The gospel in marriage

A few months ago, my wife and I attended a seminar at Duke University featuring John Lennox, a noted mathematician and philosopher from Oxford.  For about two hours, he laid out the reasoning behind his Christian faith and how his science and logic are only validated through a Christian worldview.  Ironically, his most compelling story had nothing to do with math or philosophy at all, but was rather a portrait of the gospel told through marriage.  Just in time for Christmas, here is a loose paraphrase of his personal take on the gospel offered by Jesus:

Imagine if, when you had first met the woman you desired to marry, you said to her: "If you cook all of my meals for the next fifty years, and do all of the cleaning and raise our kids, and love me perfectly, then after all of that I will decide that you are worthy to get married to me."  Any self-respecting woman would likely slap you in the face if you had such stringent and life-long requirements before you even deemed her worthy of marriage! 

And yet, how many of us seem to view a relationship with God in this way?  Too many people, often even self-proclaimed Christians, seem to think that God requires us to live a righteous life before He could ever accept us.  Nearly every religion raises a standard we have to live up to before we are seen as righteous in the eyes of God or others.  And yet our very hearts seem to cry out for the opposite.  Going back to the marriage example, John Lennox pointed out that it was BECAUSE he decided to marry his wife up front and love her unconditionally that she feels the desire to love him and serve him back. 

It is the same way with God, thanks to the grace offered to us through Christ.  Through Christ's perfect life and sacrifice for our sins, we are seen as righteous in the eyes of God regardless of our past, present, or future sin.  It is a gift of unconditional love and acceptance.  And it is BECAUSE we are already loved and accepted by God that we feel a sincere and joyful desire to love Him and our neighbors with our whole hearts. 

Merry Christmas Eve!