Culture has really messed up people's views on what marriage is, what its purpose is, and what can be called a marriage. Even the dictionary once stated it as "the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law." But now it added a second definition: "the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage." What does the Bible and Jesus say about it, however?
Most Christians see marriage as a gift from God and a sacred institution, and there are many passages in Scripture about it. The book of Ephesians talks about how, as Christ loves the church, a husband should love his wife. And as the church submits to Christ, a wife should do the same to her husband. If both husband and wife are following this biblical model, then both of them wins. It continues to say that a man must leave his mother and father and cling to his wife, then the two would become one flesh—united as a single team with the same goals.
In Genesis, God created the world, then He created man to rule over the land. But man was lonely, and God saw that it was not good to leave man alone. Man needed a partner in order to complete the tasks that God set on his heart. So God created a woman to share life with the man.
He also created man and woman to be sexual beings and to procreate. God told them to "be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). It was going to take more than one man and one woman to rule over the earth and to take care of it, so it fell upon these first two people to populate the planet and do God's will.
Many people nowadays get it confused, however. They don't think of marriage as something larger than themselves; they look at being in a relationship as a selfish benefit. They get married just to feel secure in life. They live by way of their feelings and trust their feelings more than God. They chase after happiness instead of God's joy. That is the reason why, at least in America, one in three first-time marriages end in divorce and one in two of all marriages end in divorce, which means all marriages have a 50/50 chance in making it past a few years.
You have friendship, where the two are able to bond and work together and share their emotions and struggles with each other and to keep each other company. And you have the ability to face the world as a team, to take care of the earth and the people within it, and to be a family that honors God. We don't live in the Garden of Eden anymore as a consequence of Adam and Eve's sin, so it is up to us to build each other up and become more like Jesus. Like the church submits to Christ and Christ risked his life for the church, so should a man and a woman do the same for each other.
A lot of people in today's culture live with the idea that there is someone out there that will make them happy. They're always looking for "the one," a single person they think will make them happy in life, that "soul mate" who will meet all their own requirements and standards in a person. That's a lot of pressure for one human being.
So when they find that one person, that person ultimately disappoints them simply because they are human, and we all make mistakes. Maybe they find out that this person has different standards than they were looking for. Or maybe they get married, discover all the flaws in the other person, and end up wanting to change them into who they want them to be. When people have this type of attitude towards each other, the marriage will end up self-destructing and end with a bang.
But marriage isn't about fulfilling selfish needs. Marriage is about two people coming together in God's love and serving Him together. They build up each other to become more like Jesus and grow together in a closer relationship with God. God created marriage to be beneficial to a man and a woman. And when people begin to look to the real purposes of marriage, they can truly discover joy through God's blessing of marriage.
—Sparky
Sparky is a 16-year-old attending a private high school. A childhood injury limits his abilities, but God has used it to focus him onto His will. Sparky is a writer/poet with a novel in process. He's also a technology expert and loves to get into God's Word. Through many pains, addictions, and depression, God has saved him. He's thankful to be His servant forever.
