Most Christians regard marriage as a divine gift and a sacred institution. Having a solid Christian view on marriage is critical today, since many in our culture are attempting to redefine marriage to fit their specific social or political objectives.
Created for Relationships
Beginning in Genesis and concluding in Revelation, love and relationships are key themes in the Bible. “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee,” St. Augustine said. God created us to have a relationship with Him. The entire Bible speaks about our relationship with Him: how to have it, how to keep it, how to rest in it, how to communicate it, and how to enjoy it.
But God did not intend for us to have a one-sided relationship with Him. He made others so that we may learn to live with and love those He puts in our life. “But now, God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, precisely as He desired,” he remarked in 1 Corinthians 12:18-21. If God is in the process of incorporating us into the body of Christ (the Church), doesn't this imply that He will also pair each of us with the spouse of His choosing?
Marriage's Importance to Each Spouse
Could God have created marriage, the most intimate of human relationships, to refine us, to chisel off our selfish human nature and make us more “other-centered”? Isn't this what He means when He says we're being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29 – "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son...")? What better way to make us "other-centered" than to give us a partner who is diametrically opposed to us to shape us into His image?
Marriage as a Witness to the World “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another,” says Jesus (John 13:35). Marriage is an important institution that allows a lost world to see Christianity in action. Marriage is the most intimate of human relationships, and it is through it that husbands and wives learn to mirror Christ's love. Marriage is an 18-year training ground for children to learn to love "one another." Marriage offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to reflect Him as a couple. Marriage provides a platform for God's wishes for people to be realized.
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