The Original purpose of marriage, family, relationship and Completion in Scripture are found in the Book of Genesis. Listen as I read Genesis 2:18-24.
According to Dr. David Mace, "Poor communication is the main problem in 86% of all troubled marriages." A Happy and healthy home is one of the best places on earth, while an unhappy and unhealthy home is one of the most miserable places. Someone rightly said “Where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable…” When a person does not understand the purpose of a thing, they almost always abuse that thing and marriage is no different. An all-wise God who created order out of chaos, handcrafted man and woman in His own image, and then instituted and ordained marriage must have had a purpose in doing so. What then, one must ask, was God’s purpose in creating marriage? Indisputably the most fitting answer will be found in harmony with the will of God as it is revealed for us in His Word. It is for this reason that one must turn to His Word in order to find the divine purpose of God’s institution of marriage.
You may have heard people say, “Marriage is made in Heaven” The world’s first wedding took place in the Garden of Eden. There God ordained and sanctified the marriage of the man and woman whom He had created. Consider it for a moment. If ever a marriage was made in heaven, this one was. It was perfectly planned and perfectly performed by a perfect God. Marriage is “made In Heaven” because it is God’s idea. He created it. He designed it. He established it and defined its parameters. Secondly, marriage is “made In Heaven” because God made Eve and brought her to Adam. Eve was God’s original idea. Our first parents did not woo, solicit, or choose each other. This was an arranged marriage, a match literally made in heaven: Eve is the absolute pinnacle of creation, the crown of Adam, “the glory of the man” (1 Cor. 11:7). Thirdly, marriage is “made In Heaven” because our vows are recorded by Heaven. This is expressed more explicitly in Malachi 2:14: "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth,……….." Here the Scripture tells us clearly that marriage is a covenant to which God is a witness. Since God does not break covenants (Lev. 26:40-45), the marriage covenant is all the more binding. This means that what we do to our marital partner we do also to the Lord.
The Bible gives us a Seven-fold purpose of marriage. First there is the purpose of Covenant Relationship and companionship, (Malachi 2:14 ESV) secondly, that of Completeness or Completion. (Genesis 2:18) thirdly, Cohesiveness in the Marriage Union — (Genesis 2:24) fourthly Continuation of the human race or procreation (Genesis 1:28) fifthly Communication of God’s image and Contentment or Expressing God’s love to the other person (Genesis 1:27, Ephesians 5:25-33,) sixth purpose is to Characterize Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31–33.) and finally Conserve the Constraint (1 Corinthians 7:3-5)
The primary purpose of marriage is Completeness and companionship. Genesis 2:18-25 is certainly Scriptural evidence for the first portion of this “Seven-part” purpose. The only thing that God saw as “not good” in the garden was that man was alone. He then created woman, wife, as a companion for him to meet his needs of communion, companionship, completion and community. When God created man and woman, He created them to complement each other. He indicated this when He said "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Genesis 2:18). God formed woman to round out man's incompleteness, so that physically, socially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, male and female would not be competitors, but companions. The concept of marriage originated solely with God. It was God who decided that it was not good for man to be alone and made a helpmeet for him. After which, God presided over the first ever wedding ceremony recorded in history.
As the Creator of marriage, God has the right to tell us which principles should govern our marital relationships. The very first description of the nature of marriage in the Bible, as consisting of leaving, cleaving and becoming one flesh (Gen 2:24), reveals the Biblical understanding of marriage as a covenant relationship. As originally designed, it is meant to be an exclusive (leaving) and permanent (cleaving/be united), one-flesh relationship. We learn from Jesus that marriage is intended as a life-long relationship (what God has joined together, let man not separate). Brides and bridegrooms honor the teaching of our Lord when they solemnly promise to love, honor and cherish, and remain faithful to each other for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death separates them.
God designed Eve to complete that which was lacking in Adam’s life. “And Adam said, She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). Marriage is God’s gift to humans. It was given to resolve the problem of human loneliness by providing complimentary companionship between a man and a woman. A wife needs someone who understands and honors her. So Bible instruct to husband, "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7). A husband needs someone who is meek with noble character. ” So Bible instructs to the wife, “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, (1 Peter 3:1) This is why Bible says “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." (Proverbs 31:10, 11) A husband is to protect his wife by laying down his life for her. (Ephesians 5:25.) A wife is to protect the interests of her home. (Titus 2:4–5.) And Parents are to protect their children to raise up a Godly seed.
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Equality is reflected in the first marriage as the man and woman were created in the image of God and given co-regency over the created order (Gen 1:26-28). For believers in Christ, marriage is a covenant of companionship between two spiritually equal human beings (Gal 3:26-28). Yet equality does not eliminate roles in a marriage relationship. Nor do roles in marriage diminish the call to mutual love and respect. The main purpose of marriage is to display the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. In other words, marriage was designed by God most deeply, most importantly, to be a parable or a parallel of the way Christ loves his church and the way the church loves and follows Christ. Jesus affirmed it in Matthew 19:4-6.
According to Scripture, the husband bears primary responsibility to lead the home in a God-glorifying way. His leadership clearly involves authority and should be honored by his wife and family (Eph 5;22-33,6:1-3). His authority, however, must be based on divine love (see: Eph 5:25, 33, John 10:11-13, 1cor 13:4-8) and thoughtful consideration (see: Phil 2:3-5). Scripture warns against husbands who treat their wives with insensitivity (1 peter 3:7). Husbands must never forget that they are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Cultural limitations or biases should not be placed on this command any more than on the command for wives to respect their husbands.
Another vital purpose of marriage is procreation; the conceiving and bearing of offspring. The Lord God revealed this purpose of marriage when He released these commanding words: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth…” Marriage involves man and woman being fitted together for the purposeful function of mutual fellowship, encouragement, and understanding, the reproduction of children, and the physical and spiritual aspects of satisfaction. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." God’s first command in Scripture is this: “… Be fruitful [bear fruit], and multiply [increase], and replenish [fill] the earth …”(Genesis 1:28). The very nature and character of God is to multiply life, whereas the nature and character of Satan is to multiply death.
In His infinite wisdom, the Lord God purposed for marriage to protect us from the consequences and devastation of a society engrossed in moral chaos and sexual immorality. Meditate on His words carefully…Hebrews 13:4 (The Message) “Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband, God draws a firm line against” illicit relationship. One of the key possible divine purposes for marriage is sanctification. God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy. Marriage calls us to an entirely new and selfless life. This lifetime commitment of providing emotional, physical, and spiritual intimacy and care for another uncovers who you are as your true self, “ultimately revealing your unique purpose for being created.”
Another key purpose for marriage is Conserve the Constraint (1 Corinthians 7:3-5) “The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 And lastly, we can point to Paul or the final part of this purpose of marriage in 1 Corinthians 7:2, which says that to prevent man (male and female) from being tempted by sin, “each man should have relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband” (NET). The purpose in having the institution of marriage is seen in God’s desire to provide for companionship, children, and the completion of the man and the woman in each other in preserving chastity.
The ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God. Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to the church. And therefore the highest meaning and most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. Marriage, is one of these God-glorifying, God-ordained institutions that was created with the purpose of conforming us into the holy image of Christ. The joys, difficulties, and challenges of marriage serve as crucibles to refine our character and strengthen our faith in and knowledge of God. In summary, God’s primary purpose of marriage, in line with one of His primary purposes for us living in this depraved world, is to transform His people into the likeness of His Son.
