Is that statement true? Does marriage have a purpose anymore? Isn’t marriage cultural and outdated?
Marriage does have a purpose. Marriage reflects truth about God.
The Creation of Marriage
Marriage was created, formed, and designed by God (Genesis 2), and marriage started off as a perfect relationship between man and woman with their God. God created marriage to be the closest human relationship that humans are supposed to have with one another (Genesis 2:23). Adam loved Eve perfectly. Eve loved Adam perfectly. The garden of Eden was a place of perfect relationship between husband, wife, man, woman, and their Creator God who loved them perfectly.
Marriage Today
The easiest observation in most marriages today is that there is something clearly wrong. Some marriages end in divorce and some marriages consist of rape, adultery, abuse, selfishness, disunity, and resentment - just to name a few. The culture that we live in promotes hooking up, living together, and avoiding marriage for as long as possible.
In March, the Washington Post published an article that stated this:
“48 percent of all first births are now to unmarried women. Thus, the nation is at a tipping point, on the verge of moving into a new demographic reality where the majority of first births in the United States precede marriage.”
How did all this start? What happened to marriage to change its original state to the state today in the United States?
The Cause and Effect
Surprisingly the cause of marriage brokenness happened not much after the first marriage in history. Adam and Eve were active representatives for us in the garden of Eden, and they did what we would have done in their situation: sin.
In Genesis 3 we see that Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against God. Eve sinned first, but Adam was held responsible for his family when God came to Him and asked him “Where are you” (Genesis 3:9). Eve partook first and Adam sinned by not leading his family towards God and actively disobeying God’s word to not eat the fruit.
Sin sent shockwaves through the foundation of marriage. Ever since this happened marriages have been fractured due our sinful desires to save ourselves and not rely on God for guidance and salvation. Marriages, since then, have included horrific and sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. There has not been one perfect marriage since.
The Purpose of Marriage
The purpose of marriage has been distorted and twisted into our own desires and ways since the effect of sin. The need for God to redeem us has come in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to die for sinners (Romans 5:8), which includes all of us (Romans 3:23), so that we may love him with a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19) and pursue a life devoted to following Him (Mark 8:34).
Now that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church (Ephesians 2:20), His people, we are to seek to redeem marriages as He has redeemed us to live a life of freedom and obedience to Him alone (Galatians 5:1, 13).
The original intent and purpose for marriage was the reflect Jesus and the church. This might seem odd at first glance, but Paul says that marriage reflects the relationship between Jesus and His church of believers (Ephesians 5:22-33).
Jesus has freed us to be married as we were originally designed. God the Father is freeing us to live a life of joy, freedom, and love through the grace and power of His Son, Jesus Christ. God is making all things new (Revelation 21:5), and one day all marriages will accurately reflect the grace, love, and truth of our Savior.
How does a Jesus-centered marriage look?
In the upcoming weeks there will be new posts describing what a Jesus-centered marriage looks like. I want to do my best to explain what marriage should look for men, and Ali will be writing about what marriage should look like for women. We will collaborate on the final post about fighting and forgiveness in marriage.
I am sincerely excited for the future posts, and I pray that you seek Jesus and start rebuilding your perspective on marriage that is based on the Word of God.
God is good and gracious.
Jacob Luis Gonzales
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