For This Cause

If you’ve been around even a few wedding ceremonies, you’ve heard the phrase: "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother … and the two shall become one flesh." But do you know what the cause is? The effect is that a man shall leave and cleave, but what is the cause? What is the reality that is reflected in what we call "marriage"?

The Cause is that we are flesh of Christ’s flesh, and bone of his bone. We are members of his body. That is the reality. Marriage is nothing but a shadow or a reflection. We can get ourselves messed up with this, unfortunately. We read of the comparison between the two relationships, see all the flaws in our spouse and all the difficulties in our marriage, and place ourselves accordingly in our relationship with Christ.

You may know this already, but I am challenging you to consider it again. How do you see yourself in relation to Christ? This is a very important question. God knows how He sees you, but how do you see yourself? It doesn’t matter all that much how much God loves you; if you haven’t positioned yourself, in your own mind, as one who is loved, you will never have the security you need to step out in faith and fulfill your destiny.

We grab our toe when we’ve stubbed it, as though to protect and comfort it. Yet the moment we are hurt and feel pain we have a strong tendency to question God’s love, and easily can convince ourselves that He doesn’t care. Christ feels what we feel, because we are part of him. I have often heard that related to how the various parts of the body hurt when one part hurts, but let’s go to the top, to begin with. When any part of the body hurts, the head feels it. Period.

And don’t go de-personalizing this, either. Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her, so Paul says that Christ loved him and gave himself for him—Paul. You are part of Christ’s body. When you hurt he feels it. When you have a need he wants to meet it. He cares for and cherishes you. If we have a real task, I would say it is learning to see ourselves in that light. Our task isn’t learning how to be good, or learning how to be a witness. Until we know how loved we are, we aren’t a witness to much of anything worthwhile, anyway.

If the love of God is past finding out, then that means I will spend my whole life learning the extent of His love for me. When I recognize that He loves me enough to meet one kind of need, I’ll still have more to learn about His love.

I am part of Christ, and what God has joined together, no man can tear apart.

And because of this, the two become one.

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