Marriage: a Blood Covenant with a Threefold Purpose

One reason why the Western Church seems powerless to stop the juggernaut of same-sex marriage lies in the failure of the pulpit to teach the nature of marriage as a divine institution.

Marriage is not simply two people agreeing to live together with shared assets and responsibilities; marriage is a covenant relationship between a man and a woman before God. It is a covenant inaugurated in the shedding of blood, and when a person breaks a blood-covenant, he is liable for a blood-curse, a curse that cannot be removed without the shedding of blood. That is why God sees the severing of the marriage covenant as an act of violence, and he hates it.

There are three fundamental reasons that God established marriage: to provide lonely people with companionship, to help people be morally pure, and to raise up a new generation that will love and follow God and share the gospel with others.

We thank God that the blood of Jesus Christ is more than sufficient to wash away the blood-curse for which those who have broken a blood-covenant are liable.

Note: this sermon is a shorter version of the morning and evening messages preached almost seven years ago, "Why God hates divorce" (sermonid=112204175625).