The Marriage Relationship was the first interpersonal human relationship instituted by God. We find it’s foundation in
Genesis 2:23-24. In this God ordained marriage manual we find the 3 keys to a successful marriage:
1. Leave;
2. Cleave;
3. Unify.
The responsibilities of a godly husband are to protect; to provide; to nurture; to be the head of the home; to be a natural leader; and, to be the spiritual leader. The responsibilities of the wife are to be a helpmeet; to support the husband; to care for and maintain the home; to produce children. From this relationship of the man and the woman we find the fulfillment of
Psalm 127:3 which reads
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”
The world in which we live has managed to confuse and in some cases to even reverse the roles. We are seeing more soft men and strong women; women working men’s jobs and men working women’s jobs; women leading the home and men passively allowing it. But, try as they might, they will never be able to change the fact that a man has to be the father and a woman has to be the mother that bears children.
Two significant Old Testament examples of the heart of a mother are Hannah and Rachel. Hannah looked at the condition of the world around her. She realized the world needed a Godly influence. She knew the world desperately needed a Samuel. Hannah begins to plead with God until her soul is vexed and she is misunderstood by the very ones who should have understood her the most. In this sorrowness of spirit she vowed to give the child back to God if He would but allow her to bare a son.
Who can forget Rachel’s desperate plea
“Give me children, else I die!” She exemplified to us that innate desire in a woman to bear children. Beyond her will and desire to live was the will and desire to birth another generation.
Considering the New Testament relationship Of Christ and the Church we find Paul speaking in
Ephesians 5:30-32 “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” The Apostle likens the relationship of Christ and the Church to the marriage relationship. He is the Groom and we are the bride.
Notice he is the husband figure and as such fulfills the obligations of the husband: To protect; to provide; to nurture; to be the head of the home; to be a natural leader; to be the spiritual leader. The Church, as the bride, takes the role of the wife. Again, she fulfills the obligations of the wife: To be a helpmeet; to support the husband; to care for and maintain the home; and she has the unique ability to produce children. Producing children within the church should be as natural as it is in a marriage.
One of the greatest joys in a marriage is the birth of a child. There are few moments in life that compare to those precious few in a labor and delivery room. I well remember the different feelings that I had. Still fresh in my memory are the nervousness and anxiety, the joy, hope, and the incredible sympathy for my wife. It was hard for me to watch the struggle that she was going through. The pain and effort showed on her face. I would like to have done something, but I was helpless in that situation. In all honesty, other than supporting her, my part was already done. It was now up to her to bring forth the child. It would be through her struggle and pain and effort that our baby would be born.
I recall looking into the face of my wife at the moment of the greatest pain, right before birth. To anyone else she would not have been attractive or beautiful. There was nothing about her right then that would have caused anyone to be drawn to her. Her hair was disheveled, her face contorted. The sweat was pouring off of her. “Attractive” would be the last word to come to anyone’s mind.
But in that moment there was a hidden beauty that came out that I had never seen before. There was something that happened inside of me when I looked into her eyes at that precise moment. I saw what the rest of the world could not see. I saw a Hidden Beauty of the Bride that would only be evident during a time of travail in childbirth. It made me love her that much more. It made me realize all over again how glad I was that this woman was my bride.
Apostolic revival mandates that there is the birth of spiritual children. There is a major difference that has been created by the Church in this delivery room. We have mistakenly reversed roles with the Father. We have put the burden on Him to be the one to struggle in the birth process. This is not God’s plan.
The Father has done all that He can do. He has placed the potential for birth within the bride and now He stands anxiously by in the delivery room. He looks at this bride of His. He is looking for that Hidden Beauty that comes out only during a time of travail. If we are going to see Apostolic revival we must travail and bring forth children.
Micah 4:10 “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail:”
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