Marriage is a physical union, but a divine institution. Almighty God ordained it! It did not evolve. It is not of man’s devising.

Notice, in Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Have ye not read …?” He quoted an already written passage of Scripture. He said the Pharisees should have read it! Where is that scripture found? It is found in the second chapter of Genesis. It is part of the brief summary record of the Eternal’s original instruction to the newly created Adam and Eve. The creation of Eve had just been described, and God then said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife …” (Genesis 2:24).

So the Almighty revealed the sacred marriage institution to the first man and woman.

Why Marriage?

Now stop and think for a moment. Why did God ordain the human relationship of marriage?

The old repressive, dualistic morality taught that the only purpose of sex was reproduction. But if merely reproducing their kind were the only purpose of sex, no marriage would be necessary! God made animals male and female. Animals reproduce—but they do not marry! Marriage is not necessary to procreate.

Realize this! Understand this truth! We can, through sex, have reproduction without marriage! Indeed, that is one of the world’s greatest evils today—there is entirely too much reproduction without marriage!

Animals reproduce. But animals do not marry! They need little or no teaching.

Ever see a little calf born? The mother cow does not need to call an obstetrical physician or go to a hospital for the delivery of her calf. As soon as it is born, the calf will begin to stagger to its feet, while the cow just stupidly stands waiting. She does not need to teach her calf how to walk, how to take its food, how to do anything. A little wobbly and unsteady at first, the calf is up and walking in just a minute or two.

The calf has instinct. And where does it start walking? It has no instruction from anyone. It starts walking for its first “dinner.” It knows where to go. And the mother cow just stands stupidly still while her calf sucks its milk.

And where is “Daddy”—the bull? That’s hard to say. Perhaps miles away. He probably is nowhere around. And soon the calf will not even need the milk from its mother—and will be on its own.

There is no marriage—no family life—no home life.

But with humans all this is different. The purely reproductive process is the same in all mammals. But beyond this, all is different! The only purpose for sex in animals is reproduction. But humans are different! In humans reproduction is not the only purpose of sex. A second purpose is marriage—and there is yet a third purpose!

The newborn human does not get up and walk immediately to its food. The tiny baby is absolutely helpless. It has a few instinctive reflexes, but no instinct, in the strict sense of the word. It has mind—but at birth there is no knowledge as yet in its mind. It knows virtually nothing at birth. It must be taught! It needs parents to teach it! It matures so very much more slowly than animals! Yet its potentiality is infinitely higher! And for this higher purpose, parental guidance and family life are necessary!

For God had said, “Let us make man in our image.”

God made cattle “after their kind”—after the cattle kind. He made “every winged fowl after his kind”—after the winged fowl kind! But He made manafter the God kind!

Man’s Destiny

Now, incredible as it may sound to those who do not understand the revelation of God’s truth—and only an infinitesimal minority does—God is a family!

And in man, God is reproducing HIS kind! Man has the supreme potentiality of being actually born into the very divine God Family!

Do you realize what that means? Of course, God is composed of immortal spirit—while man, like animals, is composed in this life of material flesh—matter! But the transcendent essential factor is that God is perfect spiritual character! It is the supreme intelligence, combined with holy and righteous character of mind that most importantly distinguishes God from every other living creature. No animal has this potential—but it is the true destiny of man. Of course God, too, possesses supreme all-mighty power. But without right character, this power would be destructive and dangerous!

What is this righteous spiritual character?

It is that controlled ability, in a separate independent entity, to come to a right knowledge of the true from the false—the right from the wrong—and, by free choice, to choose the right and the true, and, further, to use the self-discipline to will and to actually do the right. And how define right? By the spiritual law of God! …

Humans are born with minds. Humans must be taught, or learn. But the human mind can absorb knowledge and reason from it—think creatively, formulate plans, make decisions, render judgments and exercise self-discipline. Man has the potentiality of developing righteous character. …

This righteous character is not created instantaneously. It develops through experience, and experience requires time.

This is an excerpt from The Missing Dimension in Sex. Request your free copy.