Part 3 – Staying One in a Fallen World

One must ask the question then, how then do we stay in this true marriage condition? The truth of this lies in understanding what it means to be one physically, not only with each other, but also with Christ.  We need to understand how God’s circuit of beneficence flows, and what the Sabbath marriage to Christ is truly all about.

In Eden before sin, this was all in place from the beginning. The Sabbath was a memorial of God’s creation but it was also much more. It was a time to set aside all other thoughts and activities and to take the time to be intimate with Christ as conveyed in the pattern and truth as expressed in a divine marriage. The Sabbath was and is a physical event. It exists in real time and space. Likewise our intimacy together in Christ was and is to be a real physical event, occurring in real time and real space. Christ actually came and spent real physical time with them. This time was not to be relegated to a spiritual philosophy or idea alone nor limited to spiritual and emotional conceptualization either. It was an expressed command and desire of Christ for us to literally enter into the joy of intimacy (as one together) with Him every seven days. Did it mean that mankind was not to do this with Christ the rest of the week? Of course not! But it was an acknowledgement by God of man’s special need for a set time where nothing else would be allowed to intervene or interfere in our intimacy with Christ our spiritual husband.  

Since this oneness was expressed in the pattern of marriage, the Sabbath blessing holds special significance for those who are married as one in Christ. The Sabbath becomes the pattern we should follow by setting one time each week that we must put aside to be intimate with each other. Just as Christ’s expressed command and will was for us to keep the Seventh day Sabbath to be intimate with him, we as husbands and wives should set aside time to enter into that level of intimacy in a real and physical way with each other as well. By this act of intimate oneness we, as one, acknowledge and prepare to enter into our special time of oneness in marriage with Christ the following Sabbath. But which day should be chosen? Although the Bible does not state which day directly, there are clues given to us in Genesis.

On the sixth day the scriptures say, “the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to 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 a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:21-25)

On day six, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God and became one flesh physically. I believe that this pattern led them to be ready to be one with Christ the next day which was the Sabbath. Friday would therefore follow the pattern as established in Eden by God. This preparation day, is a weekly memorial, a weekly wedding anniversary, were we take time to re-consummate our oneness with each other spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and yes, sexually as well. This is done to ensure that as one, we enter into the following Sabbath as one being with the intent of celebrating our weekly wedding anniversary with Christ in an intimate way as well. So on each Sabbath, we as one should re-consummate our marriage to Christ as well.

In the pleasure and joy we feel at the climax of our love making on friday, is expressed the joy and love that Christ is experiencing on a spiritual level each Sabbath as we enter into intimacy with him. It is a blessing that then extends and flows into all the Sabbath hours from Christ our spiritual husband. The union of husband and wife with God in this special form of worship and oneness on Friday, is how the Sabbath and Marriage are joined.

Many if not most may be feeling uncomfortable at this point because sex has entered the equation. This is not surprising and we should address the primary possibilities as to why. At this point we need to understand the attack that Satan has waged upon this truth. From the outset, Satan has sought to attack God and humanity by destroying the truth and sanctity of the marriage union and its relationship to the Sabbath. Because the spiritual and emotional are more etheric or nebulous in nature, while the physical act of sex is a real and very intimate act of pleasure, it is the area where Satan has focused his attack.

Here is the primary reason. The physical act of sex, even when done outside the sanctity of marriage, provides many of the physical pleasures that God intended it too, even when abused and exercised outside of God’s divine will. Thus Satan early on began to corrupt man’s use and understanding of this great marriage truth. First, infidelity and fornication were pressed upon human kind. Polygamy, rape, and homosexuality, further defiled what was supposed to be pure and Godly between a single man and wife. Also, lovemaking as part of the sacred worship and intimacy with Christ was perverted into the prostitutes and orgies seen during heathen sacred wrights and practices. Priestesses of heathen gods sold themselves to worshippers and thus it went. Today, sex is used and abused by any and all who seek either the pleasure it gives or the power it can provide to be exercised over others. Practically destroyed and mutilated, sex has been stripped, raped, and plundered of its holy sacred nature.

As the progressive attack continued, sex became seen are something separated from true worship within the marriage. It is now relegated by the world to being thought ok and pleasurable by married and single couples alike and of course necessary for reproduction. It is sanctioned in marriage by most religions but usually even then it still carries a stigma and is seen as a simple act of pleasure or procreation that is optional at best and only exercised when both feel like it. It has been completely separated from any concept of worship and almost no one sees its intimate tie to the Sabbath. Thus in most marriages, over time, the act of love making becomes less and less frequent as the infatuation of the partnership wanes, and its true purpose has been almost completely lost. Satan has largely destroyed the proper nature of this type of worship in mankind and destroyed its intended purpose in marriage.

Victims of Satan’s attacks, who at earlier times in their life have abused this essential gift, find it extremely difficult to restore it back to its sanctified place in marriage and worship, yet restore it they must if they are to follow the divine pattern established in Eden.

When two become one in marriage as one in Christ, this intimacy is a pattern of a spiritual truth that reflects back to the source from which it came. Thus a lack of intimacy in marriage is a symptom of a much deeper spiritual disease and reflects a much deeper spiritual problem. Some see this as just a loss of the first love or infatuation and see this as a natural progression in marriage. Yet it is not a small matter at all. It is a symptom of a deep rooted attack by Satan. If this symptom is seen in marriage to each other, then the same will be true in our marriage to Christ.

This was the problem seen with the church of Ephesus, which was so importan,t that God threatened to remove them as his bride. As the Husband of the church, Christ showed that the loss of first love by his wife, the church, is abhorrent to him, even to the point of threatening divorce from her. “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev 2:4-5)

Let’s explore this further. We know that Christ is supposed to be our spiritual Husband. This relationship is the pattern we must follow as husbands and wives her on earth. Therefore we should be re-consummating our relationship as husbands and wives in all spheres on the weekly, monthly, and yearly anniversaries of our marriages to each other. Then as one we should re-consummate our marriage in Christ on the holy days that follow. We see this in several parts of Paul’s writings and teachings to the church. We should now look closer at the Sabbath truth and what it means to be intimate with Christ.  

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