The First Promise

The promise of Christ comes early, probably earlier than you think. Before Adam and Eve got their just dessert after a fruit dinner and even before the serpent received news of a foot-stomping good time, the promise of Christ had already been given.

I’ll let Paul explain:

‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Did you catch that? Look at it through the lens of the NLT:

As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Don’t miss that: true marriage isn’t simply a human invention or even a human action. A true marriage serves as a reminder and a promise—a reminder of the first union and first coming, a promise of Christ returning.

In other words, societies define “marriages” as social institutions and contractual obligations. God thinks much bigger. He intended marriage to point to Jesus, to salvation, to unity. It is the good news made manifest through a man and woman. Whatever societies may make of “marriage,” true marriage starts with the gospel.

Does salvation define your marriage?