Breaking-Through
God set up many things as shadows of even greater things2, and it’s amazing to think of what the substance is beyond those outlines. But then there are occasions when He breaks through it all and shows up. Marriage and the church are two areas that God created as ordinances and revelations. On the first Christmas, He broke into them both! Where it’s going is even more glorious.
Marriage:
There is no way to call something ‘marriage’ when God is removed from the equation. Marriage is not just a piece of paper, although proof of it is printed on one. Marriage is not just a legal contract, although our government seems to consider it as only being that. If it were just a legal contract on just a piece of paper, then I guess the government would have a say in the matter. Except, marriage is created by, and defined by, God Almighty; the Maker of Heaven and Earth, of male and of female, of you and of I. Government created none of those things – marriage existed before any government came into being.
God did more than just create male and female, He put them together. Jesus spoke about marriage in Matthew 19, and quoted Genesis 2:24. From Genesis through Revelation, the author of Scripture3, calls out idolatry and adultery as being against Him4. I heard a professor of Greek say once that those two words, idolatry and adultery, are practically the same word in Scripture; that context is what makes it different in English. (I hope I’m remembering that correctly.)**
And God calls marriage a covenant – do we even know what a covenant is? A covenant is not just a promise, although it involves a promise. It’s a sacred promise, rather like an Unbreakable VowHP-HBP. It’s set-apart from all the routine “I will”s, which are made daily, checked off a list, and then forgotten. Covenants are done with an awareness of God being present, in the presence of those who will hold us accountable, and with a solemn understanding that the focus is outside of ourselves. Covenants are not about us, even though they involve us.
Church:
God also instituted His Church, and He described the Church as
His bride5, stating that she will
have enemies – yet those who oppose her are eventually doomed to His judgment6.
Those who Jesus calls into the Church, unto Himself, have work to do. The Westminster Confession states it this way: “Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.” (XXV.III)
As we love Christ, we love what Christ loves.
Breaking Through, the Beginning:
Christmas is when God married Himself to the human race –
AKA: The Incarnation. God retained his
divine nature, but also made Himself one with His image-bearers. Jesus is the exact likeness and imprint of
God7, even when He became human. Somehow Christ and His people are also one –
1 Corinthians 12:27 (ESV) "Now you are the body of Christ and
individually members of it." If we are His, we are heirs, as Jesus' brother, as God's
son. That's what Scripture says in Galatians 4:7 (ESV) "So you
are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." God broke through.
When the time was ripe, Christ took on human form on that first Christmas. He chose to be among us, as us. Jesus described His arrival in the way that all weddings are celebrated: with feasting (Matthew 9:15). He did not come to judge at that time (John 3:17), yet He absolutely stated there will be just such a time coming8. Why?
Breaking Through, the End:
He will come again9. Because His church, His bride, is under siege by the enemy. And He will protect her in the assaults; giving her His strength and His peace. He will avenge the wounds inflicted upon her. He will fight those who fight against her. He will come with His army, mighty in power. And He will bring her home. Jesus stated in John 14:1-3 (NLT) “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am."
Question: Why does God wait so long?
Answer: So that all who may come, will. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
God is patient. His justice will come for those who fight Him. His kingdom will come for those who love Him. 2 Timothy 4:1a (ESV) “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead….”
Cultural Context – If Biden’s (blasphemous) speech, with the (horrific) communal sing by Cyndi Lauper, proves anything, it proves that there is a National Religion: Woke. Look at his sermon demonizing those who oppose His message of ‘salvation’. The separation of church and state (which isn’t in the Constitution but is rather an opinion-piece written as a private letter by Jefferson), was designed so that what the Church of England had become was not going to be replicated on this side of the Atlantic.
The individual states could have their respective
religions, but there would be no national religion. We have crossed that line as of December
2022, with the Disrespect for Marriage proclamation. Biden called states who still have a backbone, and their governors,
out by name in an attempt to shame them for not following the Church of Woke.
The Church of
Woke serves up children on the altar of abortion and castration, and claim
that pedophilia is an “identity” somehow.
(Seriously – check
this out).
No government, when in power, seems to recognize that they cannot limit the body nor the work of Jesus’ bride. Currently, governments across the world (Ukraine and China and various despots in Africa come quickly to mind), and throughout all of history (Acts 12), try to constrain the church from operating as God directs. Even the US government has tried to encroach upon the First Amendment (thinking of you in particular, California).
The American Founders knew that the Church of England’s
‘church’ was a political arm. Those pilgrims said
‘No’, to government sanctioned religion. Today, because
they control the voting booths (2000
Mules) and therefore the narrative, the Church of Woke thinks they have the
upper hand – even against God. Why do
the nations rage10?
Come Lord Jesus.
1 - Leviticus 18:22 (ESV) You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
2 - Colossians 2:17 (ESV) These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
3 - John 1:1-5 (NLT) In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
4 - 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 (NLT) For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
5 - Revelation 19:6-8 (ESV) Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
6 - Matthew 16:18 (ESV) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
7 - Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
8 - Revelation 20:12 (ESV) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
9 - John 14:3 (ESV) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
10 - Psalms 2:1-3 (ESV) Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
**Adultery is a sin against God – Genesis 39:8-9 (NLT) But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
**Idolatry is same-same – 1 Corinthians 6:9 (NLT) Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality….”