10 Jun 2022
The perfect demonstration of love is not seen in a wedding;
it is seen on the cross of Jesus Christ.
From David Kuok, 3rd year CMA, in his wedding sermon.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen celebrate the union of Rhakjesh and Esther under Christ.
On the 14th of May 2022, CERC celebrated yet another wedding — Rhakjesh and Esther’s wedding. 250 guests invited by the couple along with CERC members and candidates attended the wedding.
Weddings are often thought of as the occasion to celebrate the love between two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together, but what does the Bible have to say about it?
Due to the pandemic, the couple fixed their wedding date a few months later than they initially planned as they wanted all of their invited friends and family to hear the gospel being preached. They wanted their wedding ceremony and wedding speech to be a platform to help people understand what marriage is about as God has designed it to be.
The wedding ceremony opened with the reading of Ephesians 5:15–33 which emphasises the true purpose of marriage, that it is meant to reflect the marriage of Christ and His bride, the Church.
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Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
From Ephesians 5:15–33
The sermon was preached by David Kuok, a 3rd-year Church Ministers’ Apprentice (CMA). He opened the sermon by saying how Rhakjesh and Esther’s story is a classic love story — as they were highschool sweethearts — and we might all be admirous of this, wanting it for ourselves. However as David was making this point, he mentioned that love is not in fact about romantic love or serving ourselves. According to the Bible, marriage is about serving God. Using Genesis 1–2 (the passage the couple had selected as the anchor for the wedding sermon), David showed how Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
highlights that man was created to be the image of God, reflecting His glorious purpose, which ultimately includes marriage being in service for God for His holy purposes as shown in Genesis 2:18
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”.
Romans 1:22–23 shows that humans have exchanged God’s glory for idols.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
At the heart of this, we make idols in our own images — we are worshipping ourselves. And some of us may use marriage as a delusion for our own needs.
The perfect demonstration of what true love is is shown in 1 John 4:9–10
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
where God sent his only son to die on the cross to be the atoning sacrifice so that we may live a holy life through him. Thus, marriage is in fact working to serve God, David explained in his sermon.
CERC as witnesses of the marriage of Rhakjesh and Esther.
The wedding was officiated by Pastor Robin Gan, Lead Elder of CERC, as CERC witnessed Rhakjesh and Esther saying their vows in covenantal love to each other according to God’s holy law. Carmen Chua and Dr Eldwin Oui both prayed for the couple that they will serve God together in their marriage and seek to please Him as a married couple, loving each other with God’s holy love and building each other up to maturity in Christ.
At the end of the ceremony, Rhakjesh gave his wedding speech, reinforcing what David Kuok had preached about — that the marriage between him and his wife, Esther was from understanding the truth from the Bible, according to God’s design, to live a life for God. This wedding, in the end, is therefore meant to glorify God. He also thanked all who helped in the wedding planning and preparations and guests who attended, urging them to consider what they have heard today.
