Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, when we seek to be with and like Jesus as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, scripture, prayer and meditation, and then continue that conversation with him throughout your day. Your hopes to straddest find the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this season of the Together on Mission podcast. I just looked and I realized that yesterday's podcast was almost 15 minutes.
So I hope you finished it. It was the longest daily podcast I think that I've done in the 300 daily podcasts that I've done. And I told you yesterday that when I start talking about marriage, I can't really stop. And so no preliminaries today, because even though this is part two, the topic will still be marriage.
And I'm sure that it will be difficult for me to stop talking. So the title, not to, but one, and we are in Mark chapter 10 and part two is going to be a little bit more controversial than part one. But when we go at the teaching of Jesus, not only is it life giving, but it's controversial because whenever life or death are at stake, there will be controversy. That's just part of the deal.
So yesterday morning, we talked about what is marriage and more specifically, I asked the question, if you were your own marriage counselor and you were to speak to yourself today about your marriage, what advice would you give to you to implement immediately? That's a great question. And I think as we meditate on Mark 10 and the teaching of Jesus, we want to continue to ask that question. And actually, that's not a bad question to ask every single day.
We also talked a bit about what the enemy is seeking to do to steal and kill and destroy what God has created and declared good, which is your marriage. And my marriage, how is the enemy trying to un-one what God has made one? And I stole that line from one of my mentors, and I think it's pretty good. What is the enemy trying to do to un-one what God has made one?
That's a good question. So Mark 10, we pick up in verse 6, at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, the man will leave his father and his mother be united to his wife, the two will become one flesh so that they're no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Verse 10, when they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this, and he answered, anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. And again, at least those last three verses have been a storm center in New Testament theology. In some sense, it seems too harsh.
But again, I think the key is this passage is not about divorce. It is about what marriage is, what God intended marriage to be, what he meant when he meant marriage, and the power, and the sacrament, and the sanctity, and the oneness, not two, but one of marriage. And Jesus is very clear that it's male plus female. These two beautiful, unique, complimentary beings in the image of God that come together and unite physically and emotionally and spiritually literally unite.
And if I had a whiteboard, which of course I do, I could draw this out. It's these two complimentary beings in the image of God that were meant to come together spiritually, emotionally, and physically. And of course, in our day and in the ancient world, sometimes our desires, our broken desires, do not line up with our design. And so there's an abuse of God's design, like polygamy, multiple wives for one man, homosexuality, male plus male or female plus female, premarital sex, taking the gift of sex outside of the covenant of marriage, pornography, emotional attachment with another man or another woman that's not your spouse or adultery.
While you're married, going outside of the marriage covenant and having sexual relations, and we could probably go on. And these are ways to abuse God's design. And I think Jesus would say, I know Jesus would say, with compassion, yes, sometimes your desires or what you think you want don't line up with God's design of how you are created. And I would say with great tenderness and great compassion that if our desires do not line up with our design, we must go with the designer.
We must trust the designer, even though we may feel like it's not right, because often our feelings about what we want or who we feel like we are actually don't reflect our design. And therefore, our feelings at that point would not be a route to life. See feelings and woundings and messages can't be in the driver's seat rather true than our design must be in the driver's seat. So let me just say that again with all tenderness.
And I know that God would say it with all tenderness. When our desires don't line up with our design, we must go with our designer. And so it's male plus female in a committed marriage where we get to celebrate sexuality and enjoy all that God has given us in that realm that he has declared good as we celebrate it within the relationship that he has created it for. Because God has intended us for pleasure for something as intoxicating and mysterious as a kiss.
And of course, more than that, the power of sexual intimacy is to be experienced within a male plus female lifelong committed marriage in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says that in fact, you're no longer to, but you're one and you can't unwind what God has made one. He uses the phrase one flesh. In fact, that's extraordinary.
It means a new human being. A dynamic human being has been created. That's why it's been called a sacrament throughout the history of the Church. That's the power and the beauty and the depth of the covenant of marriage.
And so Jesus is saying in this passage, you know, marriage is more than a partnership. It's more than a covenant. It's more than an agreement. It's something new.
Something's been made new, new creation. It reflects the Trinity just like God is three in one, marriage is two in one. And that's why Jesus says you can't pull apart what God's brought together. You can't unwind what God has made one.
In our modern world, the enemy is trying to come and steal and kill and destroy what God intended for marriage through polygamy or homosexuality or premarital sex, pornography, adultery. And ultimately divorce is the enemy's favorite. He's always trying to pull apart and destroy what God has made one. That's his plan.
And so Jesus says in the last two verses, he talks and we already read it. You can go back and read it again about marriage and divorce and adultery. And this reflects the sanctity and the sacrament and the power of what marriage actually is. And of course, there's been a storm center in New Testament theology.
But Jesus is saying, well, God has joined together, not just joined together in a covenant, but joined together as one flesh. You can't rip apart one flesh. And Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount say that rampant, unrepentant, adultery without a change of heart tramples, the marriage covenant underfoot. But in the wake of adultery in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn't necessarily talk about remarriage.
You may be familiar with Paul. Paul says, if an unbelieving spouse leaves, let that person go. You're not bound in such a situation. And of course, one wonders what Paul means by not bound.
Does he mean simply that the marriage covenant has been dissolved? Or does he mean that there is a freedom to remarry another and different traditions land in different places? And in my opinion, there's actually three points that are incredibly crucial. Number one is this in the ancient world and the modern world, specifically the modern world.
The marriage covenant has been taken so lightly, so lightly. And the cultural degradation of marriage is seeped into the church. And when it comes to a passage like this, we see Jesus' view, his design of marriage, what he intended. And Jesus' design and intention for marriage in creation challenges us, it inspires us, it stirs us, it calls us back to the sacrament of marriage.
And so this passage says that marriage is the most deep, powerful bond that could ever be created, and it can never be taken lightly. And our culture currently is a culture that takes marriage lightly. Number two, I think we have to know even though Jesus is not covered in this passage, there are so many ways in which we have not been faithful to Jesus' teaching on marriage, and there is forgiveness and mercy and grace. And it belongs with God.
It abounds with God. And yet Jesus gives us unequivocally his view of marriage. You can't un-one what God has made one. The spouse of your youth is your spouse one flesh.
There are no irreconcilable differences for followers of Jesus. And this is a difficult teaching because when two people get married, as you know, as I know, it's two sinners that are starting to live together into the same roof. And all hell can break loose because there's a great deal of brokenness. And I think the third thing we have to know and have to remember is even if you don't fully understand what Jesus says or why he says it, that everything Jesus teaches is unto life.
Everything that Jesus teaches is the route to life and peace. Everything that Jesus teaches is the doorway to eternal and everlasting life. And again, I believe this word is a word two and four marriages. Right male plus female committed, lifelong, faithful, pleasure-filled, intimate allies is a word for our culture, our church, our kids need to see this.
It's a word that brings life. And back to the question before we end this, and I think this is going to be the second longest podcast that I've done in 300 days. But if you were your marriage counselor, what would you say today to you about your marriage? Is it time to listen or risk or forgive or plan a date or scratch your plan?
Is it time to talk about that? Is it time to go low? Is it time to buy some lingerie? Is it time to write a note?
Is it time to just cuddle? Is it time to... I mean, what is the enemy stolen that God wants to mend? What does God join together and let nothing in all creation separate it?
And so let's just spend a little bit of time with Jesus. If we're single, let's ask Him to prepare our hearts and lives for the marriage covenant. If we're married, we're married. And let's ask God to take back the ground that the enemy is taken because you can't un-one what God has made one.
We'll talk tomorrow. God bless you.