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to escape from the responsibility of raising children.

      The primary purpose of marriage from God's point of view is to have and to raise “godly” children. He united couples as one flesh "that he might seek a godly seed." (Malachi 2:15) From the very beginning, God exhorted Adam and Eve to have lots of children.

      Genesis 1:28 "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 moves upon the earth."

      Other godly men, like Noah (Genesis 9:1) and Jacob (Genesis 35:11), were also told to "be fruitful and multiply". And the Jews who were exiled to Babylon were also exhorted to "beget sons and daughters,” so that their numbers would increase in the land. (Jeremiah 29:6)

      God's ultimate plan was, and still is, to fill the earth with a godly race of people who will be redeemed from sin, and who will have intimate fellowship with him throughout eternity!

      MARRIAGE PREVENTS IMMORALITY

      A secondary purpose of marriage is to prevent sexual immorality by satisfying a person's sexual desires. As the apostle Paul so frankly put it, "if they cannot control themselves, they should marry!"

      1 Corinthians 7:8-9 "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." (New International Version)

      In the ancient Jewish culture, parents prevented immorality by encouraging their children to marry while they were very young. Everyone was expected to marry, so marriages were often arranged before they reached puberty. The minimum age was later set at thirteen for boys and twelve for girls.

      Marital relations will normally satisfy each other's sexual desires and help avoid temptation. That is why the apostle Paul advised husbands and wives not to refuse each other's sexual desires, except by mutual consent whenever praying or fasting.

      1 Corinthians 7:2-5 "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also, the wife unto her husband."

      According to ancient Jewish laws (Exodus 21:10-11), the refusal of conjugal rights was a violation of the marriage covenant and sufficient cause for a divorce. In his early writings, Martin Luther also considered this as a possible cause for a divorce.

      MARRIAGE MAKES OUR HUMAN NATURE COMPLETE

      The first human being, whom we call Adam, was made in the image of God, so he was neither male nor female. He loved and worshiped his creator, and his natural human nature was perfect because he was made in the image of God!

      Then God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis2:18) so he put Adam to sleep and made a second human being from a portion of his body. Eve was created female and Adam's body was changed to become male.

      Since Eve was "taken out of" Adam's body (Genesis 2:23), this left him no longer complete in expressing the full nature of God. And since Eve was created from only a portion of Adam, she was also incomplete in expressing the full nature of God.

      •The natural human nature of a woman has some of the characteristics of God that the man does not have.

      •The natural human nature of a man has some of the characteristics that the woman does not have.

      Men and women are separate creations who not only need each other for procreation, but also to fully express the nature and character of God on earth. It is therefore morally pure and perfectly natural for a man to desire a wife; and for a woman to desire a husband.

      Proverbs 18:22 "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor from the Lord."

      SINGLES ARE COMPLETE IN CHRIST

      Even if you prefer to remain single and do NOT want to get married, you can still express the full nature and character of God simply by yielding to the spirit of Christ in your heart.

      Colossians 2:10 "For in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. "

      When you yield to your new spiritually reborn nature, then it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, for the spirit of Christ is neither male nor female!

      Galatians 3:27-28 "For as many of you as have been baptized [immersed] into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond [slave] nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

      And, according to the apostle Paul, it is even better to remain single and unmarried, if it is your heart's desire to serve the Lord more fully!

      1 Corinthian 7:32-33 "He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife."

      Jesus also acknowledged that some will not marry because (1) they were born physically incapable of marriage, or (2) they were made physically incapable of marriage by men, or (3) they have, like the apostle Paul, voluntarily chosen to remain single in order to better serve the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:12)

      THE CHURCH IS MARRIED TO JESUS

      Just as we become "one flesh” when we make an earthly marriage covenant with our spouse, so we become "one spirit" when we make a spiritual marriage covenant with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

      1 Corinthians 6:16-17 '….for two, saith he, shall be one flesh, but he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit."

      The apostle Paul calls this a great mystery.

      Ephesians 5:22-32 "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 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 loves his wife, loves himself. For no man ever hated his own, but nourisheth and cherisheth 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."

      MARRIAGE IN ETERNITY

      Marriage as we now know it will not exist in eternity. Our ultimate destiny as Christians is to be formally united forever, not with each other, but with our Lord Jesus Christ at the "marriage supper of the Lamb." (Revelation 19:7)

      When we die, we will be transformed both physically and spiritually, and sexual relationships and earthly marriage will be no longer.

      Luke 20-34-36 "The children of this world marry and are given in marriage; but they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die anymore; for they are equal unto the angels, and they are the children of God, being children of the resurrection."

      Because there will be no more death, there will no longer be any need for sexual reproduction. But this does not mean that there will be no distinction between male and female personalities. Jesus died to save our souls (our mind, will, and emotions) so the individual characteristics of each soul, purified from the stain of sin, will still be retained.

      If you are concerned about the loss of sexual pleasure in eternity, remember that God has already prepared something for us that is even better!

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