Sermon THE CHURCH and MARRIAGE Eph 5:32 Introduction

WHY MAKE THE CHURCH A PRIORITY IN 2016?

[22] Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. [24] Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

[25] Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish

[28] In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, [30] because we are members of his body.

[31] “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” [32] This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:22-32 ESV)

JUST LIKE MARRIAGE, THE CHURCH … …Is a place of Supernatural Community …Is a place where all who are true Communing members have experienced Radical Heart Change …Is a place where we all share a radical new identity- A beloved spouse

Supernatural Community There is a bond that transcends borders and language, but to get a fuller sense of the supernatural community that God has created we need to be deeply connected with a group of people in a consistent way.

Do any of those images or metaphors describe a relationship with the church that can be lived out by simply showing up to worship on Sunday?

[12] Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. [13] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV)

It happens because the church is a place where all who are true Communing members have experienced Radical heart change, v. 26- the washing and cleansing by Christ.

“In our world today identity is never defined by inherent characteristics, but only by those characteristics in relation to other persons.” Mark Currie - Difference

How does The Gospel remedy this? It changes our hearts with two strokes:

We’re all bigger sinners than we dare admit. The gospel gives infinite affirmation.

The gracious work of God means that the church is a place where we all share a radical new identity- A beloved Spouse.

THE CHURCH …Is a place of supernatural community …Is a place where all who are true Communing members have experienced RADICAL HEART CHANGE …Is a place where we all share a radical new identity- a beloved spouse

John Piper… Jesus said that in the age to come there will be no marriage or giving in marriage (Luke 20:35). Now that may seem like a colossal disappointment for those of us who have enjoyed the pleasures of marriage.

But what if someone said: In the future I am going to take away your wedding ring, and all you are going to have is heightened ecstasies that it stood for. Would you be disappointed? Well, a little bit, but not very long. Not very long. No, you wouldn’t.