In the past, the Supreme Court has heard arguments for and against changing the definition of marriage. Christian cannot be silent on this issue. Here are five arguments for traditional marriage from God’s Word.
- God’s Design of the Body
God formed the man from the dust of the ground. The word “formed” means “to shape or fashion.” It gives the picture of a potter working with clay to shape his intended product. The human body, with all its parts—inside and out—was designed and formed by God, the great Potter. The formation of flesh lay lifeless until the Creator stooped down and breathed in life. With the breath of God filling his lungs, man became a living being—body and soul.
- God’s Partnership Design
God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”[1] So he took from the man’s side and formed the woman. The word “helper” is a word usually used to refer to God himself. It describes one who provides what is lacking, one who completes and one who brings healing. God’s desire in creating the woman was to complete the man. Together the couple can honor, serve, and reveal God’s person in a way neither could do alone. And they are to complete each other physically as well.
- God’s “One-Flesh” Design
God designed the bodies of men and women with sexual parts that fit together. The act of intimacy is a vivid picture of the one flesh relationship. The emotional and physical act of sex is a deep experience of the one-flesh relationship. But the forming of a man and woman was for more than sexual pleasure or the experience of oneness. Men and women are to leave their parents, be united to each other and experience physical, emotional, spiritual, and missional oneness.[2]
- God’s Population Plan
God’s plan for forming the man and woman differently included the marvelous and miraculous process of reproduction. God gave man and woman the awesome privilege and responsibility to create a new being. This new person can only come to be from what man and woman provide. It takes both the male and female to “be fruitful and increase in number.”
- God’s Parenting Plan
It takes a man and a woman to bring a child into the world. And God’s design is for a mom and dad to raise the child into adulthood. A child needs what only a mother and father can give. Interestingly, the characteristics of both a mother and father are found in the person of God.[3] God’s command is for children to honor and respect their mother and father.[4]
Marriage between a man and woman is God’s idea and his design. We must stand strong for traditional biblical marriage.
[1] Genesis 2:18
[2] Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:7-9; Ephesians 5:31
[3] Psalm 91:4; Matthew 23:37; Exodus 15:3; Zephaniah 3:17; Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:7; et. al.
[4] Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; Ephesians 6:2