Gerald E. Weston

[The text below is an edited version of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The New Gender Gap: Why Men Are Falling Behind

The mishandling of student protests over Israel’s war in Gaza brought about the resignation of three Ivy League University Presidents in 2023 and 2024:

• Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania
• Claudine Gay of Harvard
• Minouche Shafik of Columbia University

A fourth Ivy League President, Cornell’s Martha Pollack, also resigned, but said that she was considering stepping down prior to the protests.

Something that struck me at the time was that all four of these prestigious university presidents were women.

It surprised me how much women were taking over the ranks of university education.

For more perspective, not including interim presidents, the eight schools that make up the Ivy League have had 173 top leaders in their histories. And during their long and distinguished histories, it was not until 1977 when Yale’s Hannah Gray became the first female to hold that position in an Ivy League school. Maurie McInnis now holds that position.

But since Hannah Gray, the top positions have increasing gone to women—15 altogether. Why such a turnaround? What does it mean?

Women in Leadership: Where the Trend Begins

The western world has been male-dominated for centuries, but that began to change 30 to 40 years ago. And today, women are quickly ascending to top leadership positions as they surpass men in university enrollment and achievement. The idea that men should be the breadwinner and protector has been shattered, and that has changed how both men and women see themselves—and how they interact with one another.

Let’s look at the United States before turning to the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Here in the U.S.A.:

For decades, women have increasingly outpaced men in college attendance. In fact, the last year men outnumbered women in higher education was 1978. The pandemic served only to widen that chasm, and as of 2022, women constituted about 60% of college enrollments. Women are also more likely to earn their degrees. Men finish college within four years at a rate 10 percentage points behind the rate of women. (“Here’s What Students Should Know About Gender Inequity in Selective College Admissions, Ivy Coach, https://www.ivycoach.com/press/best-colleges/heres-what-students-should-...)

Now, to put that in perspective, think what that means on a practical level. For every 60 newly-enrolled university women, there are only 40 men. But this doesn’t tell the whole story.

College Enrollment: Men in Crisis?

It would be worse if it were not for universities lowering their standards for men, to maintain as close to a 50 percent balance between the two as they can.

So colleges have a “men problem.” As such, to manifest a more equal gender balance on campus, some colleges favor male applicants. Simply being male can amount to a “thumb on the scale for men,’” a 2023 New York Times Magazine exposé revealed (ibid).

The New York Times article referred to here is titled, “There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys,” with the subhead was:

Declining male enrollment has led many colleges to adopt an unofficial policy: affirmative action for men. (“There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys; The New York Times; Sept. 8, 2023).

What is the practical effect of doing this?

Affirmative action, while favoring one class of people, inherently disfavors another class. In this effort to bring about parity between the sexes, universities openly favor academically marginal boys and pass over and deny many highly qualified girls. While there will always be room somewhere for highly qualified candidates, this will mean missing out on scholarships or the university of one’s choice for some.

What about other countries? Is the United States alone in seeing this trend in higher education? Sadly, the answer is no. In Canada, women outnumber men in university enrollment in nearly every discipline other than architecture, engineering, mathematics, and computer and information sciences. Overall, women in Canadian universities make up about 57% of enrollees compared to 43 percent for men (“Number of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions in Canada from 2000 to 2024, by gender;” Statista.com; Aug. 5, 2026).

A similar trend is seen in the United Kingdom, where it varies a bit from year to year, but between 2011 and 2024, enrollment has held steadily in favor of women—fluctuating between 55% and 58% women (“Student characteristics data: population data—key findings;” Office for Students–UK; Oct. 9, 2025).

And the disparity in Australia is even worse. In 2024, the difference between domestic female students beginning university life rose to a shocking 62%, with males making up a mere 38% (“Key findings from the 2024 Higher Education Student Statistics - Department of Education, Australian Government).

This cannot be good for men, nor is it good for women in the long-term.

How the Role Reversal Happened

But what does this mean in practical terms?

Most men are still working, and not every job needs a university education. However, when it comes to leadership positions in the media, government, and the corporate board room, a university degree does make a difference.

We still hear a lot about the corporate glass ceiling, but as shown at the beginning of this program, when it comes to the top positions in academia, that ceiling has been shattered over the last two to three decades.

Now let’s look at what university enrollment tells us about where our western world is heading.

The professions are increasingly being taken over by women. For example,

15 of the top 20 law schools (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report) in 2025 had more female attendees than male attendees (“Law School Rankings by Female Enrollment (2025);” Enjuris.com).

When it comes to future veterinarians, women make up 80% of veterinary school students. More women than men are graduating from dental school and now lead in 9 of 14 dental disciplines.

The same is true in medicine.

What’s more, according to previously released data from the AAMC, in 2023-24 women accounted for 54.6% of medical school students, after having become a majority for the first time in 2019-20 (“Women in medicine make gains, but obstacles remain,” Academic Medicine, July 9, 2024).

Now what does this mean?

Whether for leaders in law, the veterinary profession, dentistry, healthcare, or any other profession requiring higher education, it gives us a snapshot of our future.

”The increasing presence of women in medical school is a fundamental reason for their growing presence in teaching and leadership,” notes Diana Lautenberger, director of gender equity initiatives at the AAMC.
“If the majority of medical school students and graduates are women, it bears out later along the [career] pathway, through faculty and leadership, that there will be more women,” she says (ibid).

While there were pioneers leading to this trend going back two or three centuries, most of the change has taken place within the last 30 to 40 years. Why? How did this sudden reversal of roles happen? And what is behind it?

One Flawed Study Changed Everything

There was a turning point in the United States with the release of a document that dramatically changed how children are educated in the United States, and the general effect has been felt elsewhere.

The late child psychologist, Dr. James Dobson, explained how a single document has had a profound effect on education in America. It was titled “How Schools Shortchange Girls.”

This hostility [against boys and in favor of girls] found its manifesto in an inaccurate and terribly biased report written and released in 1992 by the ultraliberal American Association of University Women (AAUW).… It asserted that female students are invisible, ignored, disrespected, and denied their share of educational resources (Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, p. 172).

Now I still remember hearing about this. It was a big deal at the time, but it has dramatically changed our world. Dr. Dobson continues:

The most widely disseminated finding was that teachers permit boys to speak or participate eight times more often than they do girls, but as with the rest of the conclusions, this turned out to be pure nonsense. Their data was based on an old 1981 study that actually said boys are reprimanded eight times more often than girls, and that three-fourths of both girls and boys said they thought teachers compliment girls more often, think they are smarter, and would rather be around female students (ibid).

According to Dobson:

Although the report has been widely discredited now in the professional community for what it was—a blatant attempt to skew education resources away from boys and to characterize girls as victims—the damage had been done (ibid, p. 172).

The report was received with enthusiasm by academia, the media, and governments at all levels. It paved the way for the Gender Equity in Education Act (GEEA), funneling prodigious amounts of taxpayer dollars toward girls’ education—at the expense of boys. While the large disparities between boys and girls in education cannot be laid totally at the feet of the GEEA, it markedly changed the approach in education, and the result has been dramatic and tragic for both boys and girls.

The Prophecy Happening Right Now | Isaiah 3:12

Regardless of the causes, and there is not a single cause, what we see today is the fulfillment of a prophecy made more than 2,700 years ago unfolding before our eyes.

The biblical prophet Isaiah was addressing conditions during his day, but as with much of Bible prophecy, there is duality—an early fulfillment and a later end-time fulfillment. It is also important to note that Isaiah’s audience goes well beyond the Jews, and it involves the so-called lost ten tribes of Israel at the end of the age. Not surprisingly, his prophecies accurately describe what we are seeing today.

As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths (Isaiah 3:12).

The disparity between men and women in university enrollment points to a future ruled by women. They may not be there yet, but the signs of the near-term future are all there for anyone with eyes to see.

The Hidden Costs for Men, Women—and Children

Many applaud this turnaround in American and western culture favoring women, thinking “It’s about time!” But is the trend we see truly good for either men or women? Perhaps you have heard the often-repeated warning: Be careful what you wish for.

Marjorie Hass, President of the Council of Independent Colleges, looks past the war of the sexes and puts it succinctly.

It’s typically not good for society when young men feel they don’t have a future (“There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys;” The New York Times; Sept. 8, 2023).

A female-dominated education system that begins early in a child’s life has outwardly benefitted women over the last several decades, but not all are rewarded according to their efforts. Universities recognize the need to have some form of male-female parity in enrollment. In addition to a host of other problems, the fear is that if the disparity is too great, university education will be seen by men as a feminine pursuit, and the bottom will drop out of male enrollment. Brookings Institute’s Richard Reeves points out:

“That notion would be hard to reverse” (ibid).

That will in turn lessen female enrollment and dry up tuition revenue—and worse yet for the colleges, endowments.

But there are far worse effects on society than loss of endowments. These statistics bring with them consequences for society. Marriage rates are already at historic lows, and birth rates are dropping nearly everywhere. Single-parent homes are on the rise, and this has ramifications for children.

In addition to admissions disadvantaging highly qualified girls, there are also men and women who recognize that too great a disparity has social and cultural consequences. How men and women interact, such as in dating to get to know one another, has long since gone away.

Emma Roberts, who graduated from Tulane in the spring, told me she discussed the problem in her gender studies class. “I think everyone’s consensus we came to was that it’s pretty disgusting trying to date,” she says. “Because the reality is you’re not likely going to find someone that wants to date you” (“There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys;” The New York Times; Sept. 8, 2023).

Emma did not mean that men are not interested in women. Many still are, but not in the way women hope they would be.

In the 2015 book, Date-onomics, business reporter Jon Birger builds the case that hookup culture has become the norm on almost all college campuses, largely because the gender ratio is so skewed. In a world in which straight men are scarce, he maintains, they control the terms of social life (ibid).

A hookup culture is the result of more just than the ratio of men and women on campuses, but it does leave young women with fewer options and a sense that they have to compromise their values and settle for less. As the author of The New York Times article wrote about a discussion she had with three young ladies:

The young women were older and wiser than when they started, ready to head into the world with the economic advantages that are associated with a bachelor’s degree. But for all their achievements, they also left feeling—to use a word they all agreed on—“humbled” (ibid).

What does a hookup culture do for male-female relations, and by extension marriage and family? Given a choice, do single men or single women really want to marry someone who has hooked up with ten, 20, or 30, or more former friends and strangers? How special is that person?

Our TomorrowsWorld.org website has a feature titled News and Prophecy. We published a piece earlier this year, headlined “The Impact of Happy Marriage on Health?” In it we wrote:

Building a happy and successful marriage takes work, time, and intentionality. It is not easy—especially in a world whose “god,” the Devil, is bent on destroying this God-ordained institution (2 Corinthians 4:4)—but when God gives a command, He does so to bless and not to punish us. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that studies show happy marriages resulting in improved mental and physical health for both husbands and wives. Recent research shows that couples in happy marriages “have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, stroke and death from heart disease, compared with those who are unmarried” (Washington Post, June 2, 2026). The happily married also have better overall mental health and even a reduced risk of cancer. Those who work to keep their marriages happy create an environment that positively impacts their moods, attitudes, habits, and even immune systems.

God intended the marriage relationship to be an institution of joy and stability, a place to raise happy and balanced children who can reach their full God-given potential. Sadly, that is too often now what we see today.

Why Deborah in the Bible Took the Lead—Reluctantly

One of the most chaotic, violent, and lawless times in the history of Israel is that which is recorded in the book of Judges. The last verse of the book sums up the problem this way.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

Yet, it is in the context of this turbulent time that we read a beautiful passage of what it takes to bring about harmony.

When leaders lead in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, bless the LORD! (Judges 5:2).

Yes, those in charge must lead and others must willingly follow that leadership, but what is the context of this specific passage?

Northern Israel had fallen into sin and was ruled over by a foreign power. A woman by the name of Deborah was judging (or ruling) at that time, and she called for a man by the name of Barak to deploy troops and fight off their enslaving enemy. His response to her command was timid at best.

And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!” (Judges 4:8).

In essence, he said in so many words, “I’ll go if you hold my hand.”

Now this is hardly the response one might expect from a man. God gave Israel the victory, but the glory would go to Deborah and to a woman who killed their enemy’s leader. It is evident that men were not stepping up to lead as they should have—and it is also evident that women are capable of filling the gap during such times. But was this the way God intended it to be?

It is estimated that women make up 70% to 75% of Human Resource departments, and their thumbs are on the DEI scales. Many say, “Well, it’s about time!” However, there are both men and women who see trouble on the horizon. As education has focused on girls, boys are being left behind, and this is not in women’s long-term best interest.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that men and women are different. A man will never experience the joy of a child being formed within him. Few women are capable of carrying a full-grown adult out of a burning building.

God made both sexes with strengths and weaknesses, and to deny our unique qualities is to deny reality.

God did not create men and women to be in competition with one another, but to work in harmony as He designed us.

In this next video, you’ll find God’s purpose and role for men clearly defined—NOT by our modern world that believes masculinity is toxic.

No, as quoted earlier by Marjorie Hass, President of the Council of Independent:

“It’s typically not good for society when young men feel they don’t have a future.”

Rather, the answer lies in understanding what the Bible reveals. God has a very special future for both men and women—and a clear role using the strengths that the Creator designed them to have.

Watch this next video and see for yourself how men work together with women to succeed as God intends—in marriage, in following Jesus Christ’s example, and in leading a more fulfilling life.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

3 Reasons to Care About Marriage and Family

Why marriage? And why family? These are questions few consider, but they are among the most important of all questions as the answers have everything to do with the very purpose of your life.

Let’s be clear. Marriages and families are in disarray everywhere. The family institution, though healthier at some times than others—and in some countries than others—has never been understood, as it is seen by almost everyone as an institution created by man. But is it? Or is there more to marriage and family?

In the wedding ceremony used by the Living Church of God, the sponsor of this Tomorrow’s World program, we state the following:

Marriage is not only a natural union, but also a divine institution, ordained of God. It was established not by man, but by the Eternal God at creation, and derives its authority not from civil codes of man, but from the divine laws of God, immutable and unchangeable from creation.

Is that true? Is marriage a divine institution? And if so, what is God’s purpose for marriage and family?

Negative Effects of Unmarried Cohabitation

I’ll be giving you three reasons why you should care about the state of the family, no matter your age or where you live. Reason one why you should care is that:

1. A stable marriage between a man and a woman is important for children.

We were all children at one time, and the kind of home we grew up in had a significant impact on who we have become. Study after study shows that children born to married couples statistically do better than children born out of wedlock—even cohabiting couples. Today an overwhelming number of couples in the United States now live together prior to marriage. And while different countries and different studies vary within a few percentage points one way or the other, this holds true in much of the Western world.

The reality is that cohabitation prior to marriage is acceptable to the majority of people, yet this has ramifications for children.

Children of Unmarried Parents Lag Behind

The Institute for Family Studies tracked children through seven stages of life, from pre-K, elementary, all the way to adulthood, and found that:

Children born to married parents are significantly more likely to be “on track” at every life stage than children who are born to unmarried parents (“New Research Confirms Having Married Parents Helps Kids Get Ahead,” May 20, 2024).

The study points out that there are some mitigating factors, such as the age and education of parents, but the verdict is not in question. The institute further reported:

The effects of marriage are greatest during the elementary school, middle childhood, and early adolescence stages of life. Children whose parents are married when they are born have better life outcomes than children who were born to unmarried parents even after controlling for the mother’s education and age, birth weight, and doing separate analyses for race and gender.

Increased Likelihood of Divorce: Cohabitation Effect

An additional problem with cohabiting prior to marriage is that separation more likely, and those who do go on to marry are more likely to divorce. The Center for Relationship and Sexual Wellness reported in an October 21, 2024 article entitled “The Research on Cohabitation before marriage: Pros, Cons, and Considerations”:

Despite its increasing prevalence, research has revealed some potential downsides to cohabiting before marriage. One widely discussed phenomenon is the “cohabitation effect,” which suggests that couples who live together before marriage are more likely to experience lower marital satisfaction and higher rates of divorce (“The Research on Cohabitation Before Marriage: Pros, Cons, and Considerations,” October 21, 2024).

The reasoning of many is that it is best to test the relationship before making a marriage commitment, sort of like test driving a new car before buying it, but study after study tells us this is a myth. The report continues:

This counterintuitive finding [that is, lower marital satisfaction and higher rates of divorce] has puzzled researchers and sparked debates over the reasons behind it.

And this has further negative consequences for children who end up in a one-parent home—usually with their mothers. Of course, feminists claim fathers aren’t necessary and are even toxic to mothers and children. And we understand that due to death and other factors, sometimes a mother or father must raise children alone, but this is far from ideal and denies the unique qualities that each sex gives to the family.

In 2023, there were 38.1 million one-person households [in the U.S.], which was 29% of all households. In 1960, single-person households represented only 13% of all households. (“Three-Quarters of Children 6 Years or Younger Live With Two Parents,” US Census).

Diving further into the subject, many children live with a stepparent, often but not always with a stepfather.

The percentage of families with their own children under age 18 in the household declined…. In 2003, 48% of all families lived with their own children under age 18, compared to 43% in 2013 and 39% in 2023 (ibid).

Behavioral Problems (e.g. “Oppositional Defiant Disorder”)

Studies show that children of single parents are disadvantaged in multiple ways. In addition to being more likely to live in poverty, they struggle more academically and emotionally. From Science Insights:

The strongest and most consistent finding in the research involves what psychologists call externalizing behaviors: aggression, defiance, rule-breaking, and attention problems. One study tracking adolescents over three years found that 32% of those in single-mother families experienced at least one externalizing disorder such as ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, or conduct disorder. That was nearly triple the rate among adolescents in two-parent homes (“How Does Single Parenting Affect a Child’s Development?,” SCIInsights.org, March 4, 2026).

These are some of the consequences when the purpose of marriage and family is lost. A stable marriage between a man and a woman is important for children. Why is marriage and family under attack? What is the purpose for the family? And what is the future of the family? Do you realize that the family has a future far beyond this current life?

Lacking an understanding of the reality of God and His purpose for mankind, marriage has devolved into a selfish pursuit of physical gratification, and many have chosen not to even make their gratification official. After all, as you have likely heard, “Marriage is no more than a piece of paper.”

Cohabitation does not live up to marriage when it comes to children.

Social and Societal Impact of Marriage

There is far more to marriage and that brings me to reason number two.

2. Stable marriages are critically important for any nation.

In our resource—The Future of the Family—I wrote and asked the following questions in the introduction:

Some have said that as the family goes, so goes the nation. Why is this so? Can the disintegration of the family have geopolitical ramifications? Are we seeing the end of Western democracies as a result of our failing personal relationships? And what is the relationship between families and the health of nations?

Few today understand that stable families are critical to the survival of nations and even civilization itself. Couples move in together with no sense of why God made us male and female other than for physical gratification. A pill or a surgical vacuum will take care of an accidental conception as children are an inconvenience to one’s career and lifestyle. With no greater understanding of marriage, is it any wonder that relationships falter?

Learning to Take Care of Others’ Needs

The Times of India published an article entitled,  “10 life lessons only your family can give you.” Now, perhaps it is a bit of an exaggeration to say “only family can give you,” but I think we can recognize that family is the best laboratory in which to learn these lessons. The first thought-provoking lesson is:

• Love isn’t always spoken out loud. Instead, love shows up in a different form: a hot meal waiting on the stove, clothes folded neatly, saving the bigger piece of cake for you or someone checking if you reached home safely. A grandmother may never say the words, but she’ll peel mangoes and hand over the sweetest slices. That is her way of saying it. Family teaches that love doesn’t always need words it can be felt in the smallest acts of care (“10 life lessons only your family can give you,” Times of India).

A few other lessons that are listed in the article are:

• Forgiveness comes slower than anger.
• Hard work is rarely glamorous.
• Respect doesn’t equal agreement.
• Richness isn’t always about money.

A society that learns these lessons will thrive, whereas a country that fails to teach these character traits will be filled with anger, lethargy, conflict, and the pursuit of money over relationships.

Can we connect the dots between the sad state of marriage and family, and what the Apostle Paul spoke of regarding this very time?

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

National Birth Rates

Most Western nations, and others, including Russia and China, are experiencing birth rates well below replacement levels. Many causes have been suggested, and there is probably no single cause, but it is evident that many people today are more interested in career and lifestyle than in bothersome children. At the same time, many couples would love to have children but are unable.

Regardless of the causes, low fertility rates portend dire consequences for these nations. A country falling significantly below replacement value is heading for disaster. One solution is to ramp up immigration, but we already see the disruptions this is causing in much of Europe, the U.K., Canada, and America.

God Created Marriage with Rules, Roles, and Purpose

One could easily point to other reasons why marriage is important and why children living in a stable family is vital to the survival of a nation, but there is a far greater purpose that you will not find anywhere else. Simply put, reason number three:

3. Marriage is a divine institution ordained by God for God’s special purpose that He spells out in His word—the Bible.

People today do not understand the significance of marriage any better than people of Jesus’ day. Divorce is nothing new, and when questioned by the Pharisees about the grounds for divorce, Jesus did not point to the latest study or survey.

“What God Has Joined Together” | Matthew 19:6

He pointed them back to mankind’s beginning. Notice it in Matthew 19:4:

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4–6).

There is still recognition among many that the church should somehow be involved in marriages, but few understand why. The typical scenario begins with a couple “falling in love,” moving in together, possibly having children, and perhaps deciding later on to get married. But why get married if they are already living together? And why in a church setting?

Today marriage is reduced to a one-day event for the woman to have her day in the sun. She is the center of attention with a beautiful gown, bridesmaids and flowers, toasts and presents. Destination weddings are becoming common where couples choose a fairy tale location far from home, expecting family and friends to purchase expensive airfare and other expenses. Some couples celebrate by reciting their personally written vows while skydiving, scuba diving, or engaging in some other form of activity.

But how many can tell you why marriage? And why do some go to a minister or priest to bless the marriage? Can anyone tell you why?

What is the purpose of marriage? Is it an institution ordained of God? And if so, what is God’s purpose? And are there any rules to marriage?

“Flee Sexual Immorality” | 1 Corinthians 6:18

According to most men and women, some biblical rules don’t apply. For example, Paul wrote to the members in Corinth:

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Sexual immorality according to the Bible involves adultery, fornication (that is sex prior to marriage), and various other forms of sex outside of a marital union between a man and a woman. However, when asked whether it is okay “to have and raise children when the parents are living together but not married,” 75.9% of men agreed and 74.7% of women agreed.

Roles in Marriage | Ephesians 5:25

Paul also laid out the roles for men and women in marriage—roles that are definitely NOT politically correct—and roles for which men and women have failed.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22, 25).

People vehemently disagree with this, but how are our marriages working with our own humanly-devised set of rules and roles?

Marriage Pictures Christ’s Relationship with His Church

It is time to get to the heart of God’s purpose for marriage and family.

After explaining the roles of men and women in the marriage relationship, Paul tells us something that few seem to take seriously.

For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:30–32).

The Apostle John confirms in Revelation 19:6–9 what Paul told the Ephesians about the relationship between Christ and the Church.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God” (Revelation 19:6–9).

Your Future as the Bride of Christ

No wonder that Paul instructs men and women:

For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:23–25).

God is creating a great family. Christ is to be our husband, and the Church is collectively to fulfill the role of a support—a wife to her husband. Now, this is not polygamy. The Church as a whole fulfills the purpose for which God created woman. And just as a human man and woman produce children, so God is creating a family full of children.

David looked up into the night sky with awesome wonder and asked why did God create us? What is our purpose? We can read that in Psalm 8:4.

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8:4).

The author of Hebrews quotes David’s question and an additional portion of the psalm, and takes it a step further, beginning in Hebrews 2:8:

“You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, [notice this] in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:8–10).

Becoming Part of God’s Family

Paul is explicit in his letter to the Romans. Notice how he refers to God as our Father, and speaks of us as sons of God and children of God. He further calls us “joint heirs with Christ.” Here it is in Romans 8, beginning in verse 14:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:14–17).

And so that our ladies are not left out, we also read of sons AND daughters in 2 Corinthians 6:18:

I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:18).

Can anything be more obvious?

God is creating a family. We as individuals will be born sons and daughters in that family.

And when will we be born into that family?

As this next video explains, the Church of God will be raised and transformed when Jesus Christ returns at the last trumpet. This is also known as the first resurrection.

We will no longer be physical flesh, but glorified spirit beings and full members of God’s family. That is why God created you and me, to be born into His family.

It’s a wonderful thing that God is offering to us. We look forward to that seventh trumpet sounding and our true reward. You’ll see why it’s called “the better resurrection” in this next video.