For A Sign and For A Season

South Africa Chronicles 2013-2014, Part 2:

For A Sign and For A Season

There ain’t anything quite like a wedding; and so much the better if it is a Christian wedding. Weddings are a fist to the face of Satan’s dark empire. Weddings are a sermon without words, a message preached without saying anything but “I Do.” I love weddings. What happens at a wedding is a miracle which only God can do: take two very different beings, from two very different families, and wed those two beings into one flesh. A man and a woman alone can’t do it, a pair of Parents can’t do it, a Preacher can’t do it, and a Government certainly can’t do it; only a sovereign, almighty God can do such a thing.

On Sunday, Satan’s jaw received another meaty fist of Gospel truth. To my brother-in-law Dirk, and his lovely bride Monique, Elsje and I wish you a lifetime of joy, triumph, love and passion. Also, we hope to cheer the loudest as your marriage and and family shines the light of the Gospel into the darkness of this generation.

And right about now, our generation is as pitch as midnight. When a federal judge can strike down a state’s law regarding the illegality of bigamy;, I’d say it’s gotten dark. When the President and the Supreme Court essentially legalize the mirage of same-sex “marriage,” I’d say it’s gotten dark. After decades of propaganda from the homosexual community convincing us that we should let people love whoever they want, and that legalizing so-called gay marriage wouldn’t open the floodgates for other bizarre forms of sexual expression, now even they are raising an eyebrow as the polyamory crowd wants in on the “action.” And now we are also trying to find a way for pedophiles to express their sexual preference without being “judged” or “discriminated” against by such a brutal, mean, cold-hearted society. Yep, darkness would seem to prevail.

But here is the glorious truth, the star of marriage will ever remain in the heaven’s, untouchable by man’s opinions, lusts, court rulings, parades, press conferences, and legislations. It is a star given unto mankind, by God Himself, for a sign and a season. The battle for marriage, is not a battle over definitions, it is a battle over the Gospel. Man wants a Gospel that says you may eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and have no consequences; i.e. man can define right and wrong subjectively, according to your experience, feelings, preferences and so-called orientation. The Gospel says if you eat of that tree of moral subjectivism and thereby crown the flesh’s will king of your life, you will die, unless and until you eat of the tree of life: the bread and wine of Calvary’s cross. A godly marriage is a bright symbol of the Cross of Jesus Christ, and try as man might, it cannot be redefined. It would be no Gospel that teaches us that you can run your life, seek your own pleasures, and define your own truth. Such a Gospel can bring no glad tidings, for the bricks of self-gratification are the the pavement to hell.

When a man and woman are wed, their union is a parable of what took place at Calvary. For Christ gave His life to purchase the life of His bride, the Church. She received His name, His wealth, His attention, His protection, His renown, and His character as her very own. She then, with her loving devotion, service, and alignment with His character becomes the crown of glory upon His brow. His life for hers, and her life for His. Only death can annul that vow and that covenant. Thus, though all earthly marriages will someday end due to the death of the spouse, Christ’s covenant can never be annulled for He cannot die, and she has been given His life, and He has the power of an endless life (Heb. 7:16)!

All this to say, I rejoice that, despite man’s attempts to cast a veil over the bright star of marriage, that star was ordained by God. It shall shine until the rising of the Son’s eternal reign! During the wedding festivities, a poem, of sorts began to scribble itself upon a mental sticky not. Not a very good poem, I suppose. However, it articulates a small measure of my love for marriage!

 

Tribute to Marriage

Marriage, thou art a star

bright and fair, pure and pristine

given for a sign and a season

to fill midnight’s dark with silver light

 

A sign thou art and e’er shall be

though man may fill the air with smog

the pollution of his lusts and lies

thy light, at last, shall prove him wrong

 

Man’s heart doth wander, soon is lost

in the wilds of selfish craving

and thy light blazes forth to lead

lost mankind to Calvary’s saving

Thy sign doth light the way

towards that hill of selfless love

where once a Groom bore the weight

of saving a bride with His own blood

 

A season, thou art, which one day soon

will melt like winter’s glistening snow

ushering in the blossom of Eternal spring

where faith is sight, hope is owned

 

Thy temporal season, sweet may be

but the sweetness is not its own

for thy bright star, in heav’n shall be

a jewel in Christ’s majestic crown

A sign indeed of Gospel sacrifice

A season indeed of Eternity’s joyous life

Thy heavenly circuit and dance soon shall set

And then the bright Son shall rise never to sink.