Answer # 11

Marriage is very good. God created it to teach us about His own eternal Family, into which we are destined to be born as immortal spirit beings. Marriage and family help us develop the character of God, and it is God's plan that most people will have the opportunity for marriage and the experiences it offers.

When Jesus Christ returns in glory to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, He will change those who have qualified from mortal to immortal (I Corinthians 15:50-52, I Thessalonians 4:13-17). Immortal children of God do not marry (Matthew 22:30), but God has reserved even higher joys and pleasures for that ultimate level of existence (Psalm 16:11). Even the greatest joy possible in this physical life, whatever that would be, cannot compare with the joys we will experience in God's Kingdom.

Most people who survive the crisis at the close of this age will live on into the new world still mortal. They will continue marrying and having families, and learning the lessons these relationships teach.

Thus, no one should worry that he or she will miss out on anything. Most people have the opportunity for marriage in the flesh. But something incomparably better awaits us in the Kingdom of God!