Accomplish God’s Purposes For Your Marriage
Accomplishing God's purpose for your marriage moves it from a mere human contract to a divine covenant with eternal significance.Before you can accomplish the purpose, you must understand it. The Bible outlines several key purposes:
Covenant Companionship: It is the foundational truth. "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Marriage is designed to provide deep, intimate, and committed friendship and partnership.
Sanctification: Marriage is a refining fire. It is God's tool to make you more like Christ. Your spouse, in their strengths and especially their weaknesses, is God's primary instrument to sand down your rough edges, teaching you patience, selflessness, forgiveness, and love. (Ephesians 5:25-27)
A Picture of the Gospel: This is the ultimate purpose. Ephesians 5:22-33 reveals that marriage is a living metaphor of Christ's love for the Church. The husband's sacrificial love reflects Christ's love for us, and the wife's respectful support reflects the Church's response to Christ. Your marriage is a sermon to the world about the gospel.
Fruitfulness and Legacy: This includes raising children in the "training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4) and creating a home that is a beacon of God's love, hospitality, and mission to the world.
Imagine a triangle with you and your spouse at the bottom two points and God at the top. The closer you each move toward God (the top), the closer you automatically move toward each other. Your primary relationship is with God; your marriage is the overflow.
