Marriage – Is yours a good picture?

© 2012 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)

God designed marriage as a picture to illustrate Gospel truth. The actors in this living picture are the husband and the wife. The husband’s role is to portray Christ. The wife’s role is to portray the Church for whom Christ died. The following Scripture shows that marriage is, indeed, a picture of Christ’s spiritual relationship with His blood redeemed people.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:22-27).

Pictorial illustrations help us to understand spiritual realities. Any artist who paints a picture strives to create a likeness which properly represents the object being portrayed. Some painters are not very good and paint pictures which are distorted and grotesque. Worse yet, some may even purposely paint hideous pictures.

Everyone who is married is painting their own picture of Gospel truth. Oh husband: do you properly represent Christ by loving your wife as Christ loved the Church? Do you seek to give yourself for her in protective nurturing care? Oh wife: do you properly represent the Church by submitting to the loving headship of your husband in this Gospel picture?

You who have never asked Christ for salvation from sin probably won’t care about the picture you’re painting. Only you who have come to know Him as Lord and Savior will have a desire to paint a faithful picture.

Oh Christian couple: together, are you painting the Gospel message in your marriage picture, or are you painting a hideous caricature?

 

You may leave comments for Tom & Kathy (website administrators) on the Posts Page.