Come to that living stone rejected by men, but in God's sight chosen and precious.

And like living stones, be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood,

to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture,

behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone, chosen and precious.

And he who believes in him will not be put to shame.

To you, therefore, who believe he is precious, But for those who do not believe, the very stone which

the builders rejected has become the head of the corner and a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall.

For they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who

called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

once you were no people, but now you are God's people.

Once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

Paul's theology of marriage is based on the word of God.

The word of God who is Jesus Christ and the word of God which is the inspired Old Testament.

And since God is not a God of confusion, his word is coherent. There is unity between these words.

So when Paul wants to understand marriage, he looks to the word of God to Jesus and to the scriptures.

And what he sees when he brings scripture and Christ together is that marriage is intensely practical implications of this mystery.

And that there are intensely practical implications of this mystery.

And so what I want to do with you this morning is in the first half of the message unfold as best I can, the mystery of marriage.

...