The Mystery

According to Jesus, the Bible is about Him. The creation account is no exception, in fact it forms the basis for understanding the Gospel and God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life itself. Marriage and the Church are under attack, that’s nothing new, but the attack started on the Bible, and especially on it’s account of creation. For strong marriages and a strong Church, we need to know honour and obey the Word of God. When we read the Bible, we read about God’s love and power, when we trust and obey it, we experience what we read and grow as individuals, as families and as the Church.

Scripture

Ephesians 5:31-33 ESV “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 . 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself , and let the wife see that she respects her husband .

Bible Study Questions

Leaving our parents

Marriage is God’s plan and design, it takes precedence over all other human relationships. Many martial problems stem from the interference of parents in their children’s marriage, or neglect of the spouse in favour of their children. What does the Bible (starting in Genesis 2) have to say about this?

Ephesians 5:31 ESV “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh .”

Genesis 2:21-24 ESV So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is 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 his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

One Flesh

God designed marriage for one man and one woman for life. Who makes us one flesh and what does that reveal about the nature and importance of marriage?

Ephesians 5:31 ESV “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh .”

Matthew 19:4-6 ESV He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

The Profound Mystery

Ephesians 5:31, and the passage in Genesis to which it refers, show us much about God’s plan and purpose for marriage. But now the Holy Spirit reveals that there’s far more to it than that. What is the “Profound Mystery” that marriage refers to?

Ephesians 5:32 ESV This mystery is profound , and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church .

John 5:46-47 ESV For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Marriage compared with Christ and the Church

As wonderful and criti'cal as the Bible’s teaching on the practicality of marriage is, there’s something more. The spiritual implications of marriage are fundamental to our faith. How do Christ and the Church compare with marriage throughout Scripture?

John 16:28 ESV I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

1 Timothy 3:16 ESV Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

John 19:33-34 ESV But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

Matthew 16:18 ESV And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 22:29-30 ESV But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

God has prepared: before we were

God always prepares for those He loves and cherishes. What did God prepare for us before we even existed? How does the creation relate to the Gospel?

Genesis 2:8 ESV And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Hebrews 10:5-7 ESV Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

What’s the problem?

When we disregard the Word of God it’s often because we do not know it, or how it reveals God and His will for us. What are the consequences of doing this?

Hosea 4:6 ESV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

What will we do?

Now that we know what marriage is about and how important it is, what should we do going forward?

Ephesians 5:33 ESV However, let each one of you love his wife as himself , and let the wife see that she respects her husband .

Ephesians 5:22-30 ESV 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.