Marriage is a blessed and sanctifying institution the Lord established in the sin-free perfection of Eden. And God ordained marriage as a lifelong and loving union between one man and one woman. After God created Adam, He saw that it was not good for him to be alone, so He created woman from his rib and gave her to him to be his companion. The Scripture, therefore, says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

According to this verse, marriage involves leaving, cleaving, and weaving. First, a man and woman leave their old homes to establish a new one. They become their own family unit. Second, a man and woman hold fast to each other in steadfast love and devotion, committed to each other for life. And thirdly, a man and woman “become one flesh” in marriage, that is, their two lives join together as one, just as human DNA is one substance made of two strands.

Seeing that marriage is a lifelong union of a man and woman, the question that has often been asked is, Will marriage continue into eternity? What does the Bible say about marriage in heaven? Will we be married there? What if we have been divorced? Will we be married to our ex-spouse or our new one?

It just so happens that Jesus answered this question directly, and was asked this specific question by the Sadducees:

“The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching” (Matthew 22:23-33).

That was a loaded question, wasn’t it? The Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection (that’s why they were sad you see? I know, that was terrible), posed an interesting question to the Lord. The question was, who will you be married to if you’ve been widowed seven times? The woman in their scenario had seven husbands because each of them succumbed to death (seven in a row is a bit suspicious if you ask me). So, when the woman gets to heaven, who will her husband be?

It was a good question, and Jesus’ good answer was essentially this, “You’ve got it all wrong. In heaven, they neither marry nor are given in marriage.” In other words, Jesus says that there will be no marriage in heaven. This does not imply that husbands and wives will not recognize each other in heaven or forget about their marriage on earth. There is no chapter and verse that suggests memory erasure or anything of the sort.

Jesus simply says that there will be no marriage institution in heaven, and if you think about the purposes for marriage, this makes sense. According to the Scripture, the five purposes of marriage are procreation (Gen. 1:28), companionship (Gen. 2:16), sexual purity (1 Cor. 7:2, 5), family (Mal. 2:15), and the gospel (Eph. 5:22-33). And in heaven, all of these purposes are fulfilled.

God will fill heaven with His spiritual children, and thus, there will be no need for sexual intercourse which produces physical children. Additionally, the presence of all God’s saints and the presence of the Lord Himself will be eternally sufficient for companionship. And what about sexual purity? Well, heaven is a place completely pure and free from sin and its curse, and thus, temptations to sexual immorality will be eliminated. We will also be surrounded by the family of God throughout eternity, fulfilling yet another earthly purpose of marriage. And lastly, we will not need marriage as a symbol of the gospel to remind us of Christ’s love for the church because ironically, believers will be “married” to Christ (cf. Revelation 19:6-8).

Marriage, as God ordained it, is a beautiful institution for love, friendship, family, child-bearing and rearing, mutual holiness, and it symbolizes the love Christ has for His church in an unforgettable way. It is a gift God has given His creation on earth, to be greatly cherished while we have it, as its purposes will one day be fulfilled in heaven for all who have repented of their sins and exercised faith toward Jesus Christ, the Son of God.