A Warm-Hearted Church (Matthew 19:1-8)
It is not the attitude of Christians to uncomfortably stare at people who go through problems of divorce or their families. Life itself is a difficult journey, but there are people who particularly suffer greater pain. We should consider their situations and encourage them to walk the path of hope to the end.
1. Because of hard-heartedness
“Moses allowed us to send away our wives if we write a certificate of divorce.” The pharisees talked as if Moses supported divorce. The Lord told them, “This was written because your hearts were hard.” God hates it when a man sends away his wife, but since it still occurred, God provided a certificate of divorce to protect women who face such situations.
2. Making a covenant with each other
God hates it when a man leaves his wife, yet mankind’s hardheartedness led Him to even provide a certificate of divorce. The cause of this was curses. After the corruption in Eden, wives have tried to force their desires over their husbands, and husbands have suppressed it with coercive means. Consequently, women were sometimes treated as lower beings throughout history. Yet when God created man in the beginning, He made man and woman to be equal partners and created them to make a covenant with each other.
3. A new chance for hope
God’s interests are not in whether someone can or cannot divorce, but in how mankind – who is like an adulterous woman – can enter God’s covenant and gain life. All of us are people who were divorced from God, and we still commit large and small sins in His sight. Let’s remember that God is patient with us, and build a warm-hearted church where people can come to the Lord and gain a new chance to live.
September 26, 2021
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim
