October 25

Ephesians 5:31‑32
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church” — Ephesians 5:31, 3231For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31‑32).
THE union of one man and one woman and the faithfulness of each to the other for life is the Christian ideal of the marriage relationship. Whether human laws accord with this or whether they legalize its violation, the divine principle remains. Yet it is appalling how lightly even professed Christians and members of evangelical churches often look upon wedlock. We need not be surprised to find that selfish worldling’s flout the sacredness of the home and make and break conjugal ties to suit their whims and desires. But it is pitiable when those who know that God Himself has chosen the married state to picture the union of Christ and His redeemed ones, seek the aid of the world’s courts to dissolve a relationship which, once entered into, can only be broken by disobedience to the Word of God. The violation of the Seventh Commandment is the only ground given by our Lord for one to “put away his wife... and... marry another” (Matt. 19:99And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (Matthew 19:9)). Divorce and re-marriage, apart from this, is to incur the condemnation of the Lord, and such a union is denominated adultery. Of course, where this took place before conversion, all is wiped out by the blood of Christ, and if saved in this condition each party is to “abide in the same calling wherein he was called” (1 Cor. 7:2020Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. (1 Corinthians 7:20)). Every marriage union is intended to portray the relationship between Christ and His own.
“And soon the months will roll away,
And quickly come the nuptial day.
When Thou, the Lamb, shalt take Thy throne
And fully there Thy Church shalt own.”
―I. Watts.