Sermon Notes from Pastor Jon
*The Bible says that men & women are equal but different
*They are equal in ESSENCE (both made in God’s image), but are assigned different ROLES
*For our marriages to be what God intends we must perform our assigned roles
PROBLEM: MOST marriages are NOT what God intends
- ½ marriages end in divorce
- 1/5 men cheat & 1/10 women
- Cohabitation has risen from 1 million couples in 1978 to 5 million in 2008
- ½ of marriages in US are preceded by cohabitation
*Plus, many of the marriages that do stay together are miserable & resigned to an unhappy life
*Besides all of this EVERY marriage could use improvement
*Part of the reason we are in these situations is because we don’t know what God calls marriage to be, and we have been lied to by our culture to think wrongly about love, marriage & relationships
*Today we are going to see what God says about marriage in the Bible & ask him to help us.
- This is important if you’re single & want to be married 1 day
- This is important if you’re married & want to please the Lord & each other
*BUT, here’s the deal, this message will step on toes before we even get finished reading the Bible!!
*Let’s hold our excuses, let’s read the text & let’s beg the Spirit to help us
*As we read & study this passage I want us to ask ourselves 3 key questions continually:
- Is God good?
- Does God love us (Is John 3:16 true?)
- Does God want what is best for us (is John 10:10 true?)
*Too many Christians think God gives us commands to restrict our joy instead of commanding us FOR us to experience TRUE JOY!
*That is where the 1st marriage went wrong in Genesis 3.
*Adam & Eve thought God was withholding happiness from them
*So, let’s read Ephesians 5:22-33 & see what God says about marriage for our good
MAIN POINT: Your marriage is a covenant commitment that should replay the Gospel
- It’s NOT a contract… “You do this & I’ll do this” (not give & take)
- It is a binding covenant where you are unconditionally bound to 1 another for life
- It is a PROMISE
- It is supposed to replay the Gospel
*Husband, you play the role of Jesus who drowns in his own blood to rescue the church
*Wife, you play the role of the Church who lovingly follows & is satisfied in Jesus
*For our marriages to be what God intends for them to be, they MUST point to the Gospel.
*That means sacrificial, unconditional, gracious & forgiving love
*That does NOT mean self-serving, conditional (if you do what I want), keeping records of wrong “love”!
*Your marriage preaches a gospel, the question is, “does it preach a true or false gospel?”
*How can our marriages preach a true gospel?
