By Andy Diestelkamp
When God created the intimate companionship of marriage, He declared that “a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). This divine statement reveals God’s intent for marriage. Jesus confirms this when challenged on the touchy subject of divorce (Matt. 19:3-5). Take special note of His interpretive addendum. “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate” (vs. 6).
In short, Jesus’s answer to the question of whether or not it was “lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason” was no. Why? Because “From the beginning it was not so” (vs. 8). It separated what God joined together and meant to be permanent.
Before the church, before the Law of Moses, before sin entered the world, God created the intimate companionship of marriage as the context in which offspring would be conceived, born, nurtured, and otherwise prepared for an eternal relationship with Him. Even though marriages would not be left unscathed by sin, thousands of years later Jesus still pointed sinners back to God’s original intent for marriage. We must do the same. Failure to do this has resulted in much of what ails our culture, and we will not right our course until we begin to honor marriage as God intended.
Yet, there are other consequences of failing to teach and live these ideals in marriage. Throughout Scripture, the marriage and parent/child relationships are used to picture our relationship with God. In the Old Testament God called Himself a husband to Israel, and in the New Testament God is frequently called “Father.” When men fail to lead and fail to be the kinds of husbands and fathers they should be, they not only sin but ruin a divine metaphor and give occasion for many to blaspheme God.
So it is critical that husbands and fathers understand the roles to which they have been called. The companionship of marriage and family is not just a pleasant pastime for this sojourn. It is supposed to be a foretaste of our eternal companionship with God. When men selfishly fail to model Christ’s love in their homes (Eph. 5:25-6:4), they set a course for Hell for themselves, and, potentially, for generations to come.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word”
Eph. 5:25, 26)
This bulletin is being published for the purpose of encouraging a further study of the Word of God. Editor – Josh Liggin
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