Are we Confusing the
Benefits of Marriage with the Purpose of Marriage?
What is the purpose of marriage?
When asked this question, first there is hesitation, then
thoughtful consideration. Thoughtful
consideration is followed by sincere speculation…”Mmmm, the purpose of marriage
is to find someone to love…have a lifetime partner…to make us happy…to be
fulfilled…to have companionship…to have friendship…to have children.”
Okay, so if those are the purposes of marriage, then What are the benefits of marriage?
We confuse the benefits of marriage with the purpose of
marriage. The purpose, or reason for
marriage is the same as the purpose for living.
We were created for God’s Purposes.
To glorify Him, serve Him, obey Him, fellowship intimately with Him. Through marriage we are to do the same, and
facilitate the other person in doing so as well. (Mark 12:29-31; Exodus 8:1; Exodus 20; Hosea
6:6; John 15:14)
Most specifically, God provided Eve for Adam to help him in
his service to God. A part of their
service to God was to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28). This fruitfulness was spoken of in the Old
Testament to others also: the animals
(Gen 1:22 ); Noah (Gen9 ); Abraham (Gen
17:6); Ishmael (17:20); Jacob (26:22) and others.
While there is a physical component to this
fruitfulness in order to obey Gods command of multiplying upon the earth, there
is also a spiritual component. This can
be appreciated in looking at least 2 sets of passages in Genesis. In Genesis 1:26-27; God spoke of creating man
in His image (plural). Since God is
spirit, then He was probably not referring to the physical nature of man. Secondly, in Genesis 6, men & women were
marrying and multiplying upon the earth.
Yet, God was displeased. With
what was He displeased? Were they not
marrying & physically multiplying?
Matthew Henry comments in great detail what displeased God.
Synopsis of key points by Matthew Henry Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible, 1706: God spoke the blessing of man to be
fruitful; man distorted the gift and abused it; Sons of God – descendents of
those of Seth’s line that “called upon the name of the Lord,” saw the daughters
of man – descendents of those of Cain’s line that did not worship God. The sons of God chose by sight who they
wanted to marry. They did not seek God’s
counsel. Sin on Earth grew. The penalty for sin against God is death in
some form. This time He chose physical
death. See full commentary at: http://www.studylight.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=ge&chapter=6&verse=2#Ge6_2
**If we create our own purpose for marriage, then we also create our reasons for divorce. For example, if my purpose for marriage is for someone to please me, and they don't, then my reasons will cause me to leave that marriage and seek someone else to fulfill the purpose I have established.**
So, I read the article and, even though you and I talked about those topics (the purpose and benefits of marriage) before, I hadn't really given much thought to the "purpose of marriage", until now, when you asking for feedback.
ReplyDeleteAs such, I offer the following suggestion and comment:
• It might be more accurate to compare, what I would refer to as, the ORIGINAL purpose of marriage (which as you pointed out was for the woman to help the man in his service to God) and the ORIGINAL purpose of our lives. What I'm suggesting is this: Whereas I do believe that God created man to fellowship intimately with Him and to glorify (clarify or be the physical expression of) Him on Earth, I don't see in Scripture that God created man to serve and obey Him. Those two necessities (to service and obey) came after the fall. Meaning: ALL of us, now, individually have to make a conscious choice whom we will yield ourselves to in service, whereas, in the beginning, the first man, Adam, made a choice for us ALL—Adam and Eve were the whole of mankind, in the beginning. God created man, yes, to be fruitful and multiply; but, more importantly, He ORIGINALLY created him to rule and subdue the works of His hands--the things (animals) that decorated the Earth. Meaning, in order to rule and subdue, there needed to be more of them.
•I know you mentioned the word Sin, but also consider mentioning the weightier influence of Satan, the author of Sin and the god (first in rank) of this world, now. Not in great detail, but as it relates to his agenda to distort God's plan for us when it comes to marriage and the very definition or meaning of "life" itself. Again, that's just a suggestion to consider. The point being, this first phase of the article may come across that man is blinding or rebelliously shooting himself in the foot; when in actual fact it is Satan who gave him the gun and is pressuring him to pull the trigger.
Thanks for the feedback & insight Daniel.
DeleteThis information will give our readers an opportunity to search God's word regarding the thoughts you presented.