A Celebration of Marriage
This month, my husband, Bryan, and I marked our 25th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, earlier in the summer he and I went on an epic adventure to Iceland: the land of fire and ice. Every day was filled with stunning views and sights of mountains, waterfalls, seascapes, canyons, fjords, mostly cooled molten lava fields, hot springs, glaciers, black sand beaches, ice, and the list goes on and on. Another constant of the trip was the fierce wind and threat of rain. The weather in Iceland is harsh and more epic than the landscapes. One of my favorite parts of the trip was viewing and photographing the little churches that dotted the country. Each one was set against epic landscapes that instead of dwarfing them and crushing them to oblivion they revealed and heralded them as mighty bulwarks of grace amid the immense wilderness and harsh elements. For me, this observation really brought home in a visual way the importance of marriage and what it has provided me these past twenty-five years.
Bryan and I have weathered and are weathering some mighty storms, and we have done so not only because we have each other, but because we have been building on the Rock. We have built a home, and we have fought to build a family. The first twenty-five years have been intense, and as I stand here, surveying the scene, I can attest to the fact that we have truly built something that has stood and will continue to stand against the harsh and increasingly bizarre “elements” that rage against it. This marriage has truly been what God has used to stabilize and bless me immensely through the years, and I believe this little marriage will continue to stand as a witness to the goodness of God and His love for His people—the Church, for generations to come.
So, I will leave you now with a spiel that I have often given my children, and it is related to the primacy of the picture of marriage in Scripture. The creation account culminates in the first wedding. Jesus Christ begins His ministry to save us at a wedding. Jesus, like Adam, dies so that His Bride, the Church, can be created from His own body. The Church is Jesus’ bride, and He is the bridegroom, and this epic human story this side of heaven is moving toward the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. The story begins with a wedding, and it ends with a wedding. Marriage, according to God’s Word and His story, is foundational! Don’t ever forget it and ground your theology in this foundational truth.
Five Aspects Teachings
The following teaching on “The Institution of Marriage” is found in the Five Aspects of Woman Bible Study.¹
The Institution of Marriage: The Foundational Structure of Mankind
1. Marriage is the seed crystal of mankind.
“Two become one” is the microcosm of Man Complete, with all his ability to be Man and fulfill God’s commands to be fruitful, to expand, to subdue, and rule creation. Apart from this Unit—this Completed Man—God’s work is not done in history.
2. Marriage is the first human relationship and thus is the building block of society.
Marriage harnesses the basic psychological and sexual drives of male and female to produce community and ultimately, kingdom. The other two foundational relationships of mankind—parent/child and brother/sister—spring from the marriage bond.
3. Marriage is the fountainhead of procreation and thus is the gatekeeper of the future.
God has delegated to the married couple—and only to them—the physical, legal, and spiritual assets necessary to raise up and endow godly generations.
4. Marriage is the basic economic unit of mankind.
Only in tandem do men and women become a true engine of productivity, capable of creating, keeping, and dispensing wealth.
5. Marriage is the foundation of government and thus is the guardian of freedom.
The authority delegated to husbands and subsequently to parents is the basis of human government. All freedom is grounded in the godly exercise of this authority, the respect of wives for their husbands, and subsequently children for their parents.
Why a Man Should Cultivate His Wife: Eight Biblical Reasons
1. Marriage is a vow until death before God. God takes vows seriously (Deuteronomy 23:21; Numbers 30:2; Ecclesiastes 5:4–5).
2. In marriage, God made man and wife one flesh (Genesis 2:23–24). No man should separate what God has joined (Matthew 19:6). Man should nurture his own body (Ephesians 5:28–30).
3. A man’s wife is his only lawful path to fatherhood. A man should honor his wife as the mother of his children, his only legitimate fruitful vine (Psalm 128:3–4). Everything else is wild oats.
4. A man’s wife is in charge of his household and estate (Proverbs 14:1; 31:10–12, 27).
5. A man’s wife has power over his bones! An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, But she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones (Proverbs 12:4).
6. A man’s wife is his portion in this life for happiness, sexual satisfaction, and blessedness (Proverbs 5:18; Ecclesiastes 9:9).
7. If a man does not honor his wife, his offerings to God will not be accepted, and his prayers will be hindered (Malachi 2:13–14; 1 Peter 3:7).
8. Man is commanded to mimic Christ’s cultivating love in the husband role (Ephesians 5:25–27).
Grace and peace y’all.
Kristine Vermillion
