READ: Gen. 2:18-25
‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said … So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’ – Matt. 19:4-6
Due to the fall into sin, much corruption has occurred, particularly in societal forms. However, what God did and spoke in Gen. 1 and 2 regarding marriage remains His complete order, norm, and command for us. Violating it is a sin against the high majesty of God. When the Lord Jesus is questioned about divorce, He refers back to the norm of creation. He asks to open the Bible and read about the special gift that the LORD God gave to Adam: Woman.
Adam longed for a wife while examining the animals and their pairs, and the LORD then built a woman from his rib and brought her to him. In delight, Adam accepted that gift from God, saying, “This is it! This one belongs completely to me. She is taken from me” (Gen. 2:23).
Thus, God created humanity as male and female with the purpose that the woman would assist, complement, and add to the man. The woman was to complete Adam in order to be together an image of God. They were closely united to each other, made by God as one flesh. Even outside of marriage, we are to respect the distinction between man and woman as God’s created order (1 Cor. 11).
Anything that deviates from this goes against God and dishonors Him. If a marital life is not possible due to lack of ability or experience, the Lord requires abstinence (Matt. 19:10-12). Divorces, alternative forms of cohabitation, or gender changes go against God’s norm. In participating in these practices, the honor of God, the almighty Creator, is at stake (Mal. 2:16; Rom. 1:24-27)!
Why would the distinction between male and female be considered discrimination?
Singing: Ps. 128:2