Editor’s note: Danny Cometto is Board Chairman at FRCS. This is the second of a 2-part series he wrote for this blog. You can read the first part here.
Life is a parable
This year is a new season for my family. Both of my children have now graduated from Front Range Christian School, and my wife and I are stepping into life as empty nesters.
This new season of marriage has me reflecting on what marriage really is and what it teaches—not just to us as husband and wife, but to our children, and to the world around us. From the beginning, Kathy and I wanted our marriage to model Christ’s love, so that our kids could see the gospel lived out at home. We didn’t do it perfectly, but it was intentional. And now, as we step into empty nesting, I find myself pondering the continued impact—because our marriage is still telling a story.
Life itself is a parable. Jesus said He would teach the world through parables, and the writer of Hebrews reminds us that what we see on earth is a shadow of heavenly realities. Marriage is one of those shadows—a covenant written into every family to point us to Christ and His redeeming love.
Scripture makes the connections clear:
- Eve from Adam → The Church from Christ.
God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and from his side He formed Eve (Genesis 2:21–22). When Christ was pierced on the cross, blood and water flowed from His side (John 19:34), and from His death came life for His bride, the Church. - Marriage covenant → God’s covenant.
Marriage is not a contract of convenience, but a binding covenant of love. Hosea 2:19–20 records God’s heart: “I will betroth you to me forever… I will betroth you in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.” Earthly covenant can be broken, but God’s covenant in Christ is unbreakable. - Knowing your spouse → Knowing God.
“Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived” (Genesis 4:1). That same word for knowing—used for physical intimacy—describes covenant intimacy with God in Hosea 2:20. Jesus echoes this in John 17:3: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Marital intimacy is a shadow of the eternal communion we have with God. - Adultery → Idolatry.
When Israel turned to other gods, the prophets called it adultery (Jeremiah 3:20; Hosea 1–3). Just as marital betrayal wounds covenant love, idolatry is spiritual unfaithfulness that betrays God’s covenant. Both reveal the danger of divided love. - Pornography → False worship.
Chasing images outside the covenant is not only empty but idolatrous. It promises pleasure while delivering bondage, like bowing to lifeless idols that cannot satisfy (Isaiah 44:9–20). Just as idols rob God of the worship He alone deserves, pornography distorts covenant love and robs both God and spouse of purity. - Divorce → Covenant broken.
Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Divorce tears apart what God designed as one flesh. Scripture even speaks of God giving Israel a “certificate of divorce” because of her unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 3:8). Yet His covenant love endured, showing us in Christ the covenant that can never be broken. - Forgiveness in marriage → Grace in Christ.
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). When forgiveness is offered in marriage, it becomes a living parable of Christ’s grace toward His people. Forgiveness does not erase the fact that sin happened, but it removes guilt, heals relationships, and points to the greater grace that redeems a broken covenant.
Paul ties it all together when he says: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32). At the center is this command: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Every act of covenant love—faithfulness, forgiveness, sacrifice—preaches the gospel to the next generation.
Through the marriage bed, we are born as children of Adam. But through Christ, by His covenant love, we are born again as children of God (John 1:12–13). That is why purity matters.
Purity in marriage is the shadow—it points us to something greater. Purity in faith is the reality—the covenant union we have with Christ, wholly devoted to Him. And the two cannot be separated: impurity in the body is idolatry in the heart; faithfulness in marriage is faithfulness in worship. Purity in marriage and purity in faith are one story—the story of covenant love revealed in Christ.
So, I invite you to ponder with me:
- What is the parable your marriage is telling your children?
- In what ways are they seeing Christ in the way you and your spouse love one another?
- How might God bring His grace into your story, so that His faithfulness shines through to the next generation?
Our marriages are not perfect. For some, the covenant has been broken. But the gospel is not about our efforts—it is about God’s faithfulness. The Bible is full of stories of broken covenants, yet God’s steadfast love never fails.
In the same way, even our imperfect or fractured marriages still tell a parable—not of our strength, but of His redeeming love. That is what our children need to see most.
For Kathy and me, modeling Christ’s love in our marriage has been one of our greatest witnesses to our kids, and I believe it will continue to be in this next season of empty nesting. My prayer is that in every stage of life, in every circumstance, our homes would be living parables of the gospel.
May our children look at us and see Christ, and understand purity not as a burden, but as a sacred covenant of love.
