This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Truth to Learn
The relationship between Christ and Christians is precisely like a marriage relationship.
Behind the Words
The Greek word translated “mystery” is musterion, which is derived from the verb muō, meaning “to shut the mouth.” In the first century a musterion involved a silence that was imposed on someone as part of an initiation. In the New Testament, musterion identifies something which was hidden in the past, but which is now being revealed to the church.
“Speak” is from the Greek verb legō, which literally means “to lay forth.” In other words, it means “to relate some truth in a systematic or logical manner.”
Meaning Explained
What is this great mystery that Paul is now revealing? Is it the fact that a man is to leave his father and mother and be glued to his wife? That can’t be it, because Moses declared this fact thousands of years ago. According to what Paul declares in this verse, it is the mystery concerning Christ and the church. Paul has been teaching about how a husband and wife are to relate to each other within a marriage relationship. The wife is to submit herself to the authority of her husband. At the same time, the husband is to love his wife with a self-sacrificing love just as Christ has demonstrated for the church.
The great mystery now being revealed to us is that the relationship between a husband and wife is precisely like that of the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride, the church. The Israelites knew about the sanctity of marriage, and Moses taught them that when a man and a woman married they became as one. They believed that their Messiah was coming to save them and they worked hard to make themselves holy and righteous enough for Him when He finally comes. The devout Jews loved the Lord their God with all their heart and they submitted to His authority. What they didn’t know is that the relationship between the Messiah and His people (true believers) was to be precisely like that of a marriage.
The Old Testament prophets warned the Israelites about their idolatry and even likened idol worship to the sexual unfaithfulness of a married person. At Mt. Sinai, as He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, God declared:
You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3)
When we let anything in our lives become more important or more desired than a close walk with our Savior, we are acting unfaithful to Him. And, in Exodus 20:5 God made this point very clear: “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.”
When we recognize the fact that we, as born-again Christians, are in an intimate marriage relationship with God, we see why He treasures our faithfulness more than our works. When we submit to His authority, remaining faithful and focused on Him and Him alone, we see His acts of love more clearly. And, God has declared that He will never leave us nor forsake us, even when we act unfaithfully toward Him, because He loves us.
Application
How is your relationship with your Savior, your spiritual Husband? Are you submitted to Him and completely faithful to Him? If not, maybe it’s time to return and humbly submit to Him. Remember, He loves you with a perfect agapē love!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved.