|
The last
time we met, we had the opportunity to edify our wives and
reinforce everything we have been striving for in becoming and
staying Valiant Men of God. For some (personally I would hope
most) took this to heart and wrote a letter to our wives of all of
the things that God has placed within her for us for which we
are thankful. Don't fret if you have not, because God's timing
is more important than your timing; and, you still have time.
Quite frankly, I added to my list and sent it to my wife via
e-mail and she has yet to read it so I know that God's perfect
timing is still at work.
This type
of edification of our wives strengthens our level of intimacy
not only with our wives but also strengthens our intimacy with
God. Now please understand, as children of God, we have been
created in His image, male and female, and are pleasing to God
in this respect when we exercise both types of intimacy. And in
this:
-
God
created us for Spiritual intimacy with Him first; and
-
In His
creation of us, He designed us for physical and emotional
intimacy. And within those, we have "many levels in such
forms as family life and friendship" However, "sexual
intimacy is the highest physical counterpart of spiritual
intimacy."
Intimacy,
in both forms, is based upon a protective covenant relationship
with both the Father and with our wives; spiritually and
physically. In the first part, God made a protective covenant
with Him through the raising of Jesus from the dead and as we
know, it is only through Jesus that we can reach the Father.
This can be seen, in part, in Romans 8:11-14:
God's
covenant protection is also the basis for which husbands and
wives can thrive in intimacy. The commitment and protection of
covenant allows both husband and wife to be totally vulnerable
to each other and, therefore, experience a depth of relationship
only possible under God's protective covering. We see this in
Genesis 2:24,25 "For this reason a man will leave his father and
mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one
flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no
shame."
And with this uniting, sexual union as God has made, it is neither self-centered nor self-seeking. For man and wife were designed both physically and emotionally to experience great pleasure and satisfaction from sexual union. But only through marriage has God created this union. When we enter into God's covenant plan for marriage, in 1 Cor 7:3-7, He gives to us a special wedding gift:
Lastly, as
a reminder, intimacy between man and wife is not solely about
sexual union. As we learned in Session 4, intimacy is
multi-faceted:
-
"Union
- joining people to each other,
-
Bonding
- gluing them together,
-
Intimacy - a level of knowing beyond the intellect,
-
Pro-creation - making a family,
-
Revelation - to explain things unseen,
-
Pleasure - bringing deep joy,
-
Comfort
- tenderness in a hurting world,
-
Healing
- restoring relationship in a mistake-ridden world, and
-
Discipleship - training in the character of God."
Until next time, keep
your eyes on Jesus !
|
