Written by IN THE BEGINNING
The book of Genesis is one of my favorite books in the Bible, because it explains so much about the world we live in today. It explains where the universe came from. It explains why the world contains such beauty and love, and also such suffering and evil. Genesis shows us why we have a seven day week and explains why there are millions of fossils buried in sedimentary rock layers all over the earth. It explains why there exist a multitude of languages and ethnic groups. And in Genesis, we find that marriage was God’s idea.
Everything was very good at the beginning of creation. There was no disease, suffering, or death. And God showed man that it wasn’t good for him to be alone. God created woman and joined the man and woman together with the intention that they would be one flesh, and that they would be fruitful and multiply. Imagine a world with no broken marriages!
Jesus referenced Genesis when He was tested by the Pharisees regarding His position on divorce, as recorded in Mark 10:2-12 (ESV):
2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,[a] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
This exchange was also recorded in Matthew 19:3-12, where Jesus included the exception of sexual immorality.
What we see from a straightforward reading of both Genesis and the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees is that God’s intention was for a man and woman to be united in marriage permanently. Later, Paul explains that marriage ends with the death of a spouse (Romans 7:2), but recall that there was no death in the Garden of Eden when the first marriage began.
BE FULLY CONVINCED
Paul tells us in Romans 14:5 to be fully convinced in our own mind regarding what we believe to be true. I am fully convinced that God the Father desires a pure and spotless Bride – His church – for His Son, Jesus. I am fully convinced that Jesus, who died on the cross to cleanse us from all sin, is coming back to Earth to receive His bride unto Himself, and the two will be together forever. And I am fully convinced that God does not want a church plagued by divorce and remarriage among the body of Christ.
Let us now not disqualify that which we are fully convinced of by quoting exceptions or pointing fingers. This is a sensitive subject, as I discovered when I taught my first breakout class on divorce and remarriage at an international family conference. I would have hoped the room filled up with young singles or married couples who were eager to be strengthened in the Biblical truths of God’s design for healthy marriages. Instead, the room filled up with hurting and broken humans who had been through difficult divorces and betrayals. Instead of a classroom teaching setting, with chairs facing the front where I would stand with a podium, I had all the chairs moved into a large circle that took up the whole room. There we sat and I shared, but we all hurt together.
IN ONE GENERATION
I am fully convinced that God wants to and can remove divorce and remarriage from the church in one generation. The question I posed to that breakout room full of hurting and broken humans is the same I pose to the whole church: Will we move forward now toward becoming that Body which has no divorce and remarriage? Will the one who is divorced but not remarried either be reconciled with the former spouse or remain unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:11)? Will those who are divorced and remarried repent and seek forgiveness? Will the Biblical requirements for elders and deacons be upheld, that they should be the husband of one wife? Will the elders teach about vows and God’s design for healthy marriages, warning the flock about the devastations of breaking covenant? Will the older generation prepare the next generation to avoid the traps of the enemy and to walk into marriage more prepared and fully convinced that they are in it “till death do us part”?
THE END
My other favorite book of the Bible is the book of Revelation. In it, we find God restoring the heavens and earth to the way He intended in the beginning. No more tears, pain, or death! There also won’t be marriage in the new heavens and the new earth – we won’t need that picture anymore to show us Jesus and His relationship to the church, for we shall experience it in fullness. No more looking dimly through a mirror! Until that day though, I urge you to speak out, teach, exhort, encourage, rebuke – ALL IN LOVE AND HUMILITY – unto preparing the Bride of Christ for His glorious return.
STAY MARRIED. 