Before governments, before religion and long before law books were written, there was covenant.
In the beginning, God Himself joined man and woman not by signatures or registries, but by spirit and breath.
Marriage was never a ceremony; it was the merging of destinies in the scroll of life.
In Genesis, YHWH joined Adam and Eve, saying, “The two shall become one flesh.”
There were no witnesses but heaven itself. No dowry, no priest, no contract only covenant.
This was the original marriage, sealed by God’s Word, not by man’s ordinance.
That covenant birthed families, tribes and nations.
It was the sacred foundation of society, an altar of oneness where purpose and love intertwined.
But centuries later, men began to trade covenant for control.
Rome: When Caesar claimed the altar
It was in ancient Rome that the idea of state marriage was first born.
Emperors introduced laws Lex Julia and Lex Papia Poppaea to regulate marriage for reasons of inheritance, taxation and citizenship.
Marriage was no longer just a sacred vow; it became a civic instrument for managing empire.
When Emperor Constantine merged church and state in the 4th century, the altar of God became entangled with the throne of Caesar.
The state began to decide who could marry, who could divorce and under what conditions.
Thus began a dangerous fusion: spiritual covenant under divine law was gradually replaced by civil contract under human law.
Britain: From empire to ordinance
Centuries later, the British Empire inherited Rome’s system.
Marriage registration became compulsory for taxation, inheritance and legal legitimacy.
And when Britain colonised nations across Africa and Asia, it exported its Marriage Ordinance Acts along with its religion.
In the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana), the Marriage Ordinance was introduced in 1884, declaring that any “Christian” or “civilised” marriage must be registered under the colonial government.
The motive was not holiness, it was administration.
The colonial state needed to track property, inheritance and population.
Missionaries, eager to protect converts under the law, accepted the system.
Thus began the confusion: the Church preached covenant, but submitted to Caesar’s registration.
Heaven’s vow and empire’s contract became one and the same on paper but not in spirit.
The Church’s compromise
From that day until now, the Church has largely confused covenant marriage with ordinance marriage.
Pastors train believers using the Bible, yet send them to sign under the state.
Couples make vows before God but are registered before a government official.
And when disputes arise, the Bible-trained believer finds themselves in front of a secular judge who interprets their union by civil statutes, not by Scripture.
The Church teaches holiness, but the state enforces legality.
This is why most “Christian weddings” today are, in truth, hybrid systems of half altar, half law court.
They carry spiritual vows but legal definitions.
The foundation itself is divided.
Africa’s present dilemma
In modern Ghana, the same ordinance remains almost unchanged.
Every church wedding is legally a “Marriage under Cap 127,” binding couples to a British legal framework designed for colonial order.
Few realise the implications: by signing, they place their union under state jurisdiction.
When divorce or conflict arises, it is the state not the Spirit that judges. It is not because judges are evil, but because that is what the law demands.
Once you sign, you transfer authority.
You cannot expect the Bible to judge what the government registered.
Covenant vs contract
What most people call marriage today is, in truth, two very different realities: one born in heaven, the other created on paper.
The covenant of Yehoshua is spiritual, eternal and destiny-based. It began in Eden, not in any courtroom.
When a man and woman unite under God’s covenant, they merge destinies.
Heaven becomes their first witness and Yehoshua becomes their mediator.
Their union is sustained not by law but by love, repentance and grace.
The Ordinance Marriage Contract, however, is a product of Rome and Britain.
It is not about destiny; it is about civil order.
The state’s concern is legitimacy, property and inheritance.
The witness is not God but the registrar.
Its enforcement is not by elders, mercy, or Scripture, but by lawyers and judges who interpret acts of Parliament.
In a covenant, when trouble comes, the couple is called back to the altar.
They pray, they confess, they seek counsel. Restoration is the goal.
In a contract, when trouble comes, they are called to court.
Evidence is gathered, property divided and verdicts are delivered.
And so, the paradox: Christians are trained by the Bible but judged by the law.
They make spiritual vows but sign legal contracts.
The system itself is divided and what is divided cannot stand.
The covenant sustains purpose; the contract sustains paperwork.
One is written in the heart; the other is filed in a cabinet.
One is governed by grace; the other by statute.
Until the Church returns to the altar, marriages will remain vulnerable to the courts of men.
Root of collapse
Today, the world witnesses record divorce rates not because love has failed, but because foundation has shifted. In the West, marriage has become a contract of convenience, dissolvable at will.
In many African cities, churches now imitate Western forms without understanding the spiritual cost.
What God designed as a scroll of destiny has been reduced to a legal document.
What heaven intended as eternal, the state treats as temporal.
When men replaced covenant with convenience, the sacred became disposable.
The vow became a signature; the altar became a photo booth.
And now, we see the fruit of broken homes, generational confusion and a generation that no longer trusts the institution of marriage.
The way forward
The solution is not rebellion against law but restoration of spiritual order. Believers can still register their marriages for national records but they must never confuse registration with sanctification.
Churches should create Covenant Marriage Charters that define the spiritual terms of union, rooted in Scripture. Faith communities can form Biblical Mediation Councils under the
Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, allowing couples to settle disputes through elders and the Word before ever reaching the courtroom. If we reclaim the altar, heaven will reclaim the home.
Call to the Church
The Church must awaken. It cannot keep teaching covenant while practicing ordinance.
If pastors lead couples to sign under Caesar, they must also teach that Caesar’s law cannot provide eternal reconciliation.
If the Church trains people by Scripture, it must also establish Biblical justice systems for resolving disputes within faith.
The altar must once again become the centre of truth, where the Spirit, not the state defines what marriage means.
Marriage began in the heart of God, not in the halls of government.
The covenant Yehoshua sealed was never meant to be managed by men’s systems.
Rome legalised it; Britain bureaucratised it and religion institutionalised it, but heaven still remembers it as covenant.
Let the state keep its records, but let heaven keep the meaning.
Because what God joins, no ordinance, no tradition and no empire can truly separate.
“What God has joined together, let no man, no law and no empire divide.”
