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This is the second part in the Shalom in the Home blog series (intro here). So what does a marriage that is centered on the Gospel look like?

Since a marriage is comprised of a man and a woman, I think it would benefit us greatly to define what a Gospel-centered man and Gospel-centered woman are. Let’s turn to Scripture first, then we’ll turn to some practical examples. Here we go:

Gospel-Centered Men

• Gospel-centered men lead the home in providing for his family [’keeping the garden’] (Genesis 2:15)
• Gospel-centered men lead the home in worship [’walking with God’] (Genesis 2)
• Gospel-centered men lead the home in protection. (Genesis 2:24)
• Gospel-centered men lead the home in romance. (Genesis 2:25)
• Gospel-centered men lead the home in self-sacrifice (Ephesians 5:25)
• Gospel-centered men repent of their constant pride. (Proverbs 5:21-23)
• Gospel-centered men persevere in their marriages, jobs, and ministries. (2 Timothy 2:2-7)
• Gospel-centered men are to care for their wives sexually (Proverbs 5:18-20)
• Gospel-centered men should create culture that they are willing to die for (Genesis 1:28)
• Gospel-centered men should be strong and let all we do be out of love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)
• Gospel-centered men should love their wives graciously, sacrificially, and redemptively. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

Practical Advice for Men

That last point I want to focus on for a bit. What does it really mean to love your wife as Christ loved the church? It means that we love her graciously, that is, regardless of her performance and what she does for us. It means that we love her sacrificially, which means that we constantly lay down our desires and ourselves for her good. It means that we love her redemptively, which means that we love her in a way that cause her to transform into a more Christ-like woman.

A quote from Gary Ricucci:

The more we learn about the grace and love of God displayed in the gospel, the better we can demonstrate such grace and love to our wives. Husbands, we are called to sacrifice for the sake of our wives, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our example and motivation. And when we sin or fall short of what we are called to, we appeal for forgiveness to a God who loved us and gave Himself for us. The role of a husband doesn’t begin at the altar-it begins with the atonement….at the cross.

Gospel-Centered Women

• Gospel-centered women are equal helpmates to men. (Genesis 2:18)
• Gospel-centered women are to be of ‘noble character’. (Proverbs 12:4)
• Gospel-centered women are to be submissive. (Ephesians 5:22)
• Gospel-centered women are to be kindhearted (Proverbs 11:16)
• Gospel-centered women are homemakers (Proverbs 31:27-28)
• Gospel-centered women are to fear the Lord (Proverbs 31:30)

Practical Advice for Women

• Maintain a great relationship with Jesus.
• Encourage your man. He feels defeated more often than you think.
• Pray for your man. He needs it.
• Take care of your man sexually. He wants it.
• Keep your man priority above ministry and family.
• Lovingly submit to him as long as he submits to Christ.

What does this mean in marriage?

It means that a marriage between a man and a woman should be a shadow of the relationship between Christ and the church. Just as Christ has loved us, His Bride, transformationally, sacrificially, and regardless of our works, Gospel-centered men are to love their wives the same. And just as we, the Church, submit to Christ out of love for Him, seeking to do His will to work towards His glory and our joy, wives are to lovingly submit to their loving husbands, in order for joint joy to be obtained.

Not-yet-Christ followers should be able to look at our marriages and see something greater. They should look at the man and see a leader who imitates Jesus, and they should look at the woman and see someone who has been lovingly wooed by Jesus, who treats men who look like Him in the same way she treats Jesus, and who loves such men…particularly and especially her husband.

What do you think? Where do you line up?

I have a confession to make: I love Charlie Hall. He’s one of the few popular worship leaders I can listen to, and thoroughly enjoy at length. His new album released on Monday, and I swiped it up pretty quickly. Here’s a few notes:

• It’s awesome. I thought it would be hard to top Flying Into Daybreak, but he did it. God is definitely who he worships. You can tell from the passion (excuse the reference) in the songs. Even the more muted songs (Mystery, You Are God) are passionately devoted to Jesus.
• Harmony: get used to Mystery. It’s a great communion song, celebrating the life, death, resurrection, and second coming of our King.
• Chainbreaker is sweet, with some awesome guitar riffs.
• For some reason, there is repeated reference to “bread and wine” throughout the album. Maybe Hall was hungry when he was writing songs…
• The Second Alive is an exciting romp through new birth, with high-intensity guitar and vocals. Great stuff.
• Thrill is sweet. And it thankfully brings a new word into our “devotion/desire/passion” category of vocabulary.
• Scenes reflects Romans 1, that God has written into creation the Gospel. Great lyrics, beautiful message from Scripture.

Rating: 9/10 (Still listening to it, may change later)

Pick it up now.

Distance, with regards to the Gospel, is a vitally important concept. In fact, it’s basic to the understanding of the Gospel. Jesus, by way of the Incarnation, shortened the distance between heaven and earth, and indeed, God and man. We are by default far from God, but through Jesus, we are reunited and reconciled to God.

My thinking on this is that, as we are supposed to imitate Jesus, aren’t we as Christians supposed to shorten the distance between the culture and Jesus? In my mind, there are two barriers or “trenches” between the Southern, Bible-belt non-regenerate person [ sinner for short ] and a saving knowledge of Christ, as given by the Church (Ephesians 3:10).

The first barrier is that of culture. The Church, in their mind, is outdated, antiquated, irrelevant, judgmental, and hypocritical. And for the most part, they are right. But as Christians, the cultural barrier is our responsibility. We are to build a bridge over this trench ourselves, with assistance from the Spirit. That is, our job is to shorten the distance between the sinner and Christ.

The second barrier is that of sin. Sin separates man from mankind, man from self , man from creation, and ultimately, man from Creator. This barrier we (both sinner and saved) are incapable of overcoming. This bridge is built, this distance shortened, by God Himself. The Father sovereignly elects to reveal His Son by His Spirit to the unregenerate, the distance is infinitely shortened between sinner and Savior, and yet another prodigal returns home to His Father.

My question to you is this: how can we as Christians shorten the distance between sinner and Christ? That is, how can we overcome the first barrier, that of culture?

Comments?