From ReformedWord
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One purpose of marriage is explained in Genesis 1:28. Murray states plainly that “Marriage is the institution established by God for the fulfillment of the procreative mandate.” At creation, God commanded man and woman to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth and subdue it. This purpose of course has significant implications for the family, for the man, and for other aberrant sexual practices that do not fulfill this mandate to be fruitful and multiply. As Robertson explains, the man must love and cherish his wife, and he must care for her as she fulfills her role in childbearing. Paul explains this further in Ephesians 5:22-33. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church, and gave himself up for her. However, he should not be a tyrant over her, but rule by example in love and tenderness. Paul also shows that man and woman are in some respects co-dependent on each other and ultimately on God (1 Corinthians 11:11-12). Man is dependent upon the woman for procreation, and both are dependent upon God.
The ordinance of marriage also has a purpose in the plan of redemption. Robertson states, “The propagation of the race through the institution of marriage indicates a primary means by which God’s purposes in redemption find realization.” God accomplishes His purposes through creation rather than contrary to it. Genesis 3:15 states that mankind’s redeemer will come through the seed, the offspring, of a woman, through procreation. God proceeded to create a family from the line of Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, on through the genealogy of Christ. This is a significant aspect of the creation ordinance of marriage. It is only through marriage and the familial relationships that God intended to build a people, and manifest a redeemer, that will one day “save His people from their sins.” Procreation within the bounds of marriage is the means God chooses to use to secure Christ in the World.
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