Back To The Beginning | Matthew 19:1-8; Genesis 2:18-25

Scripture

• Genesis 2:18–25
• Matthew 19:1–8

About this sermon

Introduction: Why does our Lord take the Pharisees back to the book of Genesis? Why does Jesus talk about marriage when the Pharisees have a question about divorce? Why, when they ask a question about the law of God (is it lawful?), does Jesus redirect them to a different section of the law of God? God’s law is not in conflict with itself. Why would our Lord engage in what could appear to be a case of “my text versus your text”? Our Lord does this because they were misreading the law of God. You have the AUTHOR of the law correcting the READERS of the law. Their emphasis, their interest, their question, betrayed their lack of understanding. “Have you not read?” — Jesus says. The correct reading of Christ’s section would have shed light on the incorrect reading of their section — THAT is His point. And THAT response reminds us of a tremendous problem that man has since the fall. Man has a hard time listening to God. In fact, in his sin, man DOESN’T listen to God. He CAN’T listen to God. And it’s not a physical problem; it’s a moral problem. ESV John 8:43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. IT TAKES GRACE, IT TAKES SALVATION, FOR MAN TO HAVE EARS WILLING TO HEAR WHAT GOD HAS SPOKEN. YOU MUST BE WILLING TO LISTEN, BECAUSE THERE IS NOWHERE ELSE TO FIND THE TRUTH. The only access that mankind has to what marriage truly is, and how marriage is to be regarded and lived out, is special revelation from God (man won’t discover it in himself) — and mankind has no access to that special revelation without the illumination of the Holy Spirit received through salvation. John Piper — “The greatness and glory of marriage is beyond our ability to think or feel without divine revelation and without the illumining and awakening work of the Holy Spirit. The world cannot know what marriage is without learning it from God. The natural man does not have the capacities to see or receive or feel the wonder of what God has designed for marriage to be. I pray that this book might be used by God to help set you free from small, worldly, culturally contaminated, self-centered, Christ-ignoring, God-neglecting, romance-intoxicated, unbiblical views of marriage.” The Pharisees had the book, but our Lord’s response makes it obvious that it was as if they had never read what they possessed. They were misreading the book. The inborn biases produced by sin result in closed eyes and closed ears even when the book of God is wide open. But I warn us today, THAT EVEN AFTER SALVATION, people can struggle to listen to God. SIN IS A STRONG INFLUENCER. And there is sin all around — and sin WITHIN us. AND SIN IS IN THE MAJORITY IN THIS WORLD. So that, if you are looking for affirmation regarding your sinful preferences, you will ALWAYS find abundant affirmation. Sadly, even in the professing church (at large) you will find abundant affirmation for sinful choices. The only way we ever arrive at the truth is WORSHIPFUL SUBMISSION. The only way we arrive at the truth is with a heart that desires the glory of God more than ANY other way. The only way we desire the glory of God more than any other way, is salvation. The only way we maintain that ambition from day to day (and decision to decision) is the mortification of sin found in submission to the Lordship of Christ. It is an ambition that GOES ON existing in us because of the new birth, and because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But I warn us that we can abandon it at very strategic moments in our life (when we choose sin), and the results can be devastating. So, Jesus directs them to Genesis. What does Genesis teach us about marriage?

Topics

• God the Father