The research on marriage can paint a discouraging picture. Depending on what you read and who said it, it seems like marriage is in a lot of trouble. Could it be that in the midst of numerous books and conferences that help with communication skills, parenting techniques, and sexual intimacy that we forgot a basic principle: The purpose of marriage?
Maybe we have so many problems in marriage because we ignore or have forgotten the meaning of marriage. In the following video, John Mark Comer, who is the pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, offers his insight.
Five Aspects of the Very First Marriage
Comer derives his view about the purpose of marriage from his reading of Genesis. It is in Genesis where the reader meets the proto-humans of Adam and Even and certain characteristics begin to take shape in regards to marriage’s purpose. The first characteristic is friendship because humans were not created to be alone and isolated.
Second, is gardening. Yes, gardening. Creation was raw and untamed and therefore in need of cultivation and stewardship. See, if the focus of your marriage is you or the other person, it will be just a matter of time before that marriage will self-destruct. This is because marriage was made by God to exist for something so much bigger than itself.
Third, is sexuality because God created the bodies of man and woman in such a way that they express deeply intimate complementarity.
Fourth, is family because God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. It will take more than a man and a woman to steward creation. It will take generations of families.
Lastly, and most importantly, the reason for marriage is to become more like Jesus. Time and time again God uses marriage to remind us of our need for Jesus, the perseverance of Jesus, and the glorious future wedding banquet of Jesus.
