God created everything from top to bottom in our lives that Jesus Christ would be preeminent (Col. 1:17-18). This includes marriage. Put simply, the preeminence of Jesus Christ is the greatest secret of a happy marriage and a happy home life. But what does it look like to make Jesus Christ the center of your marriage? First of all, devote yourself to his preeminence. Second, count all things as loss for the sake of Christ. Third, behold the glory of Jesus Christ daily in your life together. And, finally, set your minds on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.   

  

What does it look like to make Jesus Christ the center of your marriage? Well, Christ comes to us to become the center of everything, and that's why the Apostle Paul tells the Colossian church in Colossians 1, 17 and 18, he says, He is before all things, and in him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and here's the phrase, that in all things, he may have the preeminence. God created everything from top to bottom in our lives that Jesus Christ would be preeminent and that includes marriage. And there are different ways to think about how it is that we make Christ the center of our marriages.

And one way to think about it is, what is pleasing to Jesus Christ? What pleases the Lord in our conversations? What pleases the Lord in our choice of friends? What pleases the Lord in the entertainment that we have together? What pleases the Lord in the discipline of our children?

What pleases the Lord in handling money? What pleases the Lord in church life? What pleases the Lord when you're changing jobs, when you get fired, when there's a disappointment? What pleases the Lord in your daily schedule? That's the question.

What pleases, This is the beginning of thinking about how to make Jesus Christ the center of your marriage. Here's some other ways to think about this. That Jesus Christ would be the most important person in your marriage, that Jesus Christ would actually be the curator of your wedded life, that he would be the greatest influence, that He would be the dominating presence in your home, that He would be the supreme authority, that Jesus Christ would be the prism through which Everything is seen in your marriage. He's the fountainhead of wisdom. He's your nourishment, the bread of life.

He's light. He has the first place in everything, from top to bottom, from the meditations of your heart toward one another and toward the things that you do in your marriage. And so I think couples should be very clear with one another about this and really covenant before God that Jesus Christ would be the center. Many marriage vows are covenants like that, but first of all, devote yourself to His preeminence. Second, count all things lost for the sake of Christ.

Third, behold the glory of Jesus Christ daily in your life together. And then finally, set your minds on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. The preeminence of Jesus Christ is the greatest secret of a happy marriage and a happy home life. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.