It can be disheartening to believe that there won’t be any marriage in heaven. To imagine that was once a lifelong partner on earth will become a distant friend of the past in heaven. Married couples, as I can only imagine, would tremble at the thought of not living with their husband or wife. To not do life together anymore, to not be able to love each other the way they do now, and ultimately to lose that deep and intimate relationship that was built so strongly over the years on earth. And while some singles might sympathize of losing their future marriage partner in heaven, some singles might also fall into despair because they may not get married on earth, and now all hope in heaven is lost as well.

Most often, Christians cite Matthew 22:30 “At the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” Many have taken this verse to mean that there won’t be any marriage in heaven. But the bible also clearly displays that there will indeed be marriage in heaven. There will be a one, unified and single marriage between Christ and the church. This marriage will be fully celebrated and united when all God’s people are brought together at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Paul along with other pieces of scripture makes this abundantly clear.

Matthew 22:30 is a response that Jesus gave to the Sadducee who tried to trick him by telling him of a story where a woman had seven husbands whom all died. They asked him which one of the husbands would be her husband at the resurrection. Jesus answered them by saying that people will not marry or be given in marriage. But Jesus is specifically only talking about the flesh-like marriage that is known on earth. And marriage on earth, the bond that unites two humans into one, is a shadow copy of the real and perfect marriage of Christ and the Church. The greatest reason (as I see it) why the human marriage exists, is to show, reflect, and give a tiny glance of the grand and immaculate marriage that we will encounter on the New Earth with Christ. No marriage is perfect on earth, and so humans will never be able to experience the perfect love that they were created for from other humans. Even with the best of marriages, there is something more on the New Earth that will give off a love no human has ever even tapped into on earth.

And while this truly all sounds great, many Christians still can’t shake the feeling of being sad because of the loss of an intimate relationship with another human. But who said that it will go away? The earthly marriage is a shadow copy of the real thing! Imagine the shadows of a field of flowers, or imagine the shadow of a woman. You would be able to tell that the shadows represent whatever the light is casting on. And so we would know that the flower or woman casting the shadow must be much more real and beautiful than the shadows itself. Marriage won’t become less real, less beautiful, or less intimate, but it will be fully unraveled and fully seen so that all the colors and aspects of marriage that we don’t even know about yet will come to light. We will see marriage as it is, not the shadow that we are used to. Humans won’t lose the intimacy we so desire, the intimacy we know will only be greater and deeper with Christ than it was with our spouse--whether we are directly next to his physical form, or far away, we will always feel his presence resting on us.

But what about the human intimacy that we have on earth, will that go away because of Christ now? By no means. Scripture never even hints at such a thing, it actually only bolsters the importance of a human relationship. “It is not good for a man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). Humans crave a physical relationship with another physical person because God put that desire within us--He called it good! Scripture exclaims many times of how his people in heaven will be united together, basking in God’s glory and love. Relationships won’t be diminished, they will only be magnified!

The relationship a man has with his wife will not be lessened on the New Earth. Relationships on the New Earth will be so much closer and deeper than they were here. Just because a man might not be married to a woman anymore doesn’t mean that they lose their relationship. (The couple will still remember their time they had on earth and the intimate love they shared. Christ will take away our sins, not our memories. How else will we celebrate Christ and the works we performed if we forget what he did for us on the cross? I would dare say that because we are a perfect human, our minds will become clearer than ever before.) But they will also embrace the new intimate love they have in Christ while also embracing the new intimate relationship they have with each other. The couple will know each other in better and deeper ways, and they will have so much more time to spend together than they had on earth. The couple now has all of eternity to do the things they may have missed out on. How could this be? Imagine a man and his friend are co-workers at a factory. They work together for many years and become very close friends, but the factory, unfortunately, closes down for outside reasons. The man and his friend are no longer co-workers, but does that mean that they aren’t close friends anymore? Of course not! Though their contract ended, their friendship didn't. In the same way, just because a man and woman won't be married anymore, they won't lose that deep intimate friendship they built over the years.

I am confident that on the New Earth there is no one else (besides Jesus) that I would want to spend the rest of eternity with other than my future wife. I can’t wait to explore the New Earth with my close friends I knew on earth, playing ultimate Frisbee on the grassy fields, going on to the beach with my family, and doing life together with them all. Added to this list, I can't wait to meet new friends, men and women from scripture, and to continue my relationship with my wife from earth. Past couples will have all of eternity to learn and grow deeper than they ever were on earth. And for the ones who were never married, the marriage between the church and Christ will be more than sufficient, and they too will be able to grow intimate relationships that they never would have thought of with friends, family, and other singles.

Have no fear of losing your beloved, the relationships that humans have developed will be so much grander in heaven than they were on earth that they shall pale in comparison.