one flesh learns covenant love

Paul quotes the oldest marriage line in the Bible - a man leaves, holds fast, and the two become one flesh - and then says something unexpected about it. This is a profound mystery, and I am talking about Christ and the church.
In Scripture a mystery is not a riddle. It is something that was there all along and has now been disclosed. Beale's reading is that Paul looks back at Genesis 2:24 and sees that the first couple was always typologically corresponding to the Messiah and his people. Marriage was never only about marriage. It was carrying a picture it could not yet explain.
Scripture links:
- Ephesians 5:31-32 - "'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."
- Genesis 2:24 - The line Paul is quoting, written long before there was anything to compare it to.
Covenant love was modelled for you before you ever had to attempt it.