Becoming One

  I am preparing to marry two wonderful people on Saturday afternoon in Pensacola, Florida. As I sit here preparing my thoughts for a brief but hopefully meaningful marriage message, I am struck by one powerful verse from the Bible. In Genesis 2:24, 25 we get some powerful insight into the Biblical revelation concerning marriage, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

  I have been meditating on the phrase... and they shall become one flesh.  Two unique people becoming one.... how is that possible? Is that just poetic metaphor trying to capture the sublime wonder of physical union? Or is there something deeper? Is there something that brings a man and a woman together that unites much more than just the physical? There is certainly something uniquely powerful and wondrous in the sexual completeness of a husband and wife dedicated to bring one another pleasure and given the power to reproduce human life together. I believe that becoming one with our spouse is to involve every element of who we are as people: Body, Soul & Spirit.

  Becoming one with our spouse in the true biblical sense involves a 'knowing' far beyond just a physical experience or encounter. To truly know someone involves a life long process of deep intention and commitment... and exploration. For men and women being created in God's image are deeply complex and offer many hidden treasures for the diligent and faithful lover to explore and attend to. To love as God would have us love involves a huge commitment of time, sacrifice and undivided attention and focus. Becoming one is all about process. There is nothing accidental about true intimacy in relationships.  Love from God's perspective and purpose is intentional, planned and engineered with an end in mind. When we really and truly love someone we seek to know every aspect of who they are. We seek to bring pleasure in meaningful ways beyond our own self centered desires and thoughts.  The God kind of love is always seeking to bring lasting satisfaction to the object of his or her desire..... what would bring the one I love the most joy... the most peace.... the most fulfillment.

  We see marriages and relationships collapse all around us largely because we have been sold lust instead of love.  We are enslaved by the physical and lost to the deeper and more enduring spiritual aspects of love.  To believe in another.... to be faithful when all others are found faithless..... to consistently put others before our own temporary and fickle happiness. Those are rare things in our 'modern' world. To be satisfied in our marriage relationship requires a commitment to a life long process of 'becoming one'.  For the believer there is power and a presence beyond ourselves calling us forward into life long intimacy and growth.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us, "A threefold cord is not quickly broken."  When husband and wife immerse themselves in a relationship with God, the power of trinity sweeps into the human covenant of marriage.  Becoming one is in many ways an impossibility apart from God's intervention. Human selfishness is constantly beckoning us to 'look out for #1... ourselves. However, in the gospel of Jesus Christ we find the power of the life laid down for the other.  Jesus displayed brilliantly for us all that, "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:12)

  Becoming one is God's purpose for marriage.  Marriage is a high calling that when born of and empowered by God acts as an engine of grace in a broken world of lonely souls. Don't settle for less in your relationships than what God promises.  You were born for relationship.  You were born for love.  Let God provide what you can never gain in your own strength.