“Marriage: Purpose, submission, and sex”
SERMON Title: Marriage: Purpose, submission, and sex
SCRIPTURE: genesis 2:18-25 (ESV)
Introduction:
We continue our series on Genesis, and how the creation we are part of reflects the image of God. Last week Pastor John spoke specifically about how “rest” fits into the plan of creation, its importance and what rest means: that rest is not just about napping or playing – although it could be – but that rest is essentially “to be free from the unrest of stress, striving, chaos and trouble… to trust in God’s unfailing love.”
Today we will discuss how marriage relates to the image of God.
Overview:
(1) Marriage as the purpose of God
We were not meant to be alone, and just as we have many types of relationships (family, friends, colleagues, neighbours), our most intimate relationship is our union as husband and wife; and this, too, was part of God’s purpose in creation. The nature of this intimacy is made clear in this passage.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
If we, as individuals, were created for his glory, then we as couples, in marriage, were created for His glory. (Isaiah 43:1; 6-7)
But a big part of our fallen nature is that we become self-centred and believe we were created for our own pleasure and our own glory. We seek relationships to satisfy our selfish desires which many times lead to unmet expectations, unfulfilled appetite and passion, which then sparks broken relationships and misery.
In contrast, our relationship in our marriage should reflect the purpose of God, and that is to bring honour and glory to Him; and how do we bring honour and glory to God through our marriage?
(2) Mutual submission
Before we jump into the mutual submission found within marriage, there are a lot of accompanying struggles to being married. (Matt 19:10-12; 1 Cor 7:6-9)
The fulfilment of God’s purpose in the context of singleness then, is in pursuing our union with God, and in pursuing our relationship with the rest of humanity outside of marriage: to be a good neighbour, to be a good friend, colleague, and a faithful brother and sister to those in the church.
Our commitment to be a follower of Christ was a commitment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
If I can rephrase this, sanctification, then, is a big part of us becoming and reflecting Jesus Christ; and as we learn to serve each other in our marriage, our marriage becomes a part of our sanctification process. We no longer think of marriage of what he or she can do for me, but how I can serve him or her.
(3) Marriage and sex
The theme of mutual submission carries over into sex; our devotion and mutual submission is holistic – it isn’t just within the bounds of cooking dinner for one another, opening doors, raising children together, but also with sex. Sex is a big part of God’s purpose and design for marriage.
We know that the Bible references the imagery of the bride and bridegroom as it relates to the Church and Jesus Christ; and how we, the Church, as the bride of the groom, Jesus Christ, will present ourselves to Jesus without stain, wrinkle, or blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5: 26-27). This was completed when Christ loved us and gave himself up for us and washed us with water through the word.
Sex also demonstrates our creativity to create. The only process humans can contribute to in creating natural human life through the birth of another human being. This is part of God’s purpose in creation and in marriage: to participate in His creation – to give life to another human being.
