What is God's design for marriage and family?
God's design for marriage and family is rooted in the Three Great Blessings: individual perfection, family multiplication, and stewardship of creation. The family, formed through the Four Position Foundation of God, husband, wife, and children, is the fundamental unit for embodying God's love and character. This structure allows humanity to mature in love, fostering filial, conjugal, and parental love, and ultimately creating a peaceful, God-centered world.
God’s design for marriage and family is foundational to human fulfillment and the establishment of a peaceful, God-centered world, revealing our true identity and relationship with the Creator. The Bible, when viewed from the perspective of marriage and family relationships, reveals God's purpose to restore humanity to this original design.
The Biblical Foundation: God's Original Command
The Bible establishes marriage and family as institutions of divine origin. Genesis 1:27 states, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." This signifies that the harmonious unification of male and female is the image of God. The first divine command, the Creation Blessing, follows: "And God blessed them, and God said unto 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" (Genesis 1:28). This blessing encompasses individual perfection, family expansion, and responsible stewardship.
The necessity of companionship is shown in Genesis 2:18, where God says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." This leads to the establishment of the marital union: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). This outlines a monogamous, heterosexual union for intimacy, companionship, and the perpetuation of humanity, forming God-centered families. This oneness of male and female is the form of God; a husband can meet God through his wife, and a wife through her husband. The Old Testament emphasizes the family as the primary site for spiritual education: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children..." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). Proverbs 22:6 advises, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Jesus affirmed marriage’s divine origin in Matthew 19:4-6: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." This indicates that men were born for women, and women for men. Paul further described marriage as a reflection of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:22-25, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord... Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church." This framework emphasizes love, respect, and spiritual nurture within family life.
Divine Principle's Clarification: The Three Great Blessings and Four Position Foundation
The Divine Principle clarifies and expands on these biblical foundations through God's Three Great Blessings. These are: 1. Be fruitful (individual perfection): To complete one's individuality by resembling God's divine nature and character, achieving oneness with God like Jesus, and having mind and body fulfill give-and-receive action centered on God's love. 2. Multiply (family perfection): For individuals who have achieved individual maturity to marry and have children, expanding from a family into a tribe, nation, and world. This means the completion of the family. 3. Have dominion (stewardship of creation): Loving and managing the natural world as God intended, based on a perfected individual and family.
The second blessing, "multiply," is fulfilled through the God-centered family, built upon the Four Position Foundation. This principle describes God's original purpose for Adam and Eve: to establish them as the True Parents of humankind in a reciprocal relationship centered on God. God, Adam, Eve, and their children form an integrated body, creating a continuous circuit of love. This structure, a "Trinity" of God, God's son, and God's daughter, allows God to dwell within the family, substantiating His love and expressing His perfection of character through human relationships. The family then comprises four loves: the love of parents, the love of husband and wife, the love of children, and the love of brother and sister, making God's love substantially visible.
Understanding the Deeper Meaning: The Family as a Training Ground
Through the Divine Principle, the family is understood as the primary "school of love" and ethical training ground. Within the Four Position Foundation, individuals learn three fundamental types of love, mirroring God’s heart: 1. Child's love: Filial piety and obedience to parents, cultivating respect and gratitude for the vertical lineage of love. 2. Spouse's love: Conjugal love, reciprocity, and unity, fostering equality, mutual respect, and pure fidelity. 3. Parent's love: Sacrificial, unconditional love for children, embodying God's self-giving nature.
By mastering these relationships and fulfilling the Three Great Blessings, the family doesn't merely multiply humanity; it multiplies God's lineage of heart and love. This trains individuals to love all humanity, echoing Jesus' command to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). The ideal family is a microcosm of the perfected universe, providing the basis for a peaceful world where God's ideal of co-existence, co-prosperity, and co-dominion can be realized. When Cain killed Abel, the providence of restoration centered on Adam's family was not fulfilled. God's mission, revealed throughout the Bible, is to restore humankind from adultery and murder and recover the beloved community in which we can all live as one family under God.
Living the Principle
Building a God-centered family involves conscious effort toward love, ethics, and mutual respect. 1. Strive for individual perfection: Cultivate virtues like patience, forgiveness, and integrity, and engage in spiritual practices like prayer to deepen your connection with God and become fully mature. 2. Foster horizontal love: Husbands and wives should prioritize each other's well-being, practice "living for the sake of others," and maintain open communication, becoming one flesh (Genesis 2:24). 3. Cultivate vertical love with children: Guide children spiritually and ethically, teaching them empathy, service, and reverence for God. "Train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6). 4. Embody sacrificial love: Respond to challenges with patience and understanding, seeking to give rather than receive, mirroring God's unconditional love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), thereby expanding God's lineage of heart.
These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Read about the author, Sun Myung Moon.
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Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, King James Version — Scripture quoted and referenced throughout the answers.
- The Divine Principle (full text) — The complete text of the Divine Principle, the teaching of Reverend Sun Myung Moon that these answers explain.
- Unification texts library (tparents.org) — Large online library of Unification texts, sermons and collected speeches, including the Cheon Seong Gyeong.
- Short video lectures in English — Playlist of short English video lectures presenting these same principles.