Two themes run parallel through the Bible. These two themes were at the foundation of the first instructions God gave Adam and Eve. They are described by the prophets of old and illuminated by the New Testament apostles. In the last pages of Revelation, the theme comes to a beautiful conclusion and a new beginning. Though seemingly unrelated at first glance, they are actually mirror images of each other.

Genesis records an overview of God’s instructions to Adam and Eve. Herbert W. Armstrong explained, “He gave them all essential spiritual truth—He revealed to them the true gospel. He revealed His spiritual law—His way of life. He revealed man’s transcendent potential—the gift of eternal life. And He also instructed them in all necessary physical knowledge—including knowledge of the marriage institution and of sex” (The Missing Dimension in Sex).

After teaching Adam about the two trees and the path to salvation, God instituted marriage. “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. … Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:18, 24). These are God’s final recorded teachings to Adam and Eve. The fact that instructions about salvation and marriage were recorded side by side is no coincidence.

Without spiritual meaning, what purpose is there for the physical relations God created? Physical marriage and family are patterned after higher spiritual relationships (Ephesians 5:31-32). God is a Family. It was essential that He teach the first humans about both family and the path to salvation.

God commanded man, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth …” (Genesis 1:28). This would ensure that more and more humans would be born in the “likeness” of God (verse 26). But God also created man in His image. He endowed “man with the supreme privilege of access to direct contact with God and ultimately sonship of being born a divine Son in the God Family as a very God being!” (ibid). From the beginning, parents were meant to teach their children about God! Through their parents, children in God’s Church have access to their heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 7:14).

Marriage was designed to help mankind understand God’s plan of re-creating Himself. This was to be taught to the next generation. Just as a child is begotten at conception, God begets His children by imparting His Spirit. Just as a fetus is nurtured in the mother’s womb, so a member develops within the spiritual mother, God’s Church.

As the physical parallels the spiritual, the same laws apply to both. Paul explains, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it …. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:25, 31-32). Mr. Armstrong wrote, “As physical reproduction is the type and forerunner of spiritual begettal and glorification, so marital love is the type of Christ’s love for His Church, and our love for Christ” (ibid).

Marriage was created to be a type of Christ’s marriage to the Church (Revelation 19:7). The significance of this should elevate our physical marriages to the spiritual level.

Marriage affords an incredible opportunity to develop God’s character. It’s a training ground that teaches us how to love, rejoice, live peaceably, learn longsuffering, and acquire gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). In marriage, God’s Spirit-begotten children learn to develop each of these spiritual fruits. A faithful marriage can also help guard us against the works of the flesh (verses 19-21).

By no means is marriage the only way to perfect the fruits of the Spirit. God works with each of His children to develop His character. But God did say, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” God is building His spiritual family through our physical families. He is preparing us to marry His Son through our physical marriages.

Where Adam and Eve failed at the two trees, in their marriage and in their child rearing, the second Adam and a second Eve will succeed. Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church (Revelation 19:7), will teach mankind about family and the path to salvation.

Scriptures in Isaiah, Luke and Ephesians, among others, strongly indicate that God will re-create Himself for all eternity. “We cannot limit God,” wrote Gerald Flurry. “This is about creating families of God throughout the universe and for eternity!” (Royal Vision, September-October 2021). Future sons of God will be taught, brought up and educated primarily by their parents who have access to the counsel and guidance of God’s firstfruits and other God beings who have been born into the Father’s Family.

Marriage and family life prepare us to teach the billions of families that will populate the universe throughout eternity. The more we learn to live by God’s laws governing marriage today, the better teachers we will be in the future. From Genesis to Revelation and into eternity, marriage and salvation go hand in hand.