A Bond in Christ not Easily Broken
Texts: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, 9:9-10; I Corinthians 12:31-13:13; John 15:9-12
Derek and Cassandra, until now, you have been separate entities. When we say Derek, we also think of Cassandra and vice-versa. We always picture a pair, never one without the other. In just a few moments, however, you will no longer be a pair. You will be bonded together into one. This is the beauty of Christian marriage.
When the rubber meets the road, your love can be put to the test. There is one thing you need for all the times, and His name is Jesus! The great thing about Christ is that He bound Himself to each of you the day you were baptized. Since then, you've never really been alone. The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, once wrote: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.(Ecclesiastes 4:9–12"
Because the honest truth is, even with Jesus at the heart of you're marriage, sometimes you will be impatient. Sometimes you will be thoughtless. You might be rude. You might be jealous. You might be living for yourself than for each other. You might be blind to your own shortcomings even though you have a photographic memory of your spouse's faults.
When you sin, Jesus will turn you toward His cross and move you to repentance and pronounce absolution. When you sin against one another, He will turn you one to the other to repent and forgive as He has forgiven you. That list of what love is we heard before? That is precisely what Christ's love for His church, each of you, and your marriage looks like. With Christ at the center of that three-stranded braid, He will enable you to see His grace, forgiveness, and love at work in you and in your partner.