This is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the Church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. – Ephesians 5:32-33
Do a Google search for “Prenuptial Agreement” and you’ll find well over 30,000 sites touting the subject on the Internet. You can even download the forms for one. More than one law firm lists “Prenups” as their specialty. This stuff is big business!
Just in case you’ve never heard of such an animal, a Prenuptial Agreement is a written contract that two people, usually very famous and/or wealthy, enter into before marriage, that basically outlines what each can lay claim to when exiting the marriage, just in case things don’t work out. It’s kind of like, “mine, yours and ours” and sometimes it can even include claims to the kids. Well, so much for the “two shall become one flesh” the Bible talks about (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31). This kind of marriage, in my opinion, is often doomed from the start.
God, however (and this may surprise you), is the inventor of the Prenuptial Agreement. The most specific and dramatic one is found in Ephesians 5:21-33. I’ve tried to use that complete passage in every premarital counseling session (and postmarital as well) and repeating it as a part of the wedding ceremony.
The Apostle Paul calls marriage, “a profound mystery” because it was instituted by God to be a reflection of the relationship that Jesus Christ has with His Body on earth, the Church (Colossians 1:18). When someone looks at a Christian marriage, God wants them to see a reflection of the love that Jesus and the Church have for one another.
When a wife lovingly and voluntarily submits to the leadership of her husband in the marriage (Ephesians 5:21-24), those around that sacred covenant will see a picture of the church in submission to Christ. When a husband lays down his life and gives himself up for his wife (Ephesians 5:25-30), the world will see Jesus, who loved His Church so much that He was willing to die for her.
Marriage is a high calling isn’t it? So high that it’s protected by God when both parties yield to that calling. So who needs a Prenuptial Agreement to protect their worldly interests? God has already given us a Perfect One and when we do it right, He will take care of our present and future interests, because they will also be the same as His! Maranatha.
