Title of this message:

God Design For Marriage

Today's Scripture passage:

Mark 10:1-12 KJV
(1)  And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.
(2)  And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
(3)  And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
(4)  And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
(5)  And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
(6)  But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
(7)  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
(8)  And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
(9)  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
(10)  And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
(11)  And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
(12)  And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

This being December and almost Christmas I will be talking about divorce and Joseph the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus. Mary was a virgin when she conceived her son Jesus by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did not have intercourse with Mary, neither did Joseph. The Holy Spirit hovered over Mary according the word of God. Other descriptions in God's word is God's word became flesh and dwelt among us. Either description is fine. For Mary had said to the angel Gabrielle let it be unto me according to what God has spoken. Spoken word being important in the virgin conception of Jesus. No physical intimacy took place beyond the hovering of the Holy Spirit. God in no way broke the sanctity of marriage between Mary and Joseph. Yet Joseph not knowing that the Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit had desired to put her away. That all takes place in Matthew 1. However we are in Mark 10 today. What does it mean to put away and what does it mean to divorce. Some culture put women away by isolating them from the world, and others this would just be a seperation of contract from the spouse. In Mary case she was betrothe to Joseph, or engaged. The wedding could be broken, yet one problem, that a betrothe was a common like marriage without fringe benefits of marriage. To put Mary away silently might even mean her death by stoning, or silently putting her somewhere she can not be harmed.

Divorce in some cultures because of adultery or infidility, means punishment or seperation from a spouse. I can not imagine the idea of a women being killed for adultery but it happens. Remember the story of the adultress woman in John 8, she was fixing to be stoned, but Jesus stopped it when he said,"he without sin cast the first stone." Culture today in some parts of the world can mean imprisonment for adultress woman. Yet a man caught in adultery often went unpunished. Yet Jesus is quick to point out if a man put away his wife just to marry another, he had committed adultery. One has to remember adultery is not just one sided, but often effects of bad marriage or a moment in time two people did not think about the consequences of their action on their family, thinking they would never be caught.

God when he created man and woman design them to join together in unity of flesh, and family. Created them to be a holy union not separated by man. Yet men and women divorce daily. Sometimes for good reasons like abuse and others just to get out of marriage and find another. Yet God designed each couple to be in unity with only each other. Marriage to God is special, yet the first union was in heaven before sin. After the fall of man, man felt the need for divorce. Moses laws made the possibility of divorce legal.Yet the law of Moses was a law of man and not always a law of God.

If you divorce or plan to defile your marriage remember this was never God's intent for your marriage, and the choice you make are sololy based on the devil's will for your marriage to be destroyed. Try hard to work out differences, but it takes two people willing to work out the problem. It takes two people willing to work in marriage, but only one to destroy it. Yet sometimes both partners are at fault for a divorce. Christian counseling might be necessary to heal your marriage, but it also come with the ability to forgive and love each other with honesty. Willing to forgive mistakes of one another. I have been married 27 years and know marriage is the hardest job one will ever deal with. Yet marriage is often the best reward of friendship for a life time on earth. It can be blessing of companionship that will be deeply treasured. Remember it is God's plan for couples.

Joseph would take Mary after being told in dream by God to do so. He would take her to Bethlehem without physically knowing her until after the birth of their first born Son whose name is Jesus. Joseph would be father who would obey God and would chose to protect God's only son by taking him to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod. As this Christmas season approaches let us not forget the birth of Jesus, let us remember the real reason for the season. Yet let us remember how God saved a union of marriage that was planned before God's call on Mary to have His Son. God design to protect this holy union. May God bless you, and may you have a Merry Christmas, from turtle30cshell.com.