there is NO marriage in heaven. i used to think this was weird and kind of sad. why would it be like that? i mean, apart from the reason given that if someone's spouse dies and they marry someone else, then whose spouse would they be? isn't marriage good? why would there be a lack of something good in heaven?
i think it's because there is something better. for one thing, we will be with HIM in heaven. WITH HIM. if that's not better than marriage, then that's pretty silly, since marriage is supposed to be a reflection of our relationship with Him. but i think there is another something better too. because marriage isn't just to show us about our relationships with Him, it is also about a relationship between two people. but there are limits to marriage too. someone's relationship with their spouse is different than their relationship with any other person. when two people get married, the traditional vows say, "excluding all others, as long as we both shall live." marriage excludes. it just does. imagine being married to one person for eternity. not just a lifetime. infinitely. imagine never being married for eternity, but other people were. so exclusive. and i don't think He intended the Body and community to be exclusive. the earth is a broken place. heaven should be a non-broken place. shouldn't there be freedom in fellowship and relationship with everyone? i'm not talking about some free-for-all where everyone can do whatever they want with whoever they want. that isn't about relationships. how about non-broken relationships with every person? for eternity. true community with every person, forever, in His presence. why would marriage even be needed? we would see what our relationship with Him should be like because we would be living it all the time in His presence and together with others. we would all be living in right relationship with Him and with each other.
marriage on earth is good. people who are married, they are modeling His love and what our relationship with Him can be like to others. and people are watching. how many married people really really do that? i'll be honest, i long to do that. but really, marriage isn't a goal in and of itself. it should point us to Him. other people's marriages should point me to Him. my desire for marriage should point me to Him. and we can all look forward to heaven.
i think it's because there is something better. for one thing, we will be with HIM in heaven. WITH HIM. if that's not better than marriage, then that's pretty silly, since marriage is supposed to be a reflection of our relationship with Him. but i think there is another something better too. because marriage isn't just to show us about our relationships with Him, it is also about a relationship between two people. but there are limits to marriage too. someone's relationship with their spouse is different than their relationship with any other person. when two people get married, the traditional vows say, "excluding all others, as long as we both shall live." marriage excludes. it just does. imagine being married to one person for eternity. not just a lifetime. infinitely. imagine never being married for eternity, but other people were. so exclusive. and i don't think He intended the Body and community to be exclusive. the earth is a broken place. heaven should be a non-broken place. shouldn't there be freedom in fellowship and relationship with everyone? i'm not talking about some free-for-all where everyone can do whatever they want with whoever they want. that isn't about relationships. how about non-broken relationships with every person? for eternity. true community with every person, forever, in His presence. why would marriage even be needed? we would see what our relationship with Him should be like because we would be living it all the time in His presence and together with others. we would all be living in right relationship with Him and with each other.
marriage on earth is good. people who are married, they are modeling His love and what our relationship with Him can be like to others. and people are watching. how many married people really really do that? i'll be honest, i long to do that. but really, marriage isn't a goal in and of itself. it should point us to Him. other people's marriages should point me to Him. my desire for marriage should point me to Him. and we can all look forward to heaven.
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ReplyDeleteYep. and on the marriage note, there's a great article by Tim keller called "Sex and the Gospel", which I thought was going to be about marriage, but was actually geared towards singles and was GREAT.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation of the article! It goes along with a lot of things I've been thinking about.
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