of these slums and into His riches, and the Christian enjoys abundant spiritual wealth, the result of a wondrous marriage we have entered into — the uniting of our souls to Christ. In Him, we share one life, one Spirit, one inheritance, and one purpose. As far as God is concerned, everything Christ has belongs to us. His riches are ours. We have, thus, moved from the spiritual slums to a spiritual palace. Our new identity takes on the name of our Groom. Our new life is a garden of righteousness. Our new home is filled with peace and joy, and hope reigns over our souls.
We do not have any of these riches because we have somehow earned our way out of the slums. The kingdom of God has no “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” stories. We have these riches because we belong to Jesus and Jesus has these riches.
This marriage of my soul to Jesus — this new identity in Jesus — is the substance of what it means to be a Christian. We are married to Christ. We have died to the law that we might belong to him who was raised from the dead (Rm 7: 4). We may talk of all sorts of wonderful benefits that Scripture promises, but this is the source of them all. Everything we enjoy as Christians, we enjoy because of our union with Christ. We are in Him, and being in Him means that we have His riches. We are united with Christ in his death so that we share in his resurrection (Rm 6:5). In Christ we have received every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph 1:3). In Him, we are chosen to be holy and blameless (Eph 1:4). In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7). In Him, we see God’s great and mysterious purpose (Eph 1:9). In Him, we are united together (Eph 1:10). In Him we receive an inheritance unspeakable (Eph 1:11). In Him, we receive God’s Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). In Him, we do not live under condemnation (Rom 8:1).
The real Gift of God is not forgiveness or peace or love or holiness. The real Gift of God is a union with Christ, or to put it another way, a union with God Himself. All of these other gifts are byproducts. They are certainly glorious, but their glory is itself a reflection of the glory of God. God is the real prize.
God has given us Himself, and He has done so in Jesus Christ. When we marry Jesus, we receive everything that Jesus has. All good gifts are in Christ. “This is the message. God has given us eternal life and that life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (I Jn 5:12-13).
Thus, the key to life is not to pursue life. The key to joy is not to pursue joy. The key to holiness is not to pursue holiness. The key to all these things is to pursue Jesus. If we pursue life for ourselves, we miss Jesus, and when we miss Jesus, we miss life. Life is in Jesus. When we have Jesus we have everything. When we miss Jesus we miss out on everything.
Let’s be clear. Christianity is not primarily about forgiveness, love, joy, or righteousness. It is about Jesus. And in Him, God grants us forgiveness, love, joy, and righteousness. In Christ we are rich.
All these things mean that Jesus is the prize. When a man marries a woman, he desires a true response from her. He would be a fool to marry a woman who was only trying to get at his bank account or his villa in Switzerland. When a woman marries a man, the main prize needs to be the man. Those who marry for money or status or fame or whatever are phony. In the same way, Jesus will have nothing to do with people who prize his riches above him. He must be the prize. He desires us to unite with him, not to unite primarily with forgiveness or freedom. Those things are good, but they are just part of the estate. We receive them when we join ourselves to Christ.
This idea that God is willing to unite with us in marriage would be insane if God had not said it Himself. If I had come up with the idea, you would think I was crazy. Indeed, often those who hear of earthly marriages between a wealthy man and a poor woman think the man to be out of his mind. This marriage, however, exceeds those by an infinite degree, for the separation between God and us is light years beyond the separation between two social classes. Consequently, the riches we enjoy in Christ far exceed the riches of earth, for I would rather have the peace of Christ than all the money in the world.
Jesus lifts us from the spiritual slums and takes us for himself. He comes to us and proposes. He says, “Would you have me as your Lord?” We say “yes” by faith, for when we have genuine faith, we have given to him our pledge and our all.
