All Things Beautiful #7 – Ken Williams

Marriage, a Great Mystery – Beautiful!

God became the Creator when he created time and space. He disturbed the cosmos he created, like dropping a rock into a still pond; his presence endlessly radiates concentric tsunamis of light, outwardly, replacing darkness.

God created marriage in the beginning. The author of Genesis recorded, “And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27-28 NASB). God brought them together and they became “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). God blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” (Gen.1:28a). Why did he create this first marriage, with this couple to be his co-regents with him over the earth?

Exercising the God-given power of choice humanity betrayed our Friend, and committed adultery with his perverse Adversary, filling the earth with wars and rumors of wars. God looks forward to his beloved humans choosing to return and become faithful to him, our divine Lover, but when?

First, what is so important about humans? (Psalm 8) And what does marriage have to do with it?

After the Beginning, thousands of years later, perhaps scores of thousands, the apostle Paul applied God’s intended purpose of marriage to Christ and his church. (Eph. 5:31-32). Two thousand years ago, the apostle exhorted married couples in the Ephesian congregations to consider how Jesus cares for his church/body, and how followers of Christ respond in faithfulness to him. God created marriage between a man and woman intending to reveal the coming marriage of the Lamb and his bride at his return to rule the earth. (Rev.19:7-9).

It’s a beautiful vision but looking at our world, it seems impossible. God created us with the power of choice. He does not intend to marry a bride in an arranged marriage, one coerced, or manipulated into “accepting” our Creator. He loves and desires to be loved. He’s faithful and desires his bride to be faithful to him. What will it take for humanity to choose, to accept, Jesus’ hand in marriage?

To summarize, God created us to be different than all the other creatures. He gave us the freedom to make choices. We were seduced by the “serpent”. He not only perverted God’s beloved humans, he perverts our view of our loving God. The “god” of too many Christian messages is portrayed as an all-powerful, vindictive tyrant, whom we’d better accept or be tortured forever in hell. The Adversary has led us into being children of wrath, like him (Eph. 2:1-3). Our gracious, faithful God who is love, desires that we choose to take his hand and become his bride; he longs for us to return to him; he misses us.

Isn’t this what we long for in our marriages? Don’t we desire to be accepted for who we are, to share mutual love and respect in a growing intimate relationship with our spouse? God desires the same with us.

This seems like a dream, a fantasy too great to be true, perhaps we don’t want to find out this great mystery is only a ghost, not real in this violent world. But our future Husband assures us, “…Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I, myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (Luke 24:38b -39 NIV). God brought his wife of flesh and bone to Adam and now he is flesh and bone and comes to us!

Stay tuned for “All Things Beautiful” – 8 Transformed by Jesus’ faithfulness and love

Ken and Nancy Williams served for some 25 years in pastoral ministry, and then almost another 20 years serving and mentoring other pastors.  With the heart of a pastor Ken continues to write and blog from upstate New York where he and Nancy live close to their grandchildren.