On the Road
At 5:30 a.m., we'll be off! Nicole's wedding is this Saturday, so we're making our way to Wisconsin today to have a day to prepare and set-up before the wedding. (It was absolutely not my idea to leave this early...it was Andy's - my soon-to-be-brother-in-law. His family usually leaves at 3:30 in the morning, so he's being easy on us. Now how, or why, anyone would come up with the idea of leaving at 3:30 in the morning is beyond me...)
Here's something I've been contemplating recently: If the family unit as we know it will not exist in heaven, as Jesus indicates in His response to the Sadducees in Matthew 22:23-33, then why did God ordain it to be such here on earth? I would be interested to know what others' understanding is of God's purpose in this matter.
This is certainly a question worth contemplating as God is very deliberate in His purposes. And as we well know, this is an area under heavy attack right now in our society. It has been exciting to see God bringing together godly young men and women who have been joined together in marriage this year and who are committed to raising godly families who will have a great impact on the world in the years to come! I know that Andy and Nicole will be one such couple. :-)
I don't know whether or not I'll have an Internet connection over the next week, but I hope to post some pictures from the wedding as soon as I have the capability to do so.
4 Comments:
Excellent question, Natalie.
(I hope you are having a fun trip, btw...)
To answer your enquiry, we have to go back to Genesis, where God instituted marriage.
He knew (being God) that mankind was about to fall... and He knew that mankind wasn't created to be alone. We have a "God shaped hole" in us. Once mankind fell, God knew that we would feel that hole profoundly, and that until Glorification, it wouldn't/couldn't be filled.
So, since it wasn't good that mankind be alone... He created a helpmete for us. To be "fellowship" for each other until our Glorification. THAT is God's intention for marriage.
Of course, being God, He does more than one thing at once. SO He also planned the propigation of the species through that same thing. He ALSO created us a social creatures BEYOND our need for God... and met THAT need through our families as well.
He COULD have done it through three separate modes. But He uses the family for all those things (plus some more, actually.)
Now... after our glorification, we will not NEED that same depth of fellowship. We will not be propigating the species. BUT we will still have need for fellowship. SO our relationship will remain. We will be close to our spouses, children, parents, etc. in heaven.
Jesus' point is that such relationship is not necessary... is secondary to our relationship with God (is meant simply and merely to suppliment what is lost, see above) and therefore must be kept in perspective.
But remember... heaven is a restoration of pre-fall paradise. And Adam and Eve WERE married before the fall... we still will be after our arrival in heaven, too.
Enough rambling.
+
PS
Sorry I wrote so MUCH... my "comment" was longer than your "posting."
::embarrassed sigh::
Can't wait to see pictures! I've been thinking of you!
I've always thought that He gives us the sweet fellowship of family as a foretaste (an image, darkly) of what we will experience with all believers in heaven. Not that we won't be as close to our family once we get to heaven, but that we will be that close (and closer) to every single believer, and not only our family.
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