Glorifying God Through the Institution of Marriage

Devotional

Day 1: Prioritizing God's Supremacy in Marriage

To glorify God through marriage, one must prioritize satisfaction in God over satisfaction in the marriage itself. This perspective aligns with the belief that God is the ultimate reality, and everything else, including marriage, is secondary. When couples place God at the center of their relationship, they find a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment that transcends the temporary joys and challenges of marriage. By focusing on God's supremacy, couples can navigate their relationship with a sense of peace and assurance, knowing that their union is part of a greater divine plan. [00:54]

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you actively prioritize your relationship with God over your marriage this week, and how might this shift in focus impact your relationship with your spouse?

Day 2: Marriage as a Telescope to God's Glory

Our marriages should function like telescopes, bringing the magnificence of God's glory into clearer view for others. This requires seeing God's glory as more real and valuable than anything else, including our spouses. When we view marriage as a means to reflect God's glory, we begin to understand the profound impact our relationship can have on those around us. By living out a marriage that honors God, we become a testament to His love and grace, drawing others closer to Him through our example. [03:32]

"Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16, ESV)

Reflection: How can your marriage serve as a telescope that magnifies God's glory to those around you? What specific actions can you take to reflect His love and grace in your relationship?

Day 3: Finding Satisfaction in God

Finding superior satisfaction in God is essential for sustaining a marriage that glorifies Him. This satisfaction enables the kind of longsuffering and self-denial necessary for a lifelong commitment. When couples find their ultimate joy and contentment in God, they are better equipped to handle the inevitable challenges and disappointments that arise in marriage. This deep satisfaction in God provides the strength and resilience needed to love and support one another through all seasons of life. [05:06]

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you." (Psalm 73:25, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on your current level of satisfaction in God. How can you cultivate a deeper sense of contentment in Him, and how might this impact your ability to love and support your spouse?

Day 4: Faith and Love in Marriage

Faith in God's promises, particularly the belief in a blood-bought, inexpressibly happy, and undeserved future, empowers us to love without bitterness or resentment, allowing love to cover a multitude of sins. This faith provides the foundation for a marriage that is rooted in grace and forgiveness, enabling couples to navigate the challenges of life with a spirit of love and compassion. By trusting in God's promises, couples can experience a deeper, more meaningful connection that transcends the trials and tribulations of this world. [11:46]

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8, ESV)

Reflection: Consider a recent conflict or challenge in your marriage. How can faith in God's promises help you approach this situation with love and forgiveness, allowing love to cover any hurt or resentment?

Day 5: Preaching God Over Marriage

To cultivate marriages that glorify God, we must preach more about God than about marriage. This approach ensures that the congregation develops a deep admiration for God, which is essential for a marriage that reflects His glory. By focusing on God's greatness and centrality, couples can build a strong foundation for their relationship that is rooted in faith and devotion. This emphasis on God over marriage helps couples maintain a healthy perspective, ensuring that their relationship is aligned with His divine purpose. [14:29]

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:2, ESV)

Reflection: How can you shift your focus from the challenges of marriage to the greatness of God? What practical steps can you take to ensure that your relationship is centered on Him and His glory?

Sermon Summary

Marriage is a profound institution designed to reflect the glory of God. To truly honor God through marriage, one must find greater satisfaction in God than in the marriage itself. This perspective is rooted in the belief that God is the ultimate reality, and everything else, including marriage, is secondary. Our lives, including our marriages, are meant to magnify God's glory, much like telescopes that bring distant, magnificent realities into clearer view. To achieve this, husbands and wives must see God's glory as more real, beautiful, and valuable than anything else, including each other.

The key to a marriage that glorifies God lies in finding superior satisfaction in Him. This satisfaction enables the kind of longsuffering and self-denial necessary to sustain a marriage for decades. It is through this deep satisfaction in God that love can cover a multitude of sins, allowing us to navigate the daily disappointments and frustrations that come with living with another sinner. Faith in God's promises, particularly the belief in a blood-bought, inexpressibly happy, and undeserved future, empowers us to love without bitterness or resentment.

For marriages to truly reflect God's glory, we must preach more about God than about marriage. This approach ensures that the congregation develops a deep, unshakable admiration for God, which is essential for a marriage that glorifies Him. Young couples often enter marriage without a profound vision of God, being more captivated by the world. Therefore, it is crucial to cultivate a sense of God's greatness, centrality, and clarity in their lives.

Ultimately, the greatest gift one can give their spouse is a love for God that surpasses all else. This love ensures that our affections for our spouse are rooted in the joy and promises of Heaven, allowing us to love them more deeply and genuinely. By loving God above all, we can truly bless our marriages and reflect His glory to the world.

Key Takeaways

1. denial necessary for a lifelong commitment. [05:06]
4. Faith and Love: Faith in God's promises, particularly the belief in a blood-bought, inexpressibly happy, and undeserved future, empowers us to love without bitterness or resentment, allowing love to cover a multitude of sins.

5. Preaching God Over Marriage: To cultivate marriages that glorify God, we must preach more about God than about marriage. This approach ensures that the congregation develops a deep admiration for God, which is essential for a marriage that reflects His glory.

** [05:06]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:19] - Opening Prayer
[00:36] - Main Point Introduction
[01:12] - God vs. Marriage Importance
[02:13] - God's Supremacy
[03:16] - Marriage as a Telescope
[04:25] - Seeing God's Glory
[05:06] - Satisfaction in God
[06:09] - Ephesians 5 and Marriage
[07:52] - Longsuffering in Marriage
[09:05] - Love Covering Sins
[10:26] - Faith and Love
[12:21] - A Loving Husband
[14:29] - Preaching God Over Marriage
[16:05] - Young Couples and God
[18:56] - Conclusion and Poem

Bible Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading

Colossians 1:17 - "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Isaiah 43:6-7 - "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
1 Peter 4:8 - "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

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Observation Questions

According to the sermon, what is the primary purpose of marriage in relation to God's glory? [03:16]
How does the sermon describe the difference between a telescope and a microscope in the context of marriage? [03:32]
What role does finding satisfaction in God play in sustaining a marriage, according to the sermon? [05:06]
How does the sermon suggest love can cover a multitude of sins within a marriage? [09:05]

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Interpretation Questions

What does it mean for God to be the "ultimate reality" in the context of marriage, and how might this perspective change one's approach to marital challenges? [01:34]
How can the concept of marriage as a telescope help believers understand their role in reflecting God's glory to others? [03:32]
In what ways does the sermon suggest that faith in God's promises can transform how we handle disappointments and frustrations in marriage? [11:46]
How might preaching more about God than marriage influence the way young couples view their relationship? [14:29]

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Application Questions

Reflect on your current satisfaction in God versus your satisfaction in your marriage. How can you cultivate a deeper satisfaction in God this week? [05:06]
Think of a recent conflict or disappointment in your marriage. How can the belief in a "blood-bought, inexpressibly happy, and undeserved future" change your response to such situations? [11:46]
How can you practically make God more central in your daily life and marriage, ensuring that He is more satisfying than any earthly relationship? [13:41]
Identify one way you can act as a "telescope" in your marriage this week, bringing God's glory into clearer view for those around you. [03:32]
Consider the last time you felt bitterness or resentment in your marriage. What steps can you take to allow love to cover those feelings, as suggested in 1 Peter 4:8? [09:05]
How can you encourage your spouse to develop a deeper admiration for God, and what role can you play in supporting their spiritual growth? [14:29]
Reflect on the sermon’s emphasis on preaching God over marriage. How can this perspective influence your conversations with other couples or within your church community? [14:29]

Sermon Clips

"God is the Ultimate Reality in the universe, we are not the universe is not marriage is not we're derivative and the universe is of secondary importance God is supreme we are not everything else exists for him by him as Colossians 1 17 says everything that exists therefore is meant to magnify the glory of God's reality." [00:02:04]

"Marriage exists to help the appearance of God in the minds of people to move toward reality because it's not real in their minds they don't have any sense of what God is like and everything exists to show people what God is like including our marriages and so we're supposed to be like telescopes." [00:04:03]

"If your marriage is going to make God look glorious you must be more satisfied in God than in marriage that's the point of the message and the assumption is Al mohler's message it's not a repetition you'll hear that but the assumption is so he laid the foundation and and I'm going to now build on it." [00:00:48]

"Finding Superior satisfaction in God is the key to release the kind of longsuffering that will be required to be in this marriage for the glory of God for 47 years like mine or more or till one of us is dead less often do we draw attention to the fact that there's a there's a root there's a source a spring for the kind of daily hourly yearly decades long dying that will be required to love this woman or this man such that God gets Glory." [00:07:13]

"Love covers them so you don't see them or you they don't make you bitter and angry and resentful and hard it's going to be over so I'm sitting there thinking how does that work how does love cause you not to respond that way here comes in my mind Galatians 56 neither circumcision or uncircumcision is of any Avail but only Faith working through love and I'm adding to cover all these sins in my family and in my church and in my friends." [00:09:33]

"Faith in what what what Act of Faith releases a love that covers sins and keeps me happily engaged in all my relationship without bitterness and anger and resentment and hardness and here's my I my sentence that I believe the lord gave me it's a summary of Biblical teaching that I've been thinking about for 50 years or so and I was so happy with this sentence I emailed it to myself." [00:10:36]

"If our marriages are going to show God gloriously all satisfying then we must find more satisfaction in him than anything anything especially marriage marriage will be preserved for the glory of God shaped for the glory of God sweetened by the glory of God when the glory of God is more satisfying to our souls than marriage or anything else." [00:13:31]

"We need to preach more about God than about marriage and I'm thinking Lian that that is a zero contradiction to what you said when you when you said that everything when you said we got to teach on this everything in me is saying that is so right okay you hear that and now I'm going to add and we better week in and week out make God Central in our preaching not marriage not marriage but God Almighty." [00:14:48]

"Most young people come to courtship dating marriage with no great vision of God what he's like how he acts who he is they don't bring an allc consuming admiration for him or reverence for him or Absolut surrender to him or deep satisfaction in him most young people on the threshold of marriage are not besided with God they are besotted with the world." [00:15:36]

"Where are they going to get a sense a deep unshakable all shaping sense of the reality of the glory of his eternality the glory of his knowledge his wisdom his authority the glory of his Providence the glory of his word the glory of his power the glory of his Purity his trustworthiness his Justice the glory of his patience the glory of his incarnate obedience the glory of his wrath the glory of his grace the glory of his love." [00:17:24]

"If we want marriage to glorify the truth the beauty the worth of God we must teach and preach so as to leave the impression God is infinitely more important than marriage the felt impression let me close like this 1995 my son my oldest son we only have five kids I feel really wimpy because I'm I'm I'm one of those people in the airport that admires you and not just because you're you're courageous." [00:18:40]

"The greatest gift you give your wife is loving God above her life and this I bid you now now to bless go love her more and love her less amen." [00:21:47]

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Glorifying God Through the Institution of Marriage

Devotional

Day 1: Prioritizing God's Supremacy in Marriage

Day 2: Marriage as a Telescope to God's Glory

Day 3: Finding Satisfaction in God

Day 4: Faith and Love in Marriage

Day 5: Preaching God Over Marriage

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Glorifying God Through the Institution of Marriage

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