Tag Archives: DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996)

I checked with the Supreme Court; nothing’s changed.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and

mother and hold fast to his wife and they

shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24, ESV).

Long before the political insertion of DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996), marriage was a Christian institution. Long before the politicians decided to define marriage, then redefine it, God already had his own definition. This definition does not change with political whim.

When the American empire joins the Babylonian, Medo- Persian, Greek and Roman empires as dust and rubble, God’s rule will persist. The US Supreme Court cannot imagine how temporary their decisions are in the context of history.

Marriage began at creation, when God gave Eve to Adam, and commanded them to forge a union, the closest human relationship possible.

When Paul wanted to compare the relationship of Christ and the church, he chose the marriage relationship as the most accurate human analogy (Ephesians 5:25-33).

Jesus insisted that marriage and its component parts were “from the beginning” (Matthew 19:1-9).

This predates the latest Presidential administrations by some distance. It is prior to the New York Times, MSNBC and Hollywood. Marriage from a Christian point of view must be defined the way Scripture defines it.

* Puritans in England saw England as God’s kingdom on earth. It was not.

* Many Puritans came to the New World seeking to establish America as the kingdom of God; they did not.

* Dutch Huguenots entered Southern Africa convinced they were the kingdom of God, but they were not.

The United States has in many ways been a marvel of freedoms and democracy; perhaps it will continue in that manner. I hope so.

But the USA was never the kingdom of God. Jesus reminded Pilate regarding the nature of God’s kingdom:

“My kingdom,” he declared very clearly, “is not of this world” (John 18:36). It is still not of this world.

Almost the last thing said in the Bible is an invitation from “the Spirit and the bride” (Revelation 22:17).

Marriage is not a political entity; it is a Christian institution. They can legislate what they want in Washington D.C., or Brussels, or Buenos Aires. The Christian is a citizen of another country, anyway (Philippians 3:20).

I was as concerned about the supreme court’s political decision as anybody, but spiritually there is another reality.

I checked with the Supreme Court; nothing’s changed.

— by Stan Mitchell