A Forever Family - Two Become One

"Like Peas and Carrots"
6.7.15

In the movie Forest Gump there is a special moment between Jenny and Forest just prior to her death. As she lies in bed sick and dying, he brings her something to eat and drink. She takes this casual moment to ask about his time in the Vietnam War. He reflects in his slow southern style about the beauty that could be found even in the jungles of war. He continues to paint a mural of beauty that he has seen throughout his life and adventures. At the end of this reflective moment, Jenny comments that she wishes that she could have been there with him. Forest turns his full gaze to her and tells her "you were." In this simple exchange of words we see the heart of the two becoming one exposed on the screen to be seen by all. In this fictional film story is captured the essence of what God describes as "the two will become one flesh." (Ephesians 5:31)

Wow! Who wouldn't love to have a perfect union like this! There is one little problem: we are all imperfect people. God, in his plan for family, places together two individuals who suffer what all mankind has suffered: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) We can object to this claim, and mostly likely would object to our own shortfall, but the truth is every man and woman is flawed. How can we overcome this problem? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:11 that we are "washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." He has provided a solution to this dilemma - our union with Christ.

Paul writes in Philippians 2:1-2 that if we have received encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness, and compassion from knowing Jesus, then we should pass along those feelings and reflect those behaviors with one another. Imagine a marriage where each person served and loved one another out of gratitude and appreciation for the love, kindness, etc. they received from Christ. How wonderful would that relationship be!

I believe that this mutual appreciation and love for each individual is a reflection of the conditions necessary to manifest the majesty of the mystery of the two becoming one. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:32 that he is not just talking about the union of the wife and husband, but about the union of the church and Christ. God desires us to know one another within the marriage covenant, and he desires each of us to know him through the union of his son and us as the church. I do not claim to fully understand this union, but I do fully trust the God who devised the plan from the beginning. The key for man and wife to be one is to be first united with Jesus and keep the focus on him!