Genesis 2:24 "One Man,One Woman." on Word of Grace Devotion with Pastor Joe Marquez.

The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of June 29, 2015

One Man, One Woman

Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Beloved, I was told a long time ago that “What is God given must be God governed.” In other words, because God created marriage, God creates the rules for marriage and for every other creation of His. Concerning marriage, God’s rules are simple: one man, one woman for life. Not two men and one woman, nor two women and one man nor two women nor two men; no, one man, one woman for life. Simple.

Unfortunately, Scouts (Supreme Court of the United States) has essentially redefined marriage to include the possibility of two men or two women getting married. We disagree. While we acknowledge that Scripture tells us generally to obey the government (Romans 13:1), as believers we are not to obey the government if it attempts to supersede the Law of God. The Apostles provide us with a godly example in Acts 5:29, “But Peter and the other Apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Beloved, since our citizenship is in heaven, (Philippians 3:20), and our commander in Chief is Jesus; we walk according to His commands. God created marriage and what is God created is to be God governed.

We acknowledge that this civil disobedience may result in persecution from the State. As a pastor I may be charged with a hate crime when speaking about the sin of homosexuality. As a church we may be taken to court to provide a wedding ceremony for a homosexual couple. Out tax-exempt status as a non-profit could be taken away and other issues may arise in which we will have to make a choice. Truthfully, the choice has already been made. We will obey our commander–in chief, Jesus Christ.

We also acknowledge that we have fallen short of upholding God’s standard for marriage. Whether it is pre-marital sex, divorce, co-habitation, adultery, pornography and on and on; we acknowledge that we have sinned. We cannot throw out the first stone because the Church has sinned. But our desire is to confess and repent of our sin. We have reaped the devastation of sin in our families and in the church as a whole. Broken lives and broken children are a result of our sinfulness and we repent and ask for God’s forgiveness and grace to cover us. We will not parade our sin but pray that the blood of Jesus covers it.

We also acknowledge that while we are against the sin of homosexuality we are not against the homosexual. We desire that they too would come to know the life saving grace of Jesus Christ. We weep knowing that their sin will ultimately destroy their lives. The average life span of a homosexual is far shorter than that of a heterosexual. Their lives are filled with infidelity, disease and violence. By any estimation, their sin destroys their lives. For further information please refer to the Family Research Council.

Our response will be to reach out to the homosexual and all other sinners with the same grace and love that brought us to Christ. We will pray that the Lord will use this recent SCOTUS decision and oncoming persecution to bring many into His kingdom. May the Lord use us for His glory! Beloved, Jesus is coming soon! May we be found busy doing the work of the Lord!

I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you!

 

In Christ,

Pastor Joe