Useful Bible Studies > Ephesians Commentary > chapter 5
Marriage is extremely important in God’s plan. We can see that from the place that marriage has, near the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 1:27 and 2:20-24; compare Mark 10:6). Marriage is not therefore merely a convenient arrangement between people. Rather, it is something that God established for his own purposes.
Even now, we do not know completely what God’s plan and purpose for marriage are (5:31-32). However, we can see that the real meaning of marriage is in the connection between Christ and God’s people. All of God’s people, in other words, all true Christians, are called ‘the church’ in this passage. In Revelation 19:6-8, there is a description of the marriage of Christ to his church. So the end of the Bible, like its beginning, emphasises the importance of marriage in God’s plan.
In the Bible, love is not an emotion, but a decision. In other words, a person must decide to love someone else. That decision may cause him or her to do the most extraordinary things to help the other person (1 Corinthians chapters 13). That was what Christ did because of his love for the church. At that time, the people who now are God’s people had made themselves his enemies because of their evil deeds (Romans 5:6-10). Without God, they were in a truly desperate and hopeless state in this world (2:12). However, in his great love Christ offered himself - his own life - to give them a right relationship with God. So now everyone who turns from their evil deeds to receive Christ becomes a part of his church, his bride (John 1:13). In the future age, they will know the true meaning of marriage in their own relationship with Christ.
Next part: The bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:26-27)
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© 2019, Keith Simons.