WalkerFamilyLife Blog

Continuing the theme from Chapter 3 of how marriage illustrates the fact that Christ’s relationship with his bride is built on a basis of grace, Chapter 4 speaks about two forms which that grace must take. Colossians 3:12-13 tells us

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

(Colossians 3:12-13 ESV, emphasis added)

If you are quick to anger, instead of being long-suffering, the root is probably lack of mercy and lack of lowliness. In other words, being chosen, holy, and loved has not broken your heart and brought you down from self-centeredness and pride.

Paul recognizes that both forgiving and forbearing are crucial for life together – whether in church or marriage. Forgiveness says: I will not treat you badly because of your sins against me or your annoying habits. And forbearance acknowledges (usually to itself): Those sins against me and those annoying habits really bother me or hurt me! If there were nothing in the other person that really bothered us or hurt us, there would be no need for saying “endure one another.”

Continuing the series blogging through John Piper’s excellent book This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence we come to Chapter 2: Naked and Not Ashamed. After establishing the covenant of marriage in Gen 2:24, Gen 2:25 tells us that “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” So what is the point of this verse?

Piper postulates that there are two possible reasons why they would not be ashamed. First, it could be because the effects of sin had not yet blemished them and so they had perfect bodies. “In other words, their freedom from shame was because they had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Is that the main point” (p 32)? Piper argues no for three reasons:

1. No matter how perfect your spouse is, if you’re selfish and unkind you can make comments that shame them.
2. Verses 24-25 are intended to be relevant after the fall, not just for these two pre-fall individuals
3. Verse 24 (covenant one-flesh union) creates the relationship where verse 25 (naked and unashamed) can happen.

So instead Piper opts for the second possibility, that they are free from shame because they have no fear of being shamed by their spouse. Because each of their spouses was sinless, they would not fear the other doing anything to shame them.

So what relevance does this have for us. Notice that there is much more power for living without shame in the second reason than in the first. We might think that if I were sinless and perfect I could live shame free, but that is both untrue (I am sinful and imperfect) and insufficient (my spouse could probably still shame me). Instead the hope for living without shame is found in a covenant love that does not fear being disapproved by the other, in spite of my imperfections.

Marriage was designed from the beginning to display the new covenant between Christ and the church. We have seen this in Ephesians 5:31-32. The very essence of this new covenant is that Christ passes over the sins of his bride. His bride is free from shame not because she is perfect, but because she has not fear that her lover will condemn her or shame her because of her sin. (pp 33-34 emphasis added)

But when they sinned, each instinctively new that the other had chosen independence from God and was now selfish at heart and no longer trustworthy. They also knew they had done that and that things were no longer as they should be. Their nakedness was the first effect of their sin (Gen 3:5-7). They felt both vulnerable to shame from their spouse and defiled and unworthy because of the loss of fellowship with God. They clothed themselves with fig leaves in an attempt to deny that shame, but God foreshadowed his redemption by killing a sacrifice and using the skins to make them new clothing.

A couple of questions for thought and comment below:

• Have you ever thought about the two possible sources for shame?
• How have you been guilty of putting shame on your spouse because of your own sinfulness?
• If “the very essence of new covenant love is that Christ passes over the sins of his bride”, are you willing to reflect Christ in this way?

Continuing the series blogging through John Piper’s excellent book This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence we come to the first chapter entitled “Staying Married is Not Mainly about Staying in Love.” Here Piper first really makes the case that marriage is about something infinitely more than two people in love wanting to live their lives together. Our culture simply does not understand this, and neither did Jesus’ culture (Matt 19:10-12) or any human culture. Our sin and selfishness blind us to the wonder of God’s purpose for marriage.

Foundationally, marriage is God’s doing. Piper illustrates this in four ways:

1. It is God’s design. He saw the solitude of the man and knew that he needed a helper suited to him (Gen 2:18). When Adam realized none of the animals would do, God created another creature in His image for Adam (Gen 1:27)
2. God gave away the first bride. I’ve never seen this before but, as the Father of the bride, God “brought her to the man.” (Gen 2:22)
3. God spoke the design of marriage into existence by saying “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24)
4. God performs the one-flesh union. The preacher doesn’t make the couple one flesh and it doesn’t happen at the consummation. God joins them together and it is not in man’s power or prerogative to destroy (Mark 10:8-9).

But ultimately, Piper argues, this marriage that God has created is designed for God’s glory. That this holding fast and one flesh union is a sacred covenant is implicit in Genesis but becomes explicit in Ephesians 5.

Christ thought of himself as a bridegroom coming for his bride, the true people of God (Matt 9:15; 25:1ff; John 3:29). … Christ knew he would have to pay for his bride with his own blood. He called this relationship the new covenant … This is what Paul is referring to when he says that marriage is a great mystery: “I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Christ obtained the church by his blood and formed a new covenant with her, an unbreakable “marriage.”

The ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God. Now we see how: Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to his redeemed people, the church. And therefore, the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married. If you hope to be, that should be your dream.

Staying married, therefore, is not mainly about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant…Therefore what makes divorce and remarriage so horrific in God’s eyes is not merely that it involves covenant-breaking to the spouse, but that it involves misrepresenting Christ and his covenant. Christ will never leave his wife. Ever. There may be times of painful distance and tragic backsliding on our part. But Christ keeps his covenant forever. Marriage is a display of that! (pp 24-25)

So the most important thing about marriage is showing in real life the glory of the gospel. Let me share a couple of questions for reflection and comment below:

• How does the idea of marriage as a display of Christ’s covenant keeping love change the way you think about your own marriage?
• Does this mean that it is not important whether you stay in love? If not, what role should your feelings play in your marriage?

Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus by D.A. Carson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Based on five sermons delivered at a Resurgence conference at Mars Hill, Seattle, Carson explores the absolutely stunning truths of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each chapter is a treasure unto itself. Together they make up a great meditation for the Easter season. Highly recommended!

View all my reviews >>

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent apologetic discussion of the Christian faith that seeks to establish both the reasonability of belief and that there is reason to doubt unbelief. Though I don’t agree with all of Keller’s arguments (he comes down for theistic evolution) it does stop him from resoundingly accomplishing his goal. Masterful.
YouTube has a video of Tim Keller discussing this book at Google that is a good intro to this book and worth watching.

View all my reviews >>

Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World by C. J. Mahaney

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very balanced book dealing with our hearts and our love for the things of the world, especially around media, music, stuff and clothes. The final chapter is on the proper way to love the world. This is not a list of rules but rather a biblical viewpoint on how to evaluate your own choices. We read this as a morning devotion with our kids aged 8-18. Very Helpful!

View all my reviews.

How to Pray by R.A. Torrey

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Listened to this on the way home from OKC yesterday. Good overview of Scriptural teaching on prayer. Interesting to hear the cultural issues in 1900 that Torrey was concerned about. Torrey was D. A. Moody’s successor.

View all my reviews.

Future Grace by John Piper

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Very challenging and thought-provoking book discussing the motivation for our obedience. Commonly we are told to obey God out of gratitude for God’s grace to us in the past. While affirming the importance of gratitude, Piper argues that it is a poor motivation for obedience, which is why God offers us so many promises for grace in the future as motivations. He then demonstrates how faith in God’s future grace offers the best motivation for victory over various plaguing sins and how it enflames our passion for God.

I found myself challenged several times through the book, yet I found that Piper had the weight of Scripture on his side. Highly recommended, but come ready to consider what he says. I also recommend the 1 chapter a day for a month approach.


View all my reviews.

Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
God really used this book in my life to remind me of the gospel in a meaningful way. What a blessing!


View all my reviews.

Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great biography of a remarkable mind and life. It starts a little slow, but stick with it. You won’t regret it.

View all my reviews.