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Q:
Will those who are married here
still be married in Heaven and know each
other as Husband and Wife? I don't believe that Matthew 22:30, Mark
12:25 and Luke 20:34-35 are teaching that marriage ends here, because
marriage was ordained by God for man and woman forever.
A
: I
understand your question and concerns, but I must disagree with you on
this one. I know of nothing in scripture that would indicate that
marriage is anything more than an earthly relationship. Here are some
reasons I say this:
1. In Romans, chapter seven, the woman is freed from the marriage at
the
death of her husband. When her husband dies, she is loosed from the law
of her husband (Romans 7:2) and freed to marry another man (Romans 7:3).
If marriage were eternal, this would not be the case. She would have
required to wait for her husband--or perhaps die with him as is done
in
some pagan cultures.
2. The story in Matthew 22:23-30 is very clear. There is no marriage
in
heaven. I do not see this passage being able to teach anything else.
3. According to Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there
is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus." In Christ, many of the distinctions that
we
have on earth are done away with. I do not know all that this means
concerning men and women. However, just as racial differences (Jew or
Greek) and social differences (bond or free) mean nothing in Christ,
so
gender differences (male or female) mean nothing in Him. When we get
to
heaven, these differences will either be non-existent or they will be
inconsequential.
4. I know of no scripture that teaches that the marriage bond is forever
as you say. It is very much a relationship for this earth. Even the
wedding vows say till death do you part. I do agree with you that the
relationships we have in heaven will eternally exceed anything we have
known on earth. But they will not be like those we have on earth. I hope
this helps.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan