Marriage and family are established and directed by God. “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”” (Genesis 2: 18). Through marriage a family life that is founded in love should be received. This process that began with the marriage of first Adam in Genesis will come to an end with the marriage of the second Adam in Revelation. Marriage is a replica of the relationship of God and man (Jer. 3; Ezekial 16; Hosea 1-3) and the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5: 22, 23). Apostle taught that marriage should be honoured by all. This relation should be entered with purity and respect. Along with respecting each other respect and fear of God is also very important. According to Indian faith one man goes through 4 ashrams in his life time. This is known as Purushashrmadharmam. Bhrahmacharyashramam, Grihasthashramam, Vanaprasthashramam, Sanyasahramam. Bhrahmacharyashramam denotes the first 25 years of his life which should be dedicated to Godly thoughts, studying the word and seeking science underneath a guru in a Gurukul. The next 25 years should be for family life and for doing good for the society and to have virtuous societal thoughts. This is Grihasthashramam. The ritual to enter Grihasthashramam is marriage. This stage is for knowing each other and to understand each other. Through the ritual of marriage he enters the griham. Griham can be thought of as family and also home. The Hebrew word that comes close to the idea of marriage is Bayit (House). Bayit has been translated variously as family (Psalm 68: 6), House (1 Chronicles 13: 14), Home (2 Chronicles 35: 5- 12). Bayit has used to denote people who are in a family, a society and also Israelites. Example is house of Israel (Isaiah 5: 7). Family is the foundation of the society. God who saw that it is not good for man to be alone put man in a family and established a family and covenant of marriage. For a marriage life to be graceful the most important component is love. We see in Psalm 128 the peculiarities of a family that thus fears the Lord and walks in His ways. The Biblical intentions of a marriage are many.

1. Marriage- for a Strong Companionship (Genesis 29: 1-20)
The main intention of marriage is companionship. What the Bible teaches us is the spirituality of relationships because it is relationships that make a man complete. But for a beautiful family an unconditional love is inevitable. Jacob loved Rachel. Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her (Gen. 29: 20). This love that should be there in marriage relations is very important.

2. Marriage-To Increase in Number (Heb. 13: 1-6)
God created them as man and woman and God blessed them. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen 1: 28). That is why the Apostle said that marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. At the same time, marriage should be a relationship that is a model and should be honoured by all. Like how Christ loved the Church a man should love his wife. Like how the church submits to Christ a wife should honour her husband. For a healthy family life, there should be an attitude of submission, by submitting to one another (Ephesians 5: 21- 32).

3. Marriage – For Wholeness (Matthew 19: 3-9)
When God created man He created him in His own image. Male and female He created them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created (Genesis 5: 1,2). She shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of ‘man’ (Genesis 2: 23, 24). That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2: 24, 25). They should not be separated. Both of them together is Adam (Genesis 5: 1,2). Even though they were later separated God again brought them together as one. This shows the unity and wholeness that should be there in a family life. Humans thus become whole- man and woman- in marriage.

4. Marriage- To avoid Immorality (1 Cor. 7: 2)
“But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.” (1 Cor. 7:2). Marriage and family is set for man so that he leads a life of morality and social commitment. It is through family that we learn to submit and to be grateful to one another (Ephesians 5: 25; Titus 2: 4,5).

5.Marriage-To Reveal the Relationship between Christ and Church (Ephesians 5: 21-32)
The relationship between God and Israelites has been interpreted as a husband and wife relationship. Likewise to teach the relationship between Christ and Church a family is signified (Ephesians 5: 32; Rev. 19: 7-9; 21: 1,2). Let each marriage remind us of the marriage of the Lamb. Lord will come and the bride and bridegroom will reign together. This was a great hope for the persecuted Church.