Bible Question #36 - Marriage, Christ and the Church

Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible study. grateful to be able to continue to present this series that I've been working on which is the Bible literacy test which has these can't remember the number now it's like 60some 60some questions uh and found this quiz quite a while ago now it seems like and I've just been working through these questions one at a time uh it struck me when I first found this quiz that that these questions that that the format of it sort of reminded me of an entrance exam exam.

If you're going to take a class and uh and you needed to know or the teacher wanted to know where you stood on on your knowledge before and then where did you stand after you took the class? Did it get better? Did you learn something? And I thought it was a good idea. So, I've just kind of started to go through those.

I I I rushed the first couple and I realized there's a lot of depth to each and every one of these questions if we take the time to really study them. So here we are on question number 36 and it begins uh it simply states question 36 says marriage chapter and then in parenthesis it says Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5 isn't the answer though. The answer is not found there.

The answer actually comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 is the marriage chapter if you will. Uh it's because the apostle Paul deals with a lot of issues and questions that he was remember you know he had people come to him from Corinth they had questions they they were presenting to him to answer he wrote a letter in response and so you get to chapter 7 and there were clearly a number of questions the the the congregation had with regard to marriage.

Now it isn't just about whether marriage was a was a valid institution. It had more to do with and as you're going to see as we go through this question there were the questions really revolve around whether or not uh marriage has something to do with your Christian walk your salvation and Paul is u uh kind of meticulous in how he approaches the subject as you as we walk through this chapter.

So, I titled this uh chapter marriage, Christ, and the church. And so, that's what I'm that's this that's that's question number 36 for me. And how I titled it is marriage, Christ, and the church. So, what Paul sees here though is is clearly real situations, real people dealing with real things. And um you know these life situations that you're going to come across in God's church he he did at his time we still do in our time which we have married couples we have divorced and remarried we have people who have never been married single people and so you know we

sort of cross the spectrum when it comes to who God has called and no different at the time of Paul question simply was or simply is it as he was trying to deal with it how does this affect a person's journey does how does this affect their relationship with God and what is the purpose then of marriage are we incomplete spiritually with if we never get married are we do we somehow are we deficient in in our relationship with God and I hope at by the time we get to the end of this Bible study you're comfortable in

understanding that marriage is not a prerequisite of salvation uh that God provided it as a tool I want to show you that tool why God created it and uh and how our understanding understanding of marriage came fully into focus as Paul began to deal with it here and and you'll see what I mean as we get to that as we get to that part.

Let's begin over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 7. So 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 7. It says Paul says for I wish that all men were even as I myself but each one has his own gift from God one in this manner and another in that. In verse 8, he says, "But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

" So Paul shows that God works with individuals in different conditions and that both marriage and being single, if we can just say it that way, they both have a place. So the key issue here is not the condition itself, but how a person lives with God within that condition. So, this is what you're going to see pretty steadily throughout this Bible study is the the reality of our journey isn't the status our marital status.

It's our relationship with God within whatever our circumstances in life are. So, that means that the baseline for this entire chapter, the entire focus of this chapter really is about faithfulness and conduct, not marital status. The instruction is grounded in how we live rightly regardless of our marital situation. Now to understand why this matters, we have to bring in Ephesians 5 where Paul explains the deeper meaning behind marriage.

He doesn't treat marriage as only a practical arrangement. You know, it it does seem kind of cavalerely treated these days. Paul wants us to understand that marriage is designed to teach a larger truth. So what appears to be a physical union, which it is, it also carries a defined purpose that reaches beyond human life.

It connects us to everyday instructions that lean all the way back to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. So we see there's going to be a connection here between Ephesians 5 and Ephes and 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Let's just briefly touch on that and then we're going to come back to this in more depth later. Ephesians 5:es 31 and 32 so that we can't we can't claim that that we we just don't understand what what marriage is about.

First uh excuse me fe Ephesians 5:es 31 and 32 says for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife that's marriage and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery. Now we're going to come back to this idea. This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Okay.

So this really is the foundation we need to understand. This is what we have to put in place first as we begin to look at and explore. Well, what is Paul going to talk to us about in 1 Corinthians chapter 7? We want to know why then is Ephesians 5 referred to as part of the answer. And here you have you have the gist of it here and that marriage points to something greater than just the bond between a man and a woman.

All here plainly states that he's going to use marriage to explain Christ and the church. The author of both 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and Ephesians 5 is Paul the Apostle. Now the word mystery here refers to something once hidden but now is made known. As Vincent's Word Studies explains, quote, "In the New Testament, it denotes," not the mysterious, but that which being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation.

This tells us that marriage serves as a revealed teaching tool, not just a human institution. Paul's use of the word mystery here as he's writing to the church in Ephesus tells us that this is when God wanted us to see the bigger picture of marriage. Marriage was always an essential component of human relationships.

It was the divine institution by which and through which God would establish families on this earth. Yet hidden within this relationship, Paul says, was a mystery. that mystery he says was about Christ and the church. So this means we must study these two chapters together first. So so for your notes, if you're taking notes, it's 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and Ephesians chapter 5 and they go handinand glove together.

What we're going to find is that 1 Corinthians 7 gives us instructions on how to live while Ephesians 5 explains why marriage exists in the first place. Now when combined they show that marriage is both a physical arrangement and a teaching model established by God. So my first point in the Bible study then is marriage and singleness are both valid before God.

Let's make sure that we understand being married or being single, both are valid before God. So, as Paul begins addressing marriage back in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and I am going to begin turning back there now, 1 Corinthians chapter 7 again, he answers questions that had been raised by the brethren about how to live in their present situations.

His instruction is direct and practical. It deals with marriage. It deals with sexual responsibility and it also deals with the choice to remain unmarried. Over here now in 1 Corinthians 7, the first two verses, verses 1 and two, it says, "Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

" Now in this context, touching directly relates to sexual interactions between a husband and a wife. And he says that it's good for a man not to have to be not to be in a relationship for that reason and that reason alone. That if you are okay, some people are just okay. They don't, you know, that's not a motivator or a driver of their life.

It's hard to imagine that in a world driven by Satan who wants to make it the the god of the world is is all sorts of sexual perversion. But Paul says for the for the for the moral person who says I don't need that. I'm okay without that. He says that's fine. There nothing wrong with that. It's good for a man not to touch a woman.

But he says nevertheless because of sexual immorality let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. You have to keep in mind that Paul's mind is on the spiritual connection between it between a man and a woman in a marriage relationship. And when he when he approaches the subject from that framework, then he sees sexual immorality first as the problem and he sees it as a spiritual problem.

And so he says, "Let each man as a spiritual resolution to the problem of sexual immorality." He says, "Let each man have uh his own wife and let each woman have her own husband." Never. And I want to be clear about this. Never does Paul diminish marriage uh as an institution ordained by God. That is never the focus of this.

He's trying to illustrate and help us to understand there is a spiritual lesson within marriage we need to learn and to understand. And he's not diminishing anyone who's not married. So I really want to make sure that that's very clear for us as we go through this message. So he acknowledges here then that remaining unmarried can be good.

He also explains that marriage serves a clear purpose. He does not treat marriage as optional in the sense of being unnecessary but as a proper and orderly way to live the instructions grounded in real human needs and the p and the proper use of what God has created. This shows that marriage is not merely permitted.

that is an established and right condition. But at the same time, Paul does not present singleness as a requirement. So you see, he's not saying marriage is a requirement, nor singleness is a requirement for salvation. So they're just two conditions that we can live in. The key point is that God allows for different circumstances and each person must function within what they have been given as their circumstance.

This removes the idea that spirituality itself is tied to marital status. Now again verse seven, for I wish that all men were even as I myself. But e but but each one has his own gift from God. one in this manner and another in that. The term gift here comes from the Greek word which means or which refers to something given by God.

They's Greek definition states that the root word here is the Greek word is charisma quote a gift of grace a favor which one receives without any merit of its own. So that shows that whether a person is married or unmarried is not a personal achievement or a higher state of righteousness that you've achieved because you're married.

It's a condition in which a person must live faithfully. Paul continues by explaining that both conditions carry responsibilities. Marriage requires attention to a spouse. Singleness allows for a different use of time and focus. Neither condition removes the obligation to obey God. Instead, each one presents a different set of responsibilities that must be handled correctly.

Let's notice here we're still in 1 Corinthians 7:es 32 and 33. Paul says in verse 32, "But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. So Paul's not criticizing marriage here.

He's explaining the practical reality that marriage involves responsibility toward another person. Those of us who are married understand exactly what he's talking about. I cannot live my life as though I do not have a wife. I have a wife and she has needs within our relationship and I am a failure as a husband if I am not attentive to those needs.

But the unmarried person has fewer obligations certainly not that obligation which means that they can devote more time to other matters. The married person must divide attention between serving God and fulfilling the duties within the household that they take on when they become married. Adam Clark's commentary explains this very plainly.

Quote, the married man and his wife and family to provide for. The unmarried man has no such cares. That simply reinforces what Paul is describing. One condition is not better than the other. They simply require different management of time and responsibilities. Paul then gives a guiding principle that applies to everyone.

Doesn't matter what your condition is. A person should not assume that changing status will improve standing with God. Instead, the focus has to remain on living correctly wherever you are in your marital circumstance. This principle stabilizes the entire chapter and prevents confusion. Let's notice verse 20 of chapter 7. Verse 20 says, "Let each one remain in the call same in the same calling in which he was called.

" He's here trying to say, "Look, if you're married, you're not going to have a better relationship with God just because you get a divorce." Orange Notes explains, quote, "The idea is that in whatever situation a man was called, he should remain in that situation and discharge its duties faithfully.

" This means that change and outward condition does not produce spiritual growth by itself. I'm married. I I want to be closer to God. I want to have that extra time to be closer to God. So, I'll get a divorce. The Bible doesn't say that's a good reason to get a divorce. a single person who thinks I've been single and my relationship with God is suffering, so therefore I'm just going to get married.

That must be what resolves my my problem with my relationship with God. The Bible's Paul's answer to that is nei neither of those is a right answer. This so this appears to help us to understand the connection to Ephesians 5. It certainly prepares us for what we learn in Ephesians chapter 5, that greater meaning of the relationship.

If both marriage and singleness are valid, then the importance of marriage must come from something beyond being married. The value of marriage is not that it makes someone more spiritual, but that it serves a specific purpose within God's plan. That purpose will be explained when we examine how marriage is used to illustrate Christ and the church by establishing that both conditions are acceptable before God.

Paul removes false comparison. So, you know, imagine Paul as a pastor looking at his congregation with those who are single and those who are married and he's trying to say, "You're both valid before God. I don't want the married person looking at the single person and saying, "Sorry, your relationship with God is less than ours because you're not married.

" Neither does he want the single person looking at the married couple and saying, "See, I have more time to dedicate to God and therefore I have a better relationship with God than you do because you are married." Paul says, "Neither of that is appropriate." My second point then is that our primary calling is to God, not to a life status.

Our primary calling is to God, a relationship with God. It isn't we're not called into marriage. Okay? So, or singleness to be fair. We're not called into either of those conditions. The focus shifts from what condition a person is in to how that person lives before God within that condition. This becomes the central idea that holds the entire chapter yet to uh excuse me the entire chapter together.

Let's notice again verse 17. We haven't read this one yet. Chapter 7, 1 Corinthians chapter 7:1 17. Paul says, "But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. However God found you, that's the condition that he expects for you to work from. It says, "And so I ordain in all the churches.

" Paul uses the word walk to describe daily conduct. It refers to how a person lives, how they make decisions, how they carry out their responsibilities. Robertson's word pictures explains this use usage very simply. Walk this word this Greek word for walk is the common Pauline metaphor for conduct. The point is direct.

What matters is not a change in status. That is your marital status. Whether you're married to divorce or single into marriage for that purpose of believing that this changes your status with God. It does not. Marriage does not solve spiritual problems. So neither does divorce and neither does getting married. It isn't a solution in and of itself.

The responsibility remains the same in either case to live according to God's instruction where you are. Now Paul reinforces this by repeating the same principle in different ways throughout the chapter. And of course that's deliberate on his part. Repetition is a good thing. It's meant to fix the idea clearly in the mind.

Each person must take responsibility for his or her own conduct rather than looking for improvement through some sort of a change in their relationship status. Verse 24 of chapter 7 says, "Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called." Couldn't be said more plainly. But I do know and I don't know if Paul understood this at his during his time, but it is very common today for people to read from Paul the one or two times he says something that sort of favors what they want him to be saying. Here it seems to

me Paul's being very deliberate to rep to repeatedly make the same sorts of of statements. So that it if you take him on the whole, it's very very difficult to misunderstand what he's saying. Now the phrase here remain with God is key. It shows that the issue is not simply remaining in a situation but remaining faithful to God within that situation.

Vincent's word studies notes that the phrase emphasizes the association with God in the state or condition. This means that a person's connection to God is not tied to changing the circumstances they are in but in their continued obedience. This also then clarifies how we should be thinking about life decisions.

There are times when change may be necessary or even appropriate. But Paul is addressing the assumption that change itself produces spiritual growth. I think it's fair to say that some person's going to wake up in a circumstance. They realize that they have been in a train wreck and their life is so far from God because of decisions that they've made and they need to clean some things up.

very legitimate. There are people who are going to need to clean some things up in their life in order to re to repair their relationship with God. But Paul saying change for change sake doesn't accomplish that. So Paul then uses examples like circumcision and slavery to make the point even clearer.

Now these are major social distinctions of his time. Yet he shows that even these do not determine a person's standing before God. The same principle applies. Faithfulness is measured by obedience not by whatever your conditions are. Verse 19 says circum for example here we are in chapter 7 19 he says circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

If you were uncircumcised as a Greek, called out of the world, Paul says becoming circumcised isn't going to make you more religious. That was resolved in Acts chapter 15. Neither is the Jew who wakes up and says, "Well, maybe I've wasted my life then. I am now a Christian and I've become and I'm uncircumcised.

Maybe I should somehow become circumci." What's the opposite of that? Unc how do you become uncircumcised? And so he's saying it's it's not the condition. It's it's it's your relationship with God in the condition. This helps us to understand why Paul spends so much time addressing everyday situations.

He's teaching that spiritual life is lived in ordinary settings, marriage and work and family and personal conduct. There's no separate category of life where obedience applies differently. Every situation becomes a place where a person must act according to God's instructions. It also prevents a common mistake. People often look for a different situation as a way to fix what's wrong internally.

Paul shows that the real issue is not the situation itself, but how a person responds within the situation. If obedience is not present in one condition, it's not going to randomly or magically appear in another one. If you're not having a right relationship with God and you're single, becoming married isn't going to resolve that.

And if your relationship with God isn't correct while you're married, divorce isn't going to solve that for you either. Now, this principle is what prepares us for the connection to Ephesians 5. If a person's primary responsibility is to obey God wherever he or she is, then marriage must be understood within that framework.

So marriage does not replace that responsibility or take priority over it. Instead, it becomes the it becomes one of the settings in which that responsibility is carried out. By establishing this, Paul keeps the focus on what matters most. Life conditions are going to vary. They'll be different for various people within God's church, but the standard doesn't change.

Each person is accountable for how he or she lives before God. That accountability does not shift with status, meaning whether you're married or whether you're unmarried. It cannot be transferred. It can't be transformed by simply changing your circumstance. Marriage and singleness are real conditions with real responsibilities, but they do not define a person's standing with God.

What defines that standing is consistent obedience in daily life. That's the standard that Paul sets. That's the expectation. My third point, marriage is important because it pictures Christ and the church. Now, this is particularly important, I think, for both married couples and singles to understand. A single person could rightly just look at this and say, "I'm not married and and there's such deep meaning in marriage.

How do I connect to that meaning?" Let let me help you with that if that's something that you're thinking about. Ephesians 5 is what takes us to the depth of this spiritual meaning of marriage. It's where Paul says the mystery, Paul's marriage, the mystery. And so it's over in Ephesians chapter 5 that we find this mystery revealed. Now Paul here goes beyond husbands and wives.

He really makes a strong spiritual connection. And it's important for us to note that. We look here in verses 22 through 25 in Ephesians 5. He says, "Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church. and he that is Christ is the savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Here's what's interesting to note. Husbands and wives in the church are in the church. Those who are single and in the church are in the church which means we are all in a spiritual relationship as members of this church which is the bride of Christ.

Collectively we are that bride. And so marriage in that sense applies to us all. Doesn't matter whether we're single or married to understand the relationship that marriage illustrates between Christ and the church. This is what makes it such a fundamental teaching tool. You don't have to be married necessarily to understand and to learn the lessons as it applies to the church because as Paul walks through, he helps us to see that Christ in his relationship with the church demonstrates how the relationship between a man and a woman should work.

So one is just practical application of the broader spiritual lesson. Now here what we see is direct and specific instructions. Wives are told to submit to their husbands and the husbands are told to submit to their wives or to excuse me to love their wives. These are defined roles with clear responsibilities.

The husband is told to love as Christ also loved the church. What sets the standard for how a husband must act? The word love is the word you might expect. It comes from the we we say the word agape. Whether we're saying that exactly as the as as Greeks or Paul's time would say it, I'm not I'm not positive.

But we know the word is agape. We use that. It's it's the word that we understand as the word that defines the kind of love that comes from God. They's Greek definition states that it means quote to love to be full of good will and exhibit the same. This isn't a passive feeling. It requires action. It requires sacrifice. And it requires consistent effort.

The husband is commanded to act in a way that reflects how Christ deals with the church. Almost have to stop and step back and think that through. Christ does these things for the church. A husband is told, "Behave the same way as Christ towards your wife." What a high standard that is.

and what a challenge that is to try to live that out in real time here as a human being with all of our flaws and frailties. And yet that's what we're called to do. So we look to the model Jesus Christ himself and his relationship with the church to see what we're supposed to be doing. So that obviously shows us then that marriage is not simply about two people living together.

It's a it's it's really structured to reflect something very specific and that is the husband's conduct is meant to demonstrate Christ's care, Christ's leadership, and Christ's sacrifice. The wife's response reflects the church's proper response to Christ's leadership. So, the roles aren't interchangeable, are they? But they are assigned for a purpose.

Now, let's we're still in Ephesians 5:es 25- 27. Paul here says, "Husbands, love your wife wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So Paul continues by describing how Christ deals with the church. He gave himself for it with the goal of setting it apart and preparing it. So this introduces a process. Christ is working toward a defined result. That same behavior is expected within marriage where the husband must act with purpose and responsibility.

Barnes notes explains, quote, "The object of the love of Christ for the church was to make it holy." This shows that Christ's actions are directed toward a result, making the church holy. So in the same way marriage is not just about companionship. It involves responsibility, direction and a clear objective in how one treats one's spouse.

This removes the idea that marriage exists mainly for personal satisfaction. The structure of marriage requires action that reflects purpose for mutual benefit. A husband must take responsibility in how he leads and cares for his wife. A wife must submit in a way that supports the husband. These are not like optional traits.

They are required within a marriage relationship and they're built into the design itself. Still here in Ephesians 5:es 28 and 29 says, "So husbands, verse 28, so husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church.

" So Paul then explains this relationship husband to wife how we treat our bodies. Now can I just say this has got to be said fairly because we live in a world where we see people who are abusing themselves. Um I would say that someone who is emotionally and mentally healthy does not abuse themselves.

It's not the normal condition of the human of a human being to abuse themselves, to ruin themselves, to wreck themselves. That is clearly not how God created us. And so, we tend to care for ourselves when we're mentally and spiritually and emotionally healthy. We we care for our bodies. We care for ourselves.

That's the natural state. And so, God says here that that natural state is how we should be viewing how we treat our spouse. Our relationship needs to have that same level of care. That's the kind of care that Christ has towards the church. He nourishes, he uplifts, he builds his future spouse. Vincent's word studies explains nourish here means quote to bring up to maturity.

This shows that care involves ongoing effort, not you know it's not like occasionally I'll pay some attention to this. The husband is responsible for consistent care and provision for his wife and family. This is not limited to physical needs but includes how he conducts himself in daily life in daily life. How he treats his wife. This also shows that marriage requires steady effort over time.

It's not maintained by occasional action but by consistent conduct. The comparison to the holy or to the body reinforces that neglect leads to harm while proper care leads to strength. The instruction is practical and it's direct. It leaves no room for vague interpretation. Now you get to verses 31 and 32 in context.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. This relationship is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the church. So at this point Paul states the reason for the entire explanation. Marriage is used to illustrate Christ and the church. The union of husband and wife represents something beyond itself.

It's not the final purpose. Marriage is the example used to explain a greater reality. So obviously I touched earlier on mystery. Let me read you the definition. They says it means a hidden thing, a secret, a mystery. You know, generally mysteries, religious secrets are confided only to the initiated. And that's what the's point is.

So in the New Testament, it refers to something that was not understood before, but has now been revealed. This tells us that the meaning of marriage was not fully known until this was explained. Could this have been explained before there was a church? No. And so after the church, we now have an opportunity to look at the greater depth of the meaning of marriage.

An institution that had been around for thousands of years. Only after Christ's death and resurrection and the institution of the church comes along do we now see as Paul says this mystery revealed. So this changes how we should view marriage. It's not just a part of human life. It's a teaching tool built into human life.

God established it with a purpose that reaches beyond physical existence. When we understand that, we see that marriage carries responsibility not just in how people live, but in what it represents. This explains why the earlier instructions in 1 Corinthians 7 does not place marriage above singleness. The importance of marriage is not based on status but on what it illustrates.

So a person does not become more acceptable to God by being married or less acceptable uh to God by not being married. Instead, marriage serves as a physical example that points to something greater. By connecting marriage to Christ and the church, Paul gives it a defined place within God's plan.

It's not separate from that plan. And it's not the end of the plan itself. It is a structured example that helps explain how Christ works with his people and how they must respond to him. This brings well clarity, doesn't it, to the subject itself? Doesn't it make this more clear and help us to understand that marriage has a bigger purpose than just two people living together, coexisting? Marriage is important because of what it teaches and what it represents.

And when understood this way, the instruction in both 1 Corinthians 7 and Ephesians 5 fit together in a clear and consistent way. My final point, the spiritual meaning of marriage applies to every Christian. The spiritual meaning of marriage applies to every Christian. Once Paul explains that marriage pictures Christ and the church, the next step is to understand who this applies to.

Because when we follow that explanation all the way through, it becomes clear that the subject is larger than marriage itself. Marriage is the example, but the lesson applies to all who are part of the church. Ephesians, we're here in Ephesians 5 still. Verse 30 says, "For we," it's interesting.

I love when Paul includes himself. It makes it so that it's very clear for us. He says,"For we," talking then to all Christians, all of God's ecclesia, "for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. We together, all of us whom God has called." So that means Paul included all single people. All single people are pre which means the church isn't made up of just married people.

We know that because we live in churches. We live in we dwell in congregations in which we look and we see there are both married and unmarried people and God calls them all. The word members refers to parts of a body each with a function and purpose. This shows that the that the church is not, you know, a loose group of individuals who randomly get together because they have nothing else to do.

It's a living organism like a body with parts that all have different functions, but that all work together. So each person has a place within this organization and each is connected to Christ as the head. This connection exists whether a person is married or unmarried. over in 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

Let's go over here to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 27. 1 Corinthians 12:27 it says, "Now you," he's talking to the members of the church. "You are the body of Christ and members individually." There is a body which is composed of many parts and the individuals form those parts and collectively they are that body.

So this removes any limitation on who the lesson applies to. The structure that's described in Ephesians 5 is not restricted to a household because it imply it applies to the entire church. Farn's notes explains this very simply. Quote, "The church is represented as a body of which Christ is the head. This shows that the relationship between Christ and the church is the central reality.

Marriage is used to just explain that reality. But it doesn't it doesn't own the reality. Marriage is the tool to teach the reality. So that reality exists whether or not there are married people involved. So that helps us to avoid drawing a wrong conclusion. A person who's not married is not missing the the main lesson that's intended by marriage.

The lesson is not about experiencing marriage literally physically. It's about understanding how Christ deals with his people and how they must respond to him. that applies equally to everyone married or single. Revelation 19:7 helps us to understand the ultimate fulfillment of this relationship that marriage between a man and a woman points to that Ephesians 5 says is the marriage between Christ and the church. the relationship.

And so we see this in Revelation chapter 19 where we have a glimpse into the throne room of God into heaven, the third heaven. It says here in verse 7, let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. We are all a part of that wife making herself ready.

Today it's important that we understand in the proper context that Christ doesn't actually marry us individually. He marries the church. Us collectively. I want it to be really clear that that is what the scripture says that collectively he marries the church. That body of believers called out of this world by his father.

No one can come to me unless the father draws him. and we together form this bride of Christ. The preparation described here involves readiness, obedience, proper conduct. Now, that's not automatic. We're learning that in real time as Christians today in this world, transforming and renewing our mind, becoming like Jesus Christ.

So the church has to become prepared just as a bride prepares herself for a wedding. This preparation takes place over time and it requires constant action. Adam uh Adam Clark's commentary notes quote the marriage of the lamb is the union of Christ with his church. This shows that the final fulfillment of what marriage represents is not physical. It's spiritual.

The end result of our spiritual journey isn't a marriage to a woman or a man. It is our part of the collective body married to Jesus Christ at his return. So this brings the subject back to where Paul began in 1 Corinthians 7. Whether a person is married or unmarried, the responsibility is the same. Each person must live in a way that reflects obedience to Christ.

Each person is part of the body and is being prepared for what lies ahead. This also explains why marriage cannot be the highest goal. It serves a purpose, but it is not the final outcome. The final outcome is being part of the church that is joined to Christ. Marriage teaches that, but it doesn't replace it. When we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and Ephesians chapter 5 together, the subject becomes clear.

Marriage and singleness are both part of life and each carries responsibility. What matters is not the condition itself, but how a person lives before God within that condition. The standard does not change based on status. This brings the focus back to where it belongs. Each person is accountable for how he or she lives, how they think, and how they act.

The goal is steady obedience and proper conduct in whatever situation we are in. Marriage may illustrate that lesson, but the lesson itself applies to us all. So, in the end, the subject is not about marriage alone. It's about understanding what God is doing and preparing for what lies ahead. Our future collectively, it's the bride of Christ awaiting the return of the bridegroom so that we can take our place and serve with him for a millennium while we are kings and priests serving the great God.