The incarnation, that amazing, incredible event in which the eternal God came to this earth as a human being, has its central purpose focused in [1] God's final self-revelation in the person of Jesus Christ, and [2] the substitutionary death of Christ for the sinner, through which eternal salvation is obtained. In addition to these two primary foci the incarnation is significant and instructive in a wide range of other issues, including issues relating to the marriage relationship. It is at these additional significances of the incarnation that we will look at in this section of our studies.
'Incarnation' refers to the event that is recorded in the Gospels: that the Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us. This study is not a study on the incarnation, but a study of the implications of the fact of the incarnation for our perceptions and expectations of marriage.
John 1:14
|
|
Philippians 2:6-8
|
|
Colossians 1:19
|
|
Colossians 2:9
|
|
1 Timothy 3:16
|
|
Hebrews 2:14-17
|
|
As 1 Timothy 3:16 comments, this is a massive mystery: that God became a man. As with other topics relevant to our study on marriage, it is not our purpose to delve into this topic, but rather from this topic to gain insight and understanding about marriage. Our question here is: what does the incarnation teach us about marriage? The answers are important because, as we will see, the Incarnation Factor, affirming the perspective of the Creation Factor, will protect us [1] from rejecting or being ashamed of, our physical sexuality, [2] from developing a repulsion or aversion to sexual matters because of the gross degradation and distortions of sex in our society, and [3] from feeling threatened or uncomfortable with our particular male or female role.
All of this teaches us that our bodies are not in themselves sinful or insignificant. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ the human body was the dwelling place of God, and became the vehicle of God's redemption.
Through the centuries humans have embraced a variety of twisted ideas about the human body, but Jesus Christ, the perfect human, evidenced no such imbalance. Consider:
This ism ... |
Believes ... |
How this is expressed today ... |
Gnosticism
|
Spirit is good, matter is evil.
|
|
|
A line of Gnosticism believed that only spirit was eternal, therefore, since 'matter' was temporary it did not matter what you did with your body. |
|
Asceticism |
The body is evil, therefore 'its appetites should be curbed and its impulses be disregarded and suppressed.' [Tenney, New Testament Survey] |
|
Neo-Platonism
|
The body is evil – salvation consists in totally eliminating all bodily desires, and moving out of the realm of the body into the realm of the spirit. |
|
Epicureanism |
There is no purpose or design in life therefore pleasure is the highest good. Therefore one should choose whatever gives the most sustained satisfaction and the least pain. |
|
Hedonism |
Pleasure is the ultimate good. If something feels good or makes you feel good, it is right.
|
|
Eroticism |
Focus on sexual desire or excitement as the primary 'good' or meaning/purpose of life.
|
|
In Christ we find neither this extreme rejection of the body, nor this extreme, licentious focus on bodily desires. He, the Holy One, lived comfortably in his human body, leaving us a precedent to follow. It is not our human body that is sinful or evil: it is the wrong attitudes we have to our body and its physical desires, and the sinful things we choose to do in and with our bodies that are evil.
Important Note: When the New Testament writers refer to the 'flesh' [usually wrongly translated 'sinful nature' by the NIV] in contrast to the 'spirit', they are not writing from the perspective of Gnosticism or Neo-Platonism which view all physical matter as intrinsically evil. Rather they are speaking of the mindset that relates to God on the basis of what-one-is-in-oneself in contrast to what-one-is-in-Christ. That is, they teach that Christians should never relate to God on the basis of any righteousness of their own, but always, ever, and only on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. We relate to God – not kata sarka – according to flesh, according to what we are in ourselves, but kata pneuma – according to the Spirit, according to what we are in Christ.
Throughout his ministry Jesus Christ used marriage as an object lesson in his parables and teaching. In doing so he affirmed the validity and dignity of the marriage relationship.
Scripture |
This ... |
Symbolizes this .. |
How this should impact our view of marriage |
---|---|---|---|
Mat 9:15
|
Bridegroom |
|
|
Matt 22:1-14
|
Wedding banquet
The king's son
The guests
|
|
|
Mat 25:1-13 |
Bridegroom
Wedding banquet
|
|
|
Now do the same for these Scriptures, also from the NT, but not the direct words of Jesus |
|||
John 3:29-30 |
Bride
Bridegroom |
|
|
Rev 21:2,9 |
Bride
Husband
|
|
|
In using marriage as a picture of the relationship between himself and his church Jesus Christ honours the whole concept of marriage, and reveals a high view of marriage, a view that is far more than a sexual union. From the above Scriptures we see marriage portrayed as
In addition to the above Scriptures, there is of course, Ephesians 5:22ff, which also refers to the marriage relationship as a picture of the relationship between Christ and his church. Indeed, we can also put it around the other way, as we will see in depth later: that the relationship between Christ and his church teaches us much about the marriage relationship.
Thus Jesus Christ affirms that the marriage relationship is, and has always been, a lived-out-in-life prophetic picture depicting the deep relationship between God and his people. As the Old Testament clearly portrayed, so wrong is unfaithfulness in the marriage relationship that it is used to vividly depict idolatrous unfaithfulness to God.
Jeremiah 2:20-3:14
|
|
Ezekiel 16:1-63
|
|
Ezekiel 23:1-49
|
|
Hosea 1:1-3:5
|
|
Additional texts: |
Jeremiah 3:20; 5:7,8; 1 Chronicles 21:11. References in Revelation use the sexual term 'fornication' to refer to the godlessness/idolatry of churches and nations in following false teaching or false religious ideologies: 2:14,20-22; 14:8; 17:2-5; 18:3,9; 19:2. |
Another significant impact of the incarnation is this: that Jesus Christ in his earthly life deliberately interfered with and intervened in the effects of the curse of Genesis 3, in fact, that is what he came to do. This interference and intervention stands in stark contrast to the attitudes of
But Jesus pro-actively confronted and reversed the effects of the curse:
[His death and resurrection, by which he undid the ultimate impact of the curse, will feature in the Part 4 of these studies.]
And he tells us 'follow me', 'learn from me'.
What does this mean in the marriage situation? In what way and to what extent does this confrontation and reversal of the Genesis 3 curse by Jesus Christ in his human life authorise us to actively work against and undo the effects of that curse in our marriages? When we study 'The Redemption Factor' we will look at the huge significance of the cross for our marriages, but here let us consider:
Contraception used to limit the number of children in a marriage |
|
Techniques and programs aimed at reducing child-birth pain |
|
Parenting programs aimed at reducing the stress of child-rearing. |
|
Emancipation of women
|
|
Marriage counselling
|
|
Labour saving devices and strategies in the work place |
|
The curse states: this is how life from Genesis 3 onwards will be.
The incarnation states (among other things): it's okay to do something to relieve the impact of the curse. It's okay to interfere. It's okay to intervene.
In fact, we are expected to act with compassion towards each other as we see in the other the suffering caused by our corporate choice in Genesis 3 and by the sum total of our sinful choices ever since [Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:31-46]. We are expected to not leave our neighbour lying on the road in his suffering [Luke 10:25-37]. How much more should we act with compassion towards our closest neighbour, our marriage partner, when we see him/her suffering the impact of Genesis 3, and move to interfere, to intervene, to liberate him/her from that pain, from that distress?
Her pain in child-birth
|
|
Her stress in child-rearing |
|
Your ruling over her
|
|
Her unsatisfied longings
|
|
His role of having to rule
|
|
His painful toil
|
|
The frustration of his daily work |
|
The ever-present threat of encroaching weakness and death. |
|