1 Corinthians 7

Instruction on Marriage

Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs.

God speaks to us speaking that we should fulfill each other in marriage and honor one another in sexual desires full filling sexual needs but have you ever thought about that in heaven in heaven none of that matters it’s irrelevant god made us in his image male and female

Ezekiel 16:8

And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

QUESTION

Will there be marriage in heaven?







ANSWER

The Bible tells us, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). This was Jesus’ answer in response to a question concerning a woman who had been married multiple times in her life —whom would she be married to in heaven (Matthew 22:23-28)? Evidently, there will be no such thing as marriage in heaven. This does not mean that a husband and wife will no longer know each other in heaven. This also does not mean that a husband and wife could not still have a close relationship in heaven. What it does seem to indicate, though, is that a husband and wife will no longer be married in heaven.



Most likely, there will be no marriage in heaven simply because there will be no need for it. When God established marriage, He did so to fill certain needs. First, He saw that Adam was in need of a companion. “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’” (Genesis 2:18). Eve was the solution to the problem of Adam’s loneliness, as well as his need for a “helper,” someone to come alongside him as his companion and go through life by his side. In heaven, however, there will be no loneliness, nor will there be any need for helpers. We will be surrounded by multitudes of believers and angels (Revelation 7:9), and all our needs will be met, including the need for companionship.

Second, God created marriage as a means of procreation and the filling of the earth with human beings. Heaven, however, will not be populated by procreation. Those who go to heaven will get there by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; they will not be created there by means of reproduction. Therefore, there is no purpose for marriage in heaven since there is no procreation or loneliness.

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RELATED TOPICS

Will we be able to see and know our friends and family members in Heaven?

Will there be sex in heaven?

Will there be such a thing as gender in Heaven?

Will we have physical bodies in Heaven?

How can I know for sure that I will go to Heaven when I die?

So the question is why does marriage matter or exist?

Why Does Marriage Exist if it Doesn’t in Heaven?

• Glory Dy

Christianity.com Contributing Writer

• 2021
10 Nov



Every couple who walks down the aisle wants to be together forever and that probably includes being together in eternity, too. But why do wedding vows say, “I take you for my lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life”?

Does this mean marriage with our other half ends on earth and does not exist in heaven? Before we answer this, let us try to understand what marriage really means.

God Made Humans for Close Relationships

First of all, let us remind ourselves of God’s nature and character in order for us to understand marriage fully. God has always existed in a perfect, loving relationship between the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, since before creation.

It was not out of boredom or need for a hobby that He created the universe. It was an expression of His goodness and generosity. Consequently, as His image-bearers, humans are made for connecting, for loving, and for belonging.

God has endowed humanity with a relational nature, and the institution of marriage is the deepest expression of it. “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over it” are the blessings associated with the creation of mankind as male and female in Genesis 1:27–28.

Essentially, the first way marriage contributes to the service of God is by conceiving and then nurturing children in a godly way

It is a blessing to have children. Unfortunately, not every married couple is blessed with children. That is a sad fact. Having no children does not mean that a marriage is not a marriage, and God can still be deeply honored through it.

Procreation, however, should be regarded as a costly, sacrificial blessing (Ephesians 6:4), so that they may become fellow gardeners under God to care for his creation.

In all cultures, the universality of marriage has been demonstrated throughout history. As a matter of fact, we live in a fallen world that is different from God’s perfect design that has always existed, including in our time.

Although this is true, most societies recognize the central importance of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. Our arts and entertainment reflect this to a large extent. Many stories, songs, poems, novels, plays, and films have been centered on love.

Their triumphs are celebrated, their tragedies are mourned, and most of the time they succeed. Shakespeare’s tragedies always end with death, while his comedies always end with marriage.

The central themes of our stories are love and death because they are central to our lives. Whether consciously or unconsciously, all of these stories describe God’s grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.

Therefore, the capacity for love between two people cannot simply be regarded as horizontal. Ultimately, it aims to establish a vertical relationship between an individual and God. Our Creator intended for us to have a loving relationship with him or her.

Marriage Symbolizes Christ’s Relationship with His People

Symbolic of Christ’s relationship with His Church, God created marriage as the most intimate of human unions. In marriage, the union between man and woman conceals a truth about God and the Church.

Marriage symbolizes the permanent union God ordained between His Son and the church. This divine plan is symbolized by marriage on earth. In the same way that God intended for Christ and the church to become one body (Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:13), He intended that husband and wife become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).

It applies to all marriages, whether they are Christian or not, regardless of whether the parties recognize them as such. The marriage that God instituted at creation represents the final, eternal relationship that He will have with His redeemed people in the New Heaven and New Earth.

Yes, there is marriage in heaven — one grand, final consummation between the Lamb and His Bride, as described in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 19:6–9).

Yet, Christian traditions cite Matthew 22:30, in which Jesus says, “At the resurrection people will not marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” This is also true because what Revelation tries to emphasize is marriage in heaven is with Christ and not pertaining to worldly marriage.

There Is a Big Difference Between Heaven and the World

According to John’s vision, there is no temple in the eternal city since God and Christ the Lamb are its temple, being intimately present with their people. Likewise, the Father and the Son will serve as the city’s sources of illumination, eliminating the need for the sun, moon, or light itself.

Similar to how a lamp is useless under the light of the sun, so will God’s light be brighter than the light of the sun.

When Jesus died on the cross, He desired that the church be holy and without blemish. As a husband desires the best for his wife, Jesus wanted the best for us as well. This is the picture of marriage in heaven, we are literally married to Christ because we are His bride.

Worldly marriages are fleeting, and when we die, they are inevitably severed. Our perfect, everlasting union with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will take their place as something far more intimate and beautiful.

Therefore, why is it sometimes difficult for us to accept this truth? Could it be a fear of losing physical intimacy or intimacy with others?

Our only way to know what God has given us in this life is first-hand. In faith, we look forward to what He has promised, but we can’t begin to imagine what it will look like in reality.

The institution of marriage was first instituted by God in the order of creation. Marriage is the unchangeable foundation of human life. The purpose of marriage is to enable humans to serve God through faithful intimacy and children.

Christ and the church are likened to the marriage of God and his bride, his bride, the church. A husband should act as a self-sacrificing leader in marriage, and a wife should submit to her husband in a godly manner.

As a visual representation of the gospel, the institution of marriage points to our hope in Christ returning to claim his bride.

With the One Who Matters for Eternity

What God has in store for us on this side of heaven is only a glimpse. No one can imagine what it will be like to no longer be married or given in marriage, or how that could be any better than our current relationships.

But when we are in heaven, we will not be able to think of that anymore because when we are there, we have the assurance that we will have an eternal and intimate union with our Lord, which is far more valuable than our current state, like the sun’s light is to a lightbulb.

This is very comforting to know that we have joy forever and ever and no death can conquer that everlasting union with Christ. Now we can only hope and wait.

For further reading:

What Is the Biblical Definition of Marriage?

Is Singleness a Lesser State Than Marriage?

What Are the Biblical Reasons for Divorce?

What Does the Church Think of Those Who Have Never Been Married?

Does God Give the Promise of Marriage to Us?

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Shtrunts

Glory Dy has been a content creator for more than 10 years. She lives in a quiet suburb with her family and four cats.

Editor’s Note: Experience life-changing spiritual growth with exclusive in-depth studies and prayer guides.

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Rev. Margaret Minnicks is an ordained Bible teacher. She writes many articles that are Bible lessons.

Wedding

vetonethemi via Pixabay

A question often comes up about their marriage in heaven. One day a group of men came to Jesus with a specific question about marriage. They wanted to know if a woman had been married seven times on earth, which man would be her husband in heaven.https://3725951eabf99b4f279eecb0679ef915.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

The answer Jesus gave shocked the men in the group. Perhaps you will also be shocked by His answer that is recorded in Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:23-25, and Luke 20:34-36. So, how did Jesus answer?

And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36)

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Intimate Relationships

People are designed to be in relationships, to love, to be loved and to belong. The first one to have an intimate relationship with is God because God created us to be in a loving relationship with Him. If we can’t love our Creator, then we can’t love the Created.

The highest form of a relationship on earth is the institution of marriage. Based on this, we should be in both vertical (with God) and horizontal relationships (with people).

Of all the scriptures dealing with marriage, this is probably one scripture married couples don’t want to know about. They want to think they will be married to their spouse in heaven. They wonder how can heaven be without marriage.https://3725951eabf99b4f279eecb0679ef915.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Married Couple

miltonhuallpa95 via Pixabay

Marriages on Earth

One of the main reasons for marriages on earth is to procreate the earth with children. Jesus said there will be no marriages in heaven because no one dies and there would be no need to increase the population by replenishing heaven as on earth.

Procreation is not the only reason there will be no marriages in heaven. There will be no reasons for sexual pleasure or being loved by only one special person in heaven.

“At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).

Marriage: The Most Intimate Union on Earth

Marriage is the most intimate of human unions on earth. Marriage was designed by God as a picture of the union between Christ and His Church. Marriage was instituted by God at creation with Adam, the first man and Eve, the first woman. However, marriage is merely a temporary image of God’s relationship with His redeemed people.

There will intimacy in heaven, but not as the marriage as you know it. According to the Book of Revelation, there will be only one marriage, and it will be between the Lamb of God and His Bride.https://3725951eabf99b4f279eecb0679ef915.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:6-9)

Marriages End on Earth

Marriages end when one of the spouses dies. They will not be married to each other in heaven no matter how much they loved each other on earth. The plan God has for the formerly married and the never-married people is far more intimate and beautiful in heaven than it was on earth. It will be a perfect and everlasting union with God with absolutely no chance of a divorce, separation, or marital spats.

Married people might wonder why God would eliminate such pleasure in heaven. That’s because God will replace it with something better than anyone could ever imagine. You cannot grasp a greater pleasure than to be married to the person you love on earth. You might be surprised to know the pleasure you have on earth is only a glimpse of what it will be like in heaven with God.

God wants you to know that He is not taking anything away from you. Instead, He will replace it with something far more intimate and superior than an earthly marriage.null

No Marriage in Heaven

Margaret Minnicks

Marriage Is Only for This Life

Marriage ends in this life. What we will experience in heaven will be so much better than anything we have ever known, even a good marriage. Therefore, we can expect something in heaven to more precious than an earthly marriage. We don’t know what it will be because it will be too much for our finite minds to phantom. One thing that is known for sure is that there will be no deficits in heaven. God will give us what is better than anything we have ever had on earth.

Heaven will be an improvement over this world in every area. The pleasures of this world are only foretastes to the superior pleasures in the age to come. That’s what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 13:10, “When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” Paul continued, ” Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Corinthians 13:9–12).

What Solomon Said

Solomon called this age “life under the sun.” He encouraged married men to “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:9). Perhaps if married couples knew this, they would be more loving to their spouses while they are under the sun because they won’t get the chance to love each other more than anyone else in heaven. https://3725951eabf99b4f279eecb0679ef915.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

The best human pleasures we have in this world are only suited for “life under the sun.” That means there are human pleasures that are reserved only while we live and breathe on earth. There is no sun in heaven. Therefore, what happens under the sun while here on earth will not happen in heaven. Besides, the pleasures known by the natural body in this age are inferior to the pleasures of the spiritual body. That’s because the pleasures on this earth are only foretastes, preludes, and pointers and signs of what is to come. When the perfect comes, those things pass away.

Rejoice Because No Marriages Will Be in Heaven

There are reasons that marriages will end when people die and go to heaven. Remember, the marriage vow includes the words “till death do us part.”

• Marriages will end because its procreating purpose is not needed in the resurrection (Luke 20:35–36).
• Marriage ends because all its pleasures are temporary and preludes to something that is so much better than the human heart can imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9).
• Marriage ends so that the married and the unmarried will be equal to have the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).
• While marriage is great on the earth, it will be no more because it isn’t strong enough to be part of God’s eternal plan.
• Marriage is an earthly gift from God to be entered into only while on this earth. You cannot take your marriage into heaven even though there is a myth that says you can.
• People won’t be married in heaven because it would signify a division that distinguishes married people from single people who never got married. Everyone will be equal in heaven with no first ladies, prom kings or queen, and beauty pageants. Everyone will be equal in the sight of God. God will have the same intimacy with everyone.
• Marriages end with death and will not continue in heaven because heaven is an improvement over everything on this earth, including marriage which is just a foretaste of what God has in store for all of His redeemed.
• Marriage will not be missed in heaven because the intimacy with God will be so enriched that there will not be room for anything else.

God wants people to rejoice because there will no longer be only a prelude or a foretaste. It will be “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

https://letterpile.com/religion/No-Marriage-in-Heaven

Why is there no marriage in heaven?

Written by Subby Szterszky

Themes covered

Faith and CultureFaith and marriageFamily and relationships

What’s inside this article

• Humans are designed for intimate relationship – primarily with God
• Marriage is a picture of the union between Christ and His people
• In heaven, the picture will be superseded by the reality

And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36)

Of all the Scriptures dealing with marriage, this is probably one of the least likely to appear on a wedding program. And no surprise there. After all, what young couple embarking on the most important relationship of their lives wants to hear that it won’t last into eternity?

In fact, for many believers who are serious about the Scriptures, this qualifies as one of those “difficult sayings” of Jesus. Isn’t marriage the most profound institution God created for humanity? Isn’t the bond between husband and wife meant to be the most intimate, treasured relationship in this life? How can heaven be heaven without it?

Humans are designed for intimate relationship – primarily with God

As with all things, the ultimate answer is grounded in the person and character of God. From before creation, God has always existed in perfect, loving relationship between the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He didn’t create the universe because He was lonely or needed something to do. He did it as an outpouring of His good and giving nature.

Consequently, as His image bearers, humans are designed for relationship, to love and be loved – in a word, to belong. And the deepest expression of this relational nature that God has given humanity is found in the institution of marriage.

The universality of marriage has been borne out across all cultures throughout history. To be sure, we live in a fallen world and there have always been aberrations from God’s perfect design, not least in our own time. Nevertheless, the majority of societies have recognized the central value of marriage between one man and one woman for life.

This is reflected to an overwhelming degree in our arts and entertainment. How many stories and songs, poems and plays, novels and films have been written with love as their main theme? They celebrate its joys, mourn its heartaches, and more often than not, end with some version of happily ever after. There’s an old joke about Shakespeare that his tragedies all end with everyone dying, while his comedies all end with everyone getting married.

Love and death are at the core of our stories because they’re at the core of our reality. Knowingly or otherwise, these tales all reflect something of God’s overarching story, His grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption and restoration.

In light of this, the human capacity for love cannot be seen as simply horizontal, between one person and another. Its primary purpose is to be vertical, between each individual and God. In our most essential being, we were created for a loving relationship with our Creator.

Marriage is a picture of the union between Christ and His people

To that end, marriage, the most intimate of human unions, was designed by God as a picture of the bond between Christ and His Church. This is true of all marriage, Christian or otherwise, regardless of whether the participants recognize it as such. Instituted by God at creation, marriage offers a ubiquitous but temporary image of His final, eternal relationship with His redeemed people in the New Heaven and New Earth.

So then, there is indeed marriage in heaven – one great, ultimate consummation between the Lamb and His Bride, described at length in the book of Revelation:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:6-9)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

In heaven, the picture will be superseded by the reality

According to the Apostle John’s vision of the eternal city, there is no temple in it because God and Christ the Lamb are its temple, being intimately present with their people. Likewise there is no need for sun or moon or lamplight because the Father and the Son will be the source of light for the city. Just as a lamp is unnecessary in the light of the sun, so the sun itself will be unnecessary in the light of God.

And so it will be with the marriages of this present world, fleeting as they are and inevitably severed when death do us part. They will be superseded by that which is far more intimate and beautiful – our perfect, everlasting union with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why then do we struggle at times with accepting this truth? Why do we fear the perceived loss of emotional and physical intimacy? It’s because we only have direct experience of the things God has given us in this life. We anticipate by faith what He has promised for the future, but we can’t begin to imagine the reality of it.

In his book, Miracles, C.S. Lewis addresses this difficulty with one of his typically insightful metaphors:

The letter and spirit of Scripture, and of all Christianity, forbid us to suppose that life in the New Creation will be a sexual life; and this reduces our imagination to the withering alternatives either of bodies which are hardly recognizable as human bodies at all or else of a perpetual fast. As regards the fast, I think our present outlook might be like that of a small boy who, on being told that the sexual act was the highest bodily pleasure, should immediately ask whether you ate chocolates at the same time. On receiving the answer ‘No,’ he might regard absence of chocolates as the chief characteristic of sexuality. In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their raptures don’t bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of. The boy knows chocolate: he does not know the positive thing that excludes it. We are in the same position. We know the sexual life; we do not know, except in glimpses, the other thing which, in Heaven, will leave no room for it.

This side of heaven, we can indeed only catch glimpses of the things God has prepared for us. We cannot grasp what it will be like to no longer be married or given in marriage, or how that could possibly be better than the relationships we now enjoy.

But we have our Lord’s assurance of His eternal, intimate union with us, and that it will be as far superior to our current state as the light of the sun is to a lightbulb.

We have but to trust and wait and see.Subby Szterszky is the managing editor of Focus on Faith and Culture, an e-newsletter produced by Focus on the Family Canada.

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