Friday, May 24

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For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.  - Ephesians 5:31

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  - Genesis 2:24

These two passages (the one from Ephesians in the New Testament is quoting the text from Genesis), point us to the essence of marriage from the Biblical perspective.  Embedded in these texts is an assumption that is being seriously challenged in our culture today - that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman for life.  

The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), was passed by large majorities in the House and Senate in 1996. It was signed into law by President Clinton and through it, the federal government defines marriage exclusively as the union of a man and a woman. It also explicitly reads that a state must not recognize same-sex unions conducted in another state.  However, politicians in our own state, along with many others, are currently debating the constitutionality of DOMA, and there is a growing movement to redefine marriage in order to include same-sex unions.

More and more commentators are saying that we have passed the tipping point on same-sex marriage in the United States.  Almost daily another politician or public figure stands before a microphone to declare his or her support. It is easy to feel like the horse is already out of the barn and the cultural paradigm has already shifted.  Whether or not same sex marriage is a politically lost cause, I don't know.  But this is really not the point.   

The fact that as a Christian I may want the government to apply the teachings of Scripture to our civil laws certainly does not mean that it will do so.  In fact, there are a whole host of issues in which this is already the case; abortion, adultery, drunkenness, usury, profanity, pornography, etc. All are legal in our society (some with restrictions), but this does not mean that a Christian is free to engage in them, nor does it mean that I have to agree with them as acceptable behaviors. 

As Christians, we are called to avoid the temptation to think like the crowd and we are not merely to base our beliefs on what’s happening or trending in the culture. 

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!    - Ephesians 4:17-20

God’s Word is to be our guide for what is the best way to live and what justice truly looks like. So, as we think through the issue of redefining marriage, the most important question we can ask is, “What does the Bible say?”

This question is important for several reasons.  It is important because of the fact that there are so many other voices in our culture, all shouting that they have the correct perspective on this issue.  We need the anchor of God’s Word to hold us firm amidst all of waves of cultural opinion.  It is also important because as Christians, we believe that marriage has already been defined by God, and His Word does not need redefinition!  It is not for us, nor for any social group or government to change, alter or redefine what God has already made clear in His Word.

The Christian perspective on marriage is not rooted in culture or in church tradition, but in the very creation account itself.  God made man and woman in His image.  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  (Genesis 1:27)  The point here is that both maleness and femaleness reflect the image of God.  This does NOT mean that God is a female any more than it means that God is a human male.  God is beyond such gender categories.  When a man and a woman come together in a covenant relationship for life, they reflect the divine nature of God in a very unique way.  This is what the Bible defines as “marriage”.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”...So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.   - Genesis 2:18, 21-24

From a biblical standpoint, at the heart of our understanding of marriage is that it was designed to be a picture of Christ’s relationship with His bride, the church. Ultimately, it’s not about loving who we want to love, or living how we want to live, or demanding our civil rights as much as it’s about putting the great mystery of Christ’s passionate love for His bride on display.

because we are members of his body. “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.  - Ephesians 5:30-32

In the final analysis, we must remember that the church’s ultimate mission in the world is not to defeat same-sex marriage.  I think that there are far too many Christians who feel that everything hangs in the balance on this one issue. Let’s keep preaching, persevering, pursuing joy, and praying for people.  The Gospel is the only hope we have for hearts to be made new.  Those who embrace a different agenda or lifestyle may not be persuaded by our point of view, but they may be influenced by our compassion, our love, and the grace of Christ displayed in our actions.  After all, there is still a God in heaven who can transform lives with His irresistible grace!

Jeff Frazier