1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:09,000 In verse 32 of our Ephesians 5 text, it says this is the 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,560 profound mystery understatement of the year. 3 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,200 But I am talking about Christ and the church. 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,640 So Paul's like I'm talking about marriage, but I'm talking about 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,720 Christ and the church. It's mysterious, I know, but I'm 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,800 talking about Christ and the church and we we need an eternal 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,160 perspective for our marriages. When we realize that our 8 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:37,560 marriages are less about our relationship with our spouse 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,600 than it is about a relationship with our Lord, we start to view 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,280 our marriages in light of eternity. 11 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:47,760 I mean, let's just get this straight. 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,920 We're talking like potentially 50-60 years worth of marriage in 13 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:59,240 this life and then a marriage that lasts for all eternity. 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,440 There's two different marriages. So this this temporal marriage 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,880 needs to find its context within the eternal marriage. 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,840 In Mark 12, the statueses come at Jesus and they put this 17 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,280 hypothetical case to him. They say Moses taught us the 18 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,800 following, that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, 19 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,840 but no children, the man must marry the widow. 20 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,560 This is another brother must marry the widow and raise up all 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,080 for it offspring for his brother, and then that guy dies 22 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,720 and another one dies. Eventually they say 7 seven 23 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,440 brothers married this woman and none of them had any kids. 24 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,360 But here's the question because I want to discredit the 25 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,160 resurrection. They say at the resurrection, 26 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,440 whose wife will she be since the seven were married to her? 27 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,440 Jesus replied, oh, you're not in error. 28 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,320 You've got to be so careful when you take on Jesus where he is 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,400 sorry, but you are wrong. Are you not in error because you 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,480 do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 31 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,640 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in 32 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,240 marriage. They will be like the angels in 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,480 heaven, which doesn't mean we'll have wings sitting on a cloud 34 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,440 with what looks like a nappy on. Like get that out of your mind. 35 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,120 That's that's not heaven, OK? It's just meaning we're going to 36 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,880 be immortal, imperishable. So like that. 37 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,880 OK, now about the Dead Rising, have you not read in the book of 38 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,520 Moses, in the account of the burning Bush, how God said to 39 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:39,920 him, I am the God of Abraham, but I was, I am, I still am 40 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,440 Abraham's dead, but I still am the God of Abraham, the God of 41 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,600 Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, 42 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:51,600 but of the living. So Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:58,120 living and I'm their God now that they died like 2000 ago, 44 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,560 2000 years ago, but I'm their God now they're living. 45 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:09,000 You're badly mistaken. So in order for God to be 46 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,240 faithful to the promise that he gave to Abraham, Isaac and 47 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,240 Jacob, they would still need to be alive. 48 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,360 They didn't inherit the promise while they were still on this 49 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,880 earth. Read Hebrews 11 you'll it says 50 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,520 that they explicitly they did not inherit the promise, not in 51 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,720 not in the the temporal life, but the the promise still stands 52 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:31,760 and they got they are going to inherit it. 53 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:36,520 And and it's talking about this eternity that they will find 54 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,960 their way in. And the truth of that for us as 55 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,360 born again believers, is that we have an eternity to look forward 56 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:48,120 to in our resurrected bodies. So when we die now, our souls go 57 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,000 to be with the Lord. Paul tells us our bodies are 58 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,120 buried, but at his second coming we will all be given resurrected 59 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:01,160 bodies. We will have bodies. 60 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,080 We won't be little fluffy angels. 61 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,080 OK, so yeah, it says in one Corinthians 15. 62 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:14,400 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first 63 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,000 fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 64 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:22,840 He was the first one, which means he's the only man in 65 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:30,440 heaven right now with a body. He's the first fruit and and we 66 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,320 are all going to be like him. Now Scripture gives us a couple 67 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,640 of hints as to what that looks like, what He looks like, what 68 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,880 He is like. They recognized his voice. 69 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,960 So if you don't like your voice, you're going to have the same 70 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,760 voice. They recognize Jesus by his 71 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,600 voice after his resurrection. They recognized him. 72 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,760 He ate. They they had a fish fry on the 73 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:01,640 shore. So like like putting food in and 74 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:03,640 then like seeing it just drop onto the ground. 75 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:10,840 He had a body resurrected. I think there was almost like a 76 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:13,720 bit of an extreme makeover vibe that took place. 77 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:16,640 Have you ever watched Extreme Maker? 78 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,920 Doesn't you know the program where someone walks in and they 79 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,760 look a certain way and then they do a whole makeover of the 80 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,040 person, you know, make them look younger. 81 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,440 They go on an exercise program and then they come out the other 82 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,280 side. But this is a grand reveal that 83 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:30,760 walk out like, oh, can't believe it. 84 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,800 It's like you can see it's them, but man, they look different. 85 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,680 You know, when Jesus was arguing with the wolf or Pharisees were 86 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,720 arguing with him and they referred to Abraham, He said 87 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:51,320 before Abraham was I am. They're like, what, what are you 88 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,840 talking about? You know what they didn't say? 89 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:59,160 You're not even 50. You ever thought about that? 90 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,040 Surely if he was early 30s, it would have strengthened the 91 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,360 argument to say you're not even 40. 92 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,640 You're saying you were you were around when Abraham was it, 93 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,040 right? You were you were you before 94 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:17,520 Abraham. You're not even 50. 95 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,960 I think we draw from that. The logical conclusion is Jesus 96 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,160 looked older than what he actually was. 97 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,640 You're not even 50. And you, you read the text in 98 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,880 Isaiah 52 about how it describes. 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,040 Geez, there's nothing about him that would attract men to him. 100 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,360 We've got this like Hollywood vision. 101 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,400 So we we watch these movies about Jesus and the crucifixion 102 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,960 that always choose the best looking guy to be Jesus. 103 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,160 I think they get a completely wrong but in his resurrected 104 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:56,600 body you could see it was him but it's like. 105 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,280 Wow. But he ate. 106 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,640 There was something different about him, but he was still a 107 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:10,200 man, a resurrected body. And he's the first fruit and the 108 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,080 Bible makes it very plain for those who have put their faith 109 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,440 in him and who are born again, that promise of a resurrected 110 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,960 body is true for us. That that's why Job says, and 111 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,840 after my skin has been destroyed, he's not talking 112 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,680 about like some skin condition like eczema. 113 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,320 He's referring to his death after my skin has been what? 114 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,640 Why not being buried and and all of me has been eaten away. 115 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:41,600 Yet in my flesh I will see God yet an understanding of what the 116 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,440 resurrection would be. And then this message of 117 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,240 Scripture, 1 John two, sorry, 1 John 3 verse 2. 118 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:50,920 It's one of my favorite and I think it's the thing that's got 119 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,280 to frame most of our lives, including marriage. 120 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,320 It's got to frame how we approach our walk with God 121 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,040 because it says this, dear friends, now we are children of 122 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:07,600 God and what we will be has not yet been made known. 123 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,360 But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, 124 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,240 for we shall see him as he is, and all who have this hope in 125 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,960 him purify themselves just as he is pure. 126 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,960 So there's three things being emphasized here. 127 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,880 Three things that that that John as an incredible shepherd of 128 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,720 people is touching on. The one is our standing. 129 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:37,679 We are children of God. He's talking about our identity. 130 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,880 So we are adopted into his family when we put our faith in 131 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,680 Jesus and as a result of that faith, we are children of God. 132 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,000 And that is something that has happened. 133 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,120 It's a, it's a past reality. It's the past reality of our 134 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,560 salvation. We have come to that faith. 135 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,760 We are now children of God. It's as a result of us being 136 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,560 made children of God. When we put our faith in Jesus, 137 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,680 then he's talking about we don't know what we will be like, but 138 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,480 we know that we will be like him when he comes back. 139 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,920 So it's talking about a future reality. 140 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,520 And that future reality is that when Jesus comes back, we will 141 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:27,680 be in perfect glory with him. And that is our eternal hope in 142 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:30,400 our hearts. We will be like him. 143 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,760 That's the destiny. So identity and destiny. 144 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,120 And then it says this, the key phrase in this text says all who 145 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:48,520 have this hope, all who have what hope, the hope of a an 146 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:53,000 identity in Christ because we are born again believers and the 147 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,840 destiny that's to come because we will be like him. 148 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,040 All who have this hope of identity and destiny as an 149 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:06,840 inevitable consequence of that hope purify themselves, which is 150 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,120 the life that we live now as born again believers. 151 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,160 So we come to faith, we have this destiny, but in between 152 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,480 we're walking with God and we are growing in God. 153 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,280 And there is this present reality of our Christian walk. 154 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:24,320 That's why the Bible speaks about having been saved, past 155 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:30,280 tense, having or being saved, present tense and will be saved, 156 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:31,880 future tense. You want to know when you read 157 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,080 the Bible and you see those three different tenses, they're 158 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 talking about 3 different aspects of our salvation. 159 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,520 If you read it as the same thing, you can get very confused 160 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,880 and you can start doubting like what is it? 161 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,480 Am I saved? Will I be saved? 162 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,800 Like where am I? It's talking about 3 different 163 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:50,200 stages of salvation. We have been saved, we are being 164 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:55,040 saved and we will be saved. But what John is saying here is 165 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,480 you don't. You don't come in the fullness 166 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,560 of the are being saved by focusing on the are being saved 167 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,280 aspect or stage. That's called legalism. 168 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,240 It's called religion in the negative sense because it's like 169 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,000 that's our focus. So we need to do this. 170 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,880 We need to live our lives in a certain way. 171 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,400 This is how we need to be as Christians. 172 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,400 He's saying no, no, no, you don't become, you don't grow in 173 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,760 holiness. You don't become like Jesus. 174 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:30,080 This sanctification process is the theological word is not 175 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,080 something that you attain by focusing on that. 176 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,920 You attain that by focusing on your justification. 177 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:42,160 You have been saved. You are a child of God and on 178 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,680 the glorification aspect of our salvation that we will be like 179 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:48,720 him. So what John is saying is let 180 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,560 that be your hope because if you focus on this is how I need to 181 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:57,840 walk with God and it's and the emphasis is there and that's 182 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,760 what I'm highlighting the whole time, then you're not doing it 183 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:02,640 with the motivation of the gospel. 184 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,200 You're doing it because someone's told you where you 185 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,720 kind of feel like that's what I need to do. 186 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:10,960 But that's where you become legalistic in your ways. 187 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,200 So we don't go to church every Sunday. 188 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,840 We don't wake up every morning with our devotional time because 189 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,480 that's the focus. We tell it because we've got a 190 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:28,520 hope and what God has done in us that we believed like Abraham 191 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,840 and it was credited to us as righteousness and we have a 192 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,000 future hope of glory and that's what fuels us to live 193 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,080 differently. You can't get me to have a 194 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:44,320 devotional life and every day wake up with the feeling of that 195 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,360 being well, that's what a Christian does. 196 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:54,240 And the reason why I can say that is because I've tried it as 197 00:12:54,240 --> 00:13:03,920 Bible reading plans starting January January 12345617 Whoops, 198 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,680 skipped 18. Don't worry 19. 199 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:11,240 We'll just do both got to catch up because you see, there's a 200 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,920 realistic like I got to I've now have to live like this. 201 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,720 I've got to read my Bible through the whole thing was if I 202 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:19,440 haven't, I'm not quite a Christian. 203 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,520 Rubbish. That's not the gospel. 204 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,720 The gospel is Jesus has done it all for us. 205 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,320 He is our Savior. He's the one that purchased the 206 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:31,760 price. He's the one that demonstrated 207 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,720 this covenantal love of God. And as a result of the level of 208 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,840 Father who sends his Son, we have this incredible gift of 209 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,320 grace and we receive forgiveness and we receive righteousness. 210 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,720 It's not something you achieve. You receive it. 211 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,040 And as a result, we are justified. 212 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,520 We are made right with God. And this reality makes us a 213 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,920 child of God. And when you have this hope and 214 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,840 you have the hope that as a result of what happened there, 215 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,040 you have a future hope of glory, that you have been brought back, 216 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,880 you're reconciled to God. You are not separate from him. 217 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,680 You're not an enemy of God anymore, you know, in the 218 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,320 Kingdom of light. And as a result of that reality, 219 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,280 I now look forward to a future that I will be with him forever 220 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:19,000 and ever and ever. And when I, when I focus on my 221 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,640 identity and I focus on my destiny, the way in which I live 222 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,640 is an inevitable consequence. I just purify myself. 223 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:32,760 I grow in this reality of what God has for me and I grow in his 224 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,520 likeness because that's the thing that fuels me. 225 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,440 So the reason why I'm emphasizing the Scripture is 226 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:46,280 that we are called to be good husbands and good wives and 227 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,960 uphold this beautiful reality called marriage. 228 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,120 But we don't get it right by constantly saying, well, I have 229 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,080 to be. I have to be we, we, we get 230 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:04,240 fueled, we get transformed by a hope that is resting in my 231 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,920 identity in Christ and my destiny in Christ. 232 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,160 And this future eternal perspective changes how we live 233 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:18,840 our lives. We got what, 7080 years, if 234 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,480 we're lucky? I mean, we can't compare that to 235 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,280 forever. Like we, we don't know, like how 236 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,680 do you, there's no way, but there's an everlasting reality 237 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:36,560 in a resurrected body, in a restored new earth because God 238 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,960 is bringing everything back to his original plan. 239 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:40,760 You know, he had an original plan. 240 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,360 And then because of the fall, it's not like he discarded that 241 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:45,760 plan. He didn't say, oh, that didn't 242 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:47,560 work. So now I'm going to just bring 243 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,840 in this plan of salvation and it's Jesus. 244 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,800 And as a result of that, there's now a new plan. 245 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,520 The plan of salvation is to get us back to the original plan. 246 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,280 God has not let go of that original plan. 247 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,080 He's going to restore all things to what He originally had in 248 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,800 mind, absolute perfection, absence of sin, perfect 249 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,520 resurrected bodies, and in perfect fellowship with Him 250 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:18,760 forever and ever and ever. Let that feel something of how 251 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,120 you live your life. That's what John said. 252 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,480 It's a great shepherd. So he takes us away from the 253 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,080 legalistic ways of you must do this and this is how you must 254 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,120 behave as a Christian. He says your hope is going to be 255 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,160 in the past reality of what God has done and in the future 256 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,000 reality of what he will do because you can't resurrect 257 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,600 yourself. But he has promised he will 258 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:43,320 raise you to a new life and you will have this restored 259 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,120 resurrected body in a new heaven and a new earth. 260 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:52,480 Let that feel you. So we need to bring what does, 261 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,000 what does eternity mean? What does this perspective in 262 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:02,000 reality to my marriage mean? So how does it how, how are we 263 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,920 to view marriage? We need to view marriage as 264 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,200 having a place. Marriage has a place, but let's 265 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,839 put it in its rightful place. It's beautiful and it's glorious 266 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:21,160 that it has a place. I want you to complete these two 267 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:26,720 sentences, and then while we completed, I want you to 268 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:33,080 honestly assess, just in the quietness of your own heart and 269 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,440 your own thoughts, which of these two sentences best 270 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,360 describes my marriage. I'm sorry, there's a blank 271 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,360 before that. The goal of Christianity is not 272 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:48,840 to have a happy marriage. Now, obviously God wants us to 273 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,840 have happy marriages, right? He wants us to have marriages 274 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:56,320 that sing that, that there's an ease and he wants our marriage 275 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,080 to be a witness and a testimony to his goodness and his love. 276 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,160 But we can't make marriage the goal of our Christian lives. 277 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,960 And the reason why it's a point here in terms of my exposure, 278 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,240 certainly where I come from, marriage becomes this thing. 279 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,720 It's like if you have a happy marriage, you're a great 280 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,200 Christian. Like that's what defines a great 281 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,920 Christian is when you have a happy marriage and your family's 282 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,760 all together and everyone is just singing kumbaya, my Lord. 283 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,080 So complete these two sentences. My relationship with God is what 284 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:43,040 serves my marriage, or my marriage is what serves my 285 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:49,440 relationship with God. You see, when marriage, a happy 286 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,440 marriage, is the goal, then God becomes the means to that goal 287 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,480 because we've made that the ultimate thing. 288 00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:59,680 That's the thing that we are wanting. 289 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,080 That's the outcome. A happy marriage is the thing 290 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,640 that defines me as a good Christian, as a great Christian 291 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:11,760 family. Well, I don't know it. 292 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,560 It doesn't make sense to me. When we read Scripture and we 293 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,440 look at this relationship that we have with God and we put it 294 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,480 in the context of eternity, surely we must have heavy 295 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,760 marriages, but surely not that. That's the goal of Christianity. 296 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:28,440 Tell you what the goal of Christianity is. 297 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:36,120 It's the mission of Jesus. His mission becomes our mission. 298 00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,440 Whatever He wants us to do, that's what we do. 299 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:44,240 That's why it's called Lord and he has a mission and he's means 300 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,400 with which that mission will be accomplished is the church. 301 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,120 It's us. So the amount of people that 302 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,800 we've counseled we we met recently with a couple that's 303 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,360 going through a divorce. We met with the lady. 304 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:04,640 She said to us, the one thing the one good thing that has come 305 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,880 out of all of this is that I've reconnected with my savior. 306 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,320 So like in this trying time. My relationship with him is in 307 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,920 the best place ever now. That's great, Great that that's 308 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,560 happened. But I feel, I think it's 309 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:25,240 incredibly sad that a struggling marriage and the pursuit of a 310 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:31,320 happy marriage and a constant wrestle for this has distracted 311 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:35,960 her so much that her relationship with Jesus suffers. 312 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,320 So like he becomes like somewhere in the mix, but I'm 313 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,960 working on this happy marriage and and my happy marriage is the 314 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,640 ultimate goal and I'm looking for God to serve the skull and 315 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:54,480 for him to make sure and help me in this pursuit of having a 316 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,640 happy marriage. When actual fact we should be 317 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:03,440 saying when our marriages serves the goal of Jesus, the mission 318 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,640 of Jesus, then our marriage or marriages find a trifle place. 319 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,360 And we've got to make sure that we're on the right side of that 320 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:21,200 distinction because we can very quickly move into it's all about 321 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,760 my marriage and that's what defines me. 322 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,360 That's what measures me as a Christian and I want Jesus to 323 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:30,080 help me in that. And whether that's with your 324 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,480 husband or wife or other relationships, we got to know 325 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:39,120 there is a mission of Jesus. He is restoring all things to 326 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:43,440 himself. His Kingdom is advancing. 327 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,160 And there is going to come a day where that advancing will stop 328 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,760 because it will reach its fullness. 329 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,000 It will be complete. That's why we pray your Kingdom 330 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,760 come. This is a progressive your 331 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,480 Kingdom come in the lives of of my in my life in my heart. 332 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,080 I want to surrender to your worship, but in the lives of 333 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,040 other people and then from a salvation point of view more and 334 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,880 more people being reconciled to yourself where you are king and 335 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,000 your righteous dominion will reach us to absolute fullness is 336 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,400 what we look forward to your Kingdom come. 337 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,840 I think Rob actually referred to the Lord's Prayer this morning. 338 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,680 But that's why we pray our Father. 339 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:34,600 I'm a child of God. I heard a thing of Dallas 340 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,960 Willard where he, I mean, Dallas Willard is one of the top guys. 341 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:42,320 He used to be, possibly recently, but when it came to 342 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,760 spiritual disciplines and walking with God and a 343 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,080 devotional life, what a lot of these material and what he would 344 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:50,400 write on. So he was asked the question, 345 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,040 how do you approach your devotional life? 346 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,920 He said, well, read a bit. Yeah, read a bit there. 347 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,880 But then when it comes to praying, I say the Lord's pray. 348 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,800 You know that that's what Jesus gave us as a daily prayer, 349 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,560 right? Sometimes we just lose sight of 350 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,360 that. This is and I start with our 351 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:13,840 Father, and then I just stay there, just. 352 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:18,960 Suck it in, Suck it our father. You're my father. 353 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,280 I've been made your child. You're my father. 354 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,480 What you have done through Jesus, which you have opened my 355 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:33,840 eyes to, my desperate need of salvation, my sinful state, my 356 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,120 separation from you, and how you've brought me to yourself. 357 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:41,040 You have drawn me to yourself. You've reconciled me and I can 358 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,520 call you Father. You are the Almighty God who has 359 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,720 created everything. You're in heaven. 360 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,480 I'm not, you're the creator, I'm the created. 361 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,200 But in this space I can just stay and say. 362 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,960 Father. I can call you. 363 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:04,400 Father. Identity and then your Kingdom 364 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,800 come. You see that even in the Lord's 365 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,360 Prayer Jesus has given us. Just frame every day with who 366 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:15,080 you are in me and what's going on in the world. 367 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,920 What is God on about? What is he busy doing? 368 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,560 He's restoring all things. His Kingdom is advancing your 369 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,240 Kingdom come in this progressive reality. 370 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,920 May it come more, may it come more. 371 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,920 There's a partial Kingdom coming. 372 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,800 It's a growing reality, but there's a day. 373 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:38,200 There is a day where your Kingdom will reach its absolute 374 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,880 fullness, and your righteous dominion will be perfect and 375 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,400 whole and complete, and everything will be restored back 376 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,000 to your original plan when you first created Adam and Eve. 377 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,560 And we will live in the fullness of a relationship with God, 378 00:24:54,760 --> 00:25:00,880 fellowship with Him, and just have that for eternity. 379 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,040 The mission of Jesus is to draw people to Himself. 380 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:11,160 The mission of Jesus is to restore all things, make all 381 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,120 things new. And our marriage should serve 382 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:19,640 that purpose. But let me have a great marriage 383 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,960 and I'm going to ask God to serve my purpose. 384 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:27,680 So it's got a place. The next thing is that marriage 385 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:33,880 has a purpose and that is that we are given friendship, we 386 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:39,560 produce fruit, the joy of having kids, and we experience God's 387 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,080 forming. He shapes us and he molds us and 388 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,680 he makes us more like him through this beautiful 389 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,880 relationship of marriage. I'm going to get to the purpose 390 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:55,000 of marriage in the next part, but do do you see that those 391 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,440 three things? So we have this incredible 392 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,640 friendship in our marriage, but when we when we look at 393 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:11,720 eternity, there is a a friendship with God, an absolute 394 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,560 perfect. I mean, our minds can't conceive 395 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,680 it, but but in our hearts we believe and we look at this 396 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,320 future perfect fellowship with the almighty God that we get to 397 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:29,440 call Father and we will still won't know one another, but not 398 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,560 as met like underneath. And I will know one another in 399 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,200 our resurrected bodies. We'll know that there was this 400 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:40,840 life that we had, but we won't be married in heaven because 401 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,240 this temporal marriage will be replaced with a new marriage. 402 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,480 And I mean, this is kind of almost joking between the two is 403 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,440 like, oh, I'd love to be married, you know, with you for 404 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:54,960 all eternity. It's like it's so cool if we 405 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,760 just continued, but we just keep reminding ourselves actually 406 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,800 what we will have there because this earthly marriage is just a 407 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,440 shadow of the marriage to come. That marriage will be so 408 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,720 amazing. It will supersede over shadow. 409 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:11,400 I don't even know what the right words is. 410 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,680 This temple marriage that we now have and will be married to the 411 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,480 king, the banquet of the lamb. That's all we got to keep 412 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:25,200 looking at. So the need for friendship. 413 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,840 So the purpose of marriage in this life, you know, friendship, 414 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,520 but that friendship goes to a whole new level with our 415 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,840 friendship of God and friendship with one another. 416 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,920 So that friendship aspect of marriage, that purpose that it 417 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,960 serves here won't be needed there because things will 418 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:45,680 basically be at a whole new level. 419 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:47,840 Fruit. Think about that. 420 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,080 No need for children. No one's dying, no need to 421 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,920 replace anyone. There's no no need for kids 422 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,800 being born temporal. It's part of this life. 423 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,960 What part of that life and the forming, the shaping, the 424 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,200 sanctifying reality of us growing in likeness. 425 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,640 Well, when we get to heaven and we are with them, we will be 426 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,840 perfect. There won't be need for shaping 427 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,440 and molding and forming because God will make us in his 428 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,520 likeness. So all the purposes of marriage 429 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:25,080 that we have in this temporal state, there's no need for that 430 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,160 there. But it does have a purpose. 431 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:28,440 Yeah. We're going to look at purpose 432 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,640 just now. Before I get there, I want to 433 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,800 say how should we respond knowing that we're going to have 434 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,960 a perspective for our marriage and that it falls in the the 435 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:45,160 great story of God's redeeming work and the eternity that we 436 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:50,520 have with him. Don't let a God thing capital G 437 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:56,680 become a God thing lowercase G. When marriage becomes an idol, 438 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,920 it becomes the thing that we we put before our relationship with 439 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:03,960 God. Don't allow that which was 440 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,040 intended to be sacred. And by sacred, I mean the thing 441 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:12,400 that connects you to God to be the thing that disconnects you 442 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,960 from God. That's what happened with that 443 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,120 Lady that I was sharing just now. 444 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:24,440 Like her marriage became so much about the marriage, the sacred 445 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,240 element of being drawn into a closer walk with God. 446 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,080 The complete opposite happened because she had made a God 447 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,040 thing, a God-given reality, the beauty of marriage that comes 448 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,160 from him. She had turned it into a God 449 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,600 thing. It's like that's what my life is 450 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,680 about. I want a happy marriage. 451 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,560 This is what we're working on. And and every time I'm opening 452 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,440 my Bible, I'm praying and I'm asking God to help me and my 453 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:49,960 marriage and to save my marriage. 454 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:51,600 And it was all about my marriage. 455 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,000 Marriage has got a place. Got to make sure that we're 456 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,320 serving his purpose. And as a result of that allow 457 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,840 him. It's all that Scripture says, 458 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,480 seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be 459 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,640 added unto you. So worry about all these things 460 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,680 all the time. Seek His Kingdom, allow that 461 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,200 eternal perspective, the very thing that He is on about, this 462 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,560 Kingdom advancing the reality of a renewed earth and a new 463 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,680 heaven, and Him restoring all things to himself. 464 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,720 Let that thing be the thing that fuels us while we love, while we 465 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,720 have great marriages, because it's serving that purpose. 466 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,520 Our earthly marriage is just a shadow of our marriage in 467 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,840 heaven, and let's let it always be that.