Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 “You’ve heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.” He was quoting Moses who was quoting God way back in Exodus 20:14 when the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. Rules God gave to his people, the nation of Israel, were meant to reflect His holiness and to keep them safe. Though restrictive, the command was for their good—God had their best interest in mind. The heart of this commandment was directed at protecting the sanctity of the home—the goodness of marriage, family, the fundamental building blocks of society. The marriage vow was holy, a covenantal commitment made before God. And because God is faithful and longs to see his children live faithfully, this command upholds sexual faithfulness as supremely important to God.

But that was a long long time ago, right? I mean…times have changed, and lots of things have changed since “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Do you ever wonder, why is it that Jesus cares what we do sexually? I mean, that’s pretty private stuff, that’s my business, why is Jesus concerned with what happens in the bedroom?

Lord God Almighty, who is holy, holy, holy, created sex. He thought it up and invented it on purpose for our enjoyment and his glory. God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman but his purpose for marriage goes WAY beyond a bride and groom’s mutual happiness. The purpose of marriage is to put the greatest love story in the world on display, the story of a love so great that it would sacrifice for you, and even die for you.

God, who IS LOVE (1 John 4) wanted the world to see a small glimpse of himself. Done God’s way, marriage is an incredible platform to display the beauty of God’s faithfulness, and love. He created man and woman to become one flesh—so intimately unified in mind, body and spirit that the construct of marriage would be like a billboard to an aching world that there is a love like that. There is a love that is faithful, forgiving, slow to anger, a love that says, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you”, a love that abhors adultery, a love that lasts.

In Matthew 19, Jesus reminds the teachers of the law, “at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, “for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together let man not separate.

Donielle Winter
EFCC Member

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