The Image Of God #6: Marriage, Singleness and the church
GENESIS SERMON SERIES
I. Marriage
a. Marriage with a missional purpose
i. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18)
ii. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18)
II. Singleness
a. Two pitfalls in singleness:
i. Undervaluing singleness
1. “I wish that all were as I myself am [that is, single]. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind [single] and one of another [married].” (1 Cor 7:7)
2. The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:10-12)
ii. Wasting Singleness
b. Singleness with a missional purpose
i. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman [single] is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. (1 Cor 7:32-35)
III. Church
a. Two pitfalls in pursuing intimacy
i. False assumption about intimacy
ii. Finding intimacy in the wrong places and in the wrong ways
b. Church as an intimate spiritual family
i. “I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace… For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:7-8)
ii. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)