Why do Christians oppose same-sex marriage?

Why is it that Bible-believing Christians oppose same-sex marriage and other departures from traditional marriage between one man and one woman? Are they just defending a tradition? Are they just refusing to accept alternative lifestyles and grant to others the same rights and protections they enjoy? The answer goes much deeper than that -- it goes all the way back to the beginning in Genesis and the Biblical creation account.

In Genesis 1:26-28, "God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

God created mankind in His own image -- to love God, to trust God and to honor God by walking in His ways. And God made man male and female and gave to them the blessing and command to "be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it."

In Genesis 2, after the LORD God tells us how "He formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (2:7); He tells us of the creation of woman (2:18-25): "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.' Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

According to God's own account, He made woman to be a companion and helper for man, comparable to man. In other words, God created woman from the rib of man -- something which shouldn't seem so unbelievable anymore considering the cloning work that has been done in animals -- and He made the woman comparable to man to be both a companion and partner, as well as sexually compatible to have children together and populate the earth.

And, God's word says that God's creation of the woman and bringing her to the man is the beginning of marriage and the reason why, still today, "a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" -- a new family unit in which children may be conceived, born and raised and brought up to know and serve the LORD God (cf. Ephesians 6:1-4).

Any lifestyle which is outside of God's purpose and design in the creation of man and woman is a perversion and sin according to the Bible. To put it simply, it is not living in accord with the will and design of our Creator and is therefore wrong and an abomination to Him.

It is a reason why God's judgment fell on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. It is why God warned His people against all sorts of sexual perversion (including fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, etc.) in Leviticus 18. It is why God's 10 Commandments forbid adultery.

When Jesus was asked about divorce in the New Testament, look at what He said (Matthew 19:4-6): "He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.'" Jesus appealed to God's purpose and design in marriage.

This is also why Jesus warned in His sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:27-28): "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." And why is lustful looking at a woman adultery? Because it adulterates God's purpose and design in creation. God did not create woman to be lusted after for one's own sexual gratification; God created woman to be a helper and companion for man and for marriage with man.

The New Testament, too, is quite clear in calling the practice of homosexual acts, or even homosexual desires, a perversion of God's purpose and intent in creation. Read Romans 1:18ff. and Jude 7. And it is listed among sins which bar people from being a part of God's church and kingdom.

God says, in Revelation 21:8: "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."

Notice that the lists here and in Romans 1 do not single out homosexuality as the sole damnable sin; they include it among others, including fornication, adultery, drunkenness, reviling and even lying.

None of these things are in accord with God's purpose and design in creation. He didn't create us for homosexuality -- something which even nature, or human anatomy, should tell us -- but neither did He create us to have casual heterosexual sex, to divorce, to lie, to steal, to revile or to be drunk. All of these are damnable sins and, unless we repent and look to God for pardon and forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be condemned to hell on account of them.

Notice that St. Paul, after he gave the partial list cited above, said (1 Corinthians 6:11): "And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

Yes, Bible-believing Christians call homosexuality sin. It is is contrary to God's purpose and design in creation. It is a perversion of the truth brought on by our fallen human nature (Genesis 3). But Bible-believing Christians also call any sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and a woman sin. They call lusting after a woman sin. They call divorce sin. They call lying, stealing and coveting sin. They even call it sin when people do not love the Lord God with all their heart and soul and mind. They call themselves sinners and admit that they don't measure up to God's law or His purpose and design in creation.

But Bible-believing Christians also call upon themselves and all people to repent and look to Jesus Christ, God's Son made man, and to trust in His holy life and His atoning sacrifice on the cross as full payment for all our sins. And, because they trust in Christ for forgiveness and life eternal, they seek to conform to God's purpose and design in creation. As those who are saved entirely of God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9), they also remember that now they "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

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Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and also the pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rogers. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Religion on 06/15/2016