I have pondered what it means for a husband and wife to be 'one flesh.' They are still two separate bodies which maintain the same characters, personalities, and physical characteristics they had before marriage. They certainly don't become alike just because they are married. Their personalities will probably clash and they will not always agree. Then, what makes them 'one flesh'? I have decided that the answer to this question lies in the word 'cleave.' The word 'cleave' simply means sex. As a result of sex, offspring are produced that share the characteristics of both parents. Thus there is a combination of two fleshes into one flesh. Usually the offspring are not the same in sex or other features except in the case of identical twins. My twin brother and I were about as close to one flesh as two people can get.
Man has not always understood how these traits are inherited by offspring. Not until 1863 when an Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, experimented with pea plants in the monastery garden and discovered the first predictable genetic code, did we know anything about the science of genetics. It wasn't until 1910 that Thomas H. Morgan discovered that genes were the part of the chromosomes which carried the genetic factors. Then in 1944 Oswald Avery discovered DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as the basic genetic molecule. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick (recently deceased) determined the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. In 1961 Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod deciphered the genetic code, and today scientists are mapping all the genes in the genetic code of the human genome.
This genetic code consists of 64 codons which determine the sequence of amino acids in the DNA molecule. The code transmission is very precise since any error will affect the protein synthesis of the gene that produces a certain inherited characteristic, such as brown hair. Serious errors in the code can cause mutation, and if this occurs in parental sex cells, the change is passed on to the offspring. For example, an extra chromosome (47 instead of 46) can cause Down's Syndrome.
Marriage is a type of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. Though no sex is involved, the Holy Spirit consummates this union with a new birth experience, and we become new creatures in Christ by the renewing of our minds. We join the family of God as sons and daughters. As offspring of this divine union we partake of the divine nature. Then in the resurrection, we will receive our new bodies which are akin to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21). The genetic code of that divine DNA will produce bodies that are incorruptible and immortal. Thus, you might say, Christ and the redeemed from earth will become "one flesh."
