Another Response to the Overturning of Proposition 8

I say another response, of course, because the blogosphere has been brimming with reactions and sound analysis of the Wednesday ruling. Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional, which decision effectively legalized homosexuals' rights to "marry," at least in the eyes of the state.

Preeminent among those responses is Dr. Albert Mohler's, who is always amazingly adept to comment on the downward-spiraling of American culture from the Biblical perspective. Over at PyroManiacs, Frank Turk also offered a thoughtful, helpful response, linking to a couple other posts he's done on the subject in the past, one of which I found to be excellent. James White offers the exasperated response, and I stand right there with him on that. Dan Phillips comments briefly, but effectively. Fred Butler is as sharp as always. And let's face it: the Christian blogosphere wouldn't be the Christian blogosphere without a post up at Between Two Worlds, even if Justin is on vacation.

So, with all of those giants, why would I bother giving my two cents? Better yet, why should you bother reading it?

Well, my point isn't to try and comment on something that these others have missed. Not at all. Yet at the same time I do indeed want to remind us of what's important in this whole discussion and call us to keep first things first.

It's likely that as you Christians seek to be a good steward of the Truth of God that has been entrusted to you, and a witness of it amongst your unbelieving friends, that you'll enter into the discussion of why the issue even matters to Christians anyway. Why do we care? What's all the fuss about? I mean, why can't we grant the same rights to two consenting adults who want to make a commitment to each other for life?

Not Just Because Homosexuality is a Sin

One answer that you might be ready to give is that we Christians care about preventing the legalization of gay "marriage" because the Bible clearly states that homosexuality is sinful. As the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, and our sole authority for all matters of life and godliness (2Pet 1:3), we must accept its word as binding. Here are some examples:

• Leviticus 18:22 - You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.
• Romans 1:25-27 - For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

So it's clear. Those who say the Bible doesn't forbid homosexuality don't have leg to stand on. It's clear that Scripture condemns homosexuality as sinful, and thus just as all other sins it is worthy of death. It is a mark of rebellion, and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God, but along with the rest of those who persist in their sin "their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev 21:8).

And so, as the purpose of the civil government is to promote the general good and well-being of the society and to restrain the evil therein to the best of its ability (Gen 9:6-7), we believe the government should not sanction that which the Lord of the Universe expressly forbids. Violating God's Word is never the best thing for any society, as long as Jesus is Lord.

But having said all that, I'm saying don't give that answer. At least, don't give just that answer.

Not Just Because God Himself Defines Marriage as Heterosexual

Another answer you might be ready to give is that we Christians care about preventing the legalization of gay "marriage" because God Himself is the One who created marriage, who performed the first marriage (Gen 2:18, 21-22), and He Himself defines marriage as being between only one man and one woman. And as God is the Lord of the Universe, we must accept His Word. Here's what He says:

• Genesis 2:18, 21-22 - Then Yahweh God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." ... So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

God purposed to make a companion suitable to Adam when it became apparent that there was no fitting match among the creatures of the earth. And He sovereignly caused Adam to sleep deeply, Himself took one of Adam's ribs and fashioned it into a woman, and then presented the man with his bride. God did not make another man from Adam's rib, but made a woman. In God's mind, only a woman was a "helper suitable for him."

• Matthew 19:3-6 - Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
  

So when a Pharisee asks Jesus about divorce, Jesus, the Lord of all (Ac 10:36), talks about marriage. He declares that God's purpose was to create human beings "male and female." Now, it is not an accident that He said this. In the context of a discussion about marriage, Jesus prefaces His comment on divorce by underscoring that God made humanity as male and female. God did not make us only male, or only female. He intentionally designed that a man shall leave his family and be joined to his wife, and that these two -- this man and wife -- should become one flesh. He does not speak of a man leaving his parents to be joined to his husband, but his wife.

And so the very definition of marriage from the Creator -- and thus, the authority -- on marriage is that it be between one man and one woman. To sit quietly by, then, while our government -- which we have been blessed with the right to participate in as (at least what used to be) a democratic republic -- in rebellious, treasonous fashion seeks to redefine that given definition would itself be an act of treason against our King.

And yet having said all that, I'm saying don't give that answer. At least, don't give just that answer.

Because It's a Matter of the Clarity of the Gospel

If we're going to speak into this situation with any sort of prophetic voice (read: having a Biblical impact), we need to give the reasons why homosexuality is a sin, and why God has defined marriage between one man and one woman.

Marriage is a wonderful, beautiful, and glorious institution. But the truth is that marriage is not those things in and of itself. God has designed marriage to be a symbol, or a picture, that points to something greater than itself. And it is only so wonderful, beautiful, and glorious because of that something greater that it points to. And that is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is, that after man rebelled against God in the Garden by sinning against Him, their sin separated them from their God and subjected them to spiritual death absent a redeemer. Because no human being could ever atone for his sin, the Father lovingly sent His Son Jesus to live the life we should have lived, to die the death we should have died, so that everyone who trusts in Him alone for their righteousness before God should not suffer eternal punishment, but should be saved. And of all those whom the Father has given to the Son, He will lose none. He will never forsake His bride, but will always live to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).

Marriage is an institution set up by God with a specific purpose: to glorify Him (to make much of Him) by magnifying the relationship of covenant-keeping grace that exists between Christ and His Bride, the Church.

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul gives us the most amazing, breathtaking instruction on marriage in all of Scripture. There, he quotes Genesis 2:24, just like Jesus did in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:7-8: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Then, the very next thing he says is, "This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."

Ponder that. Let that sink in. He is speaking about marriage with reference to Christ and the church. Keep that in mind as we consider other things he's said in the passage.

Earlier, Paul is giving the Ephesian church instruction on how to conduct themselves in their marriages. He basically lays out a plan of loving headship on the husband's part (Eph 5:25-30) and respectful submission on the wife's part (Eph 5:22-24). Now, what is absolutely astounding is the reasons he gives for why a husband must lovingly serve his wife and why a wife must respectfully submit to her husband.

• Ephesians 5:22-23 - Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
• Ephesians 5:24 - But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
• Ephesians 5:25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.
• Ephesians 5:28-30 - He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

This is absolutely staggering. Throughout the entirety of Paul's instruction on marriage, the reasoning, the foundation, the basis for his commands is the work of Christ in His relationship with the Church. The Gospel is why husbands must love their wives and wives must submit to their husbands!

What is this all telling us? It's substantiating the claim I made above: that marriage is a picture, or a parable, of Christ and the Church -- of the Gospel of Christ's covenant-keeping grace with a people to whom He has committed Himself, and who have committed themselves to Him. When Paul says that "This mystery is great," and then tells us that he's speaking about Christ and the Church, he's establishing that marriage is designed to point us to the Gospel: that precious Good News that has saved us from sin, wrath, just punishment, fruitlessness, and a wasted life; that precious Good News that has gotten our sin out of the way so that we can enjoy fellowship with our Creator and Redeemer! So that we can spend eternity gazing into the beautifully glorious face of our God, who will dwell among His people in love in the Paradise of the New Creation.

Now this is why Christians should be opposed to the legalizing of gay "marriage": because it mars the picture of that precious Gospel that marriage is designed to be. If marriage is given to us in order to point us to the reality of Christ's covenant-keeping grace with His people, and if the husband pictures Christ and the wife pictures the Church, then any tampering with those participants confuses and obfuscates the Gospel.

And that's what should get our dander up. Not tax breaks. Not nomenclature. Not social agendas. The Gospel. Make sure the people you're having these conversations with leave knowing the difference. And if they don't know why the Gospel is so precious to us, why it's such a treasure, why it's to be so rigorously defended and protected...

Tell them.

Guard,
through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us,
the treasure
which has been entrusted to you.
- 2 Timothy 1:14 -

But we have this treasure
in earthen vessels,
so that the surpassing greatness of the power
will be of God and not from ourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 -

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:21 -

Home for a Wedding

So today we're back in New Jersey! We've taken a short trip home for Janna's brother's wedding! It seems so formal to say it that way -- "my brother-in-law's wedding" -- because really it's just two of our best friends getting married.

So in the absence of a normal Friday post, and with the theme of marriage dominating my imagination right now, the best I can think of is to link to a past post I did about marriage and it's relationship to the Gospel. It's called Marriage: An Exposition of Covenant-Keeping Grace. I pray that it's a benefit to you. It's great to be reminded of the wonderful picture of grace and salvation that God has given to us in His institution of marriage. It's something we take for granted a lot of the time. But if we didn't, our marriages -- and our worlds -- would be transformed.

It's great to rejoice with those who rejoice. I'm looking forward to witnessing another miracle on Saturday, when God makes two of His children into one. And how it makes me look forward with gladness to that great day when the Bridegroom shall have His Bride.

And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great." Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb '" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." - Revelation 19:5-9 -

Marriage: An Exposition of Covenant-Keeping Grace

As we're preparing to move, we've been going through our stuff, cleaning up, throwing out, and figuring out what we're going to take with us. During that time, we found some extra programs from our wedding ceremony on July 19th, 2008. In them, we wrote a message to our guests, basically trying to make plain the interrelatedness of marriage and the Gospel. I'd like to share that with you, and would welcome your comments.

It's a bit longer than even some of my long posts, and it's also probably best read slowly. On top of that, I'd recommend strongly mousing over the Scripture references to see what those are as well. So it'll be somewhat of a time commitment, but that's OK because my last few posts have been short. :o) And as always, I pray that you'll be benefited by reading.

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The most foundational thing that can be said about marriage is that it is the doing of God (Gen 2:22; Mk10:9). And the most ultimate thing that can be said about marriage is that it is the display of God (Eph 5:32).

Unfortunately, we are so wired by selfishness, sin, and cultural adaptation, that the glory of marriage is scarcely perceivable by our minds and hearts today. Janna and I would like to do our best to help you perceive the glory of marriage as it is, and not how our world has imagined it to be.*

Marriage is indeed a wonderful, glorious, and beautiful thing. But the truth is that marriage is not those things in and of itself. You see, marriage is actually only a symbol, or a picture, that points to something greater than itself. And it is only so wonderful, glorious, and beautiful because of that something greater that it points to. And so the only way to fully grasp the glory of marriage is to grasp the glory of the substance that marriage is a picture of. And that is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To understand marriage, we must first understand the Gospel.

The Bible teaches that there is a self-existent, self-sufficient, Triune God in heaven (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58; Gen 1:2). Even before the creation of time, God is the most righteous, pure, good, benevolent, and exuberantly joyful Being that we can imagine (Ac 2:25-28, 17:24-25; Heb 1:9). Out of this fullness of everything that is right, God desired that His greatness and glory be communicated (Is 43:7). With such a disposition to communicate His glory, He created the entire universe in six days (Gen 1:31-2:3). He desired that His creation know His glory, His goodness, and His loveliness, and that all creatures enjoy Him for all those things that He is (Rom 9:23).

God the Father also desired that out of the human race, created uniquely in the image of God, that there be a holy, pure, and gorgeous bride to give to God the Son. But we, through our representative Adam, sinned by rebelling against God, worshiping our own desires and not enjoying God for all that He is (Gen 3:6-7). As a result, humanity fell from their state of communion with God into enmity with Him (Gen 3:23; Rom 5:12, 18-19), and became darkness (Eph 2:1-3), which has no fellowship with the Light that God Himself is (1Jn 1:5). Because of this, the Father could not properly present to His Son the bride that He is worthy of (Rev 5:12-13). In fact, because of our sin, all of humanity is rightly banished from the purity of God’s presence and into eternal torment away from Him, what we know as hell (Matt 13:41-42).

But when the fullness of the time came, God the Father sent the Son to the Earth to live a life as both God and Man (Mk 1:1; Jn 3:13), and to rescue a remnant of humanity, purchasing them with His own blood (Mk 10:45; Gal 4:4-5; Ac 20:28). He was born of a virgin (Lk 1:30-35, 2:7) and given the name Jesus (Lk 2:21). He lived a life that was entirely worthy of the holiness and purity of His Father (Matt 3:16-17). He never sinned against God (Is 53:9; 1Jn 3:5), the way all of us have (Rom 3:23). He satisfied God’s righteous requirement of perfection (Rom 8:3-4), and He willingly laid down His life as the payment for the penalty that the sins of humanity incurred (Jn 10:15, 18). His life of perfect obedience satisfied the Father’s just wrath against our sin (Is 53:4-5, 10), and the Father imputed (or ascribed) Jesus’ perfect life to us while at the same time imputing our sinfulness to Christ (2Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13-14). By His sacrifice, we who receive Him by faith are saved from the sin that separated us from God (Ac 15:8-9; Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16), and are given the gift of eternal life in His presence (Rom 6:23; 1Pet 3:18).

All those that Jesus redeemed are called the Church (Ac 20:28; Col 1:18), who is properly called the Bride of Christ (Rev 19:7-8). This people, totally unworthy of the Father and so unworthy to be presented to His Son, is purified by the Son Himself (Tit 2:14). The dowry for Jesus’ bride cost Him nothing less than His life. But in the majesty of His abundant grace, Jesus willingly paid that price for the joy set before Him (Heb 12:2). And at the end of all things, after the Lord Jesus returns to set up His kingdom on earth and rightfully rule over His creation, the Father will present to Him the Bride He Himself purified, having no spot, wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph 5:25-27).

And though that celebration remains a future event, the Church is Christ’s betrothed, and so we love Him and joyfully serve Him in the present (1Pet 1:8). We submit to His loving, sacrificial leadership and experience His grace and love each day until He returns. He has promised that He will never leave nor forsake His Bride (Heb 13:5), and that no matter how much we continue to sin against Him and even break that covenant of marriage that He died to institute, He will remain faithful to Himself (2Tim 2:11-13; Deut 7:9), and always remain united to us (Hos 2:19-20; 1Jn 2:1-2; Ps 89:30-34).

That’s what marriage points to. That’s what marriage is about. It is an institution set up by God with a specific purpose: to glorify Him (to make much of Him) by magnifying the relationship of covenant-keeping grace that exists between Christ and His Bride, the Church. And in Ephesians 5 God tells what that relationship is like. To wives He says: “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” And to husbands He says: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.”

What we desire most of all for our marriage is that it would be an exposition of the nature of that covenant-keeping, grace-fueled relationship between Jesus Christ and His church that is so clearly and beautifully expressed in that passage. It says that the husband is to be the leader of the wife, as Christ is the leader of the Church. So we ask, “How does Christ exercise leadership over His bride?” He did so first by laying down His life for her so that He might purify her. In the same way, a husband’s leadership over his wife is to be characterized by life-giving, sacrificial service with a view towards her sanctification. And the reason is because that’s how Christ did it with His bride, and that’s what marriage was designed to depict.

And His leadership is so sweet to His people. Jesus rules lovingly and as a meek shepherd (Matt 11:28-30) and always with the ultimate good of His Bride as a primary purpose (Rom 8:28). He does this in such a way that His people joyfully come to Him and submit to His leadership out of delight and desire, and not begrudgingly or out of compulsion (Psalm 119:97, 103; Jn 10:27). Because of this, I (Mike) need to see to it that my leadership is equally loving, meek, tender, and always after Christ Himself, so that it makes it an absolute joy for Janna to submit to my leadership, the same way it is an absolute joy for me to submit to Christ’s leadership. I am to so follow Christ, that Janna’s submission to my leadership should be as sweet and enjoyable as the Church’s submission is to Christ. And as it is such a joy for the Church to submit to Christ, I (Janna) will respect Michael in everything, honoring his leadership by joyfully submitting to him as he follows Christ. It is with eagerness that I will support him with words of kindness and encouragement, making it a delight for Michael to exercise loving and gracious leadership as my head.

So we want you to see that marriage only has meaning when it is founded upon Christ and His relationship to His people. Since it exists to illustrate that relationship, we will seek to ask about everything in our marriage, “Is this properly and accurately illustrating the relationship between Christ and the Church?” Put more simply, “Is our marriage telling the truth about Jesus Christ?”

Our prayer is that in our wedding ceremony the truth of Jesus Christ has been proclaimed. And we pray that as you reflect on that truth and read these things, a light would go off in your soul, and you would awaken to the self-authenticating glory of God manifested in what marriage points to. If you haven’t acknowledged your rebellion and alienation against God because of your sin, His righteous condemnation of you, and your total inability to do anything about it, we pray that you would see your own insufficiency to meet God’s requirement of perfect purity and holiness, and at the same time see how perfectly sufficient Jesus Christ is to do just that. We pray that you would put your faith in Him for your righteousness before the Father, and so joyfully receive Him as your Lord, your Savior, and as your Husband!

If you have already tasted the glory of Jesus Christ by receiving Him as the Treasure of your life, we rejoice with you! And at the same time, we pray that you would see the glory of Christ in this institution of marriage. We pray that you would implement these truths in your own marriages, and in so doing, that you would enjoy all God is for you in Christ. Rejoice that you’re His and that He’s yours! Rejoice, for by His grace you have the Perfect Husband!

In the Fullness of His Joy,

Mike and Janna
_____________________
* The first two paragraphs are borrowed from Piper's series on marriage, found here.