No. 41 - THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, March 27, 2004 Today’s subject is the divine institution of marriage. Marriage is divine but just why is it called a divine institution? We are going to try to explore that today and get some more meaning out of this mysterious divine institution of marriage. It took God six days to complete His magnificent work in Genesis during creation week. During that six days of His work, He renewed the face of the earth at Eden. He revitalized the earth to give it new direction, a new focus that would fulfill His great purposes. His truth, the great lights and the calendar were all established during that creation week. A PLAN BEFORE TIME BEGAN Titus tells us that this was a plan that God worked on for a long, long time, way before time itself began. Why don’t we refresh our memories by turning to Titus chapter 1. We are told here that God has, indeed, worked on this plan. It is an awesome plan, full of trillions of details that must all be worked out together. This has been His dream long before the universe existed. Titus 1, verse 1: “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness. In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began…” This is God’s word. It is without error, and God does not lie. The promises that we have for eternal life, He made before time itself began! So well before the universe was started and the earth was here, God knew what He wanted to accomplish. If you would please, turn to Job 38, because when this plan started to roll forward during Genesis week, the angels rejoiced. The loyal angels knew what this meant for both them and for mankind and for the benevolence and benefit of the entire universe! Job 38, starting in verse 3: “‘Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you…’” (says God) “‘…and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?’” If you were to go back to Job chapter 1, you would find that the angels are also considered sons of God. At creation week they shouted for joy. Indeed, probably when the universe was formed, they at that time also shouted for joy, because they knew God was doing something tremendous. His awesome plan was rolling forward! At creation week they knew that what had gone wrong was about to be fixed. God was renewing the face of the earth so the morning stars (the loyal angels) sang for joy at that time. THE CREATION OF MAN Central to the work that God did during creation week was the creation of man, Adam. He was the apex of creation. He was the apple of God’s eye. He was a being to replace Satan as the lightbringer and eventually as a ruler with Jesus Christ. The creation of mankind was a big step in God’s plan. The next step was to put man in Eden and teach him the ways of God so he could be prepared to rule in the place of Satan. During the six days of creation, God was putting everything in place for mankind to then learn from God, go forward with His plan and get ready to rule the universe. If you would, turn to Genesis chapter 2. We will catch up on some of those thoughts from God. Genesis 2, starting in verse 8: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” There was a garden that God had made. This garden was for Adam. God put Adam there, and God planted trees that would be good for him. But also there was another tree put there, a good tree, called the tree of life. There was also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Dropping down to verse 15: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” So God began to teach Adam what was good for him and what he needed to learn. Adam and God started building a relationship together to get to know one another. He was learning what God expected of him and how God could help him achieve his full potential. Drop down to Genesis 2:18. “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.” God had created these animals. They were not even named. He brought them to Adam and He said these are companions for you. You can name them whatever you want. That will be the name of these animals forever! Continuing in verse 20: “So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” Adam, of course, loved seeing God’s creation and these beautiful animals. He loved naming them and getting to know them. But in a sense they were like pets to tend, to keep and to care for. They were not comparable to him. He had no soul mate. He had no companion to go through life with. He had nothing of the equivalent of his mind essence, of his mental power. On the one hand he had God. He had a relationship with God, but he realized God was so far above him. He was so powerful. He was so knowledgeable and so omniscient. He thought I am so far below God that even though God was a friend and a teacher, he was not comparable to Adam. Adam was lonely. On the other hand, he had these animals. They were so far less than him. He was between these two elements in the universe: a God of tremendous power, knowledge and insight, and animals that were like pets. They could not befriend him. They could be pets. They could be beautiful. He could enjoy them, but he could not share his life with them. They were not of the same mind essence. God knew this was going to happen. This is a lesson for us of how important family is as we are going to see here in just a minute. God is showing us something. For man to be complete, he needs help. God knew this would occur, and He knew the solution way before time began. Remember, we read that in Titus? God did not realize one day that He goofed up! I only made animals. I forgot to do something for Adam. No, God knew this was going to happen. We need to pay attention to what God did here because it is amazing and very important to realize just what God is trying to accomplish. He did not say we are going to back up to the third day of creation week and I will do like I did with the animals. With the animals he made them two by two, male and female, so they could immediately start reproducing. When He came to Adam, He just made Adam. He was formed in the image and the likeness of God. God knew what He was doing. He did not say I forgot to make two like I did with everything else. THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE Let us drop down to verse 21 in Genesis 2. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Adam was the apex of God’s creation, as far as a complex being goes, to share a relationship with. God and Adam were making a relationship, but creation was not finished. During creation week, you are looking at the last thing God made. It is a mystery because it is not just a physical thing. It is not just a man and it is not just a woman. It is the concept of marriage. The two shall come together as husband and wife. A man and a wife shall come together as husband and wife and shall become one flesh. Now creation week was done. Everything was in place for God’s plan to roll forward, and, indeed, it did. We are seeing now as God created things almost in an ascending order of complexity and of grandiosity in his plan, man being the apex, marriage was the icing on the cake, so to speak. It was the big thing that God was trying to attain. Because now with a man and woman that become one flesh and can bear fruit, God could make a family. God could move forward building a family. We understand from the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ is a king, and His family will rule with Him. So now we see the mystery here is great, because God’s plan (as far as a spiritual purpose goes) was set in motion with this final act during creation week. God had created the perfect companion for Adam, a woman. She was the perfect soul mate, a wife. And this was a perfect setting to blossom and grow, which is marriage. All that was instituted. This is why marriage is a divine institution. No human being could have done this. No human being could have created a companion to be fruitful with. No human being could have created a companion to be a soul mate with or a companion to fulfill God’s plan. That is why God did not make them two by two like He did with the animals. He took the woman from the man, the apex of His creation, and then made it possible to bear fruit. Thus began the family of man and thus began the family of God. The divine mystery of marriage is that critical to what God has intended for human beings. Genesis 1 and 2 are enough to call marriage a divine institution, but they are not all that God is doing in this mystery. There is much more in God’s word to flesh out this concept and to help us understand what He is trying to achieve. We need to build on that by putting more and more together. Just what God did in creation week was enough to make marriage a divine institution. But when we put all of the information together, we start to realize marriage is an awesome thing. Family is an awesome thing that God is trying to do here. SPIRITUAL LESSONS FOR EVERYBODY Let us turn to Ephesians chapter 5 and read what God has to say about marriage and some of the mysteries involved here. Indeed, He calls it a mystery. If you are not married, do not tune out because you will realize, as we go through this sermon, that marriage is for everyone because the concept goes beyond just the physical. There are many, many spiritual connotations and many things that God is accomplishing spiritually in a spiritual form of marriage. Do not tune out if you are single, widowed, widower, divorced or whatever. This is important for everybody. Turn to Ephesians 5, starting in verse 22. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the Church; and He is the Savior of the body.” Immediately Paul is telling us submit to your husbands as to the Lord because there are big things happening here. Continuing in verse 24: “Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.” Verse 29: “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.” That is what we just read in Genesis. That is what Adam said about Eve: “… bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Continuing in verse 31. “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” We are getting an idea here that what marriage is and what God is doing in the family is far above and beyond just being physically married to an individual and trying to stay married till death do us part. This is a mysterious concept because it has to do with an overall plan of God to make a family for Himself, make a kingdom to rule the earth and the universe, and make a place of plenty, peace and joy for all of mankind. This is all wrapped up in what started on that sixth day of creation week when God devised marriage and made woman. If you would, back up to verses 1 and 2 of Ephesians 5 where we start to get some of the context of what marriage was being spoken of. “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” We are told here that we need to walk as dear children of God (part of His family) and walk in love as Christ loved us. He loves us whether we are married or not, but the concept of marriage is to emulate what Christ is doing with His Church. Therefore, we are all part of a family somewhere along the line whether we are married or not because we all had parents. We are all part of a physical family. God is saying that is a type of what I am doing with My spiritual family so you need to walk as children of God and walk in love. Then he drops down to verses 22-33 like we just read, and he said now conduct your lives and your marriages as if Christ is taking care of His Church. It is an awesome thing to understand and comprehend, but it is what makes marriage a divine institution. SPIRITUALLY CLEANSE THE BRIDE God is accomplishing something spiritual through the physical institution of marriage and through the concept of a man and a woman becoming one flesh and bearing physical fruit that will help Him have spiritual fruit. This is what God wants, because in verses 25 and 26 in the same chapter He said “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word…” Within our family concept, we can help cleanse one another. It is not just in a physical family because as we will see God’s family is all of us. We are all part of God’s family once we receive the Holy Spirit. We are all part of the family of man. We have all come from Adam and Eve. Whether we are black, white or yellow or what race or culture we are part of, we are all part of the family of man. This mysterious thing that God is going to accomplish will become clearer and clearer as we all set aside differences and learn to walk in love as Jesus Christ has loved. Now let us get back to the Church. If you would please, turn to Revelation chapter 21. We are going to see this bride that Christ wants cleaned up spoken of here in the distant future when He is ready to marry this bride. Revelation 21, verse 1: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” There is a lot of information there. We have studied the concept before of spiritual Jerusalem, and God’s Church can also be called His bride. Continue reading in verse 3: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” It is a faithful thing God has designed before time began to have a bride, a spiritual Jerusalem, a Church, a body of Christ. He will marry, and through them He will rule the earth, wiping away the tears of mankind that have been accumulating for the past 6000 years. He will deliver us from the oppression we are under. He will wipe away every tear and bring us peace and joy. He will live and reign with us and with the people on the earth through His bride, the Church. This is a big thing that God was starting on that sixth day of creation week. It has implications and hope for all of mankind. Now we have to go back and envision what happened. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of Adam and Eve for a moment, because we know that they both fell. Satan was able to overcome them, and it set in motion a harsh trial that human kind has been under for a long time. But we are learning from it if we pay attention. We learn from this and very much appreciate God’s plan and the peace that we will have in the Millennium because of the 6000 years of suffering that we have gone through. THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH We need to view Adam and Eve as the beginning of the Church as we can see. God says the Church (and He uses the same scriptures as was used in Genesis 2), is flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone and that we are married. The two shall become one flesh. He is talking about His Church. That is the same scripture used as in the sixth day of creation week. Therefore, we can see that this big thing, the start of the Church, was back then. It was during creation week. It was the apex of His creation, in effect, when He gave Adam a help mate (a soul mate) that could then start producing a family for God. DIFFICULT TO BEAR SPIRITUAL FRUIT Turn, if you would, back to Genesis chapter 3. We will look at the fall of Adam and Eve and what God had to tell them. It is very relevant to what we need to know in this day and age. After Adam and Eve had succumbed to Satan’s deception and sin had entered their lives, God told them this. Genesis 3, starting in verse 14: “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’” As we just saw, Eve pictures the Church. It would be hard for the Church to overcome and bear spiritual fruit from that day forward until Christ fully delivers us. This is what is being described here by God. In the physical type, we understand it is difficult to conceive and bear children, but God is trying to do something far beyond the physical. He wants to do something spiritual that Paul said in Ephesians is a mystery. It is to form a bride for His Son to help rule, eventually, all mankind and the earth. He will eventually rule the universe. Therefore, we see that there is more here than meets the eye. This is not just physical conception. He also said to the serpent there is enmity between you and the woman. So between Satan and the Church there would be ill will, animosity and difficulty in fighting right until the final deliverance when God has completed His work with man and is ready to start the Millennium. That battle would go from that day forward between Satan, the serpent, and Adam and Eve and their descendants. BATTLING SATAN’S THORNS Continue reading in verse 17: “Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”: cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’” God is also saying something far more than physical to Adam. Yes, it is hard to grow physical food and, yes, the farmer must battle weeds. But we know that God is concerned about something spiritual here. We also know Adam and Eve are of the same flesh because the two shall become one flesh. We do not point the finger at Eve alone. It goes to both of them. They are flesh of one body. That woman had come from Adam. They fell together. Both of them picture the Church because it is through them that the fruit of the womb would become the Church. Satan would have animosity against them. What is being told to Adam here is that all the days of your life you would be battling thorns and thistles to bring forth the fruit of the field. To bring forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit, we will battle the thorns and the thistles of Satan’s attitudes, selfish thoughts and desires that he would bombard us with constantly. We must pull those thorns and thistles out of our minds and hearts in order to have a good garden for God to bear the spiritual fruits of His plan and of His Spirit. That is true. We are constantly battling in our minds hatred, animosity, greed, lust and envy. These are all the things that Satan can put in our minds that become the weeds that choke us off. We are not going to go look at the parables, but with that concept in mind you can go study the parable of the sower. Look at the parable of the thorns and the thistles and what God meant that the kingdom of God is a good field with good seed in it. But thorns and thistles have gotten in there. He cannot just yank them out Himself. We need to work with Him and allow Him to help us pull those bad thoughts that Satan is constantly bombarding us with. We need to pull those attitudes and selfish desires out of our minds and hearts and make a good garden for God. This is what He was telling Adam. The physical type of it is it is hard out there in our physical lives to make crops grow on the ground. We battle weeds. We battle drought. We battle all kinds of pestilences. That is the physical type of what God said would happen to us spiritually. The enmity is between Satan and the woman. It is not between the ground in your garden and you. We have to keep the spiritual concept in mind. The physical is just teaching us every day what God is getting at spiritually. A SAVIOR WAS NEEDED With that knowledge and background, we know that man and woman needed to be rescued. Something had happened to them that they could no longer get themselves out of. It would require a miracle from God, but we have confidence. We read in Titus 1 God has planned all of this before time began, so He knew this would occur. He knew how to get us out of the fix we were in. Humanity is all fallen. Satan has overcome man. Where the garden was, God had to cast Adam and Eve out. Now we are back out into the dark world. All of us are in the same boat battling Satan. God knew He was going to have to do something, but He has to do it through mankind to redeem mankind. That is why Christ had to become a man and become a Savior to make mankind worth saving. It had to be done through a human being. God established this a long time ago. He cannot bear to look at sin. He cannot have sin in His family. Therefore, there had to be a way to redeem mankind from sin, which means there had to be someone worth saving. That individual, if He could be perfect, would be able to cleanse all mankind from their sin if they would, indeed, repent and honor Him. God said I have this plan and I have it in My mind, and My Son and I have devised it before time ever began! Have confidence in this plan. We are not going to lose. So even though we are in a terrible situation, mankind can trust that God is going to get us out of it. We have to establish how, and it has a lot to do with marriage. It is the divine institution of marriage. Turn, if you would, to I Corinthians chapter 15. We can see here the government of God is a family concept, and this family concept is important to grasp because we have to fit ourselves into it. God’s plan is older than time itself. We are not going to modify it. We need to fit ourselves into it with God’s blessing so we have to see how it operates. I Corinthians 15, starting in verse 20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Christ is the first of the first fruits. He is the first fruit of mankind to actually make it and be resurrected. Verse 21: “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” Even though sin entered mankind from Adam, by another man it is going to get out. It is going to be conquered. That man, of course, is Jesus Christ. A FAMILY STRUCTURE I Corinthians 15, verse 22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” We are getting the idea that the family of God will rule. First the first fruits and Christ being the first of the first fruits and then each in their order. Eventually all mankind will come along. Verse 25: “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’” (“He” being the Father) “…But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.” We are seeing the governmental structure in the family. There is the Father who gave Christ the authority over everything else except Him. We are seeing the Father just like in a human family. The father is supposed to be the head of the family. God the Father is the Head of His family, then comes Christ. Christ obeys Him. Verse 28: “Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” The way this is going to work eventually is the Son will be in charge of His kingdom, His servants under Him and then everyone else in their proper position underneath there. It will be a perfectly organized government with the Father at the head of everything. This is what is being told to us here. We are seeing the government of God in action, and it is a family government. It is a family style order and organization, each properly fitted together. Turn, if you would, back to Matthew chapter 12. We are starting to grasp how important family is to God, what He is trying to achieve and how physical human beings work into the program, so to speak, to help get this done. Matthew 12, verse 46: “While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.” Christ was teaching to the multitudes, and His family came to talk to Him. His brothers and His mother came. Verse 47: “Then one said to Him, ‘Look Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.’ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.’” He was describing this mystery! He said I do not just have one mother and a couple of brothers. Anyone who obeys My Father in this proper family government, is part of My family and is My mother, My sister and My brothers. We can grasp the brother and sister concept a little bit more easily than the mother. Why would He say that these people were His mother? Go back to Adam and Eve, and there is enmity between Satan and her seed. From Adam and Eve the seed was carried from generation to generation. You can go back and study the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and you can see physically His DNA came from Adam and Eve on the female side (the woman). That seed was carried all down through mankind, and that was His mother. What took place at creation became the mother that bore Jesus Christ, and the Father is the one who fertilized. The Father is the one who started this ball rolling, so to speak, of Christ becoming a man (being of men but being of God) in order to come down and do for us what we could no longer do for ourselves. We could not deliver ourselves from the bondage of Satan. No man has ever been good enough to depose Satan from his throne and take over and save us. For 6000 years we have had wars, terrorist acts, lust, greed, vengeance and violence because Satan is moving mankind in the direction He wants. We are powerless to totally deliver ourselves from it. We can take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that is what happened. We are all a mixture of good and evil. Some of us are more evil than others, but we have all sinned. We cannot deliver ourselves from that sin. But the woman carried the seed that would eventually bear Christ and do so for us. He could make it possible to eliminate sin. We are going to see this as we go on a little farther. This is why Christ said if you are obeying My Father, you are My brothers, My sister and My mother, because you become part of this body of Christ. We become part of a family. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 10. Start reading in verse 22 and read to verse 30. He and His Father are of one mind, but He is subject to the Father. No one is strong enough to defeat either Him or the Father, but we must all respect them in a family government: the Father then Jesus Christ. You will find that Christ said many times that He came to reveal the Father. He came to teach us these concepts of family, so that we could do things right in our lives and prepare for the future that He has for us if we will allow ourselves to repent and fit in. We have to allow Him to work with us as we will see. The Father is the greatest, but Christ will rule under Him and rule all things. Then with Him underneath are the first fruits, His bride. The mystery here is that the woman bore Christ. He could, therefore, say the Church was His mother. We will study this concept a little bit more in Revelation chapter 12. It takes us back to the first Church congregation in the Old Testament from Adam up to Christ’s first coming. Revelation 12, starting in verse 1: “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.” Obviously now with all of the information we put together, we see the Church clothed with the sun, being Christ working with the Church. We see the moon, being that Church (a type of the woman). We see God having had worked with her for several thousand years at this point (almost 4000 years or so) from creation up until Christ’s first coming. Who was there to destroy Christ when Christ was born? Satan the devil was there. He was not sitting there waiting for Mary to have a baby. He was waiting all of this time for the Church (the first congregation) to give birth to our Savior! He would eventually reign over mankind and deliver us from the bondage of Satan. That is why Satan hates Jesus Christ. SATAN WORKS THROUGH HUMANS How did he do this? Satan must work through human beings. Remember the curse? You must work through the dust of the earth. You will be forced to crawl through the dust. We are the dust of the earth. Satan is cursed to have to work through mankind to defeat God! He tried to defeat God in heaven and was cast down to the earth. Then he tried to defeat Christ. The only way he can do that is either directly, which he failed when he tempted Christ, or now defeat His Church. We are going to see that as we go. He could not kill Christ. God delivered Christ from Herod who was Satan’s tool. Then Christ was physically killed by Judas’ betrayal but that could not stop Christ from succeeding because He did not sin. No matter what temptation Satan threw at Christ, He did not sin. He was perfect. When He died, even at the hand of one of Satan stooges, Satan sealed his own fate! FINISHING THE FAMILY GOVERNMENT Now a Man had lived a perfect life and was now qualified to depose Satan. What He now needs is His government, His family. God is finishing putting together the family government, which is what He has been working on since Christ’s first coming. We are going to see that in just a moment. Put your finger in Revelation 12 and turn back to Galatians 4. We are going to solidify this concept, and then we are going on and see what happened since Christ’s first coming. Go to Galatians 4, and we will see why Christ could say the woman is His Church and is the mother of us all. That is, all who bear fruit spiritually. Galatians 4, starting in verse 21: “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.” The one freewoman was the one carrying the seed that would become Jesus Christ. Verse 23: “But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children…” God says these physical things that you see, which we know are types of what God is doing spiritually, cannot free us. The physical things that take place even with God’s people anciently cannot deliver us. But they are symbolic of what God is going to do spiritually. Continue in verse 26: “…but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” We just read in Revelation 21 that Jerusalem is the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is the mother of us all. So all who have been part of the bride of Christ all the way back into the Old Testament are the mother of us all (all the first fruits). Christ is the first of the first fruits. He says anyone who is obeying My Father and has received the Holy Spirit from Him is one with Us. They are My family: My brothers, My sister and My mother. We see that Christ is the first fruit of many brethren of which the Church is part. What He was saying was mysterious but it was very accurate. It corresponds perfectly with God’s word. Continuing in verse 27: “For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear!’” This is the rest of the world who does not have the Holy Spirit. “‘Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor!’” The Church has been laboring all of this time. “‘For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’” Eventually all will come to the knowledge of Christ. Verse 28: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” Often the Church is persecuted by people who do not understand. It is just part of it. We have to suffer this way until Christ returns. Verse 30 of Galatians 4: “Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.’” Eventually all mankind will be free. This is not a matter of discrimination. It is just the way it has to be until God has a family to rule. “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” TAMPERING WITH GOD’S PLAN Once we receive the Holy Spirit and we have covenanted with God, we become part of the free woman, Jerusalem, the mother of us all. In other words, the mother of all the first fruits, all that will eventually bear fruit indeed. It is a marvelous mystery, and it is pictured in marriage. Now we are starting to grasp why marriage is indeed a divine institution and should not be fooled around with by mankind. God established it in Genesis in His final act in creation week. When we fool around with it, we are messing around with God’s divine plan! We need to stop fooling around with marriage and start doing it God’s way. Then all of mankind will be blessed. SATAN TRIES TO EXTEND HIS REIGN Now we can go back to Revelation chapter 12. We will continue the story from the point where Christ went up to heaven after He was killed by those who betrayed Him. Continue in Revelation 12, verse 6: “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” From the point that Christ was resurrected, the woman (the Church) then fled into the wilderness where she is cared for, for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. That is another subject that we will deal with at another time. But it is interesting that it does correspond with the amount of time that God is going to continue working with His bride. When He gets things ready, it is ready. Continuing verse 7: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.” Up to this point the dragon (Satan) had access to heaven. He was not dwelling there anymore. As far as a dwelling place, he had been cast out of heaven. But he was going back and forth, and we know he was the accuser of the brethren. Go back to Job 1 and you see he could come up to the Father and Christ and accuse the brethren, which he did on a regular basis. Satan is the accuser. Christ was the Man who would replace Satan. After He succeeded in a perfect life, He rose to heaven. There was war there, casting Satan permanently out of heaven. This is great for heaven, but as you will see in a moment, it is trouble for us here on earth, especially in the Church. Continuing in verse 9: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.’” In the Church (the woman) that bore Christ, many of them died. To get to the point where Christ could come and live a perfect life and eventually make it possible for us to be delivered from the bondage of sin, many suffered to get to that point. But because of Christ’s blood, we have succeeded. We now have a King ready to reign, and Satan has been cast out of heaven. But He does not have His government finished yet (the governing people who will work with Him). Verse 12 of Revelation 12: “‘Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them!’” In other words, they are very happy. They have eliminated this horrible being and his demons. But…“‘Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.’” From that time Satan knew he was done for! The only thing he can do is extend his reign by trying to defeat the Church and by trying to slow down God’s plan. There are many ramifications to that thought, but that is why he keeps coming after the Church and the world. He wants to slow down God’s plan. He cannot stop Christ from being the ruler of the universe because He has already succeeded in that. He can stop Him from getting His government together and make it take a long time to pull that government together. This is bad news for the Church and for the world because we have to continue to suffer under this beast. Verse 13: “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” So he continues to persecute the Church which has now become a spiritual organism. With Christ’s first coming, we can now receive the Holy Spirit. The Church has expanded, in a sense, to include those who receive the Holy Spirit, and he persecutes that Church who helped bear the male Child. Continuing in Revelation 12:14. “But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.” This is the point we are now. We are still dwelling underneath Satan’s government, but we have Christ. If a person has received the Holy Spirit, has been baptized and repented, he is part of this Church living in a world that is still deceived by Satan. We are being persecuted by that world often times because they do not know what they are doing. That is why Christ said to God regarding the people putting the nails in His hands, forgive them Father, they do not know what they are doing. When we get persecuted, they do not know what they are doing. It becomes now a question of Satan overcoming the Church or the Church overcoming Satan. The enmity between the woman and her seed continues. We are seed of the woman. If one has the Holy Spirit, he becomes the spiritual seed, part of the first fruits. Satan continues to persecute. The enmity is still there. We need to grasp that concept. Satan has been defeated indeed by Christ, but he has not been replaced yet. He cannot be replaced until the bride of Christ is ready. That is why it is in Satan’s best interest to destroy God’s Church and to continue to harass the Church. PREPARING THE BRIDE How does Christ work to defeat Satan at this time and get the bride ready? He works through the body of Christ. He works through His bride to get it ready, cleansed and prepared to rule. Turn, if you would, to I Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse 12. “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” We all form the one body which is where Christ dwells. There are many parts to form that body. Verse 13: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” Once we have been baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, we become part of this body. Christ is working with it and this body will become His bride. Continuing in verse 15: “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?” In other words, the body needs many parts to accomplish what God needs to do. Continuing in verse 21 and read to verse 28. Here He is going through the structure of the Church. It is very, very important to understand that we have been baptized into one body, and we must cooperate with Christ who dwells there, making that body useful to Him. He is working at overcoming Satan and getting the government (the body of Christ, the bride) ready through His people. That is why it is so important not to have division, schism, hatred, anger, lust and vengeance in the Church. Otherwise we are helping Satan defeat the body! We are helping him overcome the body. The body must reflect the love of Christ and keep Satan out. The love of Christ is the power that keeps Satan from having any effect in the Church of God. It is important that we set aside all differences. To those people who are not in the Church yet, they can start learning by setting aside the differences that we should all understand at this time. Hatred, cultural warfare and clashes between religions and races get us nowhere! They only give Satan a free hand in all mankind to make a mess of this earth and destroy the family of man. The family of man is eventually going to become part of this whole concept and live on into a glorious Millennium, but we are going to have to learn to beat our swords into plowshares and make peace with one another. Every time one of us does that, we diminish the power of Satan! As we saw in Galatians chapter 4, the Church is indeed the mother of us all. Once we are in the body of Christ, we are nurtured by Christ. We are fed good truth (good doctrine). We are encouraged to overcome our sins. Each of us helps one another to become a successful part of the body that can be used by Christ. In this we all labor together. We are all laboring together to give birth to a new Millennium. It is a marvelous concept, and it is a plan that God instituted before time began. It started rolling 6000 years ago at creation. THE HOPE OF THE WORLD Turn to Romans chapter 8. This is explained here by Paul as the struggle we go through and the hope for all the world. Our success is the hope that the world waits for even though they wait in ignorance! Romans 8, verse 18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” This is the hope and the future for all mankind. For any of us who will allow God to work in our lives, the future is indeed extremely bright! Verse 22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” We are told here we groan laboring for something we understand. We cannot see it, but we have faith that God is going to do this. The world groans waiting for us to be successful. It is waiting for us to be cleaned up by Jesus Christ to be made into a perfect bride, a governing body, for all mankind’s benefit. We do this, often while getting persecuted by the world who does not understand this. Here we are at the end of the age, and more and more people are going to understand what God is doing. God’s light will be shed abroad in the world. His Holy Spirit will be poured upon all flesh. Soon billions of people are going to grasp this. It will be God’s miracle and His doing. It is a hope that everyone hearing this message has. It is something that the Church should be working on diligently to get ready to happen. God’s government will come, and we want to be a part of it. This is spoken of in concept in Isaiah chapter 66. Let us turn there. Isaiah 66 complements Romans 8 and fills it out even more. Isaiah 66, starting in verse 5: “Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: ‘Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, “Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.” But they shall be ashamed.’” What has caused this to be an occurrence is the body of Christ does have many schisms in it now. It is very divided so many of the brethren are being cast out. God is telling us here that your brethren who hated us and cast us out really did not understand what they were doing. But eventually they will see and be ashamed. Verse 6: “The sound of noise from the city!” That is that spiritual Jerusalem. “A voice from the temple!” (God’s spiritual temple) “The voice of the Lord, who fully repays His enemies! ‘Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?’” Before the spiritual Church (but excluding the prophets who came before because they had the Holy Spirit), Christ founded His Church. Before He founded His Church (in other words, before we went into labor), the first congregation delivered a male Child. Verse 8: “‘Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?’ says the Lord. ‘Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?’ says your God.” Of course, the first fruit has been born: Jesus Christ. The rest of the first fruits are still in labor, as we saw in Romans. We are still groaning in labor waiting for our rebirth when Christ returns and we are born again. How will this happen? Very quickly, in a twinkling of an eye it will occur. Continue in Isaiah 66:10. “‘Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom. That you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.’” As Galatians 4 said, the Church, Jerusalem, is the mother of us. In essence we are in that womb being carried. We are getting ready for the birth. Once we have had that birth, we will be able to feed the world, which in typology is a mother nursing her children. We will be able to nurse the world with the truth and help God wipe away every tear. Isn’t that what mothers do with their children? Now you see how important the family concept is and why it is a divine institution. When we have love in our family, we are emulating what God is trying to do and what He will succeed with His Son and His bride, the Church. We will form a family with God the Father at the top. Continuing in verse 12: “For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; on her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.’” Now you get the picture! Once we have been born again, Jerusalem, the mother of us all, will be able to comfort and care for the whole world just as a mother does in her family! Christ will be our husband and provider. He provided us our salvation and got rid of our sins. The Father is above Christ. It is a perfect family working in unity to bring peace and joy to the entire world and eventually the universe. Satan hates that because we will have then done away with him and his demons and the positions they held and will have brought peace and joy to the world. This is what God started on the sixth day of creation week. This is why marriage is, indeed, a divine institution. THE CHURCH AS A WIFE Let us turn to Proverbs 31 and review what a good wife and mother is like. When we read this I want you to think not just of a physical wife and mother but of the Church. We are going to start in Proverbs 31:10. “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” The Church should give Christ the gain that He needs and do good all of our lives, seeking to please Him. Continuing in verse 13: “She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.” These are the righteous acts of the saints. Verse 14: “She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good. And her lamp does not go out by night.” Study Matthew 25, the ten virgins and their lamps, and the light of the lamp that lights our way down the true path of God. Verse 19 of Proverbs 31: “She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing, she shall rejoice in time to come.” We are starting to see that the righteous acts of the saints are our clothing. Verse 26: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.” The Church should be full of kindness, mercy and compassion. “ She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.” You are seeing what a good wife is like physically and what a good wife to God’s Son is like. It is what the Church should be striving for. Now we can go back to Ephesians chapter 5. With all that we have just studied, we are going to reread Ephesians 5. I am going to read it and in your own minds you can be applying the principles that we have learned. Ephesians 5, verse 1: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Verse 22: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the Church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church.” Continuing in Ephesians 5, verse 30: “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Now let us read verses 1-4 of chapter 6 of Ephesians because children are brought into the picture here. Ephesians 6:1-4: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Now we see these verses are on a parallel track physically and spiritually with tremendous spiritual implications. To receive those blessings, we must operate properly in a physical sense. Now we, like Jesus Christ, can also say if you obey My Father, you are My brothers, My sisters and My Mother. We can understand this by putting Proverbs 31 together with Ephesians 5 and the concept of marriage as a divine institution. Now besides our own physical families, we can also look at one another in the Church and say we are brothers and sisters and mother. We must treat each other the same way. We must be a loving, caring family. We must be a body of Christ that is helping one another overcome sin and doing spiritually what we do physically in our physical families. We help each other with love, encouragement, care, kindness, forgiveness and mercy. We do this within the body of Christ with our sisters and our brothers, the Church being our mother. That is the concept that is beautiful. It is a mystery, but it is awesome! It is something we can grasp if we humble ourselves and let God teach us from His word. We need to have love in the body of Christ as a family should have love, with marriage and family exemplifying what God is doing. All humanity can learn from marriage. That is why no matter what culture you visit on the earth, marriage is very much something they look up to. Even in cultures that do not quite have the concept down that the husband should lay down his life for the wife as Christ laid down His wife for the Church, they understand that marriage is really something. It is awesome and it is important. When marriage is done properly, marriage helps the whole earth. People such as psychologists understand in many cases that family is the building block of a nation. It is the building block of a community, and strong families provide safe, strong communities. This is because it is a divine institution. To whatever extent we are doing it properly, everyone around us is blessed. To those of us who understand the spiritual side, the entire earth is waiting for that success so they can be blessed and protected in the Millennium and have their tears wiped away. These are tears that have been accumulating in mankind for 6000 years. God set the pattern when He established marriage back at creation week. He set the pattern that the Father would be the head of Christ, Christ would be the head of His Church, that Christ would sacrifice for His Church, and that we should do the same in our own families and within the body of Christ. LOVE HOLDS WITH AN OPEN HAND I want to conclude with some advice my mother gave me before I got married. She told me love holds with an open hand. A wife is like a butterfly. She cannot be held in a fist. Of course, she was talking to me, her son, but that applies equally to a girl, a female. Love holds with an open hand, and a husband in essence is like a butterfly and cannot be held in a fist. We need to understand that God is not suffocating us in a fist. He wants us to grow and mature and to become a beautiful butterfly, something that He can be very proud of. He desires a bride that is beautiful and a bride that has been washed clean. He is relying on us in the Church to do that with one another. Hold each other gently and not with a fist. Never take vengeance or be judgmental. Do not be harsh in our views toward one another but treat each other lovingly and kindly, understanding that we are all human. We all sin, we all err, and we must be held gently. This is an important thing for us to learn because we are doing it. We are expected to do so in the body of Christ. The Church is Christ’s butterfly overall because we are His bride. He is holding us gently and not suffocating us. He allows us to make mistakes and cleans us up as long as we repent. As long as we go to Him and beg Him for help, He is always there to take care of His wife. That is what we need to realize amongst ourselves because we are brothers and sisters in the faith. We form the family of God. We need to practice gently caring for one another, loving one another in what is indeed a cold, hard world. It is a world which will soon be set free and ruled by a family full of love, mercy and compassion. It will be a family well versed in the mysteries of God. It will be the ruling family of God, ruling in perfect order and harmony based on out-going concern, following the divine institution of marriage forever!