Mark 10:10-12 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 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.
Marriage is an act or institution of God's will, not man's: "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Mark 10:9) In the pristine environment of his making, bathed in his love, God planned for a sinless creation. Man was to be perfect: any other condition than perfection was considered sin, waywardness from the perfect will of God. No condition or thought OTHER than God's could be considered, for it would contaminate his perfect world. But, as we know, man fell completely into degradation and sin by disobeying God's instructions on how to live in the Garden successfully. God's creation strayed, placing their will over God's will. Because the will of mankind--his ways, wisdom, and ideas--is less than perfect, degradation, wickedness, selfishness, lust, corruption, pride, arrogance, competition, and more, came into his daily life. Concomitant with the fall from all that was good came God's judgment to deal with this rebellion. Divorce, a product of man's will, is classified by God as adultery if one marries another, something He hates. His intention for man was for him to be in a permanent union with one woman. There were to be no second thoughts or alternative relationships in this plan of one union. Marriage would be the perfect bond between a man and a woman, completely satisfying Adam's need for companionship. Together, they would make the human condition of existence whole, complete. But this arrangement was dispensed of because of sin; therefore, such a separation will always be against God's perfect will for men and women.
Now consider what Jesus meant regarding the realities of this world's fallen state, full of violence and disruption, far from the perfection of the Garden of Eden. As humans, we sometimes behave contrary to God's will, but we do so to survive in a wicked and dysfunctional environment. Such as, to protect ourselves, we commit violence against another even though that was not God's purpose from the beginning. The Old Testament is full of violence, even violence used to correct difficult situations, to overcome evil and to restore righteousness. Do these situations make violence good or is violence contrary to God's perfect will for mankind? Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52) We see God asking Cain: “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain slays Abel for his own personal reasons. He chooses other than God's perfect will for mankind. He slays Abel, he is classified as a murderer, and God gives him punishment for his deed, one Cain thinks is too harsh. Today when we kill each other, even for good reasons, we are still out of the perfect will of God for mankind in the Garden. In this world, we are now murderers, for even if we do not kill our brother, we have murder in our hearts, whether for what we think are good reasons or bad reasons. In God's economy, Jesus said, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28) Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Notice, there is no law against such positive attributes in mankind. If men would display this fruit, there would be no need for laws or policemen, but this perfect world is not the one we live in. We live in an imperfect world where there is aggression, violence, abuse, selfishness, lust, disharmony, criticism, chaos, and the like. Therefore, we do have policemen and soldiers to ameliorate the works of the flesh.
Christians ask, What about divorce? Is divorce always wrong? As with the above paragraph, Is killing always wrong? The answer is: Yes, in a perfect world, these choices are not God's best for us. But we live in a corrupted world. If a woman is being beaten and threatened with harm or death by her husband, does she not have a right to divorce him or sadly even to shoot him to protect her life or her children's lives if they are in danger? That kind of decision is a personal one, not based on desire but desperation. Of course, in a good or satisfactory marriage, divorce should never be an option. If sin such as lust or dissatisfaction with one's mate is the reason for divorce, we must evaluate our walk with Christ and seek him. Moses gave a certificate of divorce because of sin. Jesus said the people were making a decision outside of God's will for them, yet divorces were permitted under Moses, and as we know, he was a man of God. When God did not destroy mankind during Noah's time, He allowed the condition and vicissitudes of sin to exist. We all live under that umbrella of a corrupt world. WE ALL HAVE SINNED and come short of God's glory: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) Otherwise, we are all adulterers, all killers, all liars, all imperfect. The Bible says if you have sinned in one situation, you are guilty of all. Divorce is not the perfect will of God; therefore, it is classified as sin. In a perfect world, believers should not even have a concept of separation from their mates, but we are not in a perfect world. We should strive for harmony, we should go the extra mile in all situations, we should be long-suffering; but sometimes conditions are such that the only solution is a violent one, contrary to God's intention of harmony and peace. God is mighty to empower us and strengthen us when we yield to him. He will help us center our marriages on his will and his nature. No situation is too difficult for him. Lord, let your love be manifested through our lives and through our marital relationships. We need you: we need your grace and mercy to live in us in this alien, wicked world.
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