“What are you willing to do every day forever?”

Psalms 145:1-4 (KJV) 

"1 [[David's [Psalm] of praise.]] I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness [is] unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." (emphasis mine)

Psalms 145:18-21 (KJV) 

"18 The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." (emphasis mine)

Consider these words for a moment: every day forever. The Psalmist highlights what he plans to do forever in the verses above. He intends to bless the Lord and praise His name every day forever. Take a moment and ask yourself what you are willing to commit to doing every day forever. 

In a traditional marriage ceremony, the vows usually include extreme conditions (sickness, health, poverty, wealth, etc.) followed by "till death do us part." In other words, we are committing to love, cherish, and honor this person every day until the unthinkable happens - death. But what about our commitment to The Lord? Are we prepared to love, honor, and worship Him every day forever? 

Are we prepared to love, honor, and worship Him every day forever? 

The Bible uses the marriage relationship to illustrate our relationship with Christ. 

2 Corinthians 11:2 (KJV)

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ."

Romans 7:4 (KJV) 

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."

Ephesians 5:22-33 (KJV)

"22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 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. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband."

Jesus performed the first miracle of His earthly ministry at a wedding (see John 2:1-11). Also, the Bible begins and ends with a marriage; in Genesis, God creates man & woman and, in the process, institutes marriage. In the final book, The Revelation, things come to their consummation with the "marriage of the Lamb." (Rev. 19:7-9; 21:1-3; 22:17) 

COMPANIONSHIP

We must remain committed to being The Lord's companion every day and forever.

In Genesis chapter two, God said that it was not good that man should be alone. He knew that man needed a companion—a mate to help him. 

Genesis 2:18-25 (KJV) 

"And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 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; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 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. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." 

God created the perfect companion for Adam, and she was a part of him. The Bible also calls this relationship fellowship. So what does the creation of Adam and Eve matter to us now? The Adam of Genesis was only the first Adam, and we are to look through this account to the more excellent Adam to come. 

 1 Corinthians 15:45 (KJV)

"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit."  

• In Luke 3:38, Adam is called the son of God. 
• In Luke 3:22, The Father from heaven declares He is pleased with His beloved Son Jesus. 
• In John 1:14, 18, and 3:16, we learn that Jesus is the "only begotten" Son. 

So then Adam was God's created son, while Jesus is God's only begotten Son. 

If God made a companion for the first Adam, it would be logical to believe He has provided one for the last Adam. For the first Adam, God put him to sleep and used one of his ribs to create the woman. So too, as Jesus died upon the cross, a soldier pierced His side. (The Bible refers to death as sleep several times. See Mt. 9:24 & John 11:11-13) 

1 Corinthians 1:9 (KJV)

"God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 John 1:3 (KJV)

"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship[is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

As believers and followers of Christ, we must remain committed to being The Lord's companion every day and forever.

CONTRIBUTION

 Contribution is vital to God’s plan to multiply.

Besides companionship, marriage requires a certain level of contribution to be healthy. God had created mankind to be His image bearers on the earth. So He made them male and female, then commanded His beautiful creation to be fruitful and multiply. Each was and is, intended to fulfill a unique role in this process. This special relationship is vital to accomplishing God's plan of multiplication. 

Multiple times the Bible calls us to fruitfulness. As mentioned above, Paul tells us in Ephesians that husbands are to love their wives as Christ has loved the church. Wives are to reverence their husbands as the church is unto The Lord. 

Genesis 1:26-28 (KJV) 

"26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (emphasis mine) 

Romans 7:4 (KJV) 

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (emphasis mine) 

John 15:5-8 (KJV) 5 

"I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (emphasis mine) 

These two characteristics, companionship and contribution, are not all-inclusive. But they do give us some guidance as to how we are to relate to God. 

HE DESIRES COMPANIONSHIP!

HE HAS MADE THE ULTIMATE CONTRIBUTION!

Do we sincerely desire the companionship of the Lord? Are we contributing anything worthwhile to the relationship?

To find out more, listen to the accompanying podcast episode by clicking HERE.