Times Of Swaziland: THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE

THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE
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By Rev J.V Mazibuko on 19/02/2019 00:25:00


IT is fascinating to realise that the Creator of the world and the universe
doesn’t while away time. The devil, who counterfeits God, also does not have
time to waste, probably because he was created by the same God.
When the devil makes a move, his purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. When God
created Lucifer the arch angel, now known as the devil, He created him with and
for a purpose until iniquity was found in him. God is a God of purpose and there
is nothing that He puts in place that is without purpose. Marriage was put in
place with and for a purpose.
With the increase of iniquity and love growing cold, man has moved away from the
purpose of God concerning marriage. The late Myles Munroe said; “Where purpose
is not known abuse is inevitable.” If you do not know the purpose of a thing,
all you will probably do is simply abuse it. Today we have humans without
humanity because of a lack of purpose. No wonder we have all sorts of abuses;
woman abuse, child abuse, man abuse, church abuse, company abuse, position
abuse, government abuse, even marriage abuse etc.
The ignorance of purpose in societies around the globe is evident and manifests
in various degrees.  God, the designer of marriage, has revealed enough truths
about marriage. While we cannot know everything in the mind of God, what He has
revealed in His Word is enough for us to understand how He wants us to love and
behave in this world. We and our children are, therefore, accountable for what
He has revealed (Deuteronomy 29: 29). Obeying all the terms of what has been
revealed will eliminate abuses in marriage.
Purpose: It is the original intention why something was made or put together; it
is the original reason why something was made or assembled by the manufacturer.
The purpose of anything determines its features, nature, design and function,
and is key to fulfilment. God is a God of purpose and anything He plans is
intentional, meaningful and guaranteed to succeed.
Companionship: Perhaps one of the profound purposes of marriage is summed up by
Genesis 2:18, where God declared that it is not good for a man to be alone. It
is God who saw the need for a man to have a companion.
The animals that passed before Adam for naming could not provide the kind of
companionship that man needed. Hence God deemed it fit that He should create
another human being not another man but a woman. We have already mentioned, in
the previous article, that He did it by taking a rib from Adam and used it to
fashion the newer model of humans.
Strength
God, in His wisdom, never intended that man should be alone. There is strength
in numbers as the book of Ecclesiastes states that two are better than one,
because they have a good return of their labor. And if either of them falls
down, one can help the other up, and if two lie down together they will keep
warm. The woman was created to be a loving companion and a helper for man.
A woman has to share his responsibilities and cooperate with him in fulfilling
God’s purpose for his life and the life of their family. So, loving
companionship was part of God’s instructions for man as a human being.
However, a partner who would provide such companionship was not found among the
animals, but only in the creation of a woman.
Therefore, the man need not experience loneliness when his wife is with him;
according to God the loneliness of a husband is quenched by the presence of his
wife not his friends. Marriage is a godly and legal institution where the man
and the woman can enjoy true companionship as husband and wife. The world can
get lonely at times because of the many pursuits and stressful environments we
find ourselves in. God saw this before time begun and provided a solution.
Companionship
The world can provide temporary solutions like substance abuse, pets, sports,
work, friends and many more. However, none can fill the void of companionship
that Adam experienced until God created Eve. Companionship literally means
sharing each other’s life, knowledge, experiences, hurts, joys, lows, highs,
failures and achievements.
Companionship is about narrowing the distance between the husband and the wife.
Physical intimacy, spending time together, being comfortable with each other,
holding hands, eating together are all important ingredients in strengthening
companionship.
Emotional and spiritual intimacy is often overlooked by many couples, yet it is
foundational in companionship; a husband and a wife who are in a habit of
praying together, laughing and crying together often have a strong bond. Most
marriage breakdowns often start with emotional detachment which gives birth to
physical detachment, where the husband and the wife even consider sleeping in
separate bedrooms and subsequently lead separate lives.
This, however, shouldn’t be the case. God in all His wisdom gave married
couples the gift of companionship; the husband becomes a true friend of the
wife, likewise the wife to the husband; the husband becomes a confidant to the
wife, likewise the wife to the husband; the husband can be vulnerable to his
wife and feel no shame, likewise the wife to the husband.
Husbands and wives who embrace this purpose of marriage - companionship set
themselves up for good marriages and should be aware that this requires a lot of
work, both husband and wife need to be intentional and prioritise each other.
Next week we shall look at procreation as another imperative purpose of
marriage. God bless you!