Married in the Eyes of God

Church today was about love, but the first verse that the speaker quoted was the 2nd 1/2 of Genesis 3:6 - "...she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." (NIV) and it caught my attention for an almost unrelated reason. By the way, "she" in this verse is Eve and the "husband" is Adam.  

Recently, because my wife and I were not married by a pastor but an ordinary man who was licensed to perform civil marriages, there is a person who has told us that although they're happy for us, they don't believe that we are married in the eyes of God. My first reaction to such a claim is that it is ridiculous. 

But, what if I'm wrong? What if that person is right and my wife and I aren't "living right" in God's eyes (even though we're trying to save up $10,000 for a real wedding by Sept. 18, 2010)?  

Well, the reason Gen. 3:6 caught my attention on this subject is because Adam was referred to as Eve's husband. That struck me as odd. In society today (and for many many many years) a marriage was performed. It is usually performed by a pastor (historically it is performed by a religious figure of some sort), but there was (as far back as we know) someone who pronounced the two "married". But, here...who was there to marry Adam and Eve? The Bible certainly does not mention anywhere of Adam being pronounced Eve's husband or visa versa. So, I decided to look up the words "marriage", "married", "bride", and "bridegroom" in the Bible and see what I found:

1. Genesis 2:24 - "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and *be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." *"be joined" is literally translated "cling". This verse was listed as the definition of marriage in the concordance of my Bible.
2. Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:6-8 - Jesus quotes Gen. 2:24 when He was asked if divorce was permissible in God's eyes, then continues to say, "what God has joined together, let not man separate."
3. Ephesians 5:31 - Here Paul quotes Gen 2:24 as the definition of marriage while addressing issues of divorce and husbands and wives submitting to each other.

And there were quite a few other verses that came up when searching for "bride", "bridegroom", "marriage", and "married" but none of them had anything to do with the definition of marriage. They were all talking about marriage and sexual immorality, etc. But, not in this context - usually in the context of homosexuality or adultery/fornication.  

But...the lack of any supplementary definitions of marriage besides Gen 2:24 actually answers the question of ceremony or not, or pastor or non-religious figure. My answer is now confirmed that it is NOT necessary to be married by a priest to be married in the eyes of God. Further, it is now my opinion that a ceremony isn't necessary at all, either. There are some who, based on Gen. 2:24 believe that all that is necessary for two people to be married "in God's eyes" is for them to have sexual intercourse and be living together. I don't agree with this either. I believe that where Gen 2:24 says that a man will be joined or cling to his wife, and they will become one flesh it is, of course referring to sex, but I also think it is talking about the life long commitment the two make too each other. Just like today how there are two parts to a legally binding contract:

1. The most obvious part - the written: the wording of the contract, written down on paper, with the signatures of everyone involved, etc.
2. The less obvious part - a meeting of the minds: all parties involved in a contract MUST all have the same intellectual understanding of the contract being signed. If any of it is unclear or one party interprets the contract one way and the other party another way, the contract is not legally binding. Think about it: it can't be.

So a marriage, I believe, has two parts:

1. The physical and/or sexual joining of a man and woman (notice I did not say man and man or woman and woman. According to Gen 2:24, marriage is between a man and woman, and according to Leviticus 20:13 homosexuality is an abomination - but also notice that Jesus, in the New Testament does not condemn the homosexual, but the homosexuality itself...not the person, but the action...very important)
2. The mutual understanding of the two involved in the marriage that they are married and committed to a life-long joining of their lives, making what was separate into one.

Much to my relief, I am able to say with confidence that not only are Nicole and I married by law and emotionally, we are also married in the eyes of God based on His definition of marriage. Not that I had any doubt, to be honest.