Celebrating 37 Years of Our Marriage Covenant
My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary two days ago. We took a mini-vacation over this past week end and it gave me some time to reflect concisely on what it means to marry in Christ.
First, marriage involves a covenant relationship that is divinely sanctioned and legally recognized by society. From a biblical perspective, marriage was established in the Garden of Eden, as Genesis 2 teaches. As such, it is a creation ordinance that transcends both Old and New Testaments. When my wife and I married, we entered into a covenant relationship that is divinely instituted. If we synthesize a number of biblical texts, such as Genesis 2:24, Proverbs 2:17 and Malachi 2:14, we left father and mother and were united in the marriage covenant.
Second, Christian marriage is not just a divinely-instituted relationship between two people of the opposite gender, but one that is in Christ. When Linda and I were married 37 years ago, we married in Christ. We began a marriage relationship that has Christ as the Lord who writes the rules and governs the marriage. However, even for two Christians, marriage is hard because the marriage covenant still involves two people who are marred by their depravity. As I look back at the early part of our marriage, I began marriage with a certain level of sinful naiveness about the solemnity of the marriage covenant. As sinners in a Christian marriage, we should not be surprised at our own sin or the sin of our spouse. As believers, we candidly confess our sins to God and to our spouses. Only God knows how many times that I have confessed my own sin to God and my wife. Because marriage is in Christ, we have hope of persevering in marriage. Thank God for his grace in marriage for if he leaves us to ourselves, we would ruin a marriage. Even in marriage, it is all of grace.
Third, I thank God for the many years that God has given my wife and I to serve him together. It has been great to see God’s sanctifying work in our marriage. Though we have experienced ups-and-downs in 37 years of marriage, I can see that in the midst of the good, bad and ugly of life God has been at work. As I ponder the significance of 37 years of marriage, I am thankful for God’s grace in Christ for our marital relationship for “it is from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).
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August 7th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Dr. McCabe,
Congratulations, and thank you for these good words.
August 7th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Thanks, Mike.
As you can tell by the picture, the years have been better for my wife than for me. More importantly, I am thankful for God’s grace in my wife’s life and for the many ways she has complemented me. When it comes to my relationship with my wife, I have tried to follow the advice of Qohelet in Ecclesiastes 9:9: “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of your frustratingly enigmatic life, that He has given you under the sun???all your frustratingly enigmatic days, for it is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun” (my own translation).
August 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hi Bob,
(you tell me to call you that…still getting used to it). Congratulations on your and Linda’s years together! This is a little late–Jill and I just returned from a NY state & UPMich trip. God’s blessings to you both!
August 11th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Thanks, Sam.
It is hard to fathom that almost one year has gone by since I had a Bible conference on biblical creationism with your church. That was a wonderful time of preaching and getting to know you and Jill better. Please give Jill my regards.