#4 Marriage and its Divine Design

In this episode, I discuss marriage from a biblical standpoint, emphasizing its significance as a lifelong covenant that reflects the relationship between Christ and the church. I explore the roles of husbands and wives, the importance of sacrificial love, and the necessity of creating a God-centered family. The conversation highlights the need for mutual respect, love, and spiritual leadership within marriage, ultimately framing marriage as a means to expand God's kingdom.

• Marriage is a lifelong covenant that honors God.
• The relationship between Christ and the church is mirrored in marriage.
• Wives are called to submit to their husbands with respect.
• Husbands must love their wives sacrificially, as Christ loved the church.
• A healthy marriage requires both partners to understand their roles.
• Sacrifice is essential for a successful marriage.
• Men should protect, provide, and procreate within their families.
• True masculinity involves putting family needs before one's own.
• God must be at the center of a marriage for it to thrive.
• The ultimate purpose of marriage is to expand God's kingdom.

Sources: Holy Bible

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Chapters

• 1:10 Understanding Marriage as a Covenant
• 6:42 Roles of Husbands and Wives
• 12:59 The Sacrificial Love in Marriage
• 18:47 The Purpose of Marriage and Family
• 24:46 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Pedro Espinoza (00:00)
Hey guys, welcome back to the show. Hope everybody had a very special Christmas. Today's episode will be discussing marriage from a biblical standpoint. If you're new here, consider subscribing and ringing the notification bell so that you don't miss an episode. Thank you everybody for attending Episode three, my last episode about justification, sanctification and

glorification. The episode was a success and I believe a lot of people learned from it. Throughout that episode, there was a reference about marriage and I felt like this episode was just a natural continuation of that reference. So I've decided to commit this episode to the concept of marriage from a

biblical worldview. So get started. what is marriage? Marriage is a lifelong covenant with someone that you can honor God with by loving one another unconditionally. Marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and the church. So that's very, very important to understand.

When it comes to marriage, it truly does reflect the relationship between Christ and the church. So that's going to be the main concept, the main undertone throughout this episode. And so let me get into what I mean by the relationship between Christ and the church.

because it's gonna be important to realize that and truly understand and internalize that if you are serious about marriage. So it's because of this, the church is often referred to as the bride and Christ is considered the groom. Okay, so the church is considered the bride and Christ is considered the groom.

The imagery of marriage is used as a metaphor for this union. Okay, so let me get more specific about this. In Revelation chapter 21 verses nine through 11, it states, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, come, I will show you the bride

the wife of the Lamb, and he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, down out of heaven God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

So keep sequence in mind.

Number one, Jesus was arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified. Jesus refused to call legions of angels from the Father to rescue him. So I'm not sure if y'all are aware, but in the book of Matthew, actually states that Jesus could have called a legion

of angels to rescue him when the soldiers had arrested him. Because I'm sure we all know of the prayer that Jesus prayed to God and his prayer was basically, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. So that basically, if, if he didn't have to go through that process of crucifixion, then God would have

pulled him out of that process. So that gives you a little bit more context about that, that picture there. And Jesus literally could have called legions of angels, but he chose not to. He went silently to as the lamb. he went to death in order to rescue his bride, which is us.

the church.

And Jesus sacrificed himself. He rescues his bride. She otherwise known as the church becomes a thing of glory and beauty and brilliance, like a very costly gemstone. So it was Jesus' sacrifice that ultimately saved the church and

Because of this, the church a very costly gemstone. It became a thing of brilliance because saved it. So in this picture, in this illustration,

Jesus sacrifices himself to save the church. We are the church and He is saving us from damnation. He's saving us from God's wrath. He's ultimately saving us from from original sin Okay, and marriage reflects God's love and faithfulness sent his only begotten son to do what he did

and that was to be crucified. And Jesus's blood was shed order for the church to be saved, right? For the church to be without wrinkle, to be without blemish. is God's will marriage because marriage reflects God's love and faithfulness.

So this next few minutes is going to be very heavy on the book of Ephesians. And the book of Ephesians has a lot to say about marriage. It is epistle the churches of Ephesus. And so that's where we'll be drawing context from. So here, let's...

delve into the roles of husbands and wives when it comes to marriage. So for wives, want to draw from Ephesians chapter five, verse 22 to 24. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church.

He is the savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands and everything. Now, if you're a woman and you're listening to this, I imagine you might be thinking about the word submit. And oftentimes there's a negative connotation to this word because submit is often

seen as servanthood, it's seen as demeaning, degrading, et cetera. But in this context, what submit really means is a spirit of respect.

the attitude Submit concerns the heart intention of the woman the marriage so I can just Paint a better picture

Submit is referring to the wives willingness to be right seat passenger of the husband so it's allowing the husband to to take the lead and and control the drive the the commute the the destination right it's it's the willingness agree

to allow the husband to lead because

you trust the husband's spiritual leadership. So in this context, that's what the word submit means. It does not mean servanthood. It's not supposed to be demeaning or degrading.

So when it comes to husbands...

Husbands are called to love their wives deeply and sacrificially. Ephesians chapter 5, 25 to 28 states, for husbands, this means love your wives as Christ loved the church. gave up his life for her to make her holy and washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself

as a glorious church a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

So I also want to add that wife will only be comfortable with allowing her husband to lead if the wife feels as though the husband is willing to, number one, love her deeply, but also sacrifice his very being for the greater good of his wife.

You see, and this points back to the dynamic of Christ and the church. So if the husband is willing to sacrifice his life for his wife, then the wife is comfortable with allowing her husband to lead and thus willing to submit to her husband.

But in the verse that I read to you, her is the church. when it says, he gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, in this her is referring to the church.

And in continuation of that, the lamb was sacrificed for the church. Again, that was Jesus being sacrificed for the church. And what washed the church clean? created the church or what made the church without blemish or wrinkle? It was the blood of Jesus. Okay.

So without spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish, this translates to men that should provide for, love, and sacrifice for their wives, just as Christ sacrificed himself.

So I want us to just understand that. I want us to understand that illustration, that reference. The only way for a marriage to be healthy, to work, for both sides to understand devote themselves to one another, that dynamic has to be, it has to be present in the marriage.

So a man needs to be willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good of his wife. And on the flip side, if the wife feels comfortable that the husband could do that, then the wife is willing to submit to her husband. Again, meaning she is willing to have a spirit of respect. Submit concerns the attitude. It concerns the heart intention.

of the wife, but really it comes down the sacrifice that Christ made for the church. Again, that is example that we need to remember if we are planning to get married or if we are currently married.

want to, I want to specify what a man's purpose a marriage, but also the context his own family. Starting with Ephesians chapter five, verses 29 to 33. no one ever hated their own body, but

They feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of his For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

So here it goes, when a man shows love for his wife, he is also showing love for himself. And actually more importantly, he's showing love for God and the church.

So when a man shows love for his wife, also showing love for himself. this makes sense. If the man is deeply in love with his wife and he's giving his wife his full effort, full sacrifice, full devotion, full honor and love, that means that he's in a healthy place himself, mentally, physically, more importantly.

spiritually and therefore he loves himself.

So really also the man's role within the context of a marriage is partnership, love, respect, spiritual leadership, and support. That is what it boils down to. So 1 Peter chapter three, verse seven states, in the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding

as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. And we'll get into that. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

So I want to focus on that last sentence real quick. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. Why would your prayers be hindered if you did not treat your wife as you should? Because in this greater context, wife is also known as the church. And if you're not treating the church as you should,

then you are desecrating intent, God's example of a relationship between Jesus and the church. Remember, Jesus sacrificed himself for the was arrested, tried, beaten, His blood was shed sins of the world.

and he sacrificed himself for the church. Again, that is the type of example that is the way a man should show up to a marriage for his wife. And that is exactly why man treat his wife as he should so that his prayers will not be hindered. And again, that's

It's sacrificial love, it's agape love, it is putting the needs of his wife before his own. We'll also get into that as well. But that's what it boils down to. It all comes from that example of Christ's relationship to the church.

So another man's actually roles in the context of a marriage is to protect the wife, family and household. It's to provide the wife, family and household.

And it's also to procreate, which means to be fruitful and multiply, which you can find in the book of Genesis. So protect, provide, and procreate.

I want to bring that back Ephesians 5, 29 to 33.

And so godly design, the natural design create a family and fruit, which is have children. So a man's purpose is also to create the conditions necessary bear fruit or a family and have children.

that is means by the gift of new life. to create a family and raise children appropriately and train them up in the way should go so that when they grow old, they will not depart from it. You can find that at Proverbs 22 6.

So it's important to find right partner. It's important that two of you are God-fearing and loving toward each other, sacrificing toward each other so that you can create a perfect loving example of what a marriage should be to your kids.

And I think most importantly, a man's role within a marriage is to sacrifice for his wife and his family. This means put the needs of your of your wife and kids before own. So a man needs to put the needs of his wife and kids before his own. This is actually true masculinity, because remember in

I want to say it was episode 2 when I told you the purpose of a man from a biblical worldview and that is to sacrifice for others. So putting yourself out there for others, helping others, tending to others, know, listening to others, just doing stuff for others. That's putting your own

Comfortability aside your own needs aside your own wants it's it's putting that on hold that moment to help that person in need but in this case in this context, it's your you're sacrificing for your family and your wife and That is that that translates to true masculinity

I want to wrap this up sharing John chapter 15 verse 5 and that states, yes, I am the vine, you are the branches. who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit apart from me, you can do nothing.

And this verse summarizes it all because

Yes, every person's role in their journey of Christianity and their belief, they all have to be connected to the vine. And who is the vine? It's God. It's Jesus Christ. We are the branches. We are his vessels. And through the Holy we are powered

to fulfill his purpose, not only his purpose, but we're empowered to walk out our faith and our purpose in him. And so without him, without the vine, we aren't branches. Because it says, for apart from me, you can do nothing. Right, so if we don't have God, if we don't have Jesus Christ in our lives,

We can't do nothing. So I just want to emphasize that verse and just express that it summarizes everything that I've been saying because in a marriage, yes, the only thing that's going to help, the only thing that's going to make your marriage successful, healthy,

and one that you would want to emulate for your children is one that is connected to God. God needs to be the head of the marriage. So just remember that verse from Revelation, right? gonna paraphrase.

from that verse, I'll read, I will show you the bride, the wife the lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and high showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. down out of heaven from God. It's shown with the glory of God and its brilliance was like that of a very precious

jewel like a jasper clear as crystal.

So if we're reminded of that, we need to keep in mind Jesus Christ is the groom and the church is the bride. And we need to remember that as men when we want to lead a healthy marriage, when we want to lead a healthy wife, excuse me, a healthy life.

and when we want God-fearing children. Because...

Remember, as men, we are supposed to be the head of our wives. We are supposed to be the spiritual leaders in the home. We are supposed to set a healthy example for our children, go so that when they are older, they will not depart from it. So it's all these things that we are expected to do as the

context of a marriage.

just keep that example in again, multiplying this in the last bit of this that I'm sharing with you, multiplying is related to spiritual growth and the expansion of God's kingdom through love, service, and disciple making.

And that's it right there. mean, bit, it summarizes this whole idea of biblical marriage. The goal, the purpose is to expand God's kingdom, to meet a God-fearing woman, to lead a healthy marriage, a healthy and one that is

led and the Holy Spirit. So when things to get shaky or or waver a bit as a man it is our our duty to get our loved ones back on track to get them back in the word to get them aligned with God's purpose and to remember this

illustration, this imagery that God has set before us. And that's keeping in mind that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself to save the church.

I hope this episode helps someone. know the need for this information is out there. The statistics indicate that 50 % of marriages fail and I believe that's because not keeping God at the forefront of their marriages and they're looking in the wrong places for help.

So I hope that this information helps those marriages back on track.

And I believe that I've, well, hopefully provided a blueprint of healthy foundation of what a marriage is. So men, just remember it is our job lead our families, to love our wives, be unconditionally sacrificial.

with our love our wives our children.

So, you for tuning in. This is episode four. Happy New Year and be safe. See you in the next one.