Tags
2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Compromise, Ephesians 5:25-33, Genesis 2:21-25, Isaiah 53:3-6, Jesus Is Truth, John 1:29, John 8:36, Marriage, Matthew 19:4-8, Matthew 1:21, Putting Asunder, Resurrection Day, Romans 12:1-3, Romans 1:28-32, Romans 5:1-11, Trusting Jesus
Bible Ballistics: Vol. 13 No.10 Putting Asunder???
How sad for me on this precious and glorious Resurrection Sunday, to think of how far afield we have come from God’s plan and design for mankind. The God who created us, made us “male” and “female”—created marriage, and provided for the restoration of our relationship with HIM, which we lost due to sin. Let us consider how far afield we have come. What have you and I “put asunder”?
“And he answered and said unto them,
Have ye not read,
that he which made them
at the beginning
made them
male
and female,
5 And said, For this cause
shall a man leave father
and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife:
and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain,
but one flesh.
What therefore
God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him,
Why did Moses then command
to give a writing of divorcement,
and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them,
Moses
because of the hardness
of your hearts
suffered you to put away
your wives:
but from the beginning
it was not so.” Matthew 19:4-8
Jesus responded to those who questioned Him and who wanted to trap Him with God’s truth; He reminded them of God’s original plan for man—for marriage. Jesus made it clear that not only did God create marriage, He created it for a lifetime! He also tells us that what “God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”! Yet we live in a world, especially our American culture, that has not only disregarded God’s plan, but we are totally putting it “asunder”!
Asunder: into separate parts; in or into pieces; 2: apart or widely separated…
We have allowed ourselves to be led astray—not because we didn’t know truth, but because we are rejecting God’s truth on almost every hand. We have denied, watered down and diluted the very Word of God at every turn. God’s plan began in Eden, and it hasn’t changed!
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam,
and he slept:
and he took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib,
which the LORD God had taken from man,
made he a woman,
and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said,
This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore
shall a man leave his father
and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked,
the man
and his wife,
and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2:21-25
God would make the two—male and female—one. There is to be a “leaving” and a “cleaving”—leaving the ties of our parents’ home, and being totally devoted to our spouse; to be not only ‘one’ in a physical sense, but a oneness of body, mind and spirit. Soul mates in the sense that when we both keep our eyes on Jesus—there will be a drawing closer and closer to God and drawing closer and more intimate with each other. It is a picture that God painted in the beginning to show us the beauty and wonder of His love for us—a picture of the ONE who had already created the plan to perfectly restore our relationship to Him, after it would be marred by sin! And that plan was JESUS! The very One whose resurrection we celebrate today.
Paul gave a most interesting picture of this in his letter to the Ephesians, a passage whose beauty we often miss because we place our focus on the instructions to husbands and wives—and miss the wondrous picture of our Risen Lord and HIS church!
“Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify
and cleanse it
with the washing of water
by the word,
27 That he might present it
to himself a glorious church,
not having spot,
or wrinkle,
or any such thing;
but that it should be holy
and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies.
He that loveth his wife
loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated
his own flesh;
but nourisheth
and cherisheth it,
even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body,
of his flesh,
and of his bones.
31 For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother,
and shall be joined unto his wife,
and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery:
but I speak concerning Christ
and the church.
33 Nevertheless
let every one of you in particular
so love his wife
even as himself;
and the wife
see that she reverence
her husband.” Ephesians 5:25-33
How sad that we have cast aside the plan of God for our own lusts, desires and happiness (so-called). I, like many others, was misled and fell for the lies of the enemy and abandoned God’s plan for my own! That is one of the reasons for my sadness, another is that it I am so inadequate to warn others of the pitfalls of sin, and the lies of the enemy (and he is a liar, on every hand). God is much more concerned with our love for Him, and our willingness to surrender to His work of holiness within us by the power of the CROSS! And there is no comparison with the joy that God can give to the heart that will pursue Him rather than the “lusts of the flesh”! How grateful I am that God reached down, called my ‘sin’ ‘sin’, and heard the prayer of my heart when I confessed my ‘sin’ and asked Jesus to forgive me and save me—and HE did! Not that I was perfect after that, but things were different, for I now had the Spirit of the ‘Risen Lord” dwelling within me! Praise HIS name!
Paul warns us, as he warned the Romans of the dangerous downward spiral of sin. God’s way is diametrically opposite to the cry of the world, which calls us to go our own way, rather than God’s; but it is a plague that all are afflicted with.
“And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge,
God gave them over
to a reprobate mind,
to do those things
which are not convenient;
29 Being filled
with all unrighteousness,
fornication,
wickedness,
covetousness,
maliciousness;
full of envy,
murder,
debate,
deceit,
malignity;
whisperers,
30 Backbiters,
haters of God,
despiteful,
proud,
boasters,
inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers,
without natural affection,
implacable,
unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things
are worthy of death,
not only do the same,
but have pleasure
in them that do them.” Romans 1:28-32.
(And I encourage you to read all of Romans 1 for the whole picture of the degradation and contagion of sin!)
God, through Isaiah, painted the picture of the ONE who would come and deliver us from our sin—the only ONE who could and would—HE did!
“He is despised and rejectedof men;
a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces
from him;
he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne
our griefs,
and carried
our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him
stricken,
smitten of God,
and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded
for our transgressions,
he was bruised
for our iniquities:
the chastisement
of our peace
was upon him;
and with his stripes
we are healed.
6 All we like sheep
have gone astray;
we have turned every one
to his own way;
and the LORD hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6
Jesus—The Lamb of God—came to be the sacrifice for our sin! His substitutionary, atoning, sacrifice paid the price for my redemption and yours! I, who was so fallen and full of sin, found His redemption totally abundant and adequate to cleanse my soul of sin. And HE will do the same for YOU if you will but hear His voice, repent, and open the door of your heart to receive His saving grace! He came to save us from sin—and He is still saving souls and changing lives today—this very day that we celebrate His victory over sin, death and hell.
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away
the sin of the world.” John 1:29
It is why HE came—to live a sinless life, and to pay a sin debt that HE didn’t owe, because we owed a sin debt that we could never pay apart from hell!
“And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS:
for he shall save his people
from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
HE has given HIS own life for us! And when we receive HIS salvation, we are made new!
“Therefore being justified
by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access
by faith
into this grace
wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God.
3 And not only so,
but we glory in tribulations also:
knowing that tribulation
worketh patience;
4 And patience,
experience;
and experience,
hope:
5 And hope
maketh not ashamed;
because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength,
in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man
will one die:
yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love
toward us,
in that,
while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
9 Much more then,
being now justified
by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath
through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son,
much more,
being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so,
but we also joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom
we have now received
the atonement.” Romans 5:1-11
While we were “yet sinners, Christ died for us”; the sinless, Son of God, gave HIS life for my sin! My sin and yours—I failed—I came short—I rebelled—I sought self, lust, and satisfaction, without regard for the cost to my own soul or the lives of others. Yet, God had already provided for my salvation, forgiveness and redemption. He has made me whole by the blood of JESUS’ cross, and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Therefore, as HE gave me new life, HE will give you life too! If you know Jesus already, press on in the ‘newness’ of life “in him”, He is totally sufficient for all your need! And if you don’t know Jesus, you can call upon Him today!
“Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new
18 And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us
to himself
by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world
unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses
unto them;
and hath committed unto us
the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us:
we pray you in Christ’s stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him
to be sin for us,
who knew no sin;
that we might be made
the righteousness of God
in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
We can be ‘new’! And when He makes us ‘new’, we are truly new in our hearts, and free from the power of sin, by the blood of The Lamb, who “cleanseth us from all sin”!
“If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36
Free to love Him, to serve Him, to follow Him by taking up our cross and pursuing Jesus in all our ways. Paul puts it so beautifully, what better way to praise HIM and close our post for today—challenging each of us to give it all to Jesus—by His grace and power!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice,
holy,
acceptable unto God,
which is your
reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed
to this world:
but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove
what is that good,
and acceptable,
and perfect,
will of God.
3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me,
to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself
more highly
than he ought to think;
but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt
to every man
the measure of faith.” Romans 12:1-3
May you be blessed on this Resurrection Sunday!
Amen and Amen!