A comment on a recent blog post of mine read, “If a purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. What is the purpose of marriage? If men do not know the purpose of marriage, they won’t know how to fulfill their role in marriages”. This struck a chord with me and so I decided to back-track and write about the purpose from a biblical perspective. Let us begin:
In the beginning…
Before God ever built the outer man in Gen 2, He first created the inner man, male and female Gen 1:27. When the male and the female were both created in spirit-form just like God in Gen 1:26-27 and not yet planted into their earthen houses (bodies) in Gen 2:7,22, their first commission was Gen 1:28 when God blessed them by saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth“.
The commission was not just to the male but to the male and female as we see in verse 27. I have blog posts which further explain this for anyone who wants to do a deeper study on the creation of humanity according to scripture.
The second task they were given fits into the first one and it was to tend the garden together. Had they done it the way God instructed, I believe the atmosphere of the garden would have expanded to fill the entire earth because they would have ended up subduing the entire earth. The operative Word here is together—male and female as created in Gen 1:27. This togetherness already gives you an inkling of companionship. Companionship is fellowship.
In Chapter 2, God breathed the spirit beings He had created in Gen 1:27 i.e. the male and female inner man into an earthen sculpture he had formed from dust—and it became a living being (Gen 2:7).
Later on in verse 22, God put this living being to sleep and pulled out a rib and from it built up (not created) a house for the female who had already been created in Gen 1:27.
The question is why did God separate the male and the female into two houses (bodies) and not just leave them in one? The answer was to facilitate fellowship or companionship so they could fulfill the commission given them in Gen 1:28. Whiles she and the male shared the same house or body, they could not relate or fellowship physically like they could when God separated them into two bodies. But the truth is that like Adam and like Jesus, their brides are not separate and distinct from them. Their brides, like all brides are one with them—literally same bones and same flesh. “This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:23). What does Jesus say of us His Bride? For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones (Eph 5:30). As far as God is concerned, marriage restores the two back to the original oneness. This oneness speaks of a very high form of fellowship or intimacy. But how is this oneness arrived at physically and practically? Through the intimacy that arises as a result of the companionship/fellowship between the male and the female.
Companionship
Gen 2:18 Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.
So why did God institute marriage or why did he bring the female to the male? To remove the loneliness by providing the male with a physical companion. As a commenter pointed out, the companionship encompasses the realms of spirit, soul and body. By the way, whenever you read Gen 1:27 and you see the word man, it is not in reference to a male. The Hebrew word used here is ‘âdâm and it means mankind or humanity i.e. both male and female or else Gen 1:27 does not make sense. When you read, “He created man, male and female”, it is the same as reading “He created mankind, male and female”. When one looks at Gen 5:2 in the amplified bible, Adam is the name God gave to both male and female, not just to the male. Eve was the name the male gave to the bone of his bones. But God called them both ‘âdâm.
Gen 5:2 He created them male and female and blessed them and named them [both] Adam [Man] at the time they were created.
Summary:
According to Eph 5, earthly marriages are supposed to reflect the reality of the ultimate model of marriage between Christ and His Bride i.e. the Church. Why did God create humanity? For relationship with himself. Why did God take out the female out of man? For relationship with the male. Another name for this relationship is companionship. Companionship from the Webster’s 1828 dictionary is simply association or fellowship.
So again, what’s was the original purpose of male and female coming together? The answer is companionship or fellowship that leads to being fruitful in all spheres of life, multiplying, and filling the earth, and subduing it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and having dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth”.
Put differently, a Kingdom refers to the jurisdiction of a King. In our case the King of our Kingdom is called God. Marriages in His Kingdom are reflection of the love God has for humanity and of the relationship between Christ and His church. Marriages are also vehicles of expression of this jurisdiction and dominion of God in ALL the earth. But for this to happen the two who get married should know that they have become one through fellowship/companionship. If I am one with my wife, I won’t beat her or else I would be beating myself and she won’t disrespect me or else she would be disrespecting herself.
BTW fruitfulness and multiplication and subduing the entire earth including in reigning with Christ in the areas of Family, Government and Law, Business, Religion, Media, Arts, Sports & Entertainment, Education etc.etc. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
Lastly, for this companionship to work practically in a home, there are certain qualities or fruit of the spirit the male and female must exhibit like love, submission, respect etc. The first couple disregarded these qualities and landed themselves in a quagmire. Hopefully we can learn from their mistakes and heed the Word of Apostle Paul and Peter so we can succeed where the first couple failed.