MARRIAGE
A BIBLICAL
PERSPECTIVE
Presented at The
By The Reverend Lewis H. How
Good evening everyone, and
thank you for coming to this rally in support of marriage. I have been asked to
address our topic of marriage from a Biblical perspective.
I would like to offer,
for your consideration, the following overview of this great Biblical subject
in the hope of showing the honour and importance God has attached to it in His
Holy Word.
I have divided my talk
into three main manifestations of God’s will: [1] THE AUTHORITY OF MARRIAGE [2]
THE MYSTICAL NATURE OF MARRIAGE and [3] THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE.
[1] THE AUTHORITY OF
MARRIAGE: In the present state of our cultural chaos, the Institution of
marriage is being treated as a political football whose true purpose is
undermined by a government who would have us believe that it is a civil right
in need of redefinition.
Twenty centuries ago the
Lord Jesus Christ defended the sanctity of marriage against arguments aimed at
discrediting its integrity, with the words: “…but from the beginning it was not so.” Matthew
19:8
We may look for the
foundational authority of marriage then, in the place where Jesus defended it,
Genesis, the book of beginning. It is here revealed that mankind was made to be
in the image of its creator and echo the great mystery of the Trinity in its
nature. “And God said, Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness: Genesis 1:26 “So God
created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; MALE AND
FEMALE created he them.” Genesis 1:27 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
Genesis 1:28
Here is the FOUNDATIONAL
AUTHORITY of MARRIAGE; By nature TWO UNEQUAL PARTS of the SINGLE
CREATURE
that are ORDAINED OF GOD to be, by their complimentary difference, the means by
which human life renews itself.
[2] THE MYSTICAL NATURE
OF MARRIAGE: From the beautiful words in the opening exhortation to the
solemnization of Marriage in the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, we
learn that the Church has always recognised a mystical component in the nature
of marriage. “Matrimony” it professes, “…is an honourable estate, instituted of
God in the time of man’s innocency, signifying unto
us the mystical union betwixt Christ and His Church; which holy estate Christ
adorned and beautified with his, and first miracle at Cana
of Galilee;”
The Genesis account of
creation reveals man’s innocency at the time of God’s
Institution of Marriage, thus establishing it as a perfect relationship between
God and humanity. In contrast to this the mystical role of marriage is
concerned with the salvation of Fallen mankind.
The Old Testament thus
speaks of the first Creation while New Testament refers to the New Creation in
Jesus Christ.
The Marriage at
Now of course the Gospel
or Good news is the Biblical Revelation of God’s restoration of mankind through
Jesus Christ from the Fallen and hopeless state of sinfulness brought about by
Adam’s rebellion of in the Garden of Eden.
The Marriage at
In the restitution of all
things Jesus Christ PURCHASES fallen mankind ON THE CROSS. This is sometimes
called the ATONEMENT, meaning made to be at one or in unity with God.
Now recall that at the
wedding in
Then having filled the
pots with water Jesus proceeds to turn the water into wine in a great gesture
to the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood commemorating His act of salvation
on the Cross. John thus reveals Jesus Christ to be the fulfilment of the law
and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. This ALLIGORICAL witness
to Salvation in Jesus Christ is set in a Marriage to signify “the mystical
union betwixt Christ and His Church:” for just as man and woman were one flesh together in their innocency
at Creation: even so are sinners made one again with God by faith in Christ.
The Prophet Hosea also
used marriage as a metaphor for the promise of redemption in Christ. Referring
to
The culmination of the
Mystical marriage between Christ and His Church is shown forth in the Bible’s
last book, The Revelation: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give
honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife” [the Church] “hath made herself ready.” Revelation
19:7 Clearly then, marriage is
a vehicle by which the Bible expresses the bond between mankind and God in both
the old and new Creation.
Finally, let us consider
the third manifestation of God’s will in marriage: [3] THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE:
Again the Book of Common Prayer exhorts us to embrace the three Biblical
purposes of marriage: [1] “It
was ordained for the procreation of children, to be brought up in the fear and
nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy Name.”
We have already
established the purpose of procreation in the discussion of the mystical nature
of marriage: but the Bible adds to this an admonition to rear children in a
relationship with the Lord: “And,
ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians
6:4 The Godly rearing of
children is bound in the Word of God to the natural parents.
The second Biblical
purpose of marriage, expressed in the Book of Common Prayer establishes that:
[2] “It was ordained for a
remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication:”
“Flee fornication:” Paul Says “Every sin that a man doeth is without
the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 1Corinthians
6:18 What? know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own? 1Corinthians
6:19
The Bible is clear that
human sexuality was created as the divine purpose for marriage, so that a man
and a woman could realize their procreative purpose in a mutual joy that is
protected from harm by the their life long commitment to one another. Sexually
transmitted diseases and hearts broken through infidelity are direct results of
ignoring God’s purpose for human sexuality. This is an unwanted message in an
age such as ours, which is committed to gratuitous sexual relationships outside
the bonds of marriage and nature.
Thirdly, the Book of Common Prayer exhorts us
to embrace that Biblical purpose of marriage which states that [3]“It was ordained for the mutual society,
help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity
and adversity.”
Again, we turn to the
Book of Genesis for an explanation concerning God’s purpose of mutual help and
society between husband and wife: “But for Adam there was not found an help meet
for him.” Genesis 2:20 “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh
instead thereof:” Genesis 2:21 “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from
man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” Genesis 2:22 “And Adam said, This [is]
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of
The great Biblical
commentator Matthew Henry spoke fondly concerning this passage from Genesis
saying:
“That the woman was not made out of Adam’s
head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by
him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected,
and near his heart to be beloved.”
My friends in Christ: God has ordained a great purpose in His first
Institution of Holy Matrimony. He has ordained it to be the place where love,
security and mutual respect ought to flourish between a man and a woman; He has
ordained it to be the only place for sexual relations free from the
consequences of sexual improprieties and promiscuity: He has ordained it to be
the place into which children may be born and raised in love and the fear of
the Lord: and He has set in its midst the symbols of that mystical union that
is betwixt Christ and His Church through the Gospel of Salvation. Let us praise
Him and worship His with thanksgiving for this His precious gift. And let us
defend God’s gift of marriage with love and courage against the forces that are
now actively working to destroy it.