Marriage vows revisited

About three months ago brief discussion with my uncle on the wedding vows we normally use at Christian weddings sparked a tiny flame. 

Half of the things which we say and anticipate will be a part of our married lives are downright pessimistic under Grace. For example, we say, “to have and to hold in sickness and in health, for better or for worse..”

Clearly this is like cursing a union before it even begins. Sure the argument that “anything can happen” and that “we should consider all possibilities” may hold true for unbelievers; but for the children of the Most High God such a statement is absurd.

Beloved Yeshua suffered and died one of the most painful and agonizing forms of death just so that we, today, will be free from all sin, sickness and worries. So to declare or even hope to encounter such things is wrong. The writer of Hebrews says, “…and who have fallen away; it is impossible, I say, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God afresh to themselves and put Him to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:6)

Beloved, repent!! Metanoea!! Change the way you think!! Because the work of Christ is complete. It was one sacrifice, offered once, for all our sins and it was accepted as perfect by the Father. So if there was any sin which God had not forgiven that day at the cross, He (the Father) could not have raised Jesus from the dead. So perfect health, prosperity and peace of mind are blood bought gifts given to us freely by faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

“Till death do us part…” is another inappropriate phrase. 

Beloved, for a believer the word death is invalid. Believers pass on into eternal life. The “zoe” life which the bible speaks of begins when this mortal life ends. And the Saviour who died to reconcile all mankind to the Father is not in the business of parting us from our loved ones. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall fully know even as I also am fully known.” Then when we are perfected in heaven we will know each other, all the painful memories will be gone but all the good times will be enhanced.

Today when we are separated from those we love…parents…siblings…spouses…we feel void, incomplete and alone. 

Eve was made because God saw that Adam was alone (Genesis 2:18). And Adam loved Eve, because we see when man fell and the woman was cursed Adam declared over his wife that her name shall be “Chavvah” (Eve) which means life (Genesis 3:20). Wow, imagine they had just lost their immortality and this guy names his wife “life”. I believe that they know each other in heaven and I am sure that we all will know our loved ones too.

Beloved, the covenant of marriage is holy. God made man and woman to be with each other.

Paul explains the deeper significance of marriage in Ephesians 5, mentioning what Jesus, the Bridegroom, did for His bride, the Church. Here husbands are instructed to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). Christ died for His bride so that He may present her without blemish before God, by the washing of water by His Word. (Ephesians 5:26-27) Husbands are the priests of their households. It is their duty to wash their families with the “washing of water by the word”; to intercede on their behalf and to be the representative of the love of Jesus in their families. Amen!

Wives are told to submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22) not as slaves rather as worthy equals. The picture is of the Holy Spirit and the renewed spirits of the redeemed (2 Corinthians 5:17). The unsaved spirits of unbelievers cannot stand before Spirit of God, let alone receive from Him but when a sinner repents he is made a new creation. This new creature (spirit) is perfected by the work of Yeshua and can stand face to face and receive from the Spirit of God. Hallelujah!!!

“for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife…”(Ephesians 5:31). The cause is simple, beloved. The cause is LOVE. Jesus is LOVE. God is LOVE. Marriages on earth represent His Love for us, His Bride.

So marriage vows under grace would sound something like as follows:

I take my beloved <name of your spouse> as my lawfully wedded husband/wife

To have and to hold for all eternity

In the abundance of health and happiness

For better moving on towards the best

Till we are perfected in love when we stand face to face with the author and perfecter of our love, Jesus Christ

Amen

Beloved this is a truth, and Jesus said that the truth always sets us free. Feel free to renew your wedding vows with your spouse if you are led. For those who are not married yet, declare these promises in your heart so that when God brings the right person to you, you will declare life over them in Jesus’ name. 

Yes, beloved, when we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. We will rejoice in the arms of our Lord and celebrate with all whom we love. It will be a grand grand reunion.

Shalom!

Why I do not cry on Good Friday!!!

Someone once asked me, "Is Good Friday a sad day?"

Surprisingly, I took a little longer than I should have to reply, "No, it's a happy day!!"

And I am sure that by the time you finish reading this post you will agree with me too.

Jesus Christ, the only begotten, beloved Son of the most High God (Elohim) suffered the most painful, cruel and agonizing form of death known to man. Death on a cross. 

There is a curse in the old testament which says, "...cursed is every man who hangs on a tree." (Deuteronomy 21:23)

King David was instructed to avenge the murder of the Gibeonites by killing those responsible by hanging them on trees (2 Samuel 21). They were cursed by God. Suspended on trees they were neither of the earth nor of the heavens. Rejected....despised......cursed.

The Law (The Ten Commandments) came with blessings (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) for those who could keep it and also with a curse, for those who went astray. The curse of the Law is listed in excruciating detail from verse 14 onwards in the 28th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. 

So what exactly happened on Good Friday 33AD. 

I call it an "exchange", a "divine exchange" took place. 

The bible says in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone having been hanged on a tree")"

"For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21) 

So believe it or not, all who believe in Jesus are RIGHTEOUS people. Righteous not by their works but by Jesus' work. All the sin, shame and suffering of the world, of the past, the present and the future, were on Jesus on that day at Calvary. The full fire of God's holy wrath fell upon the body of the Messiah.

That agonizing cry of Jesus, "Eloi Eloi!! Lama Sabachthani" (My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me); is an understatement. The only beloved Son of God had to bear that moment of separation from His Father. Jesus was so full of the sin of the world that God could not bear to look at Him, God turned away from His Son......and the fire of His wrath fell on the Man who hung on a tree that day. 

Terrible!! Right? But wait. That is not all. After the full fury of God was exhausted, Jesus was still there and He cried out “It is FINISHED!!!!!” The sins of the entire world, of all generations had been punished on the body of He who knew no sin! The sacrifice was greater that the fire of Judgement. The Law was fully satisfied and God’s wrath was appeased by the perfect sacrifice of His beloved Son. The book of Hebrews says, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God….” (Hebrews 10:12)

So the exchange was that He, Jesus, bore all the sins of mankind and died under the curse of the Law and in doing so made us an heir to ALL of the Blessings of the Law; and because of His perfect sacrifice God CANNOT see sin in us!

And because of His perfect work, a new Covenant was established.

A Covenant of Grace, of righteousness by Faith, of Power, of Love; a Covenant which no man can break because it was not wrought by man, but by God the Father and God the Son, Jesus, the Messiah!! Hallelujah!!!!!

Just look at the terms of this new Covenant!!

The writer of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 33, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” also He adds, "their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:16-17)

Notice the double negative in that second verse, “their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more”.  So today when God the Father looks at you He cannot see sin. He sees the righteousness of His Son in you and blesses you with what Jesus deserves. That, beloved, is Grace. The unmerited and undeserved favour of God bestowed on an undeserving world through the perfect work of His beloved Son, Yeshua!!!!

Beloved, today when you accept Jesus as your Lord, your beloved elder brother, you become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the Grace of God is made to abound in your life (Romas 5:17). Health, prosperity and favour are released onto you not because of who you are and what you have done, but because of who He is and what He has done.

Beloved, God demands nothing from you except that you come to Him.

Jesus said, “I say to you that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) and in Matthew 11:28, He says, “Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

The Saviour did not come to make you work to receive the favour of God. He came out to bring you into His rest.

The writer of Hebrews understood the meaning of this rest, he says, “For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.  Therefore let us labour to enter into that rest…..” (Hebrews 4:10-11)

Today the only work that we are called to do is to labour to enter into His rest; a point where we are completely dependent on Him. To not be anxious about anything but to bring all our requests before God, a point at which the Holy Spirit meets with the Shalom peace of God and guards our hearts and minds from all doubt and evil. There we are safe and free from all worries, in the arms of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. (paraphrased from Philippians 4:6-8)

Beloved what a merciful God we serve. And that is not enough. Jesus’ work also bestowed on us the Spirit of sonship, by which the Most High God has adopted us as His sons and daughters (Romans 8:26). So not only are you righteous saints of God but you are also His heirs, the heirs to Heaven and the Universe!! God will provide for you (Jehovah Jireh), He is your healing (Jehovah Rapha), He will guide you like a shepherd (Jehovah Rohi), He is your righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu),He is your peace (Jehovah Shalom), He is your Daddy (Abba)!! Hallelujah!!!

So you see, beloved, it is impossible to grieve when you have so many reasons to rejoice for what Jesus did when He died for you and I.

Shalom!!