On saying ‘I do’

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9;8-16)

A covenant is a promise or a contract between two parties, in which God is either one of the parties to the contract, or a witness to it. So after the flood, God made a contract with all of creation, including me and you, through our ancestor Noah. He promised never to flood the world again, and he gave a sign that he wouldn’t. The sign being a rainbow.

When a man and a woman get married, and say “I do”, they are promising to have and to hold, forsaking all others, ‘until death us do part.’ And God is a witness to the promises they make (even if the couple aren’t Christians, for he sees and notes all things.) I remember hearing tell a story of a man who, for the last six years of his wife’s life, looked after her as she became crazier and crazier with dementia. And when she died, the vicar asked him how he had managed to love her throughout such a severe and long trial. And he replied “I made a promise. I made a promise, to love her in sickness and in health - and I aimed to keep it.”

When a man and a woman say, “I do” they leave their fathers’ houses, and start living a new life in a new world. She takes a new name, and has a new identity. And the ring on the finger is the sign of the covenant (just as the rainbow is the sign that God would never flood the world again).

Similarly, when a man comes to Christ, and is baptised, he leaves the house of his father (Adam), and starts a new life, and a new world, with a new home and new identity. He promises to love the Lord with all his heart and soul, strength and mind, and to love his neighbour as himself. And the sign of this covenant is the bread and the wine. A marriage covenant only lasts until death, which is why a woman is free to remarry if she is widowed, but she is not free to do so if her husband still lives. But the covenant God makes through Jesus, is better than all other covenants, because it still exists, even beyond death. Thus it is written:

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Jesus put it this way;
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:25-29)

So really the question which all men need to ask themselves is this:
“Do you take this man - Jesus Christ, to be your Lord and Saviour, your friend and guide, in sickness and in health? Do you promise to love him, forsaking all idols, rulers and authorites, obeying Him above all else?”

For me, the answer to that question is:
“I do.”

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