AM I ENGAGED?
BIBLE PASSAGE: EPHESIANS 5:25-32
Picture taken from Google
Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of
Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
Lesson
ideas taken from: ttps://www.lifeway.com
AUGUST 29, 2021
MEMORY VERSE
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it;
EPHESIANS 5:32
INTRODUCTION:
How Did Marriages Work in the Bible?
There were a
series of different events culminating in a marriage ceremony. Let’s consider
them:
The Betrothal – This was more than an engagement like we
think of today. The betrothal was actually just as binding as being married.
The woman who was betrothed to her future husband was bound to the husband.
She was considered
married even though the actual wedding ceremony would probably not take place
until later; likely for another six months to a year. In fact within the
Mosaic law, a husband who was betrothed to his “wife” was exempt from military
battle.
Has anyone
become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die
in battle and someone else marry her. – Deuteronomy 20:7
The Friend of the Bridegroom – The bridegroom
would choose a close and loyal friend whose responsibility was to assist the
bride in preparation for the wedding. He would stay by her side throughout this
entire betrothal period and make sure she was ready for the bridegroom on the
wedding day.
The Procession – On the day of the wedding, the bridegroom
would leave from his father’s house and proceed to the house of the
father of the bride to receive his bride. The bridegroom would not
announce in advance the exact moment when he was coming, so the bride
had to be prepared, ready, and waiting for the bridegroom.
The Ceremony and Feast - Once the bridegroom had received his bride,
they would proceed to the house of the father of the bridegroom. They would
then have a wedding ceremony followed by a spectacular wedding feast. These
feasts could last up to a week and sometimes even longer.
We will not go deeper regarding the marriage here on earth,
but we’ll talk about Christ's love for His bride, the Church. We know
that church is a group of believers. The title of our lesson, Am I engaged? is
a question that focuses on the bride. Let’s answer the question by checking
some of the attitudes and actions of the bride for her coming marriage. AM, I ENGAGED?
LESSON OUTLINE:
1. CHECK YOUR ACCEPTANCE (JOHN 14:6,
JOHN 1:12)
Have you remembered the time you’d accepted the
engagement, or you’d say “YES”? You won’t
forget that, right? Therefore, the same way in our spiritual, the date is very
important. It’s a plus point if you’ve recorded it for a proof and as a
keepsake. You’ll take that moment a big event in your life.
If you belong
to Jesus Christ...if he is your Savior...then you are his bride. And you also were included
in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit – Ephesians 1:13
The moment you heard the message of the gospel and
received salvation you were in a sense betrothed to Christ. Your eternal life
began that very moment. There is a space of time between now and when you reach
your eternal destination. However, as the betrothed bride is considered married
to her bridegroom, the same principle applies to you.
Even though your faith has not yet become
sight, and you have not experienced heaven in its fullness, you can be
confident that your eternal home with Jesus is secured. You belong to him both
now and forevermore.
John 14: 6 says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
– John 14:3
What a promise! We will soon with the groom in
heaven someday.
2. CHECK YOUR COMMITMENT (EPHESIANS 5:
25, 32)
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the church, and gave himself for it; This is a great mystery: but I speak
concerning Christ and the church.
In this 2nd
and the next 3rd point, we’ll
not be talking about the good works
in salvation because we believe in salvation
through faith. We will be dealing to the actions and
attitudes of the bride. Are you betrothed or dating? Now the
difference in the two is obvious. Dating is a kind of trial period in a
relationship where your commitments are soft, relationships are tentative, and
you keep your options open. Marriage is a covenant relationship of devotion and
sacrifice and joy. In marriage, you've burned the ships, there's no turning
back, and you only have eyes for the one to whom you have pledged yourself.
So I ask
you again: are you engaged to be married -- fully devoted, making sacrificial investments of time and money and
energy? Or are you just dating: nominally
involved, partially invested, maintaining enough detachment so that if it
doesn't work out the way you want, you can hit the door with no lingering
obligations?
We need a
personal commitment to a local church. It
is vital to have a strong, growing relationship with the people of God, where
you can encourage each other in Christ and pray for one another and bear each
other's burdens and intervene when you see a brother or sister lapsing into
sinful patterns.
Statistically, one out of four church
attendees are considered "church shoppers," with no real devotion to
any particular local church. An estimated 15-20 million Americans have said
they are Christians, but don't want to be a part of the church. Around 80
percent of American evangelical churches are plateaued or declining. When
asked, people give the standard answers: church is irrelevant, boring,
hypocritical, after my money. Some have been hurt by the church, in some cases
deeply. ("The Condition of the Church in America," Compiled
by Andy McAdams, Pastor to Pastor Ministry.)
We
already have heard how important the church is in the previous sermons and
lessons but personally to you, how important the church is? (Allow response
from the audience or online)
Some
of us here have been here for years and it could be one proof that the church
is important to you. The question is you’ve been a member for so long but how
often do you attend the church services? If you compare your attendance vs
absences, what would be the higher. But sad to say that some treat church as a
gathering only that we could meet our friends, and hear values in life.
Based
from my experience, I don’t know if you agree, if you treat the church least,
the enemy will give you lots of schedule during Sundays. Please don’t get mad
at me this is based from my experience. You know what, not just busy schedules,
many personal and unavoidable circumstances will arise. For example, you’ll get
sick often, you’ll receive unexpected visit of in-laws or relatives and many
more during church services. One time I had a problem with my internet
provider, and they told me to fix it as soon as possible I had waited for the
weekdays for the fixers to visit but they came Sunday, I received the call
before 9am. I didn’t know what to do at first because I really needed to get it
fixed. I told the caller that I was in the church and I can’t entertain them at
that time. Though they said that was the only day they were available, still I
was grateful because they gave me options. I chose 11am (after morning service)
and they came back at that time. That is a simple situation but we need to pay
attention to it. When we entertain those
things in our lives, time will come that though we don’t have schedules or
anything, our mind gives you the thought that no need to church on that Sunday
just rest and give yourself a break. You are already used to it. Sometimes we
need to be firm and do what is right. Let’s remind ourselves of Hebrews
10:25.
The whole context of this passage about marriage has this model of
Christ's passion for His bride, the Church, as its foundation. And the point is
powerful: Jesus wholeheartedly,
unconditionally loves His Church. You know there is a moment in every
wedding when the bride walks down the aisle to her groom. Everyone rises to
their feet as the music soars and all eyes turn to see the bride - radiant,
beautiful, adorned in white, she seems to float past on her way to the man who
has captured her heart.
I’d
experienced being an emcee in a wedding, I’d seen special moments wherein it
somewhat like emotional. The reaction of the groom is what I see the most. He
is grinning from ear to ear in anticipation, wistful, unspeakably happy, lost
in love for the one who is coming to pledge herself to him and some get
emotional too. Maybe the groom sees the person he would spend the rest of his
life.
Now
listen, if you can see that look on the groom's face, then you have a small
understanding of the intensity of Christ's love for His church. It resonates
through this passage.
What
makes this thought and scene more striking for me is that I am a part of His
church; I know you feel the same. The church in the Bible is made up of those
who have been called out by the Spirit
of Christ to salvation. The church is God's people. It's you and me and
every believer in every place around this world who has put their trust in
Jesus as Savior and Lord. The truth is
when you read that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, you
might as well be reading, "Jesus loves me like that."
It
becomes intensely personal to meditate on the words Christ loved the church
when I see that I am included among those He loves. And it strikes me when I
see that the Greek word for love that Paul uses here describes immediately
takes me to the cross. It is the word agape,
which refers to the absolute, un-self-centered sacrifice of Christ for my sake.
His love for His me never quits, never
waivers, never weakens. Together, church, we will take a piece of bread and a
swallow of juice to remember that cross love He has for His bride, you and me.
And
then I read that He gave Himself for His bride, and I count the cost He has
personally undertaken. The wording here speaks of voluntary surrender and total
commitment to the horrors of bearing my
sins in His body on the cross to ransom me from slavery to sin and take me to
Himself. The broken body and shed
blood of Christ are the measure of how far He will go for me.
And
when I read that His holy love for the church moved Him with purpose to make
her holy, cleansing her in the washing of water by the word, I am thrilled to see my complete forgiveness in those
words, my justification accomplished at
His Word, and the gentle, patient work of making me holy like Himself.
Christ is totally committed to the church. He is totally committed to me. Can I receive love like that from Him as an imperfect person He is
sanctifying while ignoring the rest of what His love has purchased? The truth
is the more like Christ we’ve become, the more we love what He loves and devote
ourselves to what moves Him to action. Say what you want to say, but you know
it's true. If we're going to be like Jesus, we won't date the church anymore.
And you won't stumble over the imperfections that are going to happen when a
group of imperfect people gather together. You'll just realize that it has its
flaws, but it's what Jesus died for.
Knowing that you are the bride of Christ, and
the Bible clearly states that the bridegroom or Jesus is coming again, stirs
this question: How is your wedding prep going?
3. CHECK YOUR SERVICE (EPHESIANS 5:30)
For we are members of his
body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Like the bride of Christ, if you accepted Jesus Christ as your
Saviour, you belong to the Body of Christ. In v. 25, the church is the wife of
Jesus Christ. But in v. 30, the church is called the Body of Christ: we are
members of His body, it says. Paul changes the imagery to emphasize something
important.
The image of the bride tells us deep things about the devotion and
love of Christ Jesus for us, His bride. The image of the body of Christ reminds
us that we have an assignment to fulfill. When Jesus bodily walked this earth,
He moved from place to place in a small geographical area, doing the will of
the Heavenly Father and securing the salvation of everyone who believes. Now,
having ascended back to heaven, He still moves from place to place, only now on
a global scale. How does He do it? Through us! We are His body!
Ephesians 1:22 expands on this picture when it explains, by
telling us that God the Father has put everything under His feet and appointed
Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of
the One who fills all things in every way. Like the fingers and toes, like the
eyes and elbows of your physical body, you are a part of Christ's body on
earth, which is the church. And just like the various parts of your physical
body have a specific function in relation to your body, so you have a specific
function in Christ's body! There is no unimportant member of the church. Each
of us has a function to fulfill for the good of the whole body. Ephesians 4
speaks about the body being built up in love as each part is working properly
(v. 16).
Paul plays with this analogy a bit in his letter to the
Corinthians: If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I don't
belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if
the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the
body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body
were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would
be the sense of smell? But now God has placed the parts, each one of them, in
the body just as He wanted. (1 Corinthians 12:15-18)
Run with me on this, okay? Let's say for the sake of illustration
that when God saved you, He made you a hand in His body. You have the gift of
service that is meant to minister to the rest of the body by assisting and
fixing and working. You are the oil in the machinery that keeps things running
smoothly. So what happens when you say, "I love you Jesus, but I don't
want to be a part of the church"?
That's like saying, "Jesus, I love you, but I don't want to
be a part of Your body. So I'm cutting off Your hand from Your body. But hey I
really love you, okay!?" How would that work out for your physical body if
your body parts did a little mutiny? "As your big toe, let me just say
that I'm sick and tired of working with these other toes. They're all a bunch
of posers! I do most of the work, and they still get treated as equals. So I
think I'm just going to take a break. You don't really need me anyway."
You get the point. If you're a Christian, you have an assignment
to fulfill in the body of Christ. He's on the move and needs every member of
His body in on what He's doing. So when you're missing in action, half-hearted,
casually committed, the rest of the body is crippled and weakened.
Another thing that caught my attention, love leads you to service.
Therefore, if you love your groom, you would serve him.
CONCLUSION:
Hebrews 10:24-25 calls us to
a different value system when it comes to the church. "And
let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
For this church to be all God wants it to be, each
member needs to be working properly, needs to be connected, needs to be
participating, sharing the burdens and the joys together. Most of you here
today are living examples of this message, and I cannot thank you enough for
your example, your partnership, your stewardship of life for His sake.
