The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.
We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?
The second particular of marriage is sex. Scripture does teach that it is good to have a spouse because of immoralities (I Cor 7:1-5). So we are told that one purpose of marriage is to keep people from immorality. We know that is true to a degree, but is that God’s terminal purpose of marriage? Is God’s highest purpose for marriage simply to keep people from being sexually immoral? What is the purpose of sexual purity in the first place? Being sexually moral is not morality in and of itself. There is a higher purpose for this and it is part of the created order that God has put into creation. In the previous BLOG I asserted that a loving marriage (can only happen within true Christianity) reflects some aspects of the Trinity in which God lives as one God in three Persons. Sexual activity, then, must in some way reflect the Trinity as well. We must always keep in mind that God’s terminal purpose in creation is to express and manifest His own glory and that through human beings.
We must continue to force our minds and hearts back to God’s terminal purpose in and for marriage. It is to be an instrumental means to display His glory. The whole purpose of creation, humanity, and then marriage comes from God’s terminal goal. No part of human activity is what it is meant to be apart from that terminal goal or end of God’s. How does sexual activity within marriage glorify God? Again we must go back to the Trinity. Within the Trinity we have an eternal and ever blessed love that flows between the Persons of the Trinity. It is such that the triune God is described in Scripture with the words “God is love.” There is an intimacy between the Father and the Son that is a mutual love and delight. Within the oneness of the Father and Son there is perfect and eternal joy and pleasure in being One. Sexual activity within marriage is to picture that unity of love and joy.
The sexual activity of believers should be different than that of believers. Believers limit sexual activity within marriage, not because sex is dirty, but because of God and the display of His glory. God the Father and God the Son have an intimate love that cannot be shared in the fullness of its intimacy and joy. They are one and are one in a way that cannot be imitated perfectly. It is the intimacy that only two infinite and perfect Beings can share. However, in marriage the intimacy of love and joy is to be shared in the sexual relationship as an expression of the glory of God and even a sharing in the love and joy of God. With believers the love that they share comes from God and is an expression of the love of God for God. Even more, believers are the bride of Christ and the intimacy that spouses have in some way display the intimacy of the Son with His bride in that He is giving His love and intimate joy to His bride and not to the world. In contrast to that, the sexual activity of unbelievers is all about self.
While what has been said may be confusing, it is an attempt to look at an issue from the light that comes from God’s terminal purpose in all things. God’s purpose is to shine His glory through creation and especially through His people. Sexual activity cannot be apart from that. True love has only one source and that is from God and it is only available to those that are united to Christ by faith. When two believers are united to Christ by faith, that faith receives and works true love. When the bride of Christ receives the love of God through Christ by the Spirit, the love that flows is then the display of the glory of His love. When a believing couple is intimate and His love is flowing in and between them, God is delighted at the display of His love and joy and His terminal purpose is seen.
God Loves... Himself 
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