Marriage Under Fire

I want to cover something today that I hope will be helpful for all of us, because—and I feel it is a timely topic—because things are really changing. Changing in this country, outlooks are changing. And one of the areas that is actually under fire is something that all of you, I know, in many ways, take for granted. I assume I'm going to be preaching to the choir today, because I know that you believe not only what I'm going to be reading, but the whole institution that many of us either are engaged in or you have been engaged in in your lifetime, the institution of marriage is under attack.

It is under fire today, and actually it's far worse than I really thought, as I've looked into this a little bit. We might ask ourselves, because of so many different ideas and compromising situations that people bring up, why do people need to get married? Why marriage? Is it obsolete? Does it even matter? Who really cares? I hope you can answer those questions, because obviously we're supposed to be able to give an answer of the hope that lies within us. And one of the areas that we ought to be able to defend would be regarding an institution that's ordained by God, an institution that has sanctity and purpose and meaning.

So perhaps you could write down, if you think of answers to the questions, why marriage? What would be your response if someone were to ask you, many of you are married, and so I assume you like that or you want that, or you certainly believe in the sanctity of marriage. And yet, like I said, that whole concept is not only under attack, it's in a sense being re-defined. And we are being bombarded with all types of alternatives to marriage. And of course most of these come just simply from human reasoning that's riddled with error, and yet they are promoted from the standpoint of this is right, this is just, this is equal, this is you need to learn to be tolerant.

You know, those are the underlining factors that often are presented. Pat and I were watching a program on Fox News the other day, and Pat pointed out to me, and I, you know, I watch programs and I, you know, either I, maybe I don't think, maybe I'm only watching, maybe I'm dozing too, or maybe I'm reading, because a lot of times I'm reading something and, you know, the TV's on and maybe if Pat's with me she thinks I'm watching, but I'm not paying enough attention. And I know when this program came on I was somewhat interested because I wanted to know what they had to say, but she pointed out to me something that I really didn't fully comprehend.

She pointed out to me how the people no longer use the Bible as a basis for their thinking. People no longer use the Bible as a basis for their thinking. Now, in your lifetime, there was a time when most people in America did use the Bible, have an awareness of the Bible, have an awareness of the values that are expressed in the Bible. Probably if you think back to your parents, whatever age they might be, they probably had some understanding, some feeling that the Bible points out how it is that we should live or think, and especially in the area of marriage.

I think you'd find that that's the case. But as she was pointing out, people no longer use the Bible as a basis for their thinking. How those who believed the Bible – and this is what was being talked about in the program – how those who believed in the Bible were really losing the battle in the issue of marriage, or specifically in same-sex marriage. Which again, seems to be a contradiction in itself, in my thinking. And yet, that again is what this program is about. And actually, one of our Beyond Today hosts, Darris McNeely, wrote a little bit about this same program.

He apparently had seen the same program. He commented on it because they were talking about the culture wars that take place today. And he wrote a little bit about this program that was on Fox News with Bill O'Reilly that Pat and I had been watching. And I wanted to just mention a couple of these comments that Darris had made because he mentioned that he was watching this program. They were discussing the culture wars. And of course, there were a number of different fronts for that. But one of the issues was same-sex marriage.

And as he was pointing out, the traditional voices, people who have been traditionally kind of in line with the Bible, at least to some degree, how they are losing the battle over this very key issue. And he went on in talking about this as they dealt with the topic of same-sex marriage. He says, here, the Bible thumpers are losing the argument. Now, he uses the term Bible thumpers. And I know you can look that up, and that can be somewhat of a derogatory term if people are only pointing at the Bible and not even trying to help you understand.

But in a sense, I guess we certainly want people to look at the Bible. We want people to understand it. We want people to use it as a guide. But he says, here, the Bible thumpers are losing the argument. And he said, this is what O'Reilly was saying. And Darris says, I totally agree with him. I can see that this argument is over in America. And when you think about that, that is just appalling. That is ridiculous. That is utterly off the chart in my way of thinking. And yet, that's why I can hear that. And it doesn't really make a dent until I think about it. And of course, we currently have many situations going on in this country, and decisions made regarding laws or regarding constitutionality and certainly a plea or cry for equality and tolerance.

That is much stronger than the argument that people have for what we see written in the Bible. It says, polls, this is Darris writing, he says, polls show a majority of people accept the gays and lesbians or do equal rights when it comes to marriage. And of course, I think we've even had, over the last year or so, our President make a statement of support of this type of a union.

Recent arguments before the United States Supreme Court seek to establish as a constitutional right and at the same time redefine the traditional definition of marriage. They seek the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act. That's an act that you wonder, why do we have to have a U.S. law that would support the marriage between a man and a woman, but here 17, 18 years ago, that was put into law. It was under fire at that time, and to a degree, I guess they supported it with that act. But that's not the case today. Darris writes, I fully understand the arguments being made for same-sex marriage and that they're in the civil arena.

They are primarily, and this is actually the way that this is suddenly being done. They're in an area that you don't have a lot of defense from. You don't have a way to defend what we might certainly believe from the Bible. The biblical or religious morality of the issue is not even admitted into the debate. They're debating it as just a cultural issue or a civil issue.

It's an unfortunate reality that no Supreme Court justice is going to ask that a friend of the court briefing from the writings of the Apostle Paul on homosexuality be admitted for the justices to consider. That's not going to be the case. They're not going to have the advantage of having that kind of support whenever they are now.

As you know, I think this was last month. They heard what they were going to hear, and they are yet here in another month or so, to make any kind of ruling, any kind of a rendering from the Supreme Court. Again, Darris concludes by saying, however I'm concerned, that the biblical view has been pushed out of the public discussion, and that's a very bad omen for the future.

Make no mistake, the Bible condemns homosexual behavior in clear terms. The Bible also condemns adulterous behavior between heterosexual couples. It also condemns fornication, a completely unknown term to most today, which is sex outside of the marriage covenant. Lastly, the Bible gives clear teaching that marriage between a man and a woman is God's original intent. He has some other comments that I won't read all of that, but I thought this would be a good way to introduce just the topic of why marriage?

And, can we, as defenders of that, as studying students of the Bible, can we defend the concept of why marriage is so important? Since we find marriage under attack in this way, we ought to be familiar with the very clear words of God that show His purpose and His plan for mankind, and specifically regarding marriage. So, I intend to try to cover, in a sense, an overview today regarding marriage as a divine institution that is ordained by God, and be able to show you the Scriptures that I know you're aware of, but to remind you that we have this undermining going on in this country, and we don't want to misunderstand. We want, and I hope not only to give this today, but also be able to give a couple of different sermons that would regard Christian behavior, husbands and wives, to enliven and to energize our marriages themselves.

First of all, whenever we have this powerful discussion, and again in the civil arena, pleading for equality and tolerance and equal rights, that's what's going on. That's how it is being presented, and that actually is brilliant framing from the standpoint of those who are promoting that. It's brilliant framing because, you know, well, there's not an easy defense. If people dismiss the authority of marriage, of a creator, that's what they have to do.

They have to dismiss. Now, this is not even in the discussion. It's not even a part of what is being talked about, but what's missing in the arguments for marriage between a man and a woman, and the pleas from the other side about equality and equal rights, what's missing is that they're dismissing the authority of the creator God. Now, that's not being discussed. That's not something that you could push anybody into really thinking about or believing, and yet that's exactly what you find happening. And, of course, this is revealed in Romans chapter 8. You know, in the book of Romans, there are several different sections that you could go through where Paul makes this very clear.

And yet, I want to just begin here today with recognizing that in order to be able to support an understanding of marriage that we find described in the Bible, you have to believe in the creator God. You have to believe that we've been created and designed and placed on this earth for a reason, for a purpose. And if there is no purpose, then it doesn't matter what people do. But, see, since there is a purpose, and since there is a creator, and since there is a great plan that God is going to bring about, well, then we want to be in line with that.

In Romans 8, verse 7, again, a verse you're very familiar with. It talks about human nature. It talks about being carnally minded, so just being physically minded, as opposed to being spiritually minded. Here in Romans 8, we could start in verse 5, those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on things of the flesh.

Those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. In verse 6, it says, to set the mind on the flesh will only end in one thing, death. To set your mind on the flesh is death, but to set your mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

For in verse 7, for this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh, the carnal human mind that is set on the flesh and set on physical things, and in a sense kind of restricted to physical things, is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, and indeed it can't.

And those who are in the flesh simply cannot please God. Again, I know your new King James, that many of you read, are a little bit different, but it essentially says, it talks about the enmity, the hostility that people have toward the Creator God, the one who made the heavens and the earth, the one who placed this earth where it is within our orb around the sun.

It's talking about individuals being hostile toward God, and it says they are not subject to God's law, not subject to God's authority. They will not submit to that authority. And so in a sense, why are the arguments that are taking place here in the U.S. so effective? Well, they're dealing with a civil court. They're dealing with a civil issue. They're even dealing with a governmental issue that really is not subject to the creation, to the Creator. And I think it's important that we recognize that. See, all of us have faith. Faith in and desire to serve and honor and know our Creator.

That's what we want. That's what we desire. But you need to realize that that is the basis for the way we think, for the way that we live our lives, for the desire. See, we have read this. We've admitted, yes, I know I've been hostile to God's law. Yes, I know that I've been hostile to God, and I don't like to submit to His law. See, that's what we repent of. That's what we repent of, whenever we repent of our sins, that I no longer want to be hostile to God.

I no longer want to be subject. I want to be submitting to His authority in my life to be able to tell me how to live, to tell me what's good for me, to tell me what's bad for me, and to be able to show me and guide me in the way that He wants me to go.

It's amazing to me to see how many people, and I think it has just gotten more and more pervasive. And whether I've realized it or not, it is just stark when you see the contrast between those who submit themselves to the Word of God and those who dismiss the authority of the Creator God.

See, I don't know how anyone can read. We can start reading here in Romans 1. Starting in verse 18, I want to read through the section that certainly many would take great offense with. And yet again, I know it's something that all of us accept, but it takes for granted that we believe in the Creator.

It takes for granted that we believe in the One who set this earth in the Goldilocks Zone, because that's where we are. That's a description for where the earth is in the solar system, in the galaxy, in the universe. It's in the Goldilocks Zone, and of course we know the moon circles the earth.

And we know that we've got several other, and the earth, of course, and several other planets circle the sun. A very tiny little star in this universe, in this galaxy even, and then in the expanse of the universe. But see, this earth, that God fashioned and shaped, and that He set.

Why do they call it the Goldilocks Zone? Well, you go out to Mars, that's a little too cold. You go back to Venus, that's a little too hot. The earth is in the Goldilocks Zone. It's just right. Now, is that just happenstance? Did it just happen that way? Well, you know, I don't believe that. I believe that God shaped and fashioned and formed and placed the earth where He did within this solar system.

And He did that for you. He did that for me. He did that for human existence. He did that because you can't live on Mars, you can't live on Venus, you can't live on the moon, for that matter. They can send people up and they can function within some containment, but they've got to create the right environment or they're all gone.

You see, too many times, we've had problems with either a spaceship or a station that it just ended in doom. But see, this earth is in the right spot. It's in the right spot. It has the right water. You know, water is a primary thing that it really needs and that they would like to find in other parts of the universe, but they don't see where the viability of water is in many places where life could actually be sustained.

And again, this is limiting to the human. I know there are certainly many people who have a far greater understanding of this than me, but see, I can walk outside at night and I can watch the movement of the moon or I can watch the stars and I love to see the constellations, if I can ever identify any of them.

I love to be able to see and see how they move and just know that all of this has been set in place. It's been set in order by the Creator. The Creator, who, when we read in the book of Genesis in chapter 1 and 2, where He set this in order. This wasn't the very beginning of it, of course it began long before that, but He set that a 6,000 years ago. He set in re-creating the earth, in reclaiming the earth and in setting it up where mankind could flourish, where the animal kind flourishes, where the plant kind flourishes and where the human kind could be placed and where they could be nurtured.

And of course when you read that out of dirt, out of the dust of the ground, He shaped and fashioned the man. He shaped and fashioned Adam and he breathed into Adam the life that he would have. And of course out of Adam, he took a rib and created Eve.

And so He created a human kind that was essentially different. Essentially different because this human kind had a great purpose. This human kind was made male and female and they were created and placed here on the earth, the perfect environment, the environment where human beings could exist, where they could live, where they could breathe air.

Let's see, what was their design? What was their potential? Well, their design was they'd been created in the image and in the likeness of God. They'd been created to relate to the God kind. They'd been created to take on the divine nature. And so God set Adam and Eve here on the earth and He set us here, this human race that He has created, He set us here for a vast purpose.

A purpose that is absolutely fabulous. It's wonderful to be aware of that. Again, I know we're aware of it, but we might take it for granted sometimes. We might not fully realize how important it is to know. See, I think this is interesting to see when you read about the creation of God prior to man and prior even to the physical universe that you can look up in the stars and see or you can study about in books.

What had God created prior to that? Well, He created an angelic realm. He created the spirit beings, some archangels and some seraphim and carobim and living creatures and elders that He surrounds His throne with. He created an angelic realm. They were created in an angel kind as He later would make mankind and then of course all of the other kinds as we see revealed in Genesis. But see, the angel kind could never relate to the God kind. The angel kind cannot become the God kind, but mankind has been created for this express purpose of becoming the God kind, of taking on a divine nature.

And of course God not only created us out of dirt, but He gave us a spirit in man so that we're different from animals and then beyond that He created us where we're able to unite with the spirit of whom? Of God. The spirit of the God family. The spirit of God, to know the things of God and to be able to grow, to be a part of the God family or kind.

That's His purpose. That's what He is doing. If you reject that or forget that or don't realize the significance of that, that puts you in a real limited state. Essentially, what we read in Romans 8 was, you're dead. That's all you've got to look forward to. That's it. But of course God, out of love, wants all of us to have eternal life. He wants us to live with Him and to be like Him.

And of course He's set a number of things in order for that to take place. Here in Romans 8, or excuse me, let's go to Romans 1. Romans chapter 1, starting in verse 18, it says, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. And so here Paul is making some explanatory statements about the world in general and about people in Rome and about the people there in the church who were sitting there in Rome and listening to what he had to say.

He says, There are those who in a wicked ungodly way will suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. See, that's what I am grateful for and I thank God for, that He has shown what His purpose is to me and to you.

And ever since the creation of the world in verse 20, His eternal power, His divine nature, invisible, though they are. Yeah, they're invisible. I can't say I see God. I want to see God. I want to be with God. I clearly believe He exists and that He's the Creator of all. But it says His creation, the creation of the world is eternal power. Since the creation of the world is eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things that He has made. So, people are without excuse. There is no excuse except, well, what excuse would people need? Well, they don't really need any excuse. They're simply deceived. They're simply caught up in the Spirit that dominates this world who created the opportunity for Adam and Eve to resist God and actually told them, well, God's lying.

You need to believe me. That's what He told them in Genesis 3. And yet, as this goes ahead to say, people are without excuse. In verse 21, though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, for they became futile in their thinking. And so this is a description of mankind in general and how that unless they acknowledge. And why my first point is you've got to acknowledge the Creator God and the authority of His law. But it says, they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were dark and claiming to be wise. They became fools and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

See, therefore God gave them up in verse 24 to the lust of their hearts, to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. And they worshiped and they served the creation. They served the Creator, or excuse me, the creature creation, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore. Amen. In verse 26, he says, for this reason, God gave them up to degrading passion and their women exchanged their natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men giving up natural intercourse with women were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit, in verse 28, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. And then it goes on to describe all the other evils and problems that mankind suffers from, but see the core of that is not acknowledging the Creator, not acknowledging the authority of the laws of the Creator. And of course, this is the essence of what we want to analyze whenever we think about the whole concept of marriage. Having been designed by God in a particular way, and see God is the one. If we turn to Matthew 19, I want to read one verse here. Matthew 19, and I will solely just state, this comes from a highly authoritative source. This is from the Word. This is from the Son of God. This is from the One who placed men on the earth. This is from the One who knew everything that needed to be known about mankind. And he says in Matthew 19 verse 6, it says, they are no longer two but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate or put asunder. See, now he's talking about, this is Jesus' talking, obviously, he's talking about the concept of marriage, the concept of divorce. And yet what he's talking about is that there's a divine institution where God joins people together. Now, we realize that in this society, and for any of us who have gotten married, we've gotten some type of a legal registration to get married in whatever state, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, New York. We've gotten a marriage license where we were married by under the authority, or at least through the law, of whatever state we were in, wherever we were married. And yet was that the greatest authority? Well, no. That was just complying with the law. That was complying with what we're asked to do, which is follow the law, which would not be wrong to do that. But see, civil authorities and civil governments are not the final word. They're not the final authority. What we read here in verse 6, what God joins together, let not man put asunder.

See, Jesus was pointing out that, well, God is the one who is involved in uniting people, men and women, in the marriage that they enter into when they vow before God to be a part of that marriage. And so God's the one who's the real authority. Now, you know, there is a side of this that is the civil authority. And yet those civil authorities authorize all kinds of unlawful things. They, as I read earlier, you know, they authorize, you know, multiple divorces and remarriage. They authorize all types of affairs that are not godly. And certainly, governments sanction adulterous marriages as well. And actually, when we read, we won't take time. But in Mark 6, if you want to read verse 17 and 18, this is why John lost his head. This is why John the Bob Baptist lost his head because he told Herod and he told Erotius, your marriage is not right in the sight of God. You can think all you want about it and you can make whatever rules you want about it and you can manipulate the government and the system.

And you can say Herodius hated John. She hated him for pointing out that this is not right. This is not according to the law or the word of God. And so I simply point this out as the basis for what we'll cover here in the remainder of the sermon. When we think about God's purpose or we try to answer why marriage? God created man, he created humankind to grow and expand to be a divine family with him.

That was his intent. That was his purpose and he created marriage for men and women so that procreation would exist. There was a time when there were only two human beings on the face of the earth. There later was a time when there were only eight, right after the flood. Today we have 7.2 billion people on earth. God created marriage for men and women so that procreation would occur. And he told them, of course, to be fruitful and multiply. And of course he was going to continue the potential of his divine family expanding.

And of course right now, in a sense, he might be saddened, although I don't know that he is. I think he knew what we would be in as far as the mess we would be in and the need that we would all have to be rescued. And yet he created marriage so that men and women, as they enter into that marriage covenant, you would procreate and there would be an expansion of the human race. And also he designed within marriage a commitment where he creates a foundation in society for stability. This is another reason and purpose why God set in place the male and female to be a part of a marriage, a covenant, an institution, so that there is stability in a society.

And whenever you find that that marriage idea or that marriage definition or a yieldedness to the Creator is not there, as we find in numerous places around the world, you find that society is very unstable. It is not as God would wish. And of course, ultimately, we also see that God's desire in creating marriage was to express his way of love. What is it that he wants us to grow in? Does he want us to be the best Sabbath keepers in the world? Yeah, he does, but that's not the big point. It is a big point in that we observe the Sabbath and we respect that law, and we observe that out of respect for God.

But see, more than that, he wants us all to thrive on the love of God. He wants us to learn to express that love in our marriages, in our families, in our relationships here at church. He wants us to grow in his divine nature.

And of course, Jesus said in John 13 that, you know, what I'm telling you, you've got to learn to love one another. And of course, what we read in 1 Corinthians 15, I'm thankful that Mr. Beyer is going over things that are in the Beatitudes, because those eight attitudes that are described there, we ought to memorize them.

We ought to know them. We ought to be able to list the Ten Commandments not only in our head, but if anybody asks, we ought to be able to know what the Beatitudes are. And of course, he was talking about number two. He was talking about the second one, I think. I believe that's correct, about warning. And yet, we also ought to know what 1 Corinthians 13 says, because this chapter describes the way that God wants every single one of us to live.

And he says there is nothing more important than for us to learn to grow in the love of God. So this is a part of his design for marriage. And see, we ought to be able, and I'm working on it, but I can't exactly quote 1 Corinthians 13. I know what parts of it say, but certainly, we all ought to be focused on that. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 4, and two or three verses in there, says, Love is patient and kind.

He says, love does not. I'm going to have to turn to it here. I can't remember it. It's patient and kind. It is not envious, and it does not boast. And it is not arrogant or rude. Again, the New King James is a little bit different than this, but these descriptions are telling us what the love of God is about. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful.

It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things. It believes all things. It hopes all things. It endures all things. It does not fail. It is permanent. That's why we can read simple descriptions in several places in the Bible that say God is love. These descriptions point out the attitudes and attributes that our marriages should thrive on. Again, of course, if we are applying and growing in those areas. There are plenty of reasons why God created marriage. There are numerous other reasons. These are some of the most obvious ones about why God created mankind in the way he did, male and female, and why he created marriage for them to grow as a family, and for them to be able to learn to grow in the love of God.

As we see here in 1 Corinthians 13, if the love of God just flowed out from us, we'd be a very happy person. We'd have a very, very happy mate. That would be the case. We ought to be shooting for that.

So let's look at the other verses that we could all use to support the concept of marriage as it is under attack today. What does God state to be His purpose regarding marriage? Well, if we look back in Genesis 1, I've kind of referred to these things in this introduction. But here in Genesis 1, in verse 27, God says in verse 26, let us make mankind in our image according to our likeness. That was His intent. That was His design. In verse 27, God created mankind, humankind in His image. In the image of God, He created the male and female, created He them. And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. So this was by God's design. It was by His institution. And in chapter 2 in verse 18, you see a description. Verse 15, I guess it is, of chapter 2. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And He commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall die. And in verse 18, and yet it's not good that man would be alone. I will make him a help who is comparable to him. And so out of the ground, Lord God formed every animal of the field. He brought them to Adam. Adam gave them names.

And yet in verse 20, that was not found, a helper for man. And so in verse 21, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon man, and He slept. And then He took one of Adam's ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And from the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, He made into a woman. And He brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is at last His bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

This one will be called woman because she was taken out of man. And therefore a man leaves. So here He says, therefore, having created male and female, having created them for an express purpose of relating to the God-kind, male being able to do that, female being able to do that. He says, therefore a man shall leave his father, and shall leave his mother, again showing a design of the family that was male and female, but a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall, so this man shall cleave or cling to his wife. Again, a male and female, and they become one flesh.

And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed. This obviously is prior to what we read in Genesis 3, where sin enters the picture as far as man is concerned, and then everything is corrupted. Everything is in disarray because of the sin of people not paying attention, in this case only two people not paying attention to the Creator God.

And yet we find here in this description that by God's design, men and women were created male and female, and they were given the institution of marriage. It was ordained by God. He's the one who created it. He's the one who designed it. And of course, as we read here in Matthew chapter 19, which we can go to again, in Matthew 19 you find the very definitive statements of Jesus Christ.

When he was asked in verse 3 by the Pharisees, they were trying to trick him. He says, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause? Again, even they were familiar with what the Word of God said and what God's design was like, and what his intention was in marriage for men and women to be married. And their question was actually trying to get around some of the technicality of it.

They said, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause? And Jesus answers, Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning, the one who was their Creator, the one who designed and laid out the pattern for human life, and the one who was able to sanctify, and the one who could set apart marriage and actually cause men and women to be drawn together in a union that had so much purpose?

Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning made them male and female? And he said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, what God unites, what he draws together in the marriage union, let no one, let not man, put us under.

And of course they went ahead to say, Well, why did Moses give us a writing of divorcement, of dismissal, where they could divorce? And he said, Well, it was because you were so hard-hearted. Because man would not respect the Creator, because man would not yield to the Creator, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives.

So Jesus was able to answer their question. They weren't able to trick him. They weren't able to cause him to stumble. He could very clearly definitively say what the facts were. Believe them or not, this is what so many people resist. This is what they reject, that the creation of God has been designed and made in such a way that it promotes growth toward the divine family. He says Moses allowed divorce because you are so hard-hearted. You are so corrupt and carnal in your obsessive desire for selfishness.

That's what he told him. Let's see, what does his statement conclude with? Moses let you do that, but from the beginning it was not so. From the beginning that we read in Genesis 1 and 2, where man was put on the earth male and female, of course we know the two commandments, the ten commandments, directly safeguard the marriage union, that of adultery and that of coveting, specifically state.

God's design in Exodus 20. We won't go through those. I want us to go to Ephesians 5, though, and again I said I would try to cover more of what we see written regarding husbands and wives and how we can truly thrive, how we can truly be energized in our marriages so that we are fulfilling God's purpose for our lives and for our marriage.

Now those are things that we can go through here later, but I do want to point out what Jesus designated and actually what Paul writes about, because in discussing the Christian household, Paul in Ephesians 5, he shows that God views marriage as a union, a union between man and woman, a union that is like a union that Jesus Christ and His Church are to have.

Starting in verse 29, he says, no one hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it just as Christ nourishes and cares for the Church. See, Paul is going to make a statement here that to those who may have heard it, they may have wondered what is he talking about. I'm sure all of you know what this is talking about, because we've had this available to us for some time, and we probably believed that before we were ever married, or maybe even as we were brought in to be a part of the Church of God. But see, this was new information to many who were receiving this, and he even says, I know this is pretty mysterious. This is not the easiest thing to understand.

But he says, Christ nourishes and tenderly cares for the Church because we, the Church, are members of his body. We are to be in union with Jesus Christ. We are to be in unison with one another, not only in this congregation, in this fellowship of ours, but in our relationship with Jesus Christ. For this reason, he says in verse 31, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. And yet, he says here in verse 32, this is a great mystery. This is a great mystery. This is hard to understand description, and yet I am applying it to Christ and the Church.

And so here he makes a statement that, again, it's often misunderstood, and certainly clearly misunderstood by this world. It would not be accepted by many people that the marriage relationship of husband and wife has been designed by God, ordained by God, and there is a lesson we are learning by being subject to Christ as the head of the Church. We are learning to do that. We are learning the value of that, the significance of that, and that there is a marriage that is going to be taking place here in Revelation 19. This is at the time when Christ is going to intervene in world affairs when he's going to stop the hurting. He's going to stop the crying. He's going to stop the aching that this world is groaning with. He's going to put that to an end, and yet it says in chapter 19, and of course this is talking of Christ's return and his intervention and many of the things that he is going to do to rearrange the earth and rearrange people. People who are then going to acknowledge him as the Creator. They're going to acknowledge him with all authority and with all power. And it says in verse 6, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, Almighty reigns, let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come. And his bride, the bride of the Lamb, has made herself ready. And to her it's been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure.

And this fine linen is the righteousness, or the righteous deeds, of the saints.

And the angel said, Write this down, because blessed are those who were invited. Blessed are those who were called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. See, obviously that's yet in the future. That's something we're preparing for now. We yearn to be a part of that bride, a part of the bride who is learning to do righteousness and righteous deeds at this time. But still, we see a relationship of a family structure in a future family relationship that God desires to expand throughout the thousand years beyond that. This is written at the time when Christ would intervene a thousand years yet to be here on earth in a period of time after that for others to be resurrected. But then ultimately it will go into eternity that this family of God will continue to expand. And much of that is caught up in an understanding of the value and the importance and the significance and the meaning and the purpose for which God created marriage between male and female. And I know many people wouldn't accept what we've just read today. They wouldn't agree with it. They wouldn't think that that's not right. But I hope that all of you do. I believe you do because I think you have every reason to believe that. And yet we want to be able to give a hope or an answer of the hope that lies within us. We want to be able to know. We don't want to be undermined. We don't want to be attacked by others who misunderstand the Scripture.

But as Christians, we have a blessing of believing God. And it's absolutely a fabulous bell blessing. A blessing that we often take for granted. A blessing we may not fully even understand and be thankful enough for. But we have a blessing of believing the Creator and believing His purpose for mankind and believing His purpose for marriage and instituting the marriage relationship that even though it's going to continue to be under attack, I'm sure it's going to be even far worse. I'm sure it's going to get much worse than what we find today in this country. And clearly, it's under attack in many other parts of the world.

But what can we do? Well, we can certainly remain true to the Word of God, because this is what He says. We can live our lives as an example of God's good in an acceptable and perfect way.

We can energize our own marriages. We can be thankful that God created marriage and that He did so in such a way that it achieves His purpose. His purpose for us. His purpose for each of us, but ultimately His purpose for overall. And we can certainly reach out to others with truth and love that is in Jesus Christ. And we don't have to hate other people for not understanding. We don't have to. There can certainly be a difference of opinion.

We don't have to hate other people. We can love other people, but the facts are on our side. The facts are what we just read in the pages of the Bible. So we want to remember that when it comes to the institution of marriage, we read here in Hebrews chapter 13.

This will be our concluding scripture, madam piano player.

We want to remain true to the Word of God, live our lives in accordance with His instruction, reach out to others in truth and love. But we always want to remember when it comes to the institution of marriage, what we read here in Hebrews 11 or excuse me, Hebrews 13, verse 4. Paul concludes, or whoever wrote, Hebrews concludes with some varying statements about many different things. But here in verse 4 he says, let marriage be held in honor.

Let marriage be held in the highest honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. To his statement is a concluding statement of what he was writing in the book, and it wasn't directly tied in with everything else he had there, but he certainly wanted to reinforce the understanding that we all have and that the Word of God gives us regarding God's purpose for man and regarding His purpose for marriage and regarding the sanctity of the institution of marriage and the fact that it's ordained by God and that it should be held in the highest, highest honor and not disrespect as we see you know so many people project today. So I look forward to being able to talk a little more about this over the next few times that I will have opportunity to speak, but I'm thankful to see all of you today and hope that you have a joyous remainder of the Sabbath.