Gods creation ordinances are marriage, labor, and the Sabbath day. I will illustrate the nature and importance of creation ordinances by looking at marriage. God instituted marriage in order to provide Adam with close human companionship in the garden. By appealing to this creation ordinance in particular, Jesus illustrated the importance of creation ordinances in general and what inferences we should draw from them. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about the lawfulness of divorce and remarriage, He based His positive instruction on marriage on a basic principle with far-reaching consequences. He rooted His teaching on the nature of marriage as a creation ordinance. He said, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Matt. 19:4-6). After the Pharisees objected, Jesus summarized the bottom line of His argument against divorce by saying, From the beginning it was not so (v.8). His argument was essentially this: Every ordinance that God instituted at creation is perpetually binding upon the practices of mankind; marriage was instituted at creation as an indissoluble bond between one man and one woman; therefore, marriage must always be an indissoluble bond between one man and one woman, as long as the creation remains. To violate what God has woven into the very fabric of creation is to strike at the axiomatic principles that God designed perpetually to govern human life in this world. This is why in relation to marriage, God says unequivocally that He hates divorce, since it violates the institution which He loves (Mal. 2:16,11 [my translation]). ~The Day of Worship: Reassessing the Christian Life in Light of the Sabbath. (Ryan McGraw).
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 19:49:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015