Marriage is a God-ordained institution. It was established by Him on the last day of creation. In Genesis 1:27-28, on the sixth day, God made man and woman. He made them to oversee His creation and instituted the first marriage. He told them to be fruitful and multiply, introducing the first family. He designed marriage and as the designer, He alone can dictate what it should be. A godly view of marriage is seldom seen in our world today, but as Christians, we are to promote and exalt God’s design.
Genesis 1:27-28 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moved upon the earth.”
Marriage is God’s idea, not man’s. When marriage is done God’s way it is beautiful and fulfilling. Will it always be a happy ride? No. We are sinful people living in a sinful world, but that does not change what God intended it to be, nor how we are to view it. When we marry, we are not only making a covenant with another person, but most of all we are making a covenant with God himself. We vow to stay together until one of us dies.
In Hebrews 13:4 we are told marriage is to be honorable, meaning it is valuable, costly, and should be held in high esteem. It is obvious in our society that marriage is not viewed as honorable by the majority of people. With the divorce rate at 50% or more, we see the devaluation of the covenant made between a man, a woman, and God. We also see marriage being made into something God never intended. Our world sees marriage as a union and covenant between one woman and one man, or two men, or two women, or whatever you desire. God calls anything other than one woman and one man sin. In Leviticus 18:22 God calls it an abomination. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.” In Romans 1:25-28 God makes it clear that any marriage union or sexual union other than one man and one woman will be judged. Because they refused to repent of their sins, He gave them over to their sins which means He has judged their sins.
Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Romans 1:25-28 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”
What makes a marriage honorable? What was God’s intended purpose for marriage? In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, God’s design was one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation. They were to multiply. They are to be committed to one another in a sexual union to have children and to enjoy one another as sexual beings. Sex between a married man and woman is beautiful and creates an intimacy unlike any other in life. You become one flesh. When that union is violated with someone else it is called adultery. These people are referred to as whore mongers.
Marriage also mirrors God’s covenant relationship with His people. Throughout the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Bridegroom and the church is His bride. One day the Bridegroom will come back for His Bride and all those who have placed their faith in Him will take their seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This image is reflected in weddings today, as the groom stands waiting for his bride to appear. Once the ceremony is done, they attend a celebration with all those who have witnessed their union. One day Jesus will receive us, and we will celebrate for all eternity with Him.
God’s design is for marriage to be honorable and not defiled by the world’s ideas of marriage. It is to be pure and chaste with no one coming between the married couple. If you have failed in this area there is forgiveness if you confess and forsake your sin. God offers redemption for all, but it must be done God’s way. For further knowledge on how God intended the marriage to be, study Ephesians 5:22-33.
Ephesians 5:22–33 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”
