Marriage is God’s creation. Genesis 2:18 says, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” So God created woman to be the wife of man. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “So man and woman are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Established by God at creation, marriage was designed to be permanent and protected. He designed marriage to reflect the loving relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. This is described in Ephesians 6:21-28:
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her….He who loves his wife loves himself.”
Jesus’s love and covenant with His bride (the church) are revealed through the love and covenant of two becoming one flesh. We no longer remain individuals with individual plans and ambitions. God joins us together into one, and as one, we reflect the beautiful union between Christ and us.
On the subject of divorce and remarriage, we look to the Bible as a basis for the church’s ideals and standards.
Facts about Marriage in the Bible
- God created marriage when He created Eve from Adam (Genesis 2:22–23). Following the story of her creation, Eve is immediately declared Adam’s wife (Genesis 2:25)
- God designed marriage to be a permanent union that is not to be broken (Matthew 19:4–6). The two became “one flesh,” through sexual union, resulting in a singular, unique relationship. Since God sanctions the marriage, no one is allowed to separate the marriage.
- Marriage is a covenant where one man and one woman declare their devotion to each other, specify commitments and bind themselves to one another through solemn vows. Witnesses confirm and officially record the event. Anniversaries are celebrated to revisit the covenant. Although similar to a contract in many respects, a covenant has higher obligations since the parties enter into it agreeing with God that it is to be a lifelong, loyal union to which He (God) is witness (Malachi 2:14; Ecclesiastes 5:4).
- A husband must provide. A biblical marriage partnership is one in which the husband commits to providing materially and emotionally to ensure his wife’s and children’s well being (Exodus 21:10; Ephesians 5:28–29; 1 Timothy 5:8).
- A husband is accountable for his family’s wellbeing and conduct. Along with the husband’s requirement to provide comes his responsibility for his family. When family members do wrong, he is responsible to correct and assure it is made right. When events endanger the family or members of the family, he is responsible to defend and steer his family to a right outcome. Adam did neither. He stood silent while Eve listened to the serpent and in doing so condemned all generations that followed (Genesis 3:1–6). God called for Adam, not Eve, as the primary agent of responsibility for the family (Genesis 3:8–11). This is called headship. Headship is being the primary agent of responsibility, whom God will ultimately call to give an explanation. These God-given roles of headship, and the wisdom attained from the fear of God (Proverbs 1:7), create the motivation for a man to manage his home responsibly (1 Timothy 3:4; 1 Peter 3:7).
- God hates divorce. God made no provision for severing a marriage relationship. God is opposed to divorce (Malachi 2:16). God hates divorce.
- Death ends the marriage covenant. The death of a spouse terminates the marriage covenant (Romans 7:1–3; 1 Corinthians 7:39).