A New Way of Seeing Marriage
ICS Daily Devotions
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NKJV) that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
When we refer to the “old man”, we are referring to our old nature before we received Christ as our Saviour and were born again. In the thinking of the “old man”, marriage is all about the big “I”, instead of seeing the husband and the wife as “one flesh”. Sin is all about the self and the gratification of the self! If both the husband and the wife have an individualistic ideology, a broken marriage is inevitable.
Marriage to many people is about personal rights, personal feelings, and personal pleasures, but individualism is a death blow to marriage. If we give in to individualism, once the relationship ceases to give us what we want, gets tough, or even just gets boring, we will think that we can just walk away and start all over. In the process, hearts are being broken, homes are being destroyed, and the collateral damage is rippling out into society.
The “old man” looks at marriage as a contract that has an escape clause to it, but if it is viewed as a contract, the couple will think in terms of conditions, limits, rights, and even “outs”. To modern thinking, marriage is a social contract governed by the state and negotiated between two sovereign people who share the same bed.
When it is two sovereign people living together and both demanding their rights, they may live in a beautiful house, but it will be filled with fights, quarrels, anger, and hatred because the “old man” doesn’t want to resolve conflicts or be the peacemaker because he or she is self-centred.
However, when we have been crucified with Christ, our “old man” is dead. We will also die to individualism, begin to walk in love with others, and live for Christ! We will live for our spouse and husbands will love their spouse as Christ loves the church.
Our lives are identified with Christ. We are identified with Him in our baptism, which is a beautiful symbol of His death, burial, and resurrection. It is also a beautiful spiritual picture of our co-crucifixion, our co-burial, and our co-resurrection with Christ.
The opening Scripture reiterates what it means to be crucified with Christ. It means we are united together in the likeness of Christ’s death, dead to sin, and no longer slaves to sin. We have also resurrected with Him into a new life—an abundant life that includes a home filled with warmth and love.
Sermon Series: Before You Say I Do
