<html><head></head><body><div><div><div>Ephesians 5;29-33<div><br></div><div><b>29. &nbsp;For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church,</b></div><div><b>30. &nbsp;because we are members of his body.</b></div><div><b>31. &nbsp;“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”</b></div><div><b>32. &nbsp;This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church;</b></div><div><b>33. &nbsp;however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Earthly marriage is a living illustration of the divine plan and purpose of God.</div><div><br></div><div><i>“The two become one flesh”</i>&nbsp;is a meta-physical uniting of two into one new birth. &nbsp;Similar to&nbsp;the sperm going&nbsp;to the egg&nbsp;and creating&nbsp;an entirely new life, God in Christ through the Word and Spirit has come to us.</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus chose the wedding at Cana as his very first miraculous sign, changing the water into wine, so that we might understand that his entire incarnation, baptism,&nbsp;atoning sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension were all for one purpose, to win his Bride the Church.</div><div><br></div><div>Then in the last moments before his arrest and crucifixion he prayed to the Father; <i>“I in them and thou in me that may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.” </i>(John 17;23)</div><div><br></div><div>When we confess our faith saying, <i>“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of the Saints...” &nbsp;</i>(Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed) we are to recognize that the <i>‘Communion of Saints’</i>&nbsp;is not simply a union of Believers, but a union of Believers with Christ.</div><div>Our <i>‘communion’ </i>is both ‘horizontal (Believer with Believer), and also ‘vertical’ (Believer with Christ by the Holy Spirit).<i></i></div><div><br></div><div>The care we have for one another and for our Lord Jesus&nbsp;is spiritually ‘organic’, natural, it belongs to the new nature we receive in baptism. &nbsp;<i>“We are members, one of another” &nbsp;</i>Believer, in and with Christ, and Believer, in and with Believer. &nbsp;This truth is unknown to our flesh. &nbsp;It is only understood by faith and the Spirit of God at work in us. &nbsp;We do not ‘feel’ this communion&nbsp;like we feel&nbsp;physical&nbsp;pain or pleasure, but by faith we perceive it by the divine&nbsp;joy and peace we experience as we by faith&nbsp;love God and one another.</div><div><br></div><div>Question: &nbsp;Why do so many marriages fail and so many fail to even marry? &nbsp;Marriages fail&nbsp;for lack of hope and forgiveness. &nbsp;We give up on each other and on ourselves when we loose hope.</div><div>Many never marry because they fear making a ‘life-long’ vow to God and another person, they know how weak they are and lack confidence in themselves. &nbsp;This is really very good! &nbsp;We should have no confidence in ourselves, but we <i>should</i>&nbsp;have every confidence in God in Christ and the Holy Spirit indwelling us. &nbsp;<i>“With God, nothing shall be impossible.” &nbsp;</i>(Luke 1;37 and Genesis 18;14)</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, as we celebrate the Last Sunday in the Church Year, grant us wisdom to know the ‘end’ is really the ‘beginning’. &nbsp;The end of our singularity and lonely&nbsp;selfishness by&nbsp;baptism&nbsp;into Christ. &nbsp;Our Baptism&nbsp;is really the beginning of our joyous&nbsp;union of fruitful service, our marriage and&nbsp;new-life oneness with&nbsp;Christ. &nbsp;Bless us then to witness this spiritual&nbsp;reality&nbsp;to the world with faithful fruitful&nbsp;marriages, not like&nbsp;the church producing&nbsp;physical children, (although that too, according to God’s will,&nbsp;is a very God-pleasing thing)&nbsp;but ‘spiritual reproduction’ of&nbsp;‘children of God’ by the water and the Word. &nbsp;The very life and ministry of the Church, the Bride of Christ. &nbsp;&nbsp;<span>In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Love,&nbsp;</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”<br><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>

Ephesians 5;29-33
29.  For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church,30.  because we are members of his body.31.  “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”32.  This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church;33.  however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Earthly marriage is a living illustration of the divine plan and purpose of God.
“The two become one flesh” is a meta-physical uniting of two into one new birth.  Similar to the sperm going to the egg and creating an entirely new life, God in Christ through the Word and Spirit has come to us.
Jesus chose the wedding at Cana as his very first miraculous sign, changing the water into wine, so that we might understand that his entire incarnation, baptism, atoning sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension were all for one purpose, to win his Bride the Church.
Then in the last moments before his arrest and crucifixion he prayed to the Father; “I in them and thou in me that may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.” (John 17;23)
When we confess our faith saying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the Communion of the Saints...”  (Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed) we are to recognize that the ‘Communion of Saints’ is not simply a union of Believers, but a union of Believers with Christ.Our ‘communion’ is both ‘horizontal (Believer with Believer), and also ‘vertical’ (Believer with Christ by the Holy Spirit).
The care we have for one another and for our Lord Jesus is spiritually ‘organic’, natural, it belongs to the new nature we receive in baptism.  “We are members, one of another”  Believer, in and with Christ, and Believer, in and with Believer.  This truth is unknown to our flesh.  It is only understood by faith and the Spirit of God at work in us.  We do not ‘feel’ this communion like we feel physical pain or pleasure, but by faith we perceive it by the divine joy and peace we experience as we by faith love God and one another.
Question:  Why do so many marriages fail and so many fail to even marry?  Marriages fail for lack of hope and forgiveness.  We give up on each other and on ourselves when we loose hope.Many never marry because they fear making a ‘life-long’ vow to God and another person, they know how weak they are and lack confidence in themselves.  This is really very good!  We should have no confidence in ourselves, but we should have every confidence in God in Christ and the Holy Spirit indwelling us.  “With God, nothing shall be impossible.”  (Luke 1;37 and Genesis 18;14)
Prayer:  Merciful Father, as we celebrate the Last Sunday in the Church Year, grant us wisdom to know the ‘end’ is really the ‘beginning’.  The end of our singularity and lonely selfishness by baptism into Christ.  Our Baptism is really the beginning of our joyous union of fruitful service, our marriage and new-life oneness with Christ.  Bless us then to witness this spiritual reality to the world with faithful fruitful marriages, not like the church producing physical children, (although that too, according to God’s will, is a very God-pleasing thing) but ‘spiritual reproduction’ of ‘children of God’ by the water and the Word.  The very life and ministry of the Church, the Bride of Christ.   In Jesus we pray, Amen.

Love, Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”


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