"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
Matthew 5:31-32

We are in the midst of exploring what Jesus said about marriage and divorce in Matthew 19:3-9:

Matthew 19:4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,'

Last time we mentioned the fact that Jesus identifies one of our common problems: Not reading, and therefore not knowing what God says in His Word. (Go back to read yesterday’s blog if you missed it.)

Next, do not miss that Jesus goes back to the beginning, to Genesis, for God’s baseline for truth. There are more truths (often unknown to many believers) in the first eleven chapters of Genesis that establish the necessary ground floor for numerous matters of Christian faith and practice. God, and the truths He established in the beginning, have not changed.

A basic difference between “conservative” and “progressive” Christians is that conservatives are committed to conserving ancient, established truth. Progressives are committed to reinventing all things new—loving change for change sake. When it comes to what God established in the beginning, we are wise to be conservative—sticking to what He has said. Likewise, we are foolish to disregard what God has established in favor of new ideas and practices based on ever-changing cultures driven by fallen people.

Jesus referred back to creation and the establishment of marriage (as did Paul in 1 Timothy 2:13). When considering just about anything, we do well to ask ourselves if the issue is established in the opening chapters of Genesis. If it is, don’t seek to change it!

That is a little about the importance of going back to the beginning. Next time, what did God establish about marriage from the beginning?