Marriage, which is ordained by God, is an intriguing institution. It is a picture of the relationship God wants to have with man (Rev. 21:9). And it also serves the purpose of God for man to populate the earth (Gen. 1:26). In light of God’s economy, however, marriage has an additional function – it exposes our natural being so that we will allow Christ to live in us and save us in His life for the building up of the Body.
God’s central work is to work Himself into every part of our being, especially our mind, emotion, and will. However, He often encounters resistance in our being, mainly from our self. In order to deal with our self, God arranges all kinds of situations for us to be in. One of these situations, perhaps the most effective, is marriage. By yoking us together with our spouse, God is able to expose us through marriage, sometimes constantly. We are touched, aggravated, and provoked in ways we’ve never been before. Such experiences expose who we really are, making us desperate to come to the Lord for Him to live in us.
In Message 42 of the Life-study of Romans Brother Lee says, “Whenever we are exposed in our married life, we should thank the Lord. This exposing is for the Lord’s saving. The Lord’s intention is to expose us in order to save us in His life from our natural being. When we are exposed, the Lord has the opportunity to live in us” (p. 481 or Online Section 3).
This dealing with the self not only allows the Lord to live in us and thereby save us, but it also makes us buildable. As the enemy of the Body, the self is proud, independent and individualistic. It does not and cannot depend on another member. Through marriage God is able to expose that pride, independence, and individualism. Through marriage we realize that we cannot make it, do it, be it, or even fake it. This saves us to be helplessly dependent on the Lord and eventually on the other members of the Body.
In the same Life-study of Romans message Brother Lee goes on to say, “We all need to be saved in the life of Christ. For this, there is the need of a long process of exposure, especially in the matter of our individualism. In order to be built up together, we need to be exposed with respect to our natural mind, emotion, and will…As we are saved in His life, we become the Body and members one of another” (p. 482 or Online Section 3).
Therefore we should not blame our husband or wife or the Lord for a difficult situation. Instead, we should thank the Lord for our situation, not because it is perfect but because it exposes our natural being and causes us to afford Him the opportunity to live in us and save us in His life. May the Lord have mercy on us that we may see our need to be saved in His life from individualism for the building up of the Body.
Praise the Lord for such a marvelous message.I just experienced the wonderful dealing with the Lord in my marriage life which afford me to completely turn to Him and be open to Him and to be saved in His life. Without some problems, we will never be desperate to come to the Lord. May we all give the Lord the preminence in our marriage life.
Praise the Lord!
Thank You Lord for this timely word!Keep exposing our pride, independence, and individualism. Praise You Lord that Your life is a saving life! Hallelujah!
Amen! When I read the initial portion of this message, it echoed what was spoken to us during the time we had just been brought into the church life. A brother told us that marriage was instituted by the Lord that we may know the divine romance! The relationship He wants to have with man!
And Praise the Lord,through this message we can see that His intention does not limit there! He exposes us to the uttermost! He then goes on to supplying us and saving us in His life! What touched me most in this message is that this work the Lord does in us makes us buildable!
May the Lord gain all marriages for the building up of His body!
Amen
Marriage is instituted by the Lord that we may know the divine romance!
I am forever indebted to the up-to-date ministry that the Lord has and still is recovering. Without it, I don’t know the Lord much less His deep heart’s desire. Without it, I don’t even know my own self. His light in His word, revealed through many brothers, shows us ourself, our Lord, and His heart’s good pleasure. At the present, this portion of the ministry is timely in a very personal way. However, it is the joy of my life to declare that the Lord arranges certain things to bring us so far out of ourselves and so deep into Himself. When we see Him in His economy, how can we not PRAISE HIM!?!?! May His multifarious wisdom be made known to the universe!
I pray we all let the Lord JESUS CHRIST expose us that he might dwell richly in us
Amen! God yokes us together with our spouse that He may be able to expose us in order to SAVE us. It is true that marriage exposes us in a way that we’ve never been exposed. What particularly touched me from this message is that, when we are exposed in such a way, it causes us to desperately seek the Lord and come to Him, making us helplessly dependent on the Lord, thus, affording the Lord an opportunity to work Himself into us and live in us. God’s desire is that we may take Christ as our everything. It is very touching that this is one of the things God wants to recover in this age.
Amen!!!
WHATEVER SITUATION WE ARE IN, WE SHOULD LEARN TO THANK HIM AND PRAISE HIM!!!HALLELUJAH!
The Lord placed us in these “necessary situations” we praise and thank the Lord. He knows we needed them, Thank You Pneumatic Shepherd for my beloved husband and my children! Amen Estrella, Praise The Lord!
Amen. ‘Thank You Pneumatic Shepherd for my beloved husband’. I love you Lord Jesus for all you have arranged.amen.
This message was really great in showing the true meaning of marriage. It’s much more than two people who are joined together with natural love and affection, but rather it is a way for the Lord to expose us and save us from our own self, which is not buildable. Woah, PTL for this realization!
Im touched of our brother msg. regarding exposed of our married life , showing that i am very natural of my self . The Lord merciful on me that the true meaning of joined together is the married life first in the Lord Jesus Christ so that my married life will blessed by the the Lord Jesus Christ and have peace loving one another with my wife and all my children’s , also in church we can exercise loving the brothers and sisters. which to be build up His body , this is a shepherding factor that we all exercise in our church life, to love one another in the church.amen
Lord Jesus, just by being patiently joined to You in Spirit I am regularly reminded of how desperately I need You and Your removal of the filth of the old man. Amen. Lord Jesus, work Yourself into us more and more each day. Amen.