The Handsomeness Of Christ, Our Husband

The Church in a Messy World

The Handsomeness of Christ, our Husband

Isaiah 54:5

July 23rd, 2017

This sermon is part of our series in 1 Corinthians. I preached it as a precursor to Paul’s discourse on divorce.

Shopping for a Husband

I bet you didn’t know it but a "Husband Shopping Center" just opened up in town women can shop for their perfect husband! You know that’s not true but play along with me. The store is laid out in five floors, with the men increasing in positive attributes on each floor. The only way to get to each floor is by way of an elevator. When the doors open there is a sign describing the kind of husbands on that floor.

The only rule is this: Once the door opens a woman has to make a choice of whether or not to step off and shop from the men on that floor. If they decide to go up to the next floor, they couldn’t go back down except to leave the store.

So, a couple of girlfriends decided to go shopping there.

First floor: The doors opened to this sign…"These men have jobs and love kids." The women read the sign and said: "Well that's better than not having jobs, or not loving kids, but I wonder what's further up?" So up the hit the button for floor two.

Second floor sign read: "These men have high paying jobs, love kids, and are extremely good looking." "Hmmm," say the ladies, "But, I wonder what's further up?"

Third floor: "These men have high paying jobs, are extremely good looking, love kids and help with the housework." "Wow!" say the women. "Very tempting, BUT, I wonder what’s on the fourth floor!" And so again, they go up. You see they were looking for the perfect husband.

The sign on the fourth said: "These men have high paying jobs, love kids, are extremely good looking, help with the housework, and have a strong romantic streak." "Oh Lord what a blessing, but just think?! What must be awaiting us on the fifth?! The perfect husband must be there!" So up to the fifth floor they go.

The fifth floor elevator doors opened. The sign said: "There is no such thing as a perfect husband. This floor proves that women are impossible to please. Thank you for shopping and have a nice day!"

But there is a perfect husband. His name is Jesus Christ! If you know Him as Lord and Savior understand this: Christ is also your husband. I told you last week that we were going to look at the issue of divorce since that’s where we’re at in 1st Corinthians, but as I began sermon prep Monday the thought of Christ as our husband kept coming to mind. So much so that I took it that God wants me to preach on this today. We talk much about Jesus as prophet, priest and king. We talk much of Him as Lord and Savior and friend, but if you know Christ, He is also your husband. And I honestly don’t think we can understand divorce until we see how handsome Christ, our husband, truly is. You may wonder about the connection between the two, but I assure you it is there as you will see next week.

We often examine divorce in light of its negative earthly consequences to us personally. Many sermons highlight these consequences hoping it will help people will steer clear of divorce. While I think we must continue to do this, it’s not enough to motivate couples to stay married or for singles to stay chase. BTW, this sermon is also for singles. God calls you to chastity for a very important reason. That reason is Christ is your husband, for you are betrothed to Him.

It is the same thing with salvation. I don’t think that preaching about the terrible consequences of hell alone motivates people to seek salvation through Jesus Christ. They must see the superior beauty and righteousness of Christ. Let’s face it, we are motivated by that which we think brings life. We may chase after things that bring despair but no one purposefully runs after death. So in our speech we must talk much about that which brings life. And our talk must be that of Jesus Christ and how He stands head and shoulders above every source of satisfaction.

For example, do you remember the story of Peter and the disciples when they first met Christ? Jesus told them to set out from the shore and to let down their nets. Peter gave Jesus a short lecture about fishing…that there isn’t anything there, but they did as instructed and to his surprise God gave them a couple boatloads of fish!

What did Peter do next? We know the answer. He fell at the feet of Jesus saying, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man!” Christ had not preached about hell and its negative consequences as a way to help Peter see his sinfulness. Instead, Peter caught a glimpse of the superiority of Christ which caused him to see his sinfulness AND also sparked in him a desire to follow Christ for he saw that Christ was life. The story ends with Peter and the boys leaving their nets to follow Christ.