God, in His wisdom, created and ordained three institutions for society: the church, the government and the family, with the first institution being the family. As scripture teaches, the foundation of the family unit is marriage between a husband (male) and wife (female) (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18, 2:20-24). It is not by accident that God’s first act after creation was to pronounce Adam and Eve man and wife. Marriage was not the government’s idea; it came from God. As a result of marriage coming from God, it is good despite our negatives experiences.
Often, at weddings, the officiating Pastor will conclude the ceremony by stating “I now pronounce you man and wife. What God has joined together, let no man separate”. We know that God intends marriage to be permanent because of what Jesus states in Matthew 19:4-6. At the time of your wedding, God glues the oneness of flesh three ways: spiritually (I do), physically (sex) and emotionally. This is why we must teach and insist to our children that they wait for physical intimacy until marriage. This teaching is not puritanical, it is God’s wisdom. Sexual intimacy is God’s good gift to husbands and wives and is to be confined to marriage. (Hebrews 13:4) This is why I tell Christian couples not to live together without covenanting in marriage.
Now, you may be in your second or third marriage. Maybe your past divorce was biblical or perhaps it was unbiblical. Either way, God’s plan is for you to stay in your current marriage despite whatever conflict(s) you encounter. As Matthew 19:9 states, the only scriptural allowance is when a spouse has been unfaithful. Brothers and sisters, God intends for your marriage to endure the fires of relational conflict, to persevere during the iciness of cold hearts, to persist thru emotional distance and to continue even when angry words are spoken that should not be uttered. During times of conflict, do not ever throw the divorce word around to manipulate, control or scare your spouse. Instead, commit to one another (and your kids) that you will model what it means to work through conflict in a biblical way. Christian, you will not always be happy with your marriage, and you will, at times argue. But, if you build your marriage on God’s word, you will NEVER be led astray!
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