Christ's Secret Marriage Plan

These days we're exploring the mystery of marriage. Earlier I pointed you to the Genesis text (Gen. 2:24):

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh

Today I begin to unravel what the Apostle means when he says that this is a profound mystery and he is saying that it refers to Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). Paul frequently refers to mysteries. Earlier in Ephesians he writes:

• how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. ⁴When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:3-5).
   
• To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in^[a] God who created all things, ¹⁰ so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:8-10).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a mystery revealed and made known to Paul and through him to us all.  

• Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages (Romans 16:25). 

Above all, the Apostle emphasizes that this mystery was not something he discovered by his research or science. It is a mystery unknown to mankind in all other generations. It was kept secret for long ages. All of Adam's descendants, like Adam in the garden at the beginning, were alone. However, this was not the same kind of loneliness as Adam experienced at the beginning when he was still secure within the Garden and spoke with God each evening. No indeed. This was a loneliness brought on by Adam's disobedience. From that time forward he and his kind were separated from God and excluded from the Garden. Moses writes, 

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
   and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
   ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
   in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
   and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
   you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
   for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19)

And then the loneliness and separation began. 

"Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:22-24).

What did the LORD God mean when He said, "the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil?" Surely He did not mean that Adam and his kind were not to develop moral judgments, the ability to distinguish good from evil. What then? We know that God knows good and evil. And we see that Adam did not have this knowledge until after his act of rebellion. As a result of gaining this knowledge the entire planet has been infected with suffering, pain and death. Adam and Eve now realize they are dust, earth and their bodies will now decay and return to the earth from whence they have come. 


Why this judgment? Because in claiming the right to decide what is good or evil, Adam has declared his autonomy. He has claimed to be God. Adam now makes the rules. Adam now decides what is good and what is evil. In so doing he has grievously erred. He is not God. He is Adam, created by God and made from the dust of the earth. He must learn this—and he will, at the cost of his life! 

"Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—"

The phrase, knowing good and evil, is used one more time in the Bible. 

"And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it" (Deuteronomy 1:39).  

The children of Israel had disobeyed the LORD God in the wilderness by refusing to go in when He commanded them. They allowed their fear to hold them back. They said that the Nephilim, giants, ruled there. Before them they were but grasshoppers. It was not possible. Consequently these disobedient people were excluded from entering the land (Numbers 13:25-14:45). Their children, who had not been part of the rebellion, were innocent. They had "no knowledge of good or evil"; consequently they were allowed to possess the land after 40 years when their parents had all died off.


Perhaps you can see where this is leading. The mystery revealed in Christ is that we, the children of Adam, are now reunited to our rightful husband, master and LORD in Christ. Through His innocent suffering, death and resurrection, we have been declared innocent and forgiven. We are no longer the disobedient sons of the first Adam. In baptism we are now united by faith to the second Adam (Romans 6:3-11; 1 Cor.15:21-22) We have become bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, so that we say with Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). This is the long-hidden, secret marriage plan. 


More on this next time.