Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Would you agree that one of the most celebrative moments, in our human journey, is when a hopeful bride and courageous groom covenant themselves to each other and to God, in a God honoring marriage ceremony? Probably you have attended many weddings, perhaps you’ve been involved as a bridesmaid or groomsman witness. Maybe you’ve given your daughter’s hand in marriage! Or watched your son receive his bride from her parents? When the moment comes in the ceremony for the proclamation of those sacred vows and then the giving of those rings… it really is a holy time isn’t it?
That’s why it is so heartbreaking when you hear the news of friends, whose marriage vows you witnessed, deciding to walk away from those vows and separate or divorce. Did you know Paul’s letter to his Corinthian friends speaks to that issue? Why? Because it was a big problem in the first century, as it is almost everywhere in our world today. Paul was responding to a letter he had received from Corinth and the verbal explanation the letter bearer had given to Paul. It was sad news. Some of those Christians Paul had led to Jesus were apparently abandoning their marriage covenant!
Listen to Paul: “ Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry! But since there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” (1 Cor. 7:1,2) Is Paul serious? Does Paul really mean men should not marry?
From what history tells us there is no evidence Paul ever married or had a family. We do know, however, that the disciple Peter was married (Mark 1:30) and at no time did Jesus even hint that men should not marry. In fact, Genesis 2:18 makes a bold statement: “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper for him.” And of course, God created Eve and brought Adam and Eve together in the first marriage!
So, what do you suppose Paul meant by his radical statement? I believe Paul could have said it a different way, perhaps like this: “It has been good for me that I am not married considering the life I have lived. It would have been very difficult and painful for me and my wife, for I have spent so much time in very difficult travel, and I’ve been imprisoned, beaten, and even stoned and left for dead. Had I been married either my wife would have remained behind, and we would have been separated for months and even years at a time, or she may have died along the way, sharing in my extreme suffering.” So, perhaps it might have been more helpful if Paul had said something like this: “In some cases it is better for a man not to marry.”
I’m so glad the Bible is very clear about the reality of our human journey, aren’t you? God understands us because God designed the human species. In addition, God fully understands the cataclysmic, destructive impact SIN has had on the wonderful, beautiful, holy design God has for how men and women should view each other, be attracted to each other and function well together in marriage. Did you notice Paul’s choice of words describing the moral dysfunction of humanity? “But since there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” We understand, don’t we?
Paul is simply saying the human race is morally out of control, we lack even basic decency in the way we look at, speak to, and act toward others of the opposite gender. Now I ask you my friends, is Paul exaggerating things here, is he being overly dramatic or pessimistic as you watch our world, no matter where you live? Do you remember God’s description of how Adam and Eve related to each other in the garden BEFORE their sin? “The man and his wife were both naked and felt no shame.” (Gen. 2:25) Do you hear purity and integrity?
The damage of Adam and Eve’s mistrust of God and their invitation for Satan to enter their utopia, Eden, was irreversible and terribly destructive. The very first damage was SHAME in their marriage! Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves…” For the first time Adam and Eve experienced emotions they’d never felt, and their natural response was to pull away from each other. But they also pulled away from God, didn’t they? Gen. 3:8 says: “and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” We don’t know how long Adam and Eve had lived in that perfect God made utopia, but on that day, they believed Satan’s lie and took the forbidden fruit and ate of it, and everything began to change.
The way they looked at each other, and how they felt in the presence of each other, and even how they felt about God changed forever. Shame, embarrassment, confusion, anger, blame, fear. How do I know? The fig leaves were just the beginning. Next was hiding in FEAR when they heard God coming. Oh, what a terrible change. Previously God had evidently come often into the garden to be with them, speak with them, enjoy these two wonderful humans God had made in His image… but now, they hid, afraid and ashamed.
And then do you see what happened next? BLAME! Do you see it? “The LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ Adam answered, ‘I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’ The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ Then the LORD said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:9-13)
Do you see it my friends? God’s questions were not because He was uniformed or ignorant of what had happened. God is all knowing, Omniscient. God was calling Adam and Eve to be honest with themselves and with Him. They were the only two humans in existence. Made in His image, God loved them very much and their relationship had been only truth, honesty, loving integrity and full transparency, up to that moment. But do you see what they both did . . . HID from God in FEAR, SHAME and BLAME!
And as we all know, from that day to this, the devastating effects of sin have only compounded to the point that our human race is now so very, very far away from the purity, integrity, and holy love Adam and Eve first shared. Every aspect of the beautiful relationship they had with each other and with God has been profoundly damaged so that now it is sadly very rare that a loving marriage relationship lasts a lifetime, honors God, and is mutually respectful and beneficial, bringing endless delight to both husband and wife, and great joy to their Creator.
LUST has replaced God honoring LOVE and RESPECT for each other, and lust unrestrained results in sexual immorality casting aside any restraint in pursuit of selfishness. In Ephesus, Corinth, and most every city in the first century when Paul was writing this letter, immorality was out of control, even among some Christians! Paul was very concerned that these new Christians in Corinth evidently were unable to apply Biblical principles and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their lives for building God honoring marriages and rejecting lustful immorality.
I’d like us to pause right here and contemplate how far relationships, both between married husband and wife, and between women and men in general, have drifted away from God’s design for honorable, mutually respectful relationships. Look at your city, my friends, your extended family, even your church…what do you see, and what do you think God sees?
And tomorrow we’ll come right back here and dig more deeply into Paul’s very straightforward and powerful letter on this very important topic.
Today’s Scriptures are 1 Cor. 7:1, 2 and Gen.2.
Choose below to read or listen.
1 Cor. 7:1, 2
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Gen. 2
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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