Marriage as a Picture
We all know that the institution of marriage has been under attack for a number of years, but it has really amped up to levels that would’ve been unimaginable, not that long ago. Satan, the enemy, has been trying to destroy marriage since the beginning. He has been very successful in Godless cultures for millennia. He has used tools such as polygamy and promiscuity to make marriage anything other than what God intended. In our own American culture, we saw the sanctity of marriage decline in the 60’s and 70’s as divorce and cohabitation were normalized.
It seemed that the enemy was content to leave traditional marriage to Christians, as long as he could have everyone else. But lately, he is doing something new. Instead of trying to keep everyone away from marriage, he is trying to make everyone want to be married by re-defining it. Do you remember when folks would say that marriage was nothing more than a piece of paper? They would say that they didn’t need the church or the government, but in their own hearts, they were married.
I have heard politicians say that it isn’t right to extend benefits such as tax breaks and insurance discounts to one segment of society just because they are married. Now the enemy is pushing the idea that marriage should be about love, not religion. Two men should be able to marry as well as two women. It is very near, I believe, to legalizing other forms of marriage. Multiple people will be able to join in one marriage unit or even marry their pets. Polyamory is a popular buzzword now and I’m sure is being practiced. There are even some in America who are trying to normalize pedophilia. Satan is trying to re-define marriage to include all of these aberrations.
Two questions come to mind. Why is Satan so intent on destroying Biblical marriage? And why should we fight for preserving Biblical marriage? It is the same answer to both questions. God gave us marriage. It did not develop from any culture. He gave it to us in the Garden of Eden. More than that, is the fact that marriage serves as a picture of our relationship with the Lord. God chose to relate to us in two familial ways. First, He is our heavenly father. Christians are sons and daughters of the Lord. All people are not children of God. This is a false narrative that is believed by even some well-meaning Christians. The truth from the Bible is that all people are children of either God or the devil. The difference is the redemption of Christ. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Sorry, I started singing for a second. The second way He relates to us is as the bride of Christ. Jesus is the bridegroom of the church and one glorious day we will attend the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19: 7-9). Friends, that is why we fight for marriage. That is why it matters.
