The Domestic Framework of Salvation
Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
Introduction
As we have just been reminded in our announcements, Rose Sunday is all about making the connection between the forgiveness and healing that Christ accomplished for us 2000 years ago and the details of our life right now today.
Therefore, this morning I want us to look at the big picture of the salvation that God has provided and the connection between that salvation and your life.
So think about it: throughout Scripture, one of the primary pictures that God gives in order to help us understand the dynamics and nature of our salvation is that of marriage and domestic life.
· our opening verse just reminded us that we are of God’s household;
· those sitting around us are our brothers and sisters;
· Jesus teaches us to pray “our Father”.
In fact, this picture of salvation as married and domestic life is so pervasive throughout Scripture that we grow accustomed to it and thus don’t think about it much.
So this morning I want us to turn our attention to the domestic framework of salvation. And my hope is that by doing so we will see the way that every stage and every aspect of our Christian walk is defined by what this picture of marriage and family life tells us.
(a) Notice at once, throughout Scripture salvation is described as a marriage (i.e. as an unending relationship of love and commitment between God and His people)
Hosea 2:19 “And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,
Revelation 21:9 And one of the seven angels [said to me] “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” (also Mk 2:18-20; Isa 62:5; Eph 5:23; Hos 2:20; Rev 19:7) FN #1
Notice then the way that Scripture describes each aspect and stage of your Christian life in terms of this love relationship
(b) First, you were promised
Titus 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of those chosen by God and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time eternal (also: II Thes 2:13; Rev 13:8; Deut 4:7; John 15:16; Rom 8:30-31)
Simply put, throughout Scripture the picture of salvation is that of God binding Himself to us in an eternal relationship of love and unending favor FN#2.
(c) Second, Scripture tells us that you were pursued (i.e. courted)
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations,
(d) Next, you were proposed to (notice then, Scripture describes conversion as God calling to us in love and by His divine power/grace calling forth like love in us)
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ— their Lord and ours (II Thes 2:13-14) FN#3
Notice the point: the point is not to find the word “marriage” in every verse we read. Rather, the point is to notice the very same dynamics at work in every step/stage of our salvation. Thus, from the beginning God pledged Himself to you, He pursued you, and called out to you in love. And you responded “I do”
(e) Next, you were engaged (that is, in theological terms, you were sealed and marked with God’s pledge as God’s own possession )
Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (II Cor 1:21-22)
John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. FN#4
(f) You are prepared. In other words, Scripture describes our entire walk with God in terms of this picture of salvation as marriage. Notice then, our sanctification, renewal, correction, and growth are depicted as a bride being made ready for her wedding
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 in order that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
(g) Next, Scripture tells us that we are wed (that is we enter into the full measure of our salvation and relationship with God)
Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.
(h) Finally, we enter into eternal domestic life. That is, even our eternal life is depicted in terms of a home and a loving marriage
John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 ” if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
(Rev 21:3)
Bottom line: every step and every stage of your walk with God is defined by God’s great love and commitment to you. Thus, when you make the Rose Connection that God’s love establishes the entire framework within which you encounter the details of your daily life, it changes everything. You no longer follow out of fear or compulsion. Instead, you follow out of a growing desire to love and to please Him. Not only that, you have the great security of knowing that you are your Father’s beloved; and you are being washed, and cleansed, and made beautiful by Him for Him.
Footnotes
1] In the same way, Scripture carries forward this picture of salvation as marriage to describe the sins and unfaithfulness of God’s people as adultery
Hosea 1:2 The LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; because the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD.”
James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
2] The closest image that we have to this pledge of love, which God made before time eternal and which is the origin and single source of our entire relationship with God is that of an arranged marriage.
However, the dynamics of this arranged marriage are fundamentally different from the cold, self-serving, socio-political and economic arrangements we see on earth. Think about it: Christ is God. Therefore, the bride the Father promises will also be the Father’s adored people. In turn, the Triune God created this bride. Thus, He has thoroughly known and loved her from before times eternal. As such, God’s promise did not precede God’s love. Regardless, the take away from all of this is that from the very beginning our salvation and relationship with God has been based on God’s love and commitment to us. There was never a time when God felt differently about you. There was nothing that you did to change God’s mind or earn His affection. Thus, there will be nothing that you do going forward that will lose or alter that affection. Instead, from the very start, God alone is savior and His love for us is the solitary motive/factor behind that salvation.
3] Note: the notion of God calling forth like love from us is not an invasion of our personal integrity nor is it some manner of divine manipulation. In other words, regeneration is not an act of God imposing His love on use and then forcing us to love Him in return. Instead, God’s grace heals the artificial, imposed, and uncreated condition that sin has brought and which holds us in bondage. The result is that once our will is healed, set free, and returned to its created fellowship with God, we freely love God. Thus on the one hand, grace restores and frees. On the other hand, our love for God is always an un-coerced act of our own will/heart.
This notion of regeneration as imposition is further rebutted by remembering the will that we have is given by God who created us. Thus the grace of regeneration is always a re-generating (restoring, freeing, and healing) of that which God had already generated/given. The result is that our love for God is always an act of the integrity of our will.
4] Note: engagement is the very picture behind John 14:2-3
John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
The idea here is that the man would propose to the woman. He would then go to his family’s home and build on a section for him and his wife. Only then would he return to her and the marriage ceremony would commence. That said, during this period of engagement the husband and wife were considered bound to each other though the fullness of the relationship was no yet experienced (see the parallel with our current condition? We are already saved and are already God’ children, however we do not yet experience the fullness of that salvation).
A great example of the parameters of the biblical notion of engagement is found in the Nativity account of our Lord. Notice then in Matthew 1:18 we are told that Joseph and Mary are betrothed (engaged)
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
However, in the very next verse Joseph is called her husband. Not only that, when she is found to be with child, Joseph determines to divorce her.
Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to divorce (ἀπολύω) her secretly.
Your bible probably translates the Greek word here (ἀπολύω) as “put her away”. However, this word in a relational context carries with it an all but technical/exact meaning. It is the very same word that Jesus uses exclusively throughout the Gospels for divorce (note: “certificate of divorce” is a different term and refers to the paperwork that was to follow)
Matthew 5:31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces (ἀπολύω) his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
Mark 10:2 And some Pharisees came up to Him, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce (ἀπολύω) a wife.
Luke 16:18 “Everyone who divorces (ἀπολύω) his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries one who is divorced (ἀπολύω) from a husband commits adultery.
The point is that to be engaged was already to be under the confines of a marriage relationship, though the fullness of that relationship was not yet experienced. This is the very picture that Scripture provides of our life right now until Christ returns.