Why I am Against Same-Sex Marriage

I am not one to voice my political opinions on any form of social media, but given the circumstances and the topic, I would like to share my thoughts. There has been a lot of buzz going around on almost every form of media about the fight for “equality” in the legalization of same-sex marriage. There has been hurtful things said on both sides of the issue that have been rooted in hate and ignorance. By the grace of God, I hope that I can respond in love and speak truth with grace. I am not trying to create a “new truth” that we can all agree on, rather I want to look back to the absolute truth that has been revealed to us in God’s holy scriptures thousands of years ago. I also know that truth will frequently divide people, however I know that as people embrace the truth of the gospel the power of God unites us in Christ. My prayer is that we would humble ourselves under the word of God and turn to the truth of the gospel to find that God has loved us beyond measure.

As I look through the scriptures, I only see God endorse marriage between one man and one woman. In Genesis chapter 2, God creates Adam, the first of mankind. God sees that man is not good alone so he creates Eve, his wife. God says that she is a helper who is fit for Adam. I think the word “fit” has some very interesting implications. If you look at the anatomy of a male and a female you would notice the biggest difference in their reproductive organs. When a man and woman come together they are connected as if they were pieces of a puzzle perfectly fit for one another. You would also notice that Adam needs Eve, and Eve needs Adam, if they are going to carry out the cultural mandate that God gave them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” 

Right before the end of Genesis 2, God defines marriage. Not a definition from man, but God. God tells us his original design for marriage, and because he invented it, he gets to tell us how it works. He says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” From this text, it is clear that marriage consists of one man and one woman. 

Shortly after that passage, everything that God created, the purpose and design, gets distorted because of sin. Sin came into the world because man rebelled against the design of the creator. Bad things happened then and bad things continue to happen because of Adam and Eve’s decision to rebel against God. All you need to do is read a few chapters in Genesis to see that mankind is screwed up. Cain kills his brother, Abel. Polygamy begins shortly after, which is also rebellion against God’s design for marriage. Abraham himself, the father of the faith, rebels against God’s design of marriage and takes for himself two wives. It is important to understand that God doesn’t tell us this in scripture to justify us in our sin, he tells us this so we can know that he chooses to use sinful people to bring about his glorious purposes. The problems with the design of marriage don’t end there, polygamy and other marriage related sins continue into the next generations.

I hope you can see that rebellion against God’s marriage design isn’t a new thing. Because of our sin, humanity has struggled with this for ages past. We are not facing a new issue. What happened back then was people conforming to the patterns of their culture and that led them into sin. We are doing the same at this very moment. Culture is telling us that we need to rethink the design of marriage in order to move forward as nation and as the human race. They say this is the next step for equality for all people. Culture is making a push to move away from God’s perfect design of marriage and create their own design that is “better.” This is at the root of what culture is doing and it has been that way since sin has entered the world.

In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus himself repeats the same words that God gave us in Genesis 2. Later on in Ephesians 5, Paul reinforces God’s original design for marriage by quoting that very same passage. Paul is addressing the married couples as “husbands” and “wives.” There isn’t a clause in there for husbands and husbands or wives and wives. He is simply restating that marriage is designed by God and it is for one man and one woman. However, the most important thing that we look at is how marriage points to Christ and the Church.

In the book of Revelation, we see a wedding taking place. The Lamb, Jesus Christ, is taking a bride dressed in fine, pure white linens, the Church. This is the wedding of all weddings and it is between one man and his bride. God tells us clearly in scripture that marriage is for one man and one woman. He tells us that in the Old Testament when he created marriage and he tells us that again in the New Testament to show us that he hasn’t changed his mind. This means that polygamy and same-sex marriage are both rebellion against God’s original design. They have been from the beginning and will always be.

Marriage is a common grace with restrictions. What I mean by that is marriage is a gift that isn’t just for Christians, it is for the unbeliever too. Whether it be a wedding of a believer or an unbeliever, it all points to a great wedding that is to come. That is why we naturally celebrate weddings, God designed us that way. Marriage also reveals to us that as we sin against our spouse and our spouse sins against us that we need a savior. Marriage will either push you into a deeper relationship with Jesus or show you that need to have a relationship with Jesus.

At the same time marriage is a common grace to the believer and the unbeliever, marriage is restricted within the confines of God’s design. Let’s think about this logically, if a man were to take two wives this wouldn’t point toward the wedding in the book of Revelation between Jesus and the Church. No, this would point to Jesus taking two wives. That would mean there is division in the church and in Ephesians 4, Paul urges us to pursue unity in the body of believers.

Now think about this, if a man were to take a man, that also wouldn’t point toward the wedding in Revelation. That would point to a gospel where there wouldn’t be a church. Jesus would be marrying himself and the church is just left to her own devices. That just doesn’t make sense. God, who has always been three persons in one, doesn’t need to be united in marriage, God was already perfectly united since eternity past. There would be no good news for the church then, they would be spectators at the wedding and wouldn’t benefit from that union at all.

Now look at this one, if a woman and a woman were to marry they would not be displaying the wedding we see in the book of Revelation either. With that configuration God is completely left out of that wedding picture. If Jesus is left out of the picture then there is no atonement of sins or inheritance to the kingdom of God. The bride simply trades the best spouse for a clone of herself. This is really scary because without Jesus the Church is a group unfaithful, selfish, pagans. There isn’t any good news in that wedding it is just a path to destruction.

Thankfully, by God’s design, marriage points to that wedding that we find in Revelation 19. This is the wedding that girls and boys have dreamt of since their youth. This is a story where the most attractive, charming, faithful, rich prince sets out on a journey to win himself an undeserving bride. This bride has no redeeming qualities. She is poor as they come, she isn’t smart, she worships things that she made with her own hands, she is an adulterer, she has been beat down with the ugly stick and she drools. There is not an ounce of good in her. However the prince says, “Because I am gracious and full of compassion, I choose you to be my bride.” The bride knows she isn’t a good fit for him, she has too much baggage, she has done some much wrong. Nevertheless, the price takes her and says, “I will become the mess you are so you can become all that I am.”

As it turns out, the prince ends up getting killed for becoming like her because she was so nasty she deserved to be killed, according to God’s standards. He died and stayed that way for 3 days and then on a glorious Sunday morning God rose him from the dead. The bride’s sin had been paid for! Her slate had been washed clean! Not only was she freed from the doom that was once set before her but she now had a hopeful future to look forward to. In marrying the prince, she became a co-heir to the riches of the Kingdom of God. She would no longer feel hurt or pain, there would be no more suffering, all of the shame she once felt has been lifted and she had been fully restored. Not only was she fully restored and rich but she would be that way for the rest of eternity as she gazed into the beautiful face of her prince.

This is the gospel story that God’s design of marriage tells us. This is the good news! As a Christian this is what I am standing for. I am not standing for what the government says marriage looks like, I am standing for what God says marriage is. By God’s design, marriage is for one man and one woman.

This isn’t about homosexuality, this is about marriage. I feel like I need to end this by saying that I am not against people who gather under the rainbow colored flag. My stance isn’t to condemn homosexuals but it is to preserve God’s perfect design of marriage and the wedding that we have to look forward to when Christ is standing at the alter as the bride he made beautiful walks down the aisle. The reason why I am against same-sex marriage is because it is in direct contradiction to God’s design for marriage and what scripture tells us about marriage.