The Nuclear Family ? A Nuclear Disaster
Dr. Chuck Betters
The 45th Psalm (as the superscription tells us) is a wedding Psalm. It becomes evident that the references could not possibly have applied to any of the Kings of the Old Testament. In fact, when we compare Psalm 45:6 with Hebrews 1:7-8 (where Psalm 45:6 is quoted) the King spoken of is clearly identified as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Hebrews 1:7-8 In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."[8] But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Thus, Psalm 45 is Messianic in nature and points us to the great relationship between Christ and His church. He is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. But what is the character of this relationship since every Christian marriage is to be a microcosm of that relationship?
The Character of a Godly Marriage
Christ has loved us with such a great love that we are constrained by His love. Likewise, in our homes we ought to be constrained by a love for our spouses and consumed with the thoughts of them.
Psalm 45:1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
John Calvin translated this verse this way: ?My heart boils over with a good matter.? The writer's mind (that is, the church or the bride) is so filled up with what she is about to say concerning her husband that she cannot contain herself. Her tongue is full of the praises of the skillful writer.
Just as nothing or nobody should ever compete with our love for God so ought there to be no desire for any other man or woman to compete for our spouse's love.
Psalm 45:2 You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.
In other words, this wife's admiration and love for her husband bubbles over and she tells him so. There is no man like you. There is no wisdom laced with such grace as you possess.?
Our Homes: Safe Places
And Just as we are safe in the arms of Christ so our homes ought to be safe havens for our children and spouse - vv.3-5.
Psalm 45:3-5 Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.
The Groom as Protector
The word "mighty" is used of God. But where does His might come from? To "gird the sword?" is to prepare for battle. He does so with "splendor and majesty". He is our protector. The groom protects the bride. The weapons of our warfare (Ephesians 6) in the battle against the home are to be found in the sword of the spirit that is the word of God.
We may have all of the other pieces of armor outlined in Ephesians 6 in place. But without a weapon we are merely on the defensive. That weapon is the Word of God, the standard of truth that shapes who we are and how we live. It is by embracing the spirit of Christ incarnate in His written Word that marriages and homes are equipped for warfare.
And what is that Spirit? It was not by force, coercion, or manipulation Christ established His kingdom. It was not with fear or intimidation. It was not with an ?I win and you lose? battle strategy. Christ builds His church, not with carnal weapons of warfare, but with His own spiritual weapons. Jesus is the armor of God. The church wears or puts on Christ who is our helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, and our shield of faith. He wraps our spiritual loins (the greatest area of vulnerability) with the truth of the Gospel. It is in our spiritual loins where we are most prone to succumb to doctrinal error and heresy that Satan finds fertile soil. They are the lies and false doctrines that usually hit us in our most vulnerable point. We combat error with truth.
Nuclear Family: Nuclear Disaster
Look at how the home has come under attack. There no longer is sanctity and fidelity in our marriages. Most surveys prove that much of the thinking embraced by our sinful culture concerning marriage and its permanence has filtered its way into the thinking of the church. We divorce and live in non-nuclear families at the same rate as the rest of the world. The roles of men and women in marriage have become blurred. The structures of those roles are hidden in a holocaust of compromise and gender neutrality. For many, wedding bands no longer symbolize marriage faithfulness but rather a challenge to the aggressor. And now more than ever it is the children who dictate the temperature of the home.
There is nothing more dangerous than a family that has been lulled to sleep and is not watchful. That is why the feet must be ready to move. Wars are not won by retreat but by surprising the enemy. Roman soldiers were given the best shoes with which to go to war. That is why they could travel many more miles on foot than their enemies thought. Their feet were shod. And that's why we must shod our feet with God's protective gear.
Above all, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is what gives our homes safety. This is what gives your children confidence and security - to know mom and dad will make decisions based upon the teachings of the word.
Honor Your Spouse as God Honors His Son
Just as Jesus is exalted to the highest place by His Father so are we to exalt our spouses to the highest place among men.
Psalm 45:6-9 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. [8] All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.
God hates sin but loves the sinner. Here we are called His companions. Elsewhere we are called His brethren, friends, heirs, children, sheep, and lambs. There are simply not enough words to describe how God feels about us. This is the way we ought to feel about our spouses as well as our children. Instead of calling them dummies who will never amount to anything, or idiots, or the cause of you entering an early grave, they are your children, your spouse, your lover, your best friend, your completer, your confident, your fine china.
Dr. Chuck Betters has been the pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware since 1986. He has a daily radio program, airing since 1994, In His Grip, which can be accessed online at www.markinc.org. Along with the development of numerous audio and video resources designed to help heal broken hearts, he is also co-author of Treasures of Faith, Living Boldly in View of God's Promises, a Bible study of Hebrews 11. For the full audio message of this article, visit www.markinc.org and order the two-part series, Family Love - Part 1: Marry the Right Person?; Part 2: Nuclear Family, Nuclear Disaster.
Dr. Chuck Betters
The 45th Psalm (as the superscription tells us) is a wedding Psalm. It becomes evident that the references could not possibly have applied to any of the Kings of the Old Testament. In fact, when we compare Psalm 45:6 with Hebrews 1:7-8 (where Psalm 45:6 is quoted) the King spoken of is clearly identified as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Hebrews 1:7-8 In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire."[8] But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
Thus, Psalm 45 is Messianic in nature and points us to the great relationship between Christ and His church. He is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. But what is the character of this relationship since every Christian marriage is to be a microcosm of that relationship?
The Character of a Godly Marriage
Christ has loved us with such a great love that we are constrained by His love. Likewise, in our homes we ought to be constrained by a love for our spouses and consumed with the thoughts of them.
Psalm 45:1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
John Calvin translated this verse this way: ?My heart boils over with a good matter.? The writer's mind (that is, the church or the bride) is so filled up with what she is about to say concerning her husband that she cannot contain herself. Her tongue is full of the praises of the skillful writer.
Just as nothing or nobody should ever compete with our love for God so ought there to be no desire for any other man or woman to compete for our spouse's love.
Psalm 45:2 You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.
In other words, this wife's admiration and love for her husband bubbles over and she tells him so. There is no man like you. There is no wisdom laced with such grace as you possess.?
Our Homes: Safe Places
And Just as we are safe in the arms of Christ so our homes ought to be safe havens for our children and spouse - vv.3-5.
Psalm 45:3-5 Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.
The Groom as Protector
The word "mighty" is used of God. But where does His might come from? To "gird the sword?" is to prepare for battle. He does so with "splendor and majesty". He is our protector. The groom protects the bride. The weapons of our warfare (Ephesians 6) in the battle against the home are to be found in the sword of the spirit that is the word of God.
We may have all of the other pieces of armor outlined in Ephesians 6 in place. But without a weapon we are merely on the defensive. That weapon is the Word of God, the standard of truth that shapes who we are and how we live. It is by embracing the spirit of Christ incarnate in His written Word that marriages and homes are equipped for warfare.
And what is that Spirit? It was not by force, coercion, or manipulation Christ established His kingdom. It was not with fear or intimidation. It was not with an ?I win and you lose? battle strategy. Christ builds His church, not with carnal weapons of warfare, but with His own spiritual weapons. Jesus is the armor of God. The church wears or puts on Christ who is our helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, and our shield of faith. He wraps our spiritual loins (the greatest area of vulnerability) with the truth of the Gospel. It is in our spiritual loins where we are most prone to succumb to doctrinal error and heresy that Satan finds fertile soil. They are the lies and false doctrines that usually hit us in our most vulnerable point. We combat error with truth.
Nuclear Family: Nuclear Disaster
Look at how the home has come under attack. There no longer is sanctity and fidelity in our marriages. Most surveys prove that much of the thinking embraced by our sinful culture concerning marriage and its permanence has filtered its way into the thinking of the church. We divorce and live in non-nuclear families at the same rate as the rest of the world. The roles of men and women in marriage have become blurred. The structures of those roles are hidden in a holocaust of compromise and gender neutrality. For many, wedding bands no longer symbolize marriage faithfulness but rather a challenge to the aggressor. And now more than ever it is the children who dictate the temperature of the home.
There is nothing more dangerous than a family that has been lulled to sleep and is not watchful. That is why the feet must be ready to move. Wars are not won by retreat but by surprising the enemy. Roman soldiers were given the best shoes with which to go to war. That is why they could travel many more miles on foot than their enemies thought. Their feet were shod. And that's why we must shod our feet with God's protective gear.
Above all, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is what gives our homes safety. This is what gives your children confidence and security - to know mom and dad will make decisions based upon the teachings of the word.
Honor Your Spouse as God Honors His Son
Just as Jesus is exalted to the highest place by His Father so are we to exalt our spouses to the highest place among men.
Psalm 45:6-9 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. [8] All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad. Daughters of kings are among your honored women; at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.
God hates sin but loves the sinner. Here we are called His companions. Elsewhere we are called His brethren, friends, heirs, children, sheep, and lambs. There are simply not enough words to describe how God feels about us. This is the way we ought to feel about our spouses as well as our children. Instead of calling them dummies who will never amount to anything, or idiots, or the cause of you entering an early grave, they are your children, your spouse, your lover, your best friend, your completer, your confident, your fine china.
Dr. Chuck Betters has been the pastor of Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bear, Delaware since 1986. He has a daily radio program, airing since 1994, In His Grip, which can be accessed online at www.markinc.org. Along with the development of numerous audio and video resources designed to help heal broken hearts, he is also co-author of Treasures of Faith, Living Boldly in View of God's Promises, a Bible study of Hebrews 11. For the full audio message of this article, visit www.markinc.org and order the two-part series, Family Love - Part 1: Marry the Right Person?; Part 2: Nuclear Family, Nuclear Disaster.
posted by AcrosticGuy @ 6:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home