"What?!?" you might be asking yourself. "I thought she was a born-again Christian and now she's going to justify polygamy?" Just so I don't lose you, the answer to that question is a HUGE "NO!!" Let me explain what I mean.
When God created a marriage relationship between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, were they alone? No! There was a third "wheel" in their relationship, but in a pure and highly righteous sense. God walked in relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Before the "fall" of mankind, marriage was a picture of what God intended it to be (created that way because God wanted us to understand who He is): three distinct persons loving one another in perfect unity, each respecting the proper domain of the others. Adam and Eve respected God's authority as their Creator and most Holy God. (Side note: Adam & Eve were co-equal before the fall. It wasn't until after they sinned that God made Adam to rule over Eve.) God also respected the authority He had given them to rule over the earth and subdue it, to be fruitful and multiply their own race, and to have the free will to remain in a relationship with Him or not. God honored the dominion He had given Adam and Eve so much that He allowed them to persist in those areas even after they sinned against Him.
Interestingly, and not without consequence, how many members are there of the Godhead? Three! God wants our marriages to be an earthly example of the singular nature of God's relational qualities within the members of the Godhead. God is ONE, but is also relational by very nature, and he wants us to share in the supreme joy of perfect relationship with Him. When God created the marriage relationship, it is written, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) God intended "oneness" in the marriage relationship among all 3 participants- The husband with God, the husband with his wife, the wife with God, the wife with her husband, and the couple with God and God with them. God has constantly presented opportunities throughout history to come into that perfect relationship with Him again through faith and a strong desire (love) for Him. Why else when asked what the greatest commandment is, would Jesus respond, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind... And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37, 39-40) Inside of a marriage, these two concepts taken together give the most complete picture of God's nature. The opportunities God presented to come into a relationship with Him (the type of relationship He saw was "good" in the beginning) culminated with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The way has now been forever opened for people to come into a righteous relationship with God. Because true members of the body of Christ are called his "bride," we know that God has plans to fully restore the perfect relationship man was intended to have with God. But what does that perfect relationship look like in eternity?
I should start by stating what that relationship will NOT be like. Essentially, relationships in heaven will not be sexual in nature. God's relationship among the three members of the Godhead are not sexual, and any view contrary to this truth is perverted. Christ's relationship with His bride will not be sexual in nature, and nor will the relationship between spouses be sexual in eternity. Sex is an earthly convention that God created to be enjoyed inside of a marriage relationship by a husband and wife for a specific purpose. Namely, 1) to build intimacy and "oneness" in a physical and emotional sense between a human couple, and 2) to fulfill God's command to be fruitful and multiply. God didn't give Adam and Eve a commandment He didn't equip them to fulfill. His plan was for us to fill the earth, and He gave us the means, the desire, and the ability to do so. God provides.
Keep in mind that whenever God establishes earthly patterns that they are not exact replicas of the heavenly things, but are mere shadows of heavenly things-- they are typically earthly examples God provides so that we can know Him better and give Him the glory rather than take it for ourselves. We only get hints or glimpses of what God experiences in full measure. Where God is entirely and in reality "one," we as a human couple only get moments or imperfect intervals of "oneness" with our spouse. Understanding the earthly patterns and then projecting them onto God is absolutely degrading to Him. We should turn our view the other way around, and allow God to shed light on the shadows.
The LDS view of marriage as an eternal, sexual institution between a man and a woman is an entirely worldly and humanistic perspective. It is much more proper to see that a marriage only between a man and a woman where God is excluded is empty (powerless) and sad-- it is incomplete-- regardless of if here on earth or in eternity. Similarly, to view God as anything other than the total Oneness of Father, Son, and Spirit is incomplete and empty (powerless). Because God is eternal (without beginning or end) and unchangeable, we have to know that God is by very nature relational, and has always existed in three persons. In regard to marriage, we have the shadows, but God IS the reality!
"Most Holy God, may my marriage be an earthly testament of who You are. I pray that we as a couple, united with you, could be another example among creation where you are clearly seen and understood. Give us the strength and understanding to love more perfectly, and become more and more "one" with each other and with you, God. My heart's desire is for people to look at us and see you. I ask these things in the precious and powerful name of Jesus. Amen."
