What Does Marriage Mean?

What does marriage mean? Psychology Today defined it as “the process by which two people make their relationship public, official, and permanent. It is the joining of two people in a bond that is supposed to last until death…” But a psychology magazine isn’t the best place to find out about marriage. It helps to go back to the source that shows how and when it started––the Bible.

But what do the Scriptures tell us about marriage? The purpose of it might constantly be in question in our culture, but the essence isn’t that difficult to grasp. The very fundamental purpose is bound up in creation. Creating another generation of humans to occupy the planet God has made for us. Genesis 1:26-28, where God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may… Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…” The bigger challenge is modeling behavior that helps to love and respect others to ensure continual harmony in as many lives as possible.

However, marriage is also a very powerful symbol of our relationship between God and mankind. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is filled with, and begins and ends with, a marriage (Genesis 1-2 and Revelations 21:9, 22:17). At the heart of it all, marriage begins with a promise to love, honor, and cherish. But, for humans, there is a lot of inconsistency in keeping promises––in marriage or otherwise. The solution is making love… into a verb. This is what Jesus demonstrated during His time on earth: Love is visible and therefore it helps define itself by what it does.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

If “God is love” (1 John 4:7-12), then everything He commanded us to do, is an acknowledgment of that love in action. In other words, we’re created to recreate the demonstration of God’s love to others. Marriage is probably the most universally recognized union between two people that starts with a promise, deals with differences, focuses on bringing up another generation, and ultimately has the most lasting influence on people.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a marriage for a reason––God has a marriage-style commitment to us, and those worthy of that commitment will have a similar commitment to those God has made in His image.