Marriage is good, marriage is beautiful and marriage is honorable. Marriage is good, beautiful and honorable because God made it and designed it and all that He does is good. In his wisdom and creativity God came up this beautiful design we call marriage. In the beginning God created all of this creation good, lovely and beautiful.  After God made all that he made He saw that it was good. He made the heavens and earth and everything on earth and in the heavens. Then He made mankind in His image. He made male and female in His image (Genesis 1:27). Mankind was made to reflect and represent God here on this earth especially through the design of marriage. The greatest beauty and goodness seen in marriage is when a husband and wife reflect and display God’s love and faithfulness. That is when they both reflect the good and glorious character and nature of God towards one another and others.

God’s beauty and goodness is put on display through the COMMITMENT of Marriage. In the bible God likens himself to a faithful and loving husband that is committed to the good and wellbeing of his bride. And so often His people had been unfaithful and disloyal to Him, turning their backs on Him and going after other lovers or gods. However, God has kept on loving his people, providing for their needs, delivering them from their enemies and afflictions. God is committed to His people He is committed to loving, caring, providing & protecting His people. One of the most frequent words that the bible uses to describe God’s commitment to His people is the word covenant. And God keeps his covenant with his people. He has made covenants with his people throughout history in which He has been faithful to keep. God is a faithful, covenant keeping God. He is SO committed to doing good to His people that He sent His Son Jesus from heaven to earth to live as a human and lay down His life sacrificially in death in order that His people would enter into an everlasting covenant with Him. Jesus established this everlasting and new covenant through His body broken for us and His blood shed for us. That is love!

This is the kind of sacrificial love and faithfulness that the Apostle Paul exhorts husbands to show towards their wives.  He wrote ^“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). The ultimate purpose and meaning of marriage is to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church. I think it is worthy to note here that at the beginning of the bible there is a marriage (Genesis 2:21-24) and at the end of the bible there is a marriage (Revelation 19:6-10). Marriage is foundational to God’s design in human society and an important aspect of redemptive history. At this point I think it is appropriate to define what marriage is and what it is not especially in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to institutionalize so called same-sex marriage in the United States of America.

Marriage is not merely two people living together having sexual intercourse.

Marriage is not merely a contract or piece of paper that you sign that the state recognizes.

Marriage is not merely a social transition that advances you and your family’s social and financial status.

Marriage is not just a positive feeling that you get for another person when you’re with them.

Marriage isn’t merely a means to make one happy.

Marriage is not merely two people of the same sex who are committed sexual partners.

Marriage is: a physical and spiritual union between one man and one woman in which they share all things, based on a lifelong covenant commitment that is designed to display the covenant relationship between Christ and his bride the church. -Sam Storms 

Many under the influence of the American culture have rejected this good and beautiful design created by God. They earnestly have sought to redefine and redesign what their creator has made good. They are like the clay saying to its potter “why have you made me like this? What are you doing? I don’t like your design!”. This is pride indeed to reject your creator and lean on your own understanding of what is right and wrong, then to accuse God of being wrong. It is arrogant to not rely on your Creator for everything in life including guidance for how to live morally. Does not the One who made you know what works best for your life? Does not the manufacture of a vehicle know how the vehicle works best? Why not humble yourself and read the owner’s manual of life, namely the bible, and let the Creator of your life guide you in what’s best for you. God loves you more than you comprehend and His design and plan for you is good. His design for marriage is beautiful and is a good gift. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:16-17 ESV