of the human race. And because the Lord delivered the clear message He
did then, when we read the Word today we can still hear the Lord’s timeless
response to the Pharisees: “What, therefore, God has joined together, let not
man put asunder.” (Matthew19:6)
What the Lord joins together eternally in marriage is one man and one
woman. This is a promise from the Lord. He promises that if we follow His lead
while we are here on earth, even if the destination of an eternal marriage seems
painfully unattainable, that pain will only be temporary. If we keep eternity in
view, He will bless us with this the love that contains “all joys and delights from
the first to the last.” (Conjugial Love 68). Because the Lord created us male and
female, He promises us that we can each find that person to whom we will be
married forever, that person whom we will cleave to, that person who we will
want to be close to for eternity.
To this end the Lord teaches us: “In the case of people who after preparation
are introduced into heaven, marriage is provided with a partner whose soul
inclines to union with the soul of the other, to the point that they do not wish
to lead two lives but one.” (Ibid. 50) The Lord will provide an eternal partner
in marriage for each one of us. He is working in His Divine Providence every
moment to help each one of us live a life that leads to heaven so we can be
married there to eternity.
The Divine Providence of the Lord concerning marriages and in marriages is most
particular and most universal; because all the delights of heaven stream forth from
the delights of conjugial love, as sweet waters from the flow of a fountain. And
therefore it is provided that conjugial pairs be born, and that they be continually
educated for their marriage under the Lord’s auspices, the boy and the girl not
knowing it. (Ibid. 229)
This is the Lord’s promise to each one of us whether we think we have
found our conjugial partner or not, and this is the promise the New Church
offers to the world.
We read that “following His Advent the Lord will revive conjugial love,
such as it was among ancient peoples. For conjugial love comes only from the
Lord, and it is found in people who are made spiritual by Him through His
Word.” (Ibid. 81)
Right now anyone can start preparing for an eternal marriage. Right now
anyone can begin to receive the Lord’s promise of conjugial love by working on
being made spiritual by the Lord through the Word.
Being made spiritual by the Lord through His Word simply means living
the truth of the Lord’s Word. It means repenting of the evils we commit and
it means living a life of charity. Then we will be made spiritual by the Lord
through the Word and we will be on a path to a conjugial future.
This is what the Lord wants for us more than anything else – a marriage
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