I understand your question and concerns, but I must disagree with you on this one. I know of nothing in scripture that would indicate that marriage is anything more than an earthly relationship. Here are some reasons I say this:
- In Romans, chapter seven, the woman is freed from the marriage at the death of her husband. When her husband dies, she is loosed from the law of her husband (Romans 7:2) and freed to marry another man (Romans 7:3). If marriage were eternal, this would not be the case. She would have required to wait for her husband--or perhaps die with him as is done in some pagan cultures.
- The story in Matthew 22:23-30 is very clear. There is no marriage in heaven. I do not see this passage being able to teach anything else.
- According to Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." In Christ, many of the distinctions that we have on earth are done away with. I do not know all that this means concerning men and women. However, just as racial differences (Jew or Greek) and social differences (bond or free) mean nothing in Christ, so gender differences (male or female) mean nothing in Him. When we get to heaven, these differences will either be non-existent or they will be inconsequential.
- I know of no scripture that teaches that the marriage bond is forever as you say. It is very much a relationship for this earth. Even the wedding vows say till death do you part. I do agree with you that the relationships we have in heaven will eternally exceed anything we have known on earth. But they will not be like those we have on earth.
