Lesson 4 The Marriage Covenant

     The vows exchanged in a marriage covenant are sacred vows that include our Father in heaven.  Sometimes, we don't realize the importance of these vows.  There is always a third Person involved in the marriage covenant between two Christian peoples.  Only God can cause the "Two to become one flesh."  Any Justice of the Peace, Minister or other entities can marry two people according to the law of the land, but only God can perform the miracle of oneness.
    Eve was taken from Adam's very person.  This was God's plan for marriage from the very beginning. The Bible says that, "The life is in the blood" and virginity supplies the blood in the marriage covenant.  The relationship between Christ and the Church is the example for a husband and a wife.  Jesus shed His Blood and gave His life for us on the cross.  We are called the "Bride of Christ" because of His Blood and our life is in His Blood.
     There are many things in our covenant with the Lord that we simply don't understand.  grace has given us courage for our lack of understanding, but we are to grow in our knowledge of His great grace according to 2Peter 1:2 (Amplified) which says, "Grace and peace will be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord."  We will see what grace has provided as we seek knowledge of Him.  There are some things in our covenant that are overlooked and made to seem like they no longer make a difference.
     God, Who made the blood covenant between a man and his wife, can and has restored the integrity of the shed blood in Christian marriages.  God can restore the power of this sacred vow by His Own power, even if a woman has been married before.  When we believe God in this blood covenant, we have the opportunity to enter into the new covenant of life in all respects.  2Corinthians 5:17-21 says, "Behold, old things have passed away, and all things are made new."  This includes the power of the blood in marriage.
     We have forgotten the truths that old traditions hold in the wedding ceremonies.  There is a truth held in the tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold of their home, for example.  In the old days, they sprinkled a lamb's blood on the doorposts and the threshold of the house.  No one walked in the blood, but they stepped over it.  There are many things done under the old covenant marriage that had to do with the blood.
     The precious Blood of Jesus has taken on the Life of the Blood in our new covenant.  Jesus' Blood has cleansed us from our old dead self and given us new life.  New life has been given in Jesus' Blood and is the very life of God Himself which will not only cleanse us, but will bring all things new.
     We learned from Joel in a previous lesson, that God declared He, "Will restore that which the canter worm and the palmer worm had destroyed."  In the newness of life, God can and will restore even the shed blood of virginity that was "wasted" in our foolish past outside of marriage.  The vow of life is now made by the perfect Blood of Jesus and contains not only His life, but ours too.
     So many people "fall out of love" by allowing their marriage to be a joining only of their flesh and soul.  The commitment of life comes only in the Spirit.  This love has been "Shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit," according to Romans 5:5.  We have the opportunity to reset our lives and this time we can "get it right." 
     Under the old covenant, we had "Two or more witnesses" who could actually determine whether a man lived or died.  The two witnesses in a Christian marriage hold the responsibility before God to declare life in that marriage.  They counseled, prayed for and ministered life in that marriage.  God heard their intercession and honored it by His Blood.
     Being married in the Lord is more than just having a church wedding.  Even in a Christian's life, there are consequences in simply doing things on our own and away from God.  Although the sin is forgiven, it can still hold some consequences in the flesh.  We can avoid many things plaguing the Christian's life on earth by observing the power in the Blood of our Lamb.
    It doesn't matter how hard we pray and seek God, if we plant corn, then only corn will grow.  We may have desired green beans, but if we don't plant green beans, then we won't get them.  Even if we do things in not knowing, the principle still works the same way.  If you can't tell the difference between corn and green bean seeds, then for goodness sake, ask someone. 
     Galatians 6:7-8 (Amplified) says, "Do not be deceived and deluded, and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked, by mere pretensions, or professions, or by His precepts being set aside) (He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God).  For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap."  Verse 8 says, "For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
     As Christians, we many times reap the things of the flesh and it's not because God is testing or punishing us, but because we've sown it to our own destruction.  Grace has covered the sin, but the seed is still what it was and is producing in our lives.  We carry out our traditions without knowing the truth of what we do.  We've even lost the truth of the life, health, protection and power of our Lamb in communion.  When Jesus said to, "Do this in remembrance of Me," He meant we're to remember what His sacrifice has done and not to forget the power of the Blood.