Skip to main content

Wedding Homily: "A Faithful Marriage"

A Wedding Homily on Genesis 1, Titus 2, Ephesians 5, and other passages: “A Faithful Marriage”

Our message from God’s Word is titled “A Faithful Marriage”.

The true purpose and picture of a faithful marriage is not popular today, sadly even in many of our churches and among some of our ministers. We live in a day when many are not even sure what a man or a woman is. No wonder, then, that we do not know what a husband and a wife are to be in the bonds of holy matrimony.

Thankfully, our Lord has made clear in the Scriptures that He has created mankind in His image and according to His likeness, as male and female. He said in Genesis 1 the purpose of creating man in His image was for them to have dominion over His creation. God blessed us and commanded us to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

But God did not create man and woman to have this dominion in isolation from one another, nor in identical ways. God placed man in the Garden of Eden, after creating him from the dust of the ground, with the purpose of tending and keeping, cultivating and guarding the garden. Adam, the first man, could not do this alone however, and God said that it was not good that he should be alone. So, a helper for the man was made from the man, from the side of Adam. God Himself gave away this bride, whom we come to know as Eve, for Genesis 1:22 says that God “brought her to the man”. Adam is overjoyed to have a helper, and as God chose man to be the head of the female sex (1 Cor. 11:3), Adam was chosen by God to name the female image bearer taken from his side as “woman”. Gen. 1:23 states, “And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

So, when our nation today tells women that “they don’t need no man”, they sin against God and the differing natures and complementary design of male and female. The very name, “woman”, is derivative of “man” and given to her by man, from whom she was taken, in order to be a helpmeet to him, especially in the home for the sake of her husband and children. Titus 2:4-5 explains, “that [the older women] admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”

This is fitting for the glorious, feminine nature that God has made for woman. Less experienced women are taught by older and wiser women how to become faithful wives and mothers. This is learned not in the classroom or out in the workplace, but in the home, over many years, in faithful service to your family. Good order in the home is the well-spring of a faithful marriage. Without it, God’s Word is blasphemed.

Beloved, this is how true dominion is taken for the Lord. Men tend and keep the garden of their home, by leading, guiding, and protecting. They also go out into the world, working in order to improve it and to further provide for their household. Wives are more domestic. The Psalms describe them as a vine bearing much fruit in the heart of the home. Psalm 128: “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord.

This was God’s design from the beginning, and it is meant to continue until kingdom come. With the husband lovingly leading, and the wife helping and following, man and woman in marriage together take dominion for the Lord’s glory.

Feminism is a major problem in our nation today, as it was even in Paul’s day in New Testament Times. So, Paul further urged the domestical duties of the woman in 1 Timothy 5, where he said he desires that they would “bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.” Paul provides this as the antidote to the busy-body woman who wanders from house to house for the purpose of sharing gossip. So we plainly see that God’s Word addresses the particular vices and temptations not only of men, but also of women.

But God’s word also praises gendered piety. The good works especially relevant to the feminine nature of the woman are seen in her having “brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work” (1 Timothy 5:10)

Rearing children, showing hospitality to strangers, washing saints’ feet, relieving the needy -- these are all good works done, you guessed it, primarily in the home, and God kindly gives these duties to the married woman as part of her glorious calling. This of course provides tremendous help and delight to her husband. The home should be a place of fruitfulness, of hospitality and industry, and God has called the wife and mother to accomplish this, making the home warm, welcoming, and comforting to all who enter in.

Are you starting to see the picture that God has painted for marriage? As man was planted in a garden and given woman to help him there, the call God has given mankind is to reproduce something of the glory and beauty of the garden -- a piece of Eden restored to fallen earth again -- in each home, within each family. In a Christian marriage, that love for God and fellowship with Him that was lost in the fall has been restored through Christ. Children from such a union are born not only into the Christian home, but into the Christian Church, graciously included in the household of their covenant God. Parents, husband and wife together, are to cultivate their home and their offspring, with the husband and father as the head, the patriarch of his household, the one chiefly responsible for seeing to it that his wife is instructed and his children are brought up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

But a happy, holy, faithful marriage is impossible if the man will not lovingly lead and the woman will not reverently follow. It is that simple. “Leading” and “following” are neither dirty words nor abusive ideas. It is God’s design. Marriage is not meant to be a tug of war between two co-equals vying for power or trying to constantly persuade the other to change their mind.

Rather, Ephesians 5 tells us that marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church. Christ the Lord is represented by the husband, who reflects Christ as a prophet by teaching the truth, a priest by praying fervently for his wife and children, and a king by leading and guiding them in the paths of righteousness. The Church in her pure devotion and submissive obedience is represented by the wife, who shows her faithfulness to God by her subjection to their own husbands “in everything” as Ephesians 5:24 says. And God has kindly fitted the male nature to his calling, and the female nature to hers.

So then, sir, you are vowing to take this woman and to love her as your own flesh, even as Christ gave Himself for His own bride, the Church, which is also called Christ’s body, for we are of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:30). Nourish and cherish her, and so be a reflection of Christ to her indeed. Though Christ cannot and has never sinned, you will. When you do, repent and confess your sin to God, and to her. Do not let your sin hinder you from being the head of your home, for the good of those in your home. Do not let former sins that you have confessed and your wife has forgiven sap your strength to serve her by your loving leadership. Your calling is nothing less than to mirror Christ, as Christ for His bride is said to “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” (Eph. 5:27). Your headship is for her holiness, and is not to be abused out of selfishness, nor neglected so that she is without guidance.

And yes, your bride, too, is a sinner. She like you is not yet without spot or blemish, but it is your responsibility to lead her in the Lord and His goodness, through His Word and with His help. You must lead not in word only, but also with godly living and masculine virtue. You must anticipate and wisely plan for things pertaining to this life, and especially for the life to come. If she is to pour herself out to serve you in the home, you must order the affairs of this life outside the home and relieve her of any burdens there as best you can. And as you are, God willing, blessed with children, it is your duty to shepherd and disciple them also.  

Remember that the Bible teaches you to cherish and acquire wisdom and understanding more than silver and gold. Godliness with contentment is great gain. “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife” (Prov. 17:1). Labor most of all for godly peace in your family, even above wealth and success in your life vocations, and you will find that the Lord will provide your daily bread.

Your bride is called to submit to you in marriage, and to respect you. Do not make this hard for her. Cherish her, and she will respect you. Tenderly guide and instruct her, and she will have greater light to follow and imitate you, even as you imitate Christ. Fight for her purity, even as Christ fights for ours, and she will be drawn ever closer to you, to love and serve you in the home, and to bear your children with joy. This will increase your delight in her, even as Christ delights in His bride the more He washes her and makes her spotless and holy as He is holy.

Now madam, you are vowing to take this man and to receive him as your head in the home, to become one flesh with him, to be led by him, and to be his helpmeet in this life. As he should treat you kindly and tenderly, you also be kind and compliant to his commands. Respect and encourage him, and he will all the more easily and readily love and lead you into goodness and truth. Yes, he will sin and disappoint at times. Do not be surprised by this, for you, too, are a sinner and will not perfectly represent the Church in spotless purity. But as a gentle and quiet spirit is very precious in the sight of God Himself (1 Pet. 3:4), so it will be in the eyes of your husband, as he beholds your chaste conduct and willingness to serve him despite his shortcomings. Do this by God’s grace, and your husband and children will rise up and call you blessed, praising God and telling others of your wonderful virtue and service to them (Prov. 31:28).

Finally, to all of you here witnessing this marriage, reflect upon your own marriage if you are so blessed, or God willing your future marriage. Behold the beauty before us in this church and with this couple. Consider how it pictures the strength of Christ and the pure devotion of His bride, the Church, as portrayed for us in Revelation 19:6-9:

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 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.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

When you put the husband-and-wife-to-be together in this full regalia, side by side, you see the distinct glory of the man and the distinct glory of the woman as God has designed and destined them to be, as male and female renewed in His image.

The world began in a garden, with a wedding. For those in Christ, we are bound for a glorious wedding feast in heaven, which Eden’s garden merely foreshadowed. The feast is for us, for you and me, for somehow by God’s grace we have been washed white as snow in the blood of Christ, and by His Spirit we are putting off sin and putting on righteousness as a garment, being made ready to embrace the Lamb that was slain for our sin and raised up to glory for our full redemption!

So, all here witnessing this earthly marriage, be sure that you are called to the true and heavenly marriage, taking on the heavenly groom’s Name in submissive fidelity to Him, the sweet name above all names of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoice for this glorious union of this groom and bride. Do all you can by prayer, word, and example to help them have a lasting, God-glorifying, faithful marriage of serving the Lord as they serve one another as husband and wife. And by this, may they draw nearer to Christ their Lord and Savior in heaven. Amen.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Stone Choir/Corey Mahler Invert God's Revelation

https://coreyjmahler.com/the-european-peoples-and-christianity/  *****EDIT: Some have said that they, or at least Corey Mahler perhaps believes, that the European religions were deviations from Christianity, believed by Noah and his sons. Over time, sinful man and demons twisted these European religions, which I think their argument is that it was originally Christian/derived from Noah and his offspring. Nordic paganism had the most in common with Christianity, even with Odin sacrificing himself on a tree, and therefore the Europeans were the most ripe and ready to embrace Christianity and continue to advance the cause of Christ more than other peoples/races/nations over the last 2,000 years since Christ.  To that I simply say, I appreciate the context given, but even if all that were true (maybe it is, maybe it is not), it doesn't change the fundamental points of my post below. Syncretism, Odinism, etc., even if it was somehow a distorted derivation flowing from the true...

Why Pastors Shouldn't Preach In Jeans (Especially Skinny Jeans)

By: Thomas F. Booher I can't think of a better way to get labeled a legalist than to title a post like this. Hopefully by the end you will not see this as legalism and will see this as what it is- my attempt at describing what I believe is proper ecclesiology as defined by God in Scripture. So then, what is church? What does Scripture say we should be doing and not doing on Sunday mornings? That's what I want to explore. The Bible says to gather together in Christ's name; to teach, encourage, and admonish one another; to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Heb. 10:24-25; Mat. 18:20; Col. 3:16). There are to be deacons (Acts 6:1-6) and elders (Ti. 1:5) in the church who act as overseers, and in the case of elders, are the shepherds of the flock who teach the word and rebuke with authority (Ti. 1:9).  God must call one to be a pastor/elder (Eph. 4:11). As such those who are called by God to preach the word are held to a ...

Ordered Loves, Inequalities, Supremacy, and "Racism"

 By: Thomas F. Booher  Today, being a white Christian man in the United States and holding to properly ordered loves (a good definition of which is given here:  https://americanreformer.org/2024/12/rightly-ordered-love/ )  consistently and publicly will get you labeled as a "racist" or "white supremacist" or something similar soon enough.  In fact, you do not even have to be white or a man to be labeled something like a "white supremacist". But there's a rule out there today that if you can't find a minority to say it first, then what you are saying is bigoted, racist, etc.  I like the phrase/terminology of "properly ordered loves" because it is harder to slander/bear false witness against. It is harder to reduce down to some sort of scary word like "racist" or "kinist" or "supremacist" or "nazi" or whatever. I would say I also like the notion of "family first", but apparently some have ev...