It's not that we shouldn't have expected it. When the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down a Texas law banning "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex," thus legalizing homosexual behavior, this was only a matter of time. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia predicted that the ruling "will have far-reaching implications beyond this case." In writing for the minority view, he predicted that this ruling would "mark the end of all morals legislation" and leave traditional marriage "on pretty shaky grounds."

The controversy surrounding same-sex marriage will likely become a hot political issue in the upcoming national elections. In the recent Democratic Party primaries, most candidates said they opposed gay marriage but supported "civil unions." At a presidential forum sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, members of the audience hissed Senators Joe Lieberman and John Kerry when they referred to marriage as an exclusively heterosexual union. "Marriage has a special status in our culture, our society and our history," Lieberman said.

Marriage is not just a social custom. It is a divine institution, ordained by God at creation. From the beginning of history, the Bible has limited marriage to the union of one man and one woman. Although the word marriage does not appear in this initial account, God gave Eve to Adam to be his wife. God told Adam, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24 ). The reference to "a man" and "his wife" establishes the divine pattern for future generations.

In Ephesians 5:22-33 the apostle Paul quoted these words in reference to marriage of a man and a woman. To the church in Corinth , a city that was a cesspool of immorality, Paul also refers to marriage only in terms of husband and wife. Nowhere does the Bible allow for same-sex unions.

The argument has been made that all citizens deserve equal benefits, regardless of sexual orientation. But is same-sex marriage the solution to this dilemma?

So far only the state of Vermont has granted full legal rights and benefits to same-sex couples. In time more states will likely decide to grant legal status to same-sex partners. But to refer to this type of arrangement as a marriage would be a misnomer. That term has already been taken and is clearly limited to a heterosexual union, not only by God but by U.S. courts as well.

The United States legal code, title 1, section 7, states that "the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." More than a century ago the U.S. Supreme Court spoke of marriage as the "union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony.

Of course, these facts may not prevent the term marriage from being inappropriately used. It would not be the first time that supposedly more enlightened authorities have made decisions that run contrary to biblical principles.

The crux of the problem lies in a lack of understanding and acceptance of biblical standards in our pluralistic, multicultural society. At the time when the U.S. Constitution was written, the nation was more committed to fundamental Christian virtues. The main concern of the men who put together the Constitution was to avoid governmental imposition of religion and to assure all citizens the right to believe and live by their individual religious convictions.

The concept of "separation of church and state," first introduced in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to a church, has since become the philosophical foundation for court rulings. The resulting assumption is that it is wrong to legislate morality. As the morals of the U.S. and other nations continue their downslide, more and more longstanding moral restrictions will be struck down in the courts and laws of the land. Sadly, in many ways the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Bill of Rights has since degenerated into freedom from religion.

The coming rule of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus Christ will establish at His return, will restore the fundamental truths of the Bible expressed in the Law of God (Isaiah 2:1-4). Church and state will be reunited, rooted in the teachings of the Bible and enforced by His righteous rule. All nations will then learn and experience the benefits of the laws of God, including the true values of marriage.