GLEANINGS — March 10, A.D. 2013                                                                                                               Divorce and Remarriage, Part One

How God looks on divorce and remarriage can be compared to how He looks upon capital punishment. A quick summary of some foundational truth will help explain this:

As we read in Genesis 1 and 2, God created a perfect universe, a perfect earth, and two perfect human beings with a perfect marriage - all in the space of six days. As we read in Genesis 3, Adam transgressed against God. Therefore God cursed the formerly perfect universe, and subjected it to futility, as Paul the apostle writes at Romans 8:20, 21.

The curse of God along with the guilt and corruption of sin came upon Adam, Eve, and all of us, their descendants. Jesus came to redeem such a fallen world. His perfect sacrifice of Himself for the salvation of sinners already has been made, once for all (John 19:30, Hebrews 10:10). When Christ returns bodily to earth in His glory, all things will be restored to perfection again - there will be a "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells", 2 Peter 2:13.

After the great flood, as recorded at Genesis 9:6, God ordained that death be the penalty for the murderer, and that man be the executioner. The Law of Moses confirms this; the just penalty for murdering another human being (and for certain other crimes), is loss of life for the perpetrator. See Exodus 21:12, Deuteronomy 19:20, 21, Leviticus 20:27, et. al.

With that summary in mind, let's ask a question. Does God love life or death? In 2 Timothy 1:10, we read that the Lord Jesus "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." He Himself said "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). We might say that God hated death so much that He was willing to become incarnate for the express purpose of confronting death and destroying it forever - by dying Himself! He did that, and rose victoriously from the dead. Clearly, the living God is radically pro-life!

Yet, for as long as the world continues in this fallen state (that is, until Jesus returns), the God Who hates death and loves life has commanded that death be executed upon certain persons in certain situations: for instance, murderers who criminally take the physical life of another person.

Perhaps you begin to see the comparison with divorce. Of course, the God Who wrote the Seventh Commandment with His own finger (Exodus 20:14, 31:18) loves fidelity in marriage! The Lord Jesus so instructed us when He said "...what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9). And of course God hates divorce, as we read at Malachi 2:16.

To be continued...