The Thin Place of Marital Union
The Thin Place of Marital Union.
“ The thin place is where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer that it is easy to step through.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way).
This term from an ancient Celtic tradition has stood the test of time. The idea of a thin place between heaven and earth has captured our imaginations, and yet is not just a metaphor. Thin places are literal as well. The traditional thin place as the Irish understood it has been described in many ways: where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin as to be porous, permeable, practically transparent; where the space between the divine and the human has narrowed; where eternity and time intersect; where the boundary between heaven and earth has collapsed; where the wall between heaven and earth have become indistinguishable; where the doors between heaven and earth have cracked open enough to walk through, if only temporarily; the place where eternity and time seem to join together.
A thin place could also mean… wherever we experience a profound and mysterious truth about God and His union with each of us; wherever God has chosen to reveal Himself and make Himself known with unusual intimacy; wherever the sacred interaction with God’s presence is more pronounced and accessible; wherever the Holy Spirit is released in a particularly powerful way; a physical space where one can more directly and intensely experience God’s spiritual truth and presence.
“As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one, becoming one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32).
MYSTERY: Greek word, mysterion, used 28 times in the New Testament; a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden to doubters and unbelievers.
A Divine Conversation about an Earthly Thin Place. The following heavenly brainstorm takes place outside of time, therefore it takes no time at all, or maybe all the time in the world. All comments are instant, intuitive, with boundless wisdom. The Godhead is having an intimate conversation about the creation of the universe before earth’s first light dawned. They are each consulting as One, in the infinite bosom of the Triune God. Together they imagined galaxies and constellations, black holes and starbursts, about special plans they have for the planet earth. The Father and the Son did most of the talking, and were inspired by their Holy Spirit.
Father: You, Son, are the love of My life, as You are, Spirit, and we need to make sure we fill the earth with beings made in Your image, Son, and who are breathing with Your very breath, Spirit. Mankind will be fashioned in Your likeness, Son. With joy let Us create these human beings so that We can love them, We can enjoy them and have fellowship with them. Since You were the model, Son, each human will be sacred and will represent You on earth.
Son: Yes, Father, but We have some more planning to do before We shape the dust into My holy image. The fact is that We desire spiritual union with these human beings. So, what can We design that would help the people on earth understand the eventual truth of Our union with them? Let Us create a physical symbol that reveals Our spiritual desires, a living illustration on earth that shows the people what We have in mind. Let Us design marriage, a physical union that is a picture of a spiritual union. A husband and wife having physical relations will be the closest idea We get to Us having spiritual relations with human beings. The man and woman will leave their father and mother to join together, Father, just like I will have to physically leave You to join with My followers on earth.
Father: Let Us call You the Bridegroom, Son. Your body of believers will be Your bride. You will be the eternal Husband, and Your believers will be the eternal wife. Your bride will receive You just as an earthly wife will receive her husband. Their physical union will point to Our plans for a spiritual union with every person who believes in Us. This is a mystery within a mystery, isn’t it? A spiritual marriage hinted at by the physical marriage. A spiritual one-flesh suggested by a physical one-flesh.
Son: But I know what You are thinking, Father. You want to illustrate this spiritual marriage through a covenant with a Chosen People, right? You are planning on committing Yourself to these people in faithful love, aren’t you? You will marry these Chosen People and be their Husband, correct? Your promise of love in Your marriage with them is a hint of Our ultimate desire for a spiritual marriage through their Anointed One, Me, Who will come through this chosen family. And I rejoice that I will be their Messiah, their Deliverer. And through them I will be the Savior of the world. Thank you, Father.
Father: Our eternal desire for spiritual oneness with mankind will slowly dawn on them as they see You take on flesh, Son. They will see what love looks like, and You will love them to the end. Many will understand that My Old Covenant with the Chosen People will finally be fulfilled in Your New Covenant. The whole world will see at the Last Day that all of Our love-promises will finally be satisfied when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Son: Yes, the final Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the consummation of Our marriage with all those who follow Us. I see the final Feast, the ultimate spiritual union, hinted at in every marriage on earth, Father. The earthly marriage was a heavenly idea. And We designed this from all eternity.
And Now Back to Earth, the Marital Thin Place. Hebrew scholars have noted that “flesh” in this Genesis context in which two become one in flesh, actually suggests something close to a blood relative. That’s how intimate this marriage was intended to be. God designed marriage to be pleasurable, fruitful, fulfilling, satisfying. And God wanted the marriage to be a foretaste of the desired union with each of us. God, believe it or not, yearns to be intimate with each of us, and what better illustrates that union than a joyful experience of a marital union at the human level? Marriage is a sign that points to the spiritual unity planned for us inside God. So the intimate, pleasurable and fruitful marriage is actually meant to be a sacramental sign, pointing us to our destiny as believers, a spiritual union with Christ! The physical union signifying the spiritual union, the physical reality of marital relations giving us a vivid picture of the spiritual reality of living within Christ. The sexual act, as wonderful as that is, is not intended to be the end of the story. It is meant to suggest the spiritual relations we could enjoy with God. Marriage reveals the type of relationship God wants with each of us. Physical sex, which pretty much involves every aspect of our being, is a profound part of what it means to be human. Sexual activity in a marriage enables each spouse to give pleasure to the other out of love and devotion. Dare we say that our intimate fellowship with Christ, which also demands our all, is a spiritual version of marital sex?
Distorting the Design. Marriage is God-defined, God-designed, and God-ordained. No human person has the right to redefine marriage, tear apart God’s plan, or remove its sacred foundation. God’s plan from the beginning was to create a home in which a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife in a permanent, faithful relationship. The 2-in-1 union of husband and wife was intended to, among the other obvious joys, an exciting reflection of the relationship between God and a believer. So what happens when a society tries to dismantle God’s design? A same-gender relationship, for instance? Or sexual activity outside of a faithful marriage of husband and wife? When that happens, God’s plan is torn asunder, it tragically obscures the understanding of God’s desired union with us. If the sacred illustration of God’s purposes for each of us is broken or rejected or distorted, then the true picture of spiritual union with God will become foreign to us and unknowable. There will be no reference point. Without a pure human experience to point to, how could anyone even begin to imagine the type of relationship that Christ wants us to have with Him?
Jeremiah 22/31 – Love, Love, and More Love || Bible in Song || Project of Love – YouTube
Isaiah 43 Pt. 1 – I Love You || Bible in Song || Project of Love – YouTube