One Flesh
Summary of sermon on Matthew 19:1-12 from Pastor Ryan Lewis.
The American church often lacks transparency, which therefore makes it seem odd when people struggle. Struggling often becomes a stigma. Time and time again, families are struggling in their marriage and those who are close to them don’t even know anything is wrong.
This is why at Crosspoint we want it to be a normal part of our culture where we support each other in our struggles.
The private culture of the American church is crippling people's willingness to expose that they need help. Although people in the American church are often unwilling to expose that they need help with their marriage, because that’s culturally unacceptable; many people are willing to expose divorce because that’s culturally acceptable.
In our passage this week, Jesus is telling us to take divorce off the table as an option. We can look at three points from this text:
Marriage was established by God and intended to be permanent.
The point of the Pharisees was to try to trap Jesus. There was a lot of speculation around this topic during this time. There were two views conservative and liberal. The Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to go against one of these viewpoints so all of these groups of people would discredit his teachings. Jesus reminded them by quoting scripture from Genesis that marriage was created by God and what God brought together, let not man separate.
Jesus does allow for divorce in some specific cases.
Jesus says divorce and remarriage on any grounds other than sexual immorality and adultery is a sin. It feels harsh because our culture has taken a different stance on this.
“Everyone’s marriage becomes something they didn’t intent it to be. In marriage, you are required to deal with things you didn’t plan to face. In every marriage sin complicates what would otherwise be very simple. So what do you do when your marriage becomes what it was not intended to be? What do you do in those moments when you aren’t so attracted to your spouse? Where do you look when you are irritated, hurt, or discouraged? Where do you reach? Where do you run?” - Paul Tripp, What Did You Expect?
Most people don’t run to Christ, they run to people. For believers divorce should never be the first option and in most cases shouldn’t be an option at all.
Marriage for believers is intended to be a picture of the gospel.
Not only does God want you to stay married but he wants you to have a marriage that displays the gospel.
Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
This statement alone is enough to qualify your marriage as the most important relationship in your life. When we understand this we find purpose and a mission for our marriage.
