Fortified & Flourishing in Marriage
Ephesians 5:21-32 New King James Version
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 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. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Marriage is More than a Relationship, It is a Revelation of Christ
What Is Marriage?
Jesus’ Defined and Defended Marriage with Scripture
Matthew 19:4-6 New King James Version
4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
1. Marriage is the Joining and Blessing of One Adult Male to One Adult Female for a Lifetime
2. Marriage is the First Covenant Instituted by God and One He Cares For Deeply
Malachi 2:13-14 New King James Version
13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.
3. Marriage God’s Chosen Mystery to Reveal Christ and the Church
Ephesians 5:32 New King James Version
31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
4. Marriage is Not Man’s Institution to be Redefined, but God’s Covenant to be Honored
Marriage is Under Constant Attack
Our Flesh, the World, and the Demonic Resist what God Institutes
If We Understand the Spiritual Power of Marriage, We’ll Understand Why the Enemy Fears It
5 Ways to Release the Power of Marriage
Genesis 2:15 &21-25 New King James Version
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 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.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
1. Yield To, and Rest In, the Power of Jesus
Marriage is a Revelation of the Power of Jesus
Marriage is the covenant God instituted to reconcile everything not good in His creation
Genesis 2:18 New King James Version
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Revelation 19:7 New King James Version
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
Marriage Reveals and Restores What is Not Good In Us
Marriage has the ability to expose everything not good in us
Encountering Jesus will do the same thing
We are restored when we trust, yield to, and rest in Jesus [Adam trusted and slept as God worked]
Ephesians 1:13-14 New King James Version
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
2. Prioritize Jesus
Genesis 2:24 New King James Version
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
For This Reason Jesus Left His Father
Jesus came to the world as Lord and Savior to restore right relationship with His people
John 3:16 New King James Version
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus Requires Us to PRIORITIZE Him in Return
Matthew 10:37-39 New King James Version
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
3. Pursue Jesus Daily
Genesis 2:24 New King James Version
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Jesus PURSUED and PURSUES Us
Jesus came preaching repentance, turning away from determining good and evil for ourselves and instead submit to His leadership and definition of good and evil
All who accept Him and His leadership will become the bride He clings to
John 10:28 New King James Version
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Jesus Invites Us to PURSUE Him
Jeremiah 29:13 New King James Version
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Secret Place [ABC’s]
Three-fold Encounters [Connect Ministry Plan]
Corporate Encounters
4. Partner with Jesus
Genesis 2:24 New King James Version
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Jesus entered into PARTNERSHIP with His Bride
Jesus died to on the cross, we died to ourselves, and are raised together in one new life found in Christ Jesus
Like Adam said of Eve, Jesus rejoices over us, “bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh.
Ephesians 5:30 New King James Version
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
Through this new union, every sin that was, and is, “not good,” is dealt with forever
Just like when debts are assumed in marriage, Jesus took on our debts and paid for them ALL on the cross
Lose Your Life in PARTNERSHIP with Jesus [Matthew 16:25]
5. Walk in Jesus’ Purity
Genesis 2:25 New King James Version
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
There is restored PURITY between Jesus and His Bride
Ephesians 5:25-27 New King James Version
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 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.
We no longer have to hide from Him, but now we can Hide in Him
Whatever is naked, He clothes
What is filthy, He cleanses
What is broken, He makes whole
It is He who makes us righteous
By the gentle washing of the waters of His word - washing our feet
It is Jesus who keeps our marriage bed undefiled, not us
Allow Jesus to Break Shame Off of You
Purity is not the removal of darkness, it is the presence of Jesus’ light
Marriage is More than a Relationship, It is a Revelation of Christ
Communion Elements [1 Corinthians 11:23-26]
You Need Jesus’ Power to Walk in His Purity
Ephesians 3:19-21 New King James Version
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
