Matt Chandler - In the Beginning

Good morning, church family. We are the Somas, and we have been members of the church for nine years. We currently serve as Spanish home group leaders and are also part of TVC Español. We will be reading the Word in Spanish today, from Genesis 25:2. This is the Word of the Lord; thanks be to God.

Well, good morning! If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab those. If you don’t have one, there’s a hardback black one somewhere around you. We are going to be in that passage, along with Genesis 1 for just a bit. I don’t know how many weddings you’ve attended, but there can be a variety of different components to a wedding. One of my favorites has always been the unity candle. If you’ve attended a wedding with a unity candle, the way it works is during the procession, the parents of the groom will come up and light this candle. This candle represents a view of finances, a way of raising kids, thoughts about intimacy, ideas around who cleans what, who makes what, and how dinner works. They light that candle and then sit down. The bride’s mother usually comes up, while the dad tries to hold himself together in the back. She comes up, or maybe they light it together before the service starts. There is a whole different thought here about how children should be raised, how money should be spent, and what intimacy should look like, as well as who cleans what and how this works.

At some point during the ceremony, this passage we just read—though not in its entirety—will be read, and then their friend with the best voice or a song that has meant a lot to them will play. They will make their way to these candles, and the maid of honor will ensure nobody catches on fire. They will take these candles, and the two of them will light the middle candle, symbolizing that although there is a clear idea of how kids should be raised, how money should be spent, and how life should be organized, they are bringing these differing thoughts together to create something new.

Sometimes people will blow out the other candles. I believe that you should never do that. I am distinctly me; I am not Lauren. I am me, so my candle is very much burning, and her candle is very much still burning. She is a person with unique gifts, abilities, and callings that God has placed in her. At the time, we stood in front of God and all our family and friends and said we would do this thing. If you’re thinking that sounds complex and difficult, you’re right. The Bible itself states this in Ephesians 5, our primary text for next week: this mystery is profound. This idea is indeed profound.

So, here’s what I want to do today. This is a six-week long series, and we will cover it all. Next week we will look at husbands and wives and the roles God has given us. The weekend after that, we will examine what friendship in marriage looks like. The week after that, we will discuss marital intimacy. Then we will look at how to fight well because you will fight; the question is whether you will fight well. We will round out the series by talking about legacy and what legacy means. What I want to put on the table today is this mystery—what is this thing? The Word of God will put its weight on us.

I’d like to establish my points, and then I’ll move the Bible out of the way to share some ideas that I think are wise as we dive into this series. I would ask you, with all the strength in your inner person, not to try to play the role of the Holy Spirit during this series. I think, «Oh, that brother is already ready, ” but I don’t know if you’re saying that to me or your partner. But listen, you will limit what the Spirit wants to do in your spouse by taking a role that’s not yours. Did you know that the Bible says it is better for a man to live in the desert than with a contentious, nagging wife? That’s in the Bible; don’t get upset—I just quoted Proverbs to you.

So, God, looking at a poor husband battered to death, is like, „Yeah, bro, I would just go die slowly in the desert.“ So don’t do that. Don’t nag. If I say something that you think your spouse needs to hear, let the Holy Spirit do that work, not you. You will undermine what the Spirit wants to do in your spouse. So, let’s not do that. The second thing, if this reality is true—and we believe that it is—then if one…