In this series we will be looking at some of the basic principles of what makes marriage important from the Christian’s perspective. I will simply be considering some of the ancient wisdom that has stood the test of time and is found in the Biblical texts.
Marriage is for creating
Love cannot exist in isolation. It requires an object, something to be loved.
The Apostle John teaches plainly, “God is love” and love is perfectly expressed within the Holy Trinity; love between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
It was God’s love that lead him to create. Creating the universe as a home for what would be the pinnacle of His creation and the object of His love, mankind. Our ultimate destiny to join His eternal family.
In this post I referenced the Biblical assertion that humankind was created “in the image of God”. We were designed with the ability to both give and receive love.
In the same way that God’s love led him to creativity, the most intimate expression of our love is also creative. The first command given to mankind in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:28, ‘God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”’
God’s first command to humankind was to be loving and to populate the earth, but ultimately to populate heaven with more people that could be objects of God’s love. The second purpose for marriage then, is the creation of new life. It is God’s intention that within marriage we create new people who will have the choice to respond to His love and ultimately join His family in heaven.
This is underlined by the prophet Malachi, talking in the context of marriage and marital faithfulness he said, “And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring”.
Sex often seems to be treated as a taboo and yet it surrounds us but is not honoured. It is perhaps more important than we have made it; one of the ways in which we honour God and display our likeness to him, within the bounds of marriage, is through sex.
As much as some people would like to make you think otherwise, sex is not a side-issue in marriage. It is central to marriage. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul (who was not married) calls sex your “marital duty” to your spouse, saying that you should not “deprive” each other. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul refers to someone having sex with a prostitute saying that he “unites himself” with her in much the same way we are “united” with Christ.
Sex is not just a physical act; it is far more significant that that. It is a creative, physical, emotional, spiritual joining. It is the completion of the connection between a husband and wife.
