Marriage and God’s Plan
Pastor Glenn Newton April 25, 2004
Text: HEB 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
25 years ago a Pastor would not have even thought about talking about what I’m going to talk about this morning. I’m not going to spend the whole message on it, but today we are waged in a culture war, and what was unthinkable just 20-25 years ago we are watching come to pass. What am I talking about you ask? The Institution of Marriage is under attack by the “homosexual” agenda, and those forces that would like to undermine God’s Word and His authority.
Let me make it clear where we stand, the Church of the Nazarene takes a very strong stand against homosexuality, it’s a sin plainly stated in Scripture, it’s a person’s choice to live in that sin. It can be forgiven… Amen? We stand up against sin, we love people… we understand that difference don’t we? Many homosexuals are being saved and coming out of that sinful lifestyle, and we say Praise God for that…. But there are those who would take their sinful lifestyle and attempt to push it into our culture as being normal, and even as being some kind of civil right.
This issue came to a head in late 2003, when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s unelected, anaccountable judges essentially mandated that the state legislature enact a law that would make homosexual “marraiage” a reality.
Then in February of this year. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom took things a step farther when he authorized city officials to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Thousands of gays and lesbians from around the world descended on the courthouse in an effort to have their unions “recognized.” The mayor’s decision to grant bogus marriage licenses was particularly disturbing because if flew directly in the face of California’s Proposistion 22 which provides that only marriage between a man and a women is valid in the state. That proposition passed by an overwhelming majority of 61% of the voters in 2000.
Where do we stand now? Our President has responded to this chaos by voicing his support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one women. This amendment would keep State Supreme Courts and Radical Mayors from trying to force their ungodly ideas about marriage into our lives and in the lives of those in our country. I challenge you to get involved in this fight for a Biblical definition of marriage and study for yourself what’s going on, and pray that our leaders will have the guts to stand up for truth and pass this Constitutional amendment supporting a Biblical view of marriage.
Why is all this important? Because this will affect your family, and my family. The study of history and anthropology tells us that no human society, ancient or modern, has ever sustained itself by embracing a family model that deviates from God’s design.
This morning, let’s talk about marriage and God’s plan for us.
“GE 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
GE 2:23 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 man."
GE 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
God’s plan from the very beginning was for man to have a helper, a soul-mate, someone to share life with. This union was special, it is ordained by God. In verse 24, it says this, 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
One of the things that makes marriage so important is the covenant relationship that the couple enters into. When two people come together to be married, it’s not a contract… it’s not like we are signing a rental agreement…. Where if you break your side of the deal, then I can break my contract and were done. That’s exactly how many people approach marriage, and that is wrong, that’s not what God has intended at all.
A covenant is made between man and God. When a couple comes before the Lord in a marriage ceremony, they are entering into a holy covenant with God and with their spouse. This covenant recognizes God as the head of this union, and the covenant recognizes the commitment between man and women as being bonded together by God… it’s a forever kind of commitment… it’s the kind of commitment we neeed in our marriages today.
One part of this commitment involves our families. Scripture says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” V. 24
Have you wondered why God put that into scripture?
When you get married, your first obligation is to your husband or to your wife, not to your parents. That relationship between your mom and dad has changed the day you get married. How many marriages have been strangled to death by Mama’s apron strings?
Friends, if your parents are having an adverse influence on your marriage relationship then you need to correct the situation, gently and with love. There has been times in our marriage, where I have had to talk to my parents, and Nola has talked to her parents about boundaries, and the fact that we are making our own way and we appreciate their advice, but they are not our instructors anymore, we have formed our own family. Remember to be gentle, this is hard to swallow for parents.
When you work with teenagers you learn very quickly that they want answers and you have to be direct, since they probably know the right answer anyway, there just seeing if you do. But one area that comes up because of the great pressure that our society has applied is the area of sexual purity.
As I have said to my girls, Sex isn’t a bad word, God created it and said it was good! But, the key is Sex is for the married person, sex outside of the marriage commitment is sin, plain and simple.
: HEB 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Sexual intercourse is the marriage act, God intended this for those who have committed themselves to each other, and no other. If you are sinning sexually, you are not only hurting yourself, you are hurting those you are sinning with.
God wants to bring healing to those who are hurting, God wants to forgive those who have fallen into this trap. God loves us, that’s why He gives us rules to live by.
We live in a society where sex outside of marriage is common place, living together, moving from one relationship to another…. Friends can you look around and see the damage that this selfish kind of lifestyle has had on our society, our families, our country?
As a church, here’s our message….. We believe in what God’s Word Teaches, marriage is a special union between a man and a women. We believe that sex outside of this blessed union is a sin that destroys the lives of everyone involved. We also believe that God can and wants to forgive those who find themselves living outside His will in this area….. He wants to bring healing and peace into your lives if you will let him.
One of the highest goals that I have for New Hope is that we help strengthen our families, our marriages, our homes… and that we help bring healing and hope to those who need forgiveness and a new start.
God’s plan for marriage is a Holy Union between Himself and the man and women, it’s a covenant relationship that is special and needs to be honored. God’s plan for us is to follow His Word and be obedient to what we know is true.
Will you follow God’s Plan for marriage? Are you honoring God in your marriage? In your relationships? Today, you can set the coarse for the rest of your life, by turning to Him and asking Him to put you on the right path… Will you do that today?
Close.
