Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven."
Matthew 22:29, 30

From the very beginning, God gave Eve to Adam. There has always been marriage. Up until the time of the flood, they were marrying and giving in marriage (Matt. 24:38). When Noah and his sons left the ark, God commanded them, even as He had commanded our first parents, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 9:1). When the Jews were captives in Babylon, Jeremiah sent them the word of the Lord in a letter, telling them to "take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters" (Jer. 29:6). Even during great persecution, when Paul was discouraging entering into marriage, he still said, "It is better to marry than to burn with passion" (1 Cor. 7:9).

There has always been marriage.

This passage used to really bother me. After all, I'm married, and I like being married. My wife fears God. She is my definition of joy. I would rather be with her than with anyone else on this planet. God forbid, if I ever had to choose between my wife or my children, I would choose her. That does not mean that I do not love my children, but I love her that much more.

So, when my wife provides me with so much of a "heaven on earth," how could I fathom heaven without marriage?

Then I heard a sermon by John Piper, which, as tends to be the case, made this much clearer.

In the Old Testament, the Jews brought their sacrifices to God. These sacrifices had no power in themselves to save, but they were a type and pointed to the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Once Jesus made that final sacrifice, there was no longer any need for these regular priestly sacrifices. Our Great High Priest had already offered the antitype to which they pointed.

Even so, as Paul taught, marriage is a type of the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph. 5:22-33). Once that relationship has been consummated in heaven, there will no longer be a need for marriage to illustrate it. As perfect as my marriage may seem at times, it is still an imperfect picture of our relationship to Christ. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face" (1 Cor. 13:12).

My marriage is a relationship for better or worse, in sickness and health, etc. That Marriage will be better and better, immortal and rich, etc. All the positives with none of the negatives.

To complain that there would be no marriage in heaven is to complain that there are no more bulls or goats being sacrificed. It is to look at your bowl of overflowing ice cream and asking, "But where have all the lima beans gone?" You've made it through the meal and eaten all your vegetables and you cry at your dessert.

My wife is my joy on earth. But I go to God, my Exceeding Joy.

I love the final words of The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis:

For them, it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.