"Paul says a man 'will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' (Eph. 5:31). This is more than a reference to the physical union of a man and woman in marriage. The language puts before us the Lord's creation plan to make us whole persons. God created the wife to complement and complete the husband (Gen. 2:20-24). Lest this sound demeaning of her, think of what it connotes for him. The man is ever incomplete, incapable of realizing the divine potential God intends for him in this life, apart from the ministry of his wife in his marriage."- Bryan Chapel, Each for the Other
Five years ago today, I stood inside Bethany Christian Reformed Church in Bellflower with a silly grin on my face as she gracefully entered the sanctuary to Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring performed by Ellen Lee and Joy Kang (now Joy Lee) on piano and cello. The only moments that can even compare with the excitement and joy I felt that day are the days when each of my three children were born, and the day I was ordained as a minister.
Today I am humbled and grateful for my wife, who is among the greatest of God's gifts to me. Christians are often careful to place God above family in the order of importance, as if our relationships exist in some ascending pyramid of significance. Yet the Bible declares to me that in God has given me my wife as a living Gospel. I am half a man without her, and through her God ministers to me, covers me with steadfast love and faithful grace.
She is able to do this because Jesus is her redeemer. She is able to bear with my stubbornness, laziness, and selfishness. She is able to forgive me when I wrong her, and devote herself to my good when I am needy and demanding. Her love and forgiveness is more precious than the love and forgiveness of anyone else because she lives with me and my sins day in and day out, and despite my shortcomings she works out her covenant bond to love and cherish me day by day.
My wife is not God, she is not Jesus, she is not even the Holy Spirit; yet the redeeming grace of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in her and through her to make me whole. In fact, my marriage to her is a reflection of Christ's marriage to his church and through my wife I am drawn more and more to see and cherish the love of God for in Christ.
Happy anniversary baby. I love you.
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