For Christians, marriage is a sacred institution that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s God’s gift to a couple who is in love and who is ready to serve God’s will on this Earth. Once you commit yourself to a marriage – witnessed by your family and friends in a sacred church ceremony – you must observe this commitment as long as you live.
However, it’s not uncommon to see unstable and broken marriages nowadays, even among mature Christian believers. We should have a clear and sound perspective on marriage based on the Bible, especially at this time when many people are trying to fit marriage to their political and social agendas.
So, let’s take a look at what the Bible says when it comes to the sacred institution of marriage. Please read below to learn more about it.
God Designed Us for Relationships
By reading the Bible, you’ll come to know that its central theme is about love and relationship. We, humans, are designed by God to have a healthy relationship with Him. The entire Bible tells us about this relationship between God and us: the ways how to have it, how to foster it, how to enjoy it, how to be comforted by it, and how to tell other people about it.
However, the Bible also speaks of the fact that God also wants us to have a relationship with our fellow human beings, not just with Himself. It’s essential that we love those people that He puts in our lives.
This means loving our family, friends, acquaintances, and everyone who comes into our lives. And, of course, this includes the spouse with whom we promised to love until death at the altar of marriage. Marriage is so important to the man and woman who loves each other, to humanity, and God.
Marriage as an Other-Centered Union
Although we have goodness in us, it’s undeniable that human nature also inclines towards selfishness. And God designed marriage to refine us and keep us from our selfish nature. Indeed, marriage is a union between a man and a woman who loves and cares for each other.
The Bible tells us that God created us to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not self-centered, and He even made a sacrifice to save us from destruction. So, God gives us a marriage partner so that we only not think for ourselves but also our destined spouses.
Being married or having an other-centered union is especially important in our world where selfishness abounds. Marriage also reflects God’s covenant with us. When you love and serve your spouse, you also love and serve God.
Marriage is Fulfilling God’s Plan for Mankind
Aside from the purpose of having an other-centered union with your spouse, marriage also means promoting the plan of God on this Earth. In Genesis, you can read the importance of marriage in the fulfillment of God’s plan in this world.
To Reflect God’s Image
One of the purposes of marriage is to mirror God’s image. In Genesis 1:26 to 27, God created humankind in His likeness and image. He created male and female as such. It means that each person, as a male and female, has the capacity to reflect God’s image. This capacity also goes to a husband and wife.
So, when we know that our purpose in this world is to reflect God’s image, we can help fulfill God’s plan for His people. This world is lost, and God’s people need to be saved. This is part of God’s plan, and we should contribute to it.
To Reproduce
Another purpose of God why He designed marriage is for humanity to reproduce. In Genesis 1:28a, God told humankind to be fruitful and increase in number. A husband and a wife can fulfill God’s purpose by their capacity to bear children.
Having children is God’s gift, and parents should love and care for their children. They should raise their children to conform to God’s image.
To Reign
Lastly, the reason why marriage is important is to fulfill God’s plan to reign in this world. In Genesis 1:28, God told His people to ”fill the Earth and subdue it.” Husbands and wives living in this world should take care of the physical realm without forgetting that there’s a Heaven awaiting them.
Takeaway
For Christian couples, it’s essential to base your marriage on what the Bible says. Always keep in mind that marriage is an other-centered union, and it’s designed to fulfill God’s plan for us in this world and the spiritual realm.
