What are some truths we believe about God?
We believe that God is the creator, the Father of all things.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV) says,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 2:7 (NIV) says,
"...the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
We believe that God is relational.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are a community, what theologians call the trinity. Genesis 1:2 (NIV) says that in the beginning, "...the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." John 1:1-3 (NIV) says of Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." 1 Corinthians 8:6 (NIV) says, "...for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
We also believe in the oneness of God.
Oneness reflects the unity with which God speaks, the Spirit moves, and the Son creates. They're one in relationship, one in spirit, and one in purpose. In John 5:19 (NIV) Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." In Genesis 1:26 (NIV) the Father/Son/Spirit says, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." They are one.
We believe in the goodness of God.
As God creates everything, he declares everything good. The light which includes the sun, moon, and stars, the land which includes the land and sea, the plants, and the animals. God even declares mankind as being very good. It's all good.
We believe that God created us, male and female, to reflect his image.
Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV) says,
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.' "
In
Genesis 2:22-24 (NIV) God brings them together in marriage.
"...he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of a man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
In
Matthew 19:4-6 (NIV) Jesus refers back to
Genesis 2.
"... at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh?' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate."
So why does any of this matter? I'm so glad you asked!
(1) God creates us male and female to reflect his image. Yes, God has staked something of his glory on this thing we call marriage.
(2) He creates us male and female to reflect his goodness, his holy character.
(3) He creates us male and female to reflect his oneness. Just as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one, so husband and wife, male and female are to be one.
(4) He creates us male and female for lifelong companionship. In
Genesis 2:18 (NIV) God says,
"It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Just as God exists in relationship, he created us to exist in relationships.
(5) And God creates us male and female to bring forth new life, godly offspring. In
Genesis 1:28 (NIV) God blesses the male and female, and declares,
"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."
The United Nations declared marriage to be the nucleus of society.
If the nucleus is healthy, the cell is healthy, and society is healthy. But this begs the question, what is the state of marriage today? Is the nucleus, the most fundamental building block of a stable, healthy, and godly society, healthy? Here's what I see happening in our world.
(1) First of all, it's no longer male and female. The fundamental nature of marriage itself is undergoing experimentation and redefinition.
(2) Second, most couples question whether marriage is even necessary, let alone good. Marriage is an act of last resort. It's seen as the death of sexual freedom.
(3) Third, the battle of the sexes rages on. There is no oneness in spirit and purpose. The man has his career; the wife hers. It's belittling to speak of one serving the other, of one submitting to the other or to God. So they operate independently of one another. Often the wife gets sole responsibility of her career and all of the homemaking.
(4) Fourth, marriages are rarely about lifelong companionship anymore. Marriage is just for a while-- while we're raising kids, while we're in love, while there's passion, while it's convenient, while we're healthy, and while it's interesting.
(5) Finally, families desiring godly offspring, and offspring in general, are often derided. You want to have how many babies? Don't you care about the environment, about the size of a human's carbon footprint over a lifetime, about overpopulation? You're a stay at home mom? You home school? You pray as a family? You read your Bible?
If you turn on the television, you know what being male and female is all about. It's about one thing, and one thing only. Not honoring God, but sexual gratification. What we're seeing in America is what Malachi saw in Judah.
First, there was gross betrayal.
Remember in
Malachi 1:6 (NIV) when God asks,
"If I am a father, where is the honor due me?" In
Malachi 2:10-12 (NIV) Malachi says,
"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another? Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob-- even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty."
The men of Judah were divorcing their Jewish wives, but not for biblical reasons. We often see the same today. Men are divorcing their wives, but not for biblical reasons. If a Persian woman was more attractive, or seemed morally weak, or if he was seduced into her sometimes erotic cult worship, or if her family had great wealth, and it appeared economically advantageous to do so, they'd divorce their wives. The men of Judah valued the attractiveness of Persian women over demonstrating faithfulness in honoring and serving God.
Second, there was gross hypocrisy.
Malachi 2:13-14 (NIV) says,
"Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, 'Why?' It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant."
The men of Judah had a warped view of grace. They would brazenly sin, brazenly commit adultery, shamelessly engage in sexual immorality, and wreak havoc on their wives, children,and families, but then have the audacity to come crying back to the altar asking for God's blessing! The men of Judah presumed that God would bless their disobedience and bless their sinful unions. But God saw through their fake tears, and he always does.
Third, there was gross compromise.
Malachi 2:15
(NIV) says,
"Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth."
Instead of guarding their marriages from danger, the men of Judah were opportunistic. They allowed themselves to be tempted, enticed, seduced, led astray, and destroyed. Instead of fleeing sexual immorality, they entertained it.
Fourth, there was gross violence.
Malachi 2:16 (NIV) says,
" 'I hate divorce,' says the LORD God of Israel, 'and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,' says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith."
One of the consequences of sexual immorality is violence. Psychologically and emotionally, the pain of betrayal is virtually unbearable. The most brutal murders, in which a person is stabbed over and over and over, are often linked to a broken sexual relationship, or some act of betrayal. Domestic violence is highest in those relationships where there is sexual union, but no marital union. Crime rates and violence are highest among children coming out of broken homes. There is the strongest possible statistical link between divorce and poverty, infidelity and poverty, and fornication and poverty.
I want to offer some guidance on this subject of divorce.
First, we need to stop lying to ourselves about divorce. A lot of people are angry to hear that God hates divorce. But let me ask you, who doesn't hate divorce? I don't know anyone who loves divorce, do you? We need to have the same attitude about things that God has. First and foremost, repentance is adopting God's attitude about sin.
Second, the Lord almighty implores us to guard ourselves in our spirit. He says it over and over. Before divorce is ever an act, it's a thought. And it's never the result of a single thought, but a chain of thoughts that is fed and fueled by lustful desire, a leering eye, flirting, playing, pornography, or self-gratification. The Bible says to flee from sexual immorality. So what does this mean for you? It means unplug the music. Detox your DVD collection. Eliminate cable channels. Throw out magazines. Buy filtering software for the internet. Change your routine. Change your job if necessary. Move to another city if you have to. Seek counseling. Seek accountability.
Third, the Lord almighty implores us to not break faith. At the end of the day, this is our choice. No matter what God says, no matter what I say, no matter what anyone says, you will ultimately do what you want to do. Some of the men of Judah repented, but many of them continued sinning. What do you want to do?
Fourth, remember that the Lord is acting as a witness.
Hebrews 13:4 (NIV) warns,
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." What's at stake when we sin is the very glory, the very honor of God. At the end of the day God asks all of us the same question that's in
Malachi 1:6 (NIV).
"If I am father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?"
Finally, in Christ, we find perfect love embodied. This is love not between male and female, but between God and Israel, and between Christ and his Church. Ephesians 5:22-33 (NIV) says, "Wives, submit to our husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."
May we have this love in ourselves.