Sunday, June 7, 2009

Marriage - An Imperfect Gift?

If one were to judge the merit of the gift of marriage by looking at divorce statistics, marriage would appear to be imperfect. But it is not. It is our understanding of marriage that is flawed, not the gift itself.
So I have a theory. On the day that a man and woman stand before the alter of God and exchange vows, the priest, not having the ability to see into the minds and hearts, proclaims the couple "married". And so the earthly marriage takes place.
But God is there as well and HE CAN see into the minds and hearts of the couple. What if He sees that one or the other does not truly love? Can God then honor a lie? I do not believe He can. I believe that on that day, if one or the other is lying, the spiritual marriage does NOT take place because God being Truth, cannot honor a lie.
The Bible also says, that God will not be mocked. And the marriage ceremony says, "Let not man put assunder what God has joined together." It says nothing about God not being able to put assunder what man has joined together.
I believe that God will give this earthly marriage a chance but that at some point, because God will NOT be mocked, He will allow something that tests the strength of the vows. And if true love does not exist, the marriage breaks.
Is this how it really is? I don't know. But I have a problem accepting that the God of truth would ever honor a lie.

Of the earth...........

Lately, I have been giving thought to the missing feminine in the godhead. Yes, I've read the debate about the Holy Spirit being feminine. Both sides of the issue have made good arguments either way. But as I was researching this, I finally noticed something in the creation story that I hadn't noticed before.
In the beginning, God created everything. Heavens, earth, plants, animals. And these things He created out of NOTHING. But the creation story changes drastically when God creates "man". First, the Bible says, "Let US create man in OUR image. And male and female He created them". Okay. Good argument for a feminine in the godhead. But what I noticed also and haven't seen anything written about is the fact that man is the only part of creation that was created out of something that already existed; the dust of the earth. Why?
From my years on the earth, I have seen that God is in the details. So this detail intrigues me. Man is made from the dust of the earth and the breath of God. Could this be symbolic for how we are actually constructed; having a material (earth) body and a spirit (breath of God)?
I do not have an answer. But I believe, there is a significance there.