For many years, I have read articles and heard sermons preached about how God hates divorce. Some even go as far as to claim divorced people are going to hell or if they remarry, they are certainly headed to hell. These types of messages never help people; they just condemn them or keep them living in terror.
By all statistics, the divorce rate in the church is equal to or possibly slightly higher than it is in the world. How did Jesus treat divorced people? In John Chapter 4, we see a fascinating encounter Jesus had with a woman at the well. There is a lot to unpack in this story, but I want you to notice a few very important facts. Jesus knew she had been married five times and the man she was presently living with she wasn’t married to. Did Jesus threaten her with hell or condemn her for her past? No! He offered her eternal life. Jesus revealed to her that He was the Messiah she had heard was to come. What was her reaction to His offer to her and the truth He was her Messiah? She ran to town and told everyone about Him and what He said to her. As a result, many believed in Jesus because of her testimony about Him. Here is the good news of the gospel that the divorce haters miss out on. It is true that God hates divorce, but it isn’t true He hates divorcées. It is also true that as a believer, God will never divorce you! He promised that no matter what believers do or what happens to them, He would never separate Himself from them. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) Believers are Christ’s bride and even if the bride is unfaithful, He will always remain faithful. “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:3-4). David, who committed adultery and murder, wrote twenty-six times in Psalm 136, that God's love never fails. Your failures in life will not nullify or stop God’s unfailing love toward you. Learn to forgive yourself because God already has. ~ Ed Elliott
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About this blog:These are articles that I find of interest. Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|