Zack
Smith a former position coach at Ohio State University allegedly abused and
battered his wife. As I listened to the news
and commentary last week it brought to my mind a question, “What did God do
before creation?”
Let’s
begin with two agreed upon statements:
#1
God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
#2 God
is love.
So
then, who did God love before the creation of nature, angels and mankind? Before time and the creation of anything in
the community and unity of the Godhead the Father loved the Son and the Spirit,
the Son loved the Father and the Spirit and the Spirit loved the Father and the
Son.
Then
comes creation and God says that man will be created in His own image. “And
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them” Gen 1:27. In
the creation of the first couple God placed His unique mark or image of the
Trinity. The marvelous union of a man
and a woman in the covenant of marriage and their becoming one flesh (which
results in the two becoming three) is a part of the fulfillment of the image of
God. The “one flesh-ness” of a couple is
not a mere symbol or token expression.
It is a very real experience; it is the reality of life that uniquely
pictures the unity and community of the Trinity.
This
is why sexual sin is such a disaster for a person. Any expression of sexual intimacy apart from
the marriage covenant perverts the intended picture of the community and unity
of the Trinity. Adultery, fornication, pornography, sexual
assault, frigidity or spousal abuse (this list could go on and on) each is a
mockery of the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It explains why homosexuality is portrayed in
Scripture as an abomination.
This
understanding of marriage is critical for our time. We are a society that is very much aware of
the problems of abused wives (and sometimes husbands). We are seeing the rising tide of polyamorous
acceptance and many believe that with the social normalization of homosexuality
polygamy will be the next front in the sexual revolution. There are the rumblings of a pedophilia scandal
in Hollywood and we are aware of the evil men in the media and entertainment
industry who have used their power to exploit young women.
We
have seen the rise of movements to attempt to address our current situation
such as the #MeToo movement. Another is
an attempt to empower men, especially football players, as advocates of women’s
protection. While there is some value in
some of these there is no solution.
Actions and movements and rules and awareness can never reverse the
effect of sin and will never change the soul of anyone. They are, to use a military analogy, a
fighting retreat in the face of overwhelming evil; they cannot win, ever. They all fail for the same reason they are
‘Man’ centered.
The
solution is to restore our understanding of marriage to a Genesis 1
picture. Marriage is a part of God’s
creative process to provide a picture of the relationship within the
Godhead. Beyond time in all of eternity
the three persons of the Trinity love, support and give of themselves to one
another. That is what marriage must be
for it to be all it can be.
Zack
Smith allegedly did not treat his wife the way the Father treated the Son and the
Spirit. If these accusations are true it
is likely because Zack Smith never thought about his marriage as a way to live
out the relationship from the perspective of heaven. Until a person sees the universe and their own
lives from the perspective of the throne room of Heaven, we are bound up in our
human solutions and that is not a very promising thought. The mess at OSU is not unique; it is just
more obvious evidence that when we are the ones who write the terms of marriage,
we write misery into our very hearts
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