Living by Scripture is much larger than is generally believed. It has been said that if all literature were evaluated and each item were deposited in a bin identifying the theme of the piece, as history in the History bin, psychology in the Psychology bin, and continuing disciplines accommodated, the Bible would have to be placed in its own bin with no other piece added. No other makes so large claims for itself, and no other has been so fully defended (or evaluated in various contexts, some negatively) in the halls of experience and academia. The only challenger would be the Koran, but the Koran has limitations, by comparison, in that it holds authority only in its original language, and finds its meaning partly from distortion of the Christian/Jewish history and tradition, and incorporates some of those sources to its meaning. For example, Islam interprets Jesus as a prophet, not God’s Son. The Koran meant to rewrite the earlier Bible that Christianity affirms, in exclusive context, that God visited earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Such a claim of God taking on the nature of mankind, for identity with earth and redemptive purposes, is unique in surviving religions. As the French interpret John 3:16, Jesus is affirmed the unique Son of God. The English use the words, only begotten. Whatever is only begotten is unique (the only one of its kind). There is no other Son of God, and the Son is of the Nature of the Father. His claims are not Islamic.
As one may enter a home by various doors, the Bible may be entered through several presumptive doors – front, back, side. Its main purpose, the front door, is to tell the story of our spiritual condition of lostness and redemption to recovery. The other doors give entrance to inform about values, earth life, nurture, family, culture, and attending institutions like family and government. Scripture guides not only in divine grace (spiritual), but in common grace (natural). Even if the person of God is omitted, Scripture offers an ideal for thought and conduct in daily natural life for any society or person. No other context matches it.
So it was that Fern Erway and Mark Lee, before they met, were committed to two large controlling life factors: 1) -that Jesus Christ held first and forever control of our lives in a redemptive experience; and, 2) -that the Bible would be the Constitution by which we would live and evaluate all things, including ourselves and our marriage. Those two factors held primacy for us for the fifty seven years of our marriage, a union that concluded on this date in 2001 with her death. Since that date, over fifteen years have elapsed. I did not consider remarriage in that my life had become so fully melded with hers that I felt it would be unfair to another person to have to run against the competition. I liked marriage, but have been content with my life alone since her demise. The fellowship with my children has eased the loss, but my firm faith and life guidebook followed in spiritual/intellectual personal approval and experience have, if anything, improved my life further. A form of sacredness has entered my memory system related to my long marriage/family union and relationship. I am grateful beyond the competency of language to illustrate all this. It became the motivation to tell my story in these Pages in a different than usual format.
My marriage will not likely make any difference, or register remembrance even in heaven. Scripture that guides me suggests that earth will be forgotten. My life as a citizen of earth will not be remembered any more than my life in the womb of my mother is remembered by me. That it can be noted and did have some impact on whatever is immortal in the transitional process, I have no doubt. But, earth’s book will close. All who are heavenly will benefit in the disappearing of earth’s imperfect context. According to Scripture a new marriage will occur, between Christ and the Church. The Church is of those persons qualified through the redemptive process. Those made special in Christ are preferred above angels. If the full story were known it might be more difficult to believe than that recited above. Our emotions might fight over the claim that heaven’s communion can be so magnificent that it replaces what occurred previously. The family of God, partly foreshadowed in the loving human family, will be as different from what we know as a photograph is from the beauty of the actual love relationship that is accompanied by a sense of fulfillment in all matters meaningful to life – special from God. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020