MARRIAGE: HEIRS TOGETHER
1 Peter 3:1-7
The passage we have before us is one of the more familiar ones on the subject of marriage.
Instructions are given for both the wife and the husband.
And it looks to me like things have not changed that much over the last 2000 years.
- The wife’s main concern was still how to win her worldly husband and
- The husband’s main concern was how to live with his wife
I want to take my text from verse seven tonight and right in the middle of the verse the phrase, “as being heirs together of the grace of life.”
When we take that into consideration with the very next phrase, “that your prayers be not hindered” it becomes obvious that the subject is not one of earthly matters but of spiritual.
It is true that the married couple share in life
- Both its ups
- And its downs
But this passage indicates to us that we share not only in earthly life, but eternal life as well.
Two Bible terms came to my mind as I began to consider this passage:
First, the Bible says of the married couple that they are one flesh.
Secondly, the Bible says of the Christian that we are joint heirs with Christ.
I. THE BIBLE SAYS THE MARRIED COUPLE ARE ONE FLESH
Gen 2:18; 21-24
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
…..
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (KJV)
Jesus amplified the phrase when He said,
Mark 10:8
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. (KJV)
I have to tell you, I don’t think God ever intended for this “one flesh” thing to be just symbolic.
Jesus went on to say,
Mark 10:9
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (KJV)
The marriage relationship is one that is so tied with our relationship with Jesus Christ that God uses marriage as an example of Jesus and the Church.
Ephesians 5:31-32
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (KJV)
So that, before a person enters into marriage they ought to be very sure what they are doing is directed of the Lord.
And once married they must understand that the relationship is unbreakable with only a couple of very strict exceptions.
This was virtually unchallenged until just a very few years ago when the courts began granting no fault divorces:
God says
Eccl 5:5
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (KJV)
And I am of the opinion that God holds us accountable to our vows, even if the government does not.
- Society might let us break our vows
- Family might let us break our vows
- Neighbors and friends might let us break our vows
But I have Bible authority to declare God does not.
When we vow to a spouse to love honor and cherish them until death do us part; God takes that seriously.
Seriously enough in fact that our eternal position, not as saved or unsaved, but so far as our heavenly inheritance, is tied to our relationship with our spouse.
II. THE BIBLE SAYS OF THE CHRISTIAN THAT WE ARE JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST
Rom 8:16-17
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)
The word “heir” means “common participation, sharer.”
That is a tremendous thought.
God has promised you and me that we share in common what is Christ’s.
- The Bible says we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is
- The Bible says we will rule and reign with Him
- The Bible says we are in Him and He is in us
As a born again Child of God,
- I can never be taken out of Christ.
- Christ can never be taken out of me
- I can never not be a joint heir
And the significance of this for tonight’s message is that is the exact same language of 1 Peter 3:7.
- The husband and the wife are one flesh
- They are one in the other and the other in the one
- They are heirs together of the grace of life
- My rewards in heaven will be determined to a large measure by Anita and
- Anita’s rewards in heaven will be determined to a large measure by me.
In fact, there might not be any my rewards and her rewards.
It might be that God continues to view us as one flesh into eternity.
I teach it in pre-marriage lessons.
I say that before God created the heavens and the earth
- God saw the man.
- God saw that it was not good for him to be alone
- God determined before the foundations of the world to create helpmeet a helpmeet
And he created out of him – her.
God watched over the two of them
- Through conception
- Through the childhood years
- Through adolescence until the day
God orchestrated their meeting.
And God brought the two individuals together, to become one flesh in marriage.
And we all think that is a beautiful sentiment.
But what if it is more than a sentiment?
What if God really did make the man and the woman specifically for each other for eternity?
What if marriage not only completes us today, but also into the Heavenly forever?
What if we are one in heaven in a more significant way than we could ever be on earth?
God is one God and three Persons
Could it be in heaven Anita and I will be two persons but “one.”
III. WHAT IF WE REALLY ARE HEIRS TOGETHER OF THE GRACE OF LIFE?
What if
A. My wife and I share a mansion because we are one flesh in heaven
John 14:2-3
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (KJV)
Maybe this promise isn’t to me and then to Anita but to Anita and me together……
I really have no idea what our mansions in heaven look like.
I only imagine that they are greater than we could ever imagine.
But I can’t imagine enjoying a mansion if it’s only my mansion.
What if my mansion and Anita’s mansion are the same mansion because
We were heirs together of the grace of life on earth and
We are heirs together of our mansion in glory
B. What if my wife and I share the same rewards because we are one flesh?
2 Cor 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (KJV)
1 Cor 3:12-15
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.(KJV)
So here is my question in light of 1 Peter 3:7;
What if I don’t appear as the individual Marvin but as the “one flesh” God made Anita and me?
What if we share in each others spiritual successes and failures not only on earth but also in heaven?
C. What if we share eternal duties because we are one flesh?
Matt 25:21
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (KJV)
Somebody will bring up the question what about
Matt 22:29-30
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (KJV)
Since the Bible says there are no marriages in heaven, how can we still be married in heaven.
A couple of thoughts:
First, that passage is very Jewish.
What applies to a Jewish person who did not live during this age of grace does not necessarily apply to you and me.
Secondly,
I am not positing that there are weddings in heaven.
I am suggesting that maybe in heaven; those of us who were married in this life are “one flesh” in heaven.
Finally
D. What if we share eternal life because we are one flesh?
I am wondering about the man or the woman who decides one day that they can no longer remain married to their spouse
- They have “fallen out of love.”
- They just aren’t compatible any more
- They have found someone new
Or for some other reason, not allowed in the Bible, choose to divorce.
What if God refuses to accept their reasons?
What if God still considers them heir together, even if they would not live together?
Conclusion:
I don’t know much about eternity; no one does.
I do know this; whatever happens to my marriage relationship in eternity, how I relate with my wife today will impact both hers and my position before the Father forever.
And my whole purpose for the message is this
Take marriage seriously.
If you haven’t married yet – don’t play around.
Seek God’s will for your spouse and wait until God makes it clear who that person is.
And if you are married
Pour your heart and soul into the relationship
You are heirs together of the grace of life. That can never change.
