Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
The path to happiness and stability for any marriage lies via the cross of Christ. Even in the case of those who are not [yet] Christians, the happiness they have is the gift of Christ, for He is "the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world" (John 1:9).
Christ is the world's Creator, and He is also the world's Redeemer and Savior (4:42); it was He who said "'it is not good that man should be alone; I will make a helper comparable to him.' ... And He brought [the woman] to the man. ... Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they [two] shall become one flesh" (Gen. 2:18-24).
But it was at the holy moment of the cross that the world caught a glimpse of what love (agape) means. That word includes love of man for woman and her response to his love—sexual love, for we read, "Husbands, love [with agape] your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. ... So ought husbands to love [with agape] their own wives" (Eph. 5:25, 28). The command of God to love becomes the most exquisite joy man can know.
Thus, says an insightful writer, "Love [between husband and wife] is a precious gift which we receive from Jesus." It's a miracle seen all over the world in all time, that the Lord Jesus gives that "precious gift" of true sexual love for one woman to one man; love is by its very nature "jealous" (S. of S. 8:6, 7). It would be cruel for the Lord God, our Creator and Savior, to give that true jealous love for one woman to two men, thus creating a lifelong pain for one. (There must be a distinction between sexual infatuation that dies overnight, with that "precious gift" which is "strong as death.")
The Lord Jesus has warned us that in the last days "because lawlessness shall abound, the love [agape] of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12). The "light" that is yet to "lighten the earth with glory" (Rev. 18:1-4) will include the light ofagape shining in the hearts of husbands and wives who have been awakened by the ministry of the last-days' "Elijah" (cf. Mal. 4:5, 6; 2:14-16).
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 14, 2007.
Copyright © 2011 by "Dial Daily Bread."
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to:dailybread@1888message.org
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
