【中英双语】回到起初，思想婚姻

回到起初，思想婚姻

Going Back To The Beginning

"'Haven't you read,' [Jesus] replied, 'that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female" . . . "and the two will become one flesh"?'" - Matthew 19:4-5

灵修

We live in a time of great controversy. With the U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring it unconstitutional to outlaw same-sex marriages, it has become evident again that morality cannot be legislated, as Billy Graham once said.

Even the Law of Moses made some concessions to the hardness of people's hearts. The Pharisees tried to lure Jesus into the swamp of discussing divorce and when it might be permissible, according to Moses. Jesus refused to get drawn into their fruitless legal argument. Instead, he called them back to the beginning, before the law was given, before sin entered the world. God created us male and female, and he gave men and women to each other in marriage. Only within this framework of our created nature can human relationships flourish.

But a created nature is denied when people cease to believe in the Creator. It's like a carpenter stubbornly refusing to use a saw to cut a board—and, instead, bashing away at it with a hammer.

Paul says, "What the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son" (Romans 8:3). Only new birth in Christ is strong enough to restore our nature, whatever sin we struggle with.

祷告

Prayer

Lord, as Augustine put it, "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you." Guide us all as we seek to know ourselves and how to relate to each other in love. Amen.

经文

马太福音 19:1-9

 Matthew 19:1-9

1耶稣说完了这些话，就离开加利利，来到犹太的境界约旦河外。
2有许多人跟着他，他就在那里把他们的病人治好了。
3有法利赛人来试探耶稣，说：“人无论什么缘故都可以休妻吗？”
4耶稣回答说：“那起初造人的，是造男造女，
5并且说：‘因此，人要离开父母，与妻子连合，二人成为一体。’这经你们没有念过吗？
6既然如此，夫妻不再是两个人，乃是一体的了。所以，神配合的，人不可分开。”
7法利赛人说：“这样，摩西为什么吩咐给妻子休书，就可以休她呢？”
8耶稣说：“摩西因为你们的心硬，所以许你们休妻，但起初并不是这样。
9我告诉你们，凡休妻另娶的，若不是为淫乱的缘故，就是犯奸淫了；有人娶那被休的妇人，也是犯奸淫了。”

最分享

若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人。

旧事已过，都变成新的了。

哥林多后书 5:17