Message

Married with Children
Pastor Lorraine Coconato
February, 2007

Text: Isaiah 54: 1, 5, "Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud; you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the Lord. Verse 5, "For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name. And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth."

As God's beloved children, we are "married" to Him!

Because of the models of our culture, we have embraced a skewed perspective of God, His eternal love and His undying commitment to us!

So many people today are a product of broken vows, issues of rejection, abandonment and parental dysfunction. As a result of these issues and many more, modern man has created an image of God in their hearts and minds that diminishes His greatness, His goodness and His new mercies that are available to us every morning!

These confused perceptions of God, embellished and further distorted by some media inventions, have pushed the people of today into a dullness of heart and mind toward the greatest gift that has ever been given to mankind, a personal relationship with the Living God through Jesus, the Messiah and Lord!

Verses 4 of Isaiah 54 says, "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the same of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore." Prior to our commitment to living for God, we did some rather shameful and regretful things that estranged us from trusting in the God of Israel to walk us through our days!

But, know, dear brothers and sister, that God is permanently committed to loving you, healing you and leading you all of your days! He is "Melek Olam" the King Eternal, forever reaching out to you and me! He is the God of all permanence, perpetually available to all His beloved ones, day and night, like a good husband would be to the bride of his youth!

The Scriptures speak of God's permanence like this, in Psalm 90: 1-2, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God! A new covenant verse that validates God's permanence is Hebrews 13: 8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Yet, though He is God and He has always been God, He daily reaches toward you and me with an outstretched arm! Jeremiah 31: 3 says it like this, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you.”

This is why God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus to us! Somewhere over the years, we lost our way and married the gods of the culture that momentarily satisfied our needs! Yet in the foreknowledge of the Eternal God, He knew that a final sacrifice would be needed, one that would cleanse us from all our sins and restore us to a vital and active relationship with the Living God through the Messiah (Hebrew) , The Christ (from Greek), Jesus, the Lord!

In the writings of Paul (Saul), the Apostle, the Lord says, "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one Husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." (2 Corinthians 11: 2)

We are "married" to the Lord when we allow Him to be God over all that we are! And in the ancient traditions of Judaism, we are called to raise up "children" that will bear fruit for His Namesake!

It's time to sing! We are no longer barren, but fruitful offspring, laboring in this world to be bearers of His grace, married to Him and His ways and birthing children who will not chose to be desolate, but to be wonders of His love!

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