Married to Christ-Isaiah 54:5
“For your Maker is your husband the Lord Almighty is his name, the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”
Happy Easter! One of the most common metaphors describing our relationship with God is marriage. It is described throughout the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah says, “For your Maker is your husband…” Marriage rests on the biblical idea of a covenant. A covenant is a binding agreement that cannot be broken. It is not like a business relationship, where it is dependent on profit and other benefits. If the agreement is not met, then the relationship is terminated. The marriage covenant is intensely relational and personal. God binds himself to us no matter what happens. As the marriage vow says, “from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part…” God is also described as our Redeemer. To redeem means to ‘buy back’. In the New Testament, redemption can refer both to deliverance from sin and to freedom from captivity. Usually Easter time, we don’t think of marriage. But in a sense, Jesus established marriage with us through the new covenant through his suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection. He also redeemed us from slaves to sin to live as his holy children. This Easter let’s think about marriage and redemption.
First, We were chosen and loved!
There are many interesting statistics about online dating. Based on current statistics, 3 out of 10 singles use a data app to find their future partner. When creating online profiles, many singles stretch the truth in order to be chosen. Research has indicated that as much as 80 percent of people fib in their online dating profiles. Women in their 20s and 30s deduct anywhere between 5 to 20 lbs from their weight, while men tend to fib about income, education level and past relationships. There is a true story of a young man who posted the following profile on match.com: “I’m a medical student, with 145,000 in debt, I have one glass eye due to an accident when I was young and I’m socially awkward. “Obviously, his chances of getting matched will be slim to none. But one woman responded and chose him. Later she became his wife. When he asked why she chose him, she said she admired his honesty. Now, it is hard to be honest. We want to portray a flattering profile about ourselves and hide the negative parts of our personality so that we may be likable. There is another interesting stat about online dating, 80% get ‘ghosted’ after the first date. In other words, they are completely ignored because the real person was not what they expected or wasn’t truthful in their profile.
If we are honest, do you think God will choose us? But we can’t fool God with our ‘white lies’. Our chances of being chosen are zero to none. Yet God chose us! Ephesians 1:4,5 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” God chose you before the creation of the world, before matter came into existence.
In any relationship whether married or unmarried, it carries liabilities (disadvantage, burden, drawback, inconvenience, problems, embarrassment) and assets (great value, character, wealth, beauty). When a couple says “I do” during their marriage vows, it essentially means they are willing to accept each other’s’ liabilities and assets. In other words, they are willing to bear with their good and bad habits, ready to share each one’s financial burdens, etc. The sad truth is that many marriages end in divorce (43%-CDC). It is so difficult, if not impossible to bear with liabilities. God knows you very well; he knows all your liabilities. Our weight, height how much money we make is not a concern to our God. He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He knows all your public and private sins, your pride, selfishness, anger, our inclinations to commit adultery, murder, worship idols, etc. (Psalm 44:21, Luke 12:3, Hebrews 4:13). These days many criminals have been caught with the use of video cameras on your phone, doorbells, security cameras, etc. God has videos of all our public and private sins in HD and 4K quality. We cannot claim our innocence due to overwhelming evidence.
Suppose you were to marry someone who has only liabilities. If God gave you the assignment of marrying someone you knew would be unfaithful, what would you think? Suppose the person you are to marry never loves you back, defiles your marriage vows by sleeping with others, rebels again and again without any hint of remorse. You will certainly stay away from such a volatile relationship. That will be a marriage made in hell! This is exactly what God told Hosea to do to illustrate his love for people and to each of us! (Hosea 1:2). We are all broken and sin-sick. We only bring liabilities and sins to the marriage. Yet, God made an everlasting covenant to be with you through the bonds of marriage!
The question is why did chose us? Why did he choose us when we have nothing to give him but only liabilities, deficiencies, disabilities and disqualifications! It was because of his unconditional love. 1 John 4:10, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Unconditional love is so unnatural to us. Our love is deeply and unconsciously conditional. “I will love you if you change or show respect…I will love you.” I had a friend who was always top of his class. When his parents divorced, he changed. His lost motivation to study and fell into depression and drugs. God says “I love you period!” God loved us even when we hated him. God isn’t fickle or moody. God never wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. God cannot love you one ounce more or less. When we understand this love, we can express unconditional love to those around us. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” I pray you may believe you have been chosen and loved.
Second, We are Priceless!
Isaiah 54:5 says, God is our redeemer. Remember, to redeem means to buy back. In spite of our rebellion and harden hearts, we are most valuable to him! What determines value? It is what someone willing to pay for it! For example, if I tried to sell a pair of used smelly basketball Nike shoes to you, you might not be inclined to buy. But suppose those shoes were worn by Michael Jordan during the “Flu Game” (38 points scored, 3-point game winning shot) in the 1997 NBA Finals, will they be worth something? Of course, it was sold for $104,765! How about you? After all your rebellion and harden hearts, how much is a relationship with us worth? Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Payment for sin is death. How did it cost to redeem us from sin? You can find your worth by looking at the cross (John 3:16)! That is how much you are worth! God paid the ultimate price through his son. That is the cost of your salvation. Many times, the devil attacks our worth by saying, “You’re worthless, you are junk. How can you call yourself a Christian?” The moment those thoughts assail you, look at the cross! Jesus did not die for junk, look at the cross! That is how valuable you are!
Third, We are made acceptable
Once, we accept and believe what Jesus has done for us, we are made new! Through the work of the holy spirit, we are completely transformed. When you shop online, products come in many conditions: new, like new. Acceptable, damage, but acceptable. Blemished, refurbished, missing parts, for parts not working, etc. The worse the condition, the lesser the value and quality. Honestly speaking none of us are ‘new’, we are all broken and damaged goods. We are not worth buying. The devil reminds you of your past sins and failures. He tries to convince you; you are damaged goods; unacceptable before a Holy God. But Jesus made us acceptable! We were made acceptable when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Colossians 1: 22 reads “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…” In Jesus, we are made new, not because of anything we have done. We are not refurbished; we are made new! (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Revelations 21:5). How are we made new? Our liabilities was placed upon Jesus, in exchange, Christ assets were transferred to us. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Our sins went to Jesus, and his righteousness was given to us. Jesus experienced death. I received life to the full! Jesus experienced condemnation, I received salvation. Jesus received justice; I received mercy. Jesus was abandoned; I was adopted by a King! Practically, this means you are no longer defined by your failures, your wounds. You are defined by Christ love for you!
In this passage, we can all agree relationships are extremely messy. How much more our relationship with God! We bring more liabilities than assets. In Paul Tripp’s book “How People Change” he says, “Each of us lives out of some sense of identity, and our gospel identity amnesia will always lead to some form of identity replacement. That is, if who I am in Christ does not shape the way I think about myself and the things I face, then I will live out of some other identity.” I ask you what is your identity? Are you defined by your success or failures? Is it in your wounds?
In the Bible, ‘in Christ’ is mentioned 140 times in the bible. While the word Christian is used only three times. Our identity, meaning and purpose is found in Christ. Blaise Pascal said in his book Pensees, “Not only do we know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves through Jesus Christ, we only know life and death through Jesus Christ, apart from Jesus cannot know the meaning of our life, our death, meaning of God, meaning of ourselves…” I pray our West Loop Church community maybe defined by Christ who chose us, who loved us, died for us and made us new.
