Jesus declared, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh.’ Matt. 19:4, 5 From creation, God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. Polygamy did exist, but it was not God’s original arrangement.
The New Testament further explains that the marriage relationship illustrates the relationship between Jesus and His church. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Eph. 5:31, 32) Whenever the Bible identifies something as a copy or shadow of heavenly things, it is very important to keep the picture carefully! When Moses was given instructions as to how to build the tabernacle, God warned him to be follow the pattern. “They (the priests) serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” (Heb. 8:4, 5) The warning shows the serious nature of keeping God’s pictures.
Since the marriage relationship is identified as a pattern of Jesus’ spiritual relationship with His church, it would be important to portray this is in all Christian marriages. So, whether or not a Christian is a leader is not the issue. The point is that all Christian marriages are a picture of the holy, loving and beautiful relationship Jesus has with His church. Jesus has one bride. The bride of Christ has one husband. It is monogamous.
