Biblical Answer

The Purpose of Marriage: A Reflection of God's Creative Genius

The Bible teaches that God created marriage to reflect His creative genius and to provide a means for humanity to experience a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. According to Ephesians 5:22-23, marriage is a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the Church, where the husband is called to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. This is the third purpose of marriage, which is to instruct us concerning God's desired relationship with people. God is love, and from the overflow of this love among the Father, Son, and Spirit came the cre- procreative purposes of marriage. Marriage is not just a means of repopulating the world, but also a way for humanity to experience the love and intimacy that God desires for us.

The Original Purpose of Marriage

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve to be a reflection of His creative designs for the world. When Adam was alone, it was not good, because he could not reflect the Creator's designs for the world (Genesis 2:18-25). God created Eve to be Adam's companion and helper, to complete him and make him whole. This is the first purpose of marriage, which is relationship or fellowship, oneness, wholeness love. Marriage is not just about finding happiness or fulfilling our desires, but about binding ourselves to another and surrendering to a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. As Paul says in Ephesians 5, the purpose of marriage is to sanctify us, to make us holy and set apart for God.

The Sanctifying Purpose of Marriage

Marriage is not just a human institution, but a divine one, created by God to reflect His love and intimacy with humanity. When we enter into marriage, we are not just committing to a human partner, but to a relationship with God that is deeper and more intimate than we can imagine. As the Bible says, "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them" (1 John 4:16). Marriage is a means of experiencing this love and intimacy, and of being sanctified and set apart for God. It is a relationship that is not just about us, but about God, and about the love and intimacy that He desires for us. When we understand the purpose of marriage in this way, we can see that it is not just a human institution, but a divine one, created by God to reflect His love and intimacy with humanity.