Marriage...It's origin and Purpose

Where did marriage originate? How is it that marriage is part of the human experience? Did it just develop over a process of time? Did someone at some point say, “You know, this would be a good idea to do things this way.” How did marriage come into existence?

Well... according to some, marriage is considered to be nothing more than a social institution, based on an outdated value system that is out used, or out lived its usefulness, and should be replaced by something more relevant to today’s values. That’s the opinion of some people. Marriage is just a social phenomenon, and it’s no longer serving a purpose. So we ought to replace it with something else.

According to others... marriage needs to be redefined to include other than the male/female relationship. Same sex unions are the vogue among the social and academic elite today.

According to the Bible, marriage originated with "GOD". Marriage exists because "GOD" is the one who planned it. "GOD" is the one who ordained it. "GOD" is the one who actually brought it into being. And therefore marriage must be understood, in light of what the Bible teaches on the subject.

We have the introduction of marriage into human life recorded for us in Genesis 2:18-24. Right at the beginning of human history marriage is instituted. Let me read the account to you... “And the Lord "GOD" said... "It is not good that man should be alone." Remember... "GOD" created man first. And so man was there with the rest of creation, the animal world, and the plant world. But as of yet the woman has not been created. So "GOD" beholding man, says... "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper like him. Out of the ground the Lord "GOD" formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord "GOD" caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and He closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib, which the Lord "GOD" had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said... "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

And now here’s marriage, verse--- 24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

So we find that marriage was instituted by "GOD". It originated with "GOD". Because marriage originated with "GOD".... marriage is therefore sacred. Marriage is special. Marriage is something inviolable. It’s something that is not to be tampered with. It’s "GOD'S" creation.

Jesus affirmed the sanctity of marriage by performing His first miracle at a wedding feast, and in doing so embarking upon His Messianic mission. What an interesting place for Jesus to perform His first miracle and to manifest Himself as the Son of "GOD"... at a wedding. And I believe that it was for the purpose of affirming the sanctity of marriage that Jesus did perform His first miracle at a wedding. So really what He was doing as the Messiah as the Son of "GOD"--- He was putting His stamp of approval upon the marriage relationship.

Because marriage is sacred it is not to be replaced with something more culturally relevant. It is not to be redefined to suit the fancy of a supposed sexually liberated society. It’s not to be messed around with. Because if you do mess around with it you’re messing around with something that "GOD" established, and you’re going to create problems in society.

That is exactly what we see happening all around us today because man has tampered with marriage. It is not to be tampered with. Rather it’s to be held in the highest esteem, and entered into with the deepest of commitments. It is to be held in the highest esteem.

Now, of course the world is going to do what it’s going to do.

The world has rejected the revelation of "GOD" through the Scriptures and rejected the revelation of "GOD" through Jesus Christ. And so the world is in rebellion to "GOD" and matters are going to go from bad to worse.

My task in this post is to seek to persuade people to come out of that rebellious system into a right relationship with "GOD". It is important for "GOD'S" people to understand the orign, sancity, permanency, and purpose of marriage.... because in the church of Jesus Christ we have as much confusion and seeming disregard for marriage as that which exists outside the church. And various statistics show differing kinds of conclusions. But it is safe to say that the rate of divorce, for example, among Christians is not a whole lot different than the rate of divorce among those who are not Christian. And throughout the church of Jesus of Christ today there is a disregard for the sanctity and the permanency of marriage.

Jesus affirmed the sanctity. He also spoke clearly about the permanence of marriage. In Matthew 19:3-6, He said... "The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore," listen--- "what "GOD" has joined together, let not man separate."

According to Jesus, marriage is to be permanent. And this is the clear teaching of the Bible. But yet in the church we have really compromised when it comes to the commitment to marriage. And we see it not merely on the level of those who sit in the pews, but we see it also among those who occupy many of the non-Catholic pulpits. Many pulpits are occupied by men who have obviously not taken seriously "GOD'S" Word concerning marriage. They’ve been divorced and remarried.

Marriage is something to be held in the highest esteem, because it originated with "GOD", it was held sacred by the Lord Jesus Christ. And by "GOD" back in the Old Testament, and by "GOD"-- the Son-- in the New Testament. It is declared to be permanent.

What is the purpose of marriage? What did God have in mind when He created the woman to be the helper of man? And what is the primary purpose of marriage?

I think clearly that the primary purpose that "GOD" had in mind when He ordained the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship that we call marriage was-- companionship.

That was the first and the primary purpose of the marriage relationship. Remember as "GOD" looked at Adam He said the loneliness of man is not good. So I’m going to make him a helper who is like him. I’m going to make him a companion. I’m going to make him someone that he can have fellowship with, someone that he can commune with, relate to, enjoy life with. The first and primary purpose of marriage is companionship.

Now companionship would apply to three different areas.... spiritual companionship, mental and emotional companionship, and physical companionship. And so "GOD" created the woman to be the companion of the man and to be able to commune with him in the spiritual realm, the mental realm, and emotional realm, and in the physical realm as well.

At the top of that list there would be spiritual companionship.

"GOD" brought about the marriage relationship so that we could have a close intimate spiritual relationship with another person. So that we could share closely, deeply and intimately the things of "GOD" with someone very, very closely. "GOD" desires that we have deep, intimate, close, spiritual communion with one another as husbands and wives, that we minister to one another on the spiritual level, that we communicate the things of "GOD" to one another, and that we enjoy together a relationship with the Lord. Men and women need spiritual companionship.

And then secondly, that we would have mental and emotional companionship as well. That we would be able to enjoy one another’s company, that we would be able to enjoy one another’s conversation, that we’d be able to share the things of life together, that we’d be able to converse, and reason, and talk together... but also be able to feel things, experience things together. This is something that "GOD" had in mind when He saw Adam. He looked at Adam and He said, "It’s not good that the man is alone." He needs someone that he can connect with. He needs someone that he can speak to, and reason with, and enjoy life with, and laugh with.

Then there is that aspect of physical companionship. "GOD" created us male and female to enjoy a physical relationship with one another as well. I think as we look at Scripture this is the first and the primary reason why "GOD" brought about the marriage relationship.

Now among Roman Catholics, and as a result of the teaching of Roman Catholicism, the primary purpose according to Roman Catholicism is not companionship but procreation. The primary purpose of marriage according to Roman Catholic doctrine is to reproduce the race. Let me quote to you from Catholic doctrine. It states.... "The marriage contract that is made by two persons of the opposite sex, by which each acquires the exclusive and irrevocable right over their bodies until the death of one of the parties, for the procreation and education of children. While this last is the primary end of marriage, there are secondary purposes." This is what it states... "The primary end of marriage is that of procreation and education of children." ... "To employ the sexual function for self-gratification is to pervert the function."

But this is not biblical teaching. These are ascetic ideas that were brought over into Christianity early in church history that were based on wrong ideas about the body itself. There were heresies at the time that the Scriptures were written that taught that the body was inherently evil. The ascetic communities developed around the idea that the body was inherently evil. Therefore, you had to deprive yourself of every conceivable pleasure in order to become spiritual. And that crept into the church in the early centuries. So in the thinking of Roman Catholicism, [which has greatly influenced the world], the primary purpose of marriage is that of procreation. But according to the Bible, the primary purpose of marriage is companionship. The secondary purpose of marriage is procreation. Now pro-creation is obviously important. If we hadn’t done that, or if somebody hadn’t done that we wouldn’t be here.... would we? And if we don’t do that then there won’t be any world after we’re here. But it’s not the primary purpose. It’s the secondary purpose.

The joining of two lives in communion spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically....that’s the primary thing "GOD" had in mind when He created marriage. But then of course, as an outcome of that... procreation comes. So the second purpose of marriage is producing families and building societies. And so "GOD" said to Adam and Eve... "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." And so that is a purpose of marriage. Of course there are marriages where that is not a possibility because of some biological issue. But there have been many occasions when "GOD" has intervened in people’s lives and touched them miraculously, and enabled them to bear children-- and other occasions where they haven’t been able to do it physically, but they can adopt and so forth. Therefore... that’s part of "GOD'S" purpose to bring new life into the world, to create a family unit, and to build society from that.

Biblically... a society is based upon individual families.

Boy-- today in our culture there is a major war against the family. It really is a major war against "GOD" and His declaration of how things are supposed to be. In all of this that we see happening today, the redefining of the family, the redefining of marriage, all of this... although it looks in a sense just like a sociological trend--"Oh this is just something that happens in societies as time goes on"--it’s rooted in an absolute rebellion to "GOD" Himself.

And although we only get the tip of the iceberg when we’re listening to the news, or reading the newspaper, or different articles... and we see the arguments for and against different kinds of family arrangements and things... when you get right down behind it and see what’s really going on... it’s just an absolute war against "GOD" and what the Bible teaches. And that’s most definitly istrue when it comes to the redefinition of marriage. It is also true when it comes to the redefinition of family. It is also true when it comes to the redefinition of the roles of the men and the women. Society is attempting to re-define the nature and role of mankind.

I was talking to somebody recently. And they were telling me that when they were attending the UA, they decided to take a course on feminism. And as they were sitting in the classroom, what really amazed them was all the Marxist material that they had to study as they were studying the subject of feminism. Feminism is rooted in Marxism. Marxism is pure atheism. It’s an attack against "GOD".

The attack against the family, the attack against society, the attack against marriage--- all of these things are basically an assault against "GOD" Himself... and His declared order of things. And so as Roman Catholics....as Christians...we have got to be careful. We’ve got to hold firm to what the Scriptures say.

The third purpose for marriage is to display to the world the relationship between "GOD" and His people. "GOD" has an interesting purpose in marriage of displaying to the world the kind of relationship that He does share with His people... or that He would like to share with His people. Just as Israel was to be a light to the world, and to demonstrate to the world the virtues of following the true "GOD"-- so "GOD" wants to use the marriage of His servants to demonstrate to people out in the world the virtues of doing things His way.

It’s interesting that as you look at the Old Testament.... frequently "GOD" describes His relationship to Israel as that of husband and wife. Israel is the wife of the Lord. The Lord is the husband of Israel. And "GOD" was seeking to provoke, through Israel, the nations, the surrounding nations to jealousy, so that they might say... “We want to know that "GOD". We want to have that kind of relationship with "GOD"." Israel, of course, failed miserably. Israel became an adulterous wife, and forsook the Lord. Is that the outcome we want for America---???

Under the New Covenant, on an individual level... Jesus Christ wants to take marriage and use it to demonstrate to people "outside".... the beauty of "GOD'S" plan. He wants to demonstrate to people the love that He has for His church-- that they can participate in and enjoy by their marriage. Paul said in Ephesians, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother . . . " “This is a great mystery,” he said, “but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

There’s something mysterious and mystical-- it is that "GOD wants to communicate through marriage... He wants to communicate His love for His people. When a person outside of the body of Christ looks at marriage... "GOD" wants them to see through the husband the kind of love He has for His people-- and through the wife the kind of respect that His people have for Him, and that beautiful relationship that exists between them. That’s what "GOD" wants to show.

The three purposes of marriage, "companionship", "pro-creation", and then "GOD" wanting to display to the world His love for His people through the marriage. Designed and created in the beginning--by "GOD">

What do you think about those apples...Yodi? Yes, I know...time to go check on the orchard.