While beginning the process of meditation and conversation with God about this topic, God directed me to listen to what the most prominent evangelist in the last 50 or so years had to say about marriage. After listening to the message for a short time, I had to shut it off and go and tell Katy what I was hearing before I could move on. I am not surprised that what I heard wasn’t the Gospel and now more then ever I am convinced that untrue teachings like this are the reason for generations of battered woman, child abuse, and many other issues in todays world. One of the many things I heard was “you love your wife first but if she doesn’t submit to your authority then you need to be a tyrant to her, first for her liberation, and secondly so your kids stay obedient to you.” He went on to explain that this keeps God’s order. What a bunch of malarkey. God did’t create any of His children to be abused or neglected.

Our earthly marriages are sacred and are God’s extension of love for us to reach out to others. Adam and Eve were both designed in God’s image, male and female to tend to the flock together. Abraham and Sarah were equals in the eyes of God, and Paul commonly taught the gospel with woman, and always regarded their sharing of the good news with high regard.

“Embrace my cousins Andronicus and June who were in prison with me. I hold them in high regard as ambassadors for Christ; they are my seniors in him.” (Romans 16:7) “And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women (Euodia and Syntyche), for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. ” (Philippians 4:3) 

God loves everyone, we are all equals. We are his children. There is no separation or pecking order in God’s family. We are all royalty. His love for us is unconditional and unlimited. Our Father loves us so much that He arranged our marriage to Christ, the greatest marriage of all time. We are married to our savior, friend, and husband. We are the bride of Christ. We are married to the King of kings, the son of God, and He will never divorce us!

Our marriage to Jesus cannot be broken. God doesn’t like divorce therefore we will always be married to Jesus.  This is the Royal Marriage and Jesus will never divorce us. This morning I read a blog about how Pastor’s who baptize a couple living together and are not married will go to hell. That statement is wrong. “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8) and “God sees you as perfect” (see Hebrews 10:14) You are perfect whether you have had or are having premarital sex. You are perfect if you are in an intimate relationship with some one of the same sex. You are perfect if you are divorced. You simply perfect and nothing you can do will ever separate you from God’s love. You might be thinking, yeah they are perfect but they sure aren’t saved. Not according to the good news!

“Salvation is to understand that every person’s true identity is revealed in Christ.” (Romans 10:13)

Our salvation is the result of Jesus’s LOVE for all of us, not what we do. If it were dependent on us then Jesus is not our savior, our good works become our savior. Doesn’t just reading that give us all a sense of relief? We are, because Jesus is. Hallelujah!  God is Love, and “Love keeps no record of being wronged.” (1 Corinthians 13:5)

There is no judgement against anyone. No one is going to a burning furnace. It doesn’t matter what others think you are doing or have done wrong. “God sees you as His masterpiece.” (Ephesians 2:10) Jesus is your savior and no judgement outside of who you are in Jesus will ever happen. I know that you may have been taught that your actions or some high level sin will get you kicked out of God’s family. That is man’s wisdom, and not the gospel. Jesus took away that nonsense . You don’t need to worry about getting kicked out of the family.

Jesus is your husband and you are his bride. Jesus is your freedom from guilt, shame, and condemnation and Jesus is why you can live and enjoy life in his perfect communion. Jesus is your pass into the Garden of Eden. “Eden” means pleasure, I want to reemphasis this. Jesus is your pass back into the Garden of Pleasure. So dance on the table with the King of kings, and if you feel moved stand in awe of His unconditional love. This is the too good to be true news, and you are able to feast on all the joys of this world.

Katy and I are blessed to share this message together. We love knowing we are equal in every way, and have been designed to share the message of reconciliation together. We also know that God has gifted each of us with many things and we get to pursue the ones we love with vigor. Both Katy and I have the same spirit that raised our husband from the dead living inside of us. As a couple, we view 1 Corinthians 14:35-36 the same way as many scholars. We believe that these verses were added by an angry man in early church history that wanted to push us backwards into a system that leads to death. These two verses have caused strife between males and females for centuries and are completely in contrast with all of the New Testament writers epistles and the Covenant we live in.

“Nothing resembles your previous identity as Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, now you are all defined in oneness with Christ! He is your significance and makes you stand out!” (Galatians 3:28) We have all been created in God’s image, male and female alike. One is not above the other and all are equal in God’s kingdom.

God didn’t send Jesus into the world to judge us, but to save us. “Jesus is what God believes about you! In him the righteousness of God is on display in such a way that everyone may be equally persuaded about what God believes about them, regardless of who they are; there is no distinction.” (Romans 3:22) 

God loves everyone! The Garden of Pleasure is for ALL, some live in it now, others will wait, but all we bask in His love for eternity. We are ALL the the brides of Christ! “To discover your own completeness in Christ frees you to turn your attention away from yourself to others! The way Jesus saw himself is the only valid way to see yourself!” (Philippians 2:4-5)

In Love,

Kurt & Katy Adkins