‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.”
Ephesians 5:31-32
Friday, September 25th, 2026
Devotional written by Dick Thompson, Seasoned Adults Pastor
A GREAT MYSTERY
Those of us who have been married for many years sometimes hear younger people say something like, “That’s amazing! You guys have been married for decades?!” It ought to be dawning on us as we work out our lives together as husbands and wives that we are being watched. By our kids and grandkids, for sure. But also by younger people in general, including our neighbors and peers.
In fact, as the apostle puts it, everything we learn and put into daily practice in our lives together in marriage becomes another way the church of Jesus Christ makes known the “mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:9-10).
Just imagine how radical this teaching about marriage would have seemed in the context of first-century Roman culture. Men held nearly absolute authority and power. Women were treated as possessions with very few rights. Imagine how boys were raised and what they were taught about what “love” meant. The followers of Jesus coined a new word, “agape,” to describe the kind of love the apostle Paul is talking about between husbands and wives. In the ancient world of Ephesus or Rome, raising women as full, respected co-laborers in the kingdom of God broke sharply with prevailing power structures.
Given the state of our world today, we do well to keep in mind the power of the witness of the Christ-centered husband-wife relationship. How I practice repair after ruptures, how I practice presence rather than distraction, how my wife and I confess and forgive, and how we play and pray are everyday ways we bear witness to God’s redemptive purposes in this watching world.
Prayer:
Almighty God and Father,
It is a wonder to us that how we work out life together in our marriages as followers of Christ offers people all around us evidence of how Christ relates to the Church, His bride. Strengthen our hearts and fire our vision for how our marriages serve in your kingdom! Amen.