Colossians 1:28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

Jude 1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Luke 22:27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

John 13:14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, (7) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!

Our Relationship With Jesus Likened to Marriage

Isaiah 62:5 . . . as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband – the LORD Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

Hosea 2:19 [God speaking] I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

John 3:29 [John the Baptist talking about Jesus and his followers] The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. (30) He must become greater; I must become less.

Luke 5:33 They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” (34) Jesus answered, “Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? (35) But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.”

Matthew 25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (26) to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, (27) and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (28) In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (29) After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church – (30) for we are members of his body. (31) “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (32) This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.

Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you – one from a town and two from a clan – and bring you to Zion.

Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (8) Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (9) Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Ezekiel 16:8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” (17) But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Romans 7:2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. (3) So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. (4) So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

The above is by no means an exhaustive list of instances when our relationship with Jesus (and sometimes God the Father) is liken to marriage but it will suffice to demonstrate what a significant biblical theme it is.

Feel yourself carried by the most comforting and protective arms in the universe:

Deuteronomy 1:31 and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you . . .

Isaiah 46:3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob, . . . you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. (4) Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Psalms 40:2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

Psalms 145:14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

Psalms 37:24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

Psalms 63:8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Psalms 73:23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

Psalms 139:10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 42:6 I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. . . .

Psalms 22:9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. (10) From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Psalms 71:6 From my birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.

Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.”

Hosea 11:3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. (4) I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.