An Eternal Life of Joy

I thought this excerpt was beautiful.

The Sacrament of Marriage does not unite a man and a woman. Rather, it is the Church's recognition of a union that God has already begun to work in their lives. As long as the union remains within the reality of this world, it will be subject to sin, pain, and death. But, through the sacrament, the union enters at the same time into a new reality: that of God's Kingdom. In Christ, marriage is restored to its initial perfection and in the sacrament, this union is made open to the possibility of what God intended marriage to be from the beginning: an ETERNAL life of joy in union with Him. Thus, marriage goes beyond a legal contract. There is no exchange of vows - the two have freely and coequally committed to one anotherand consented to God's presence in their union. There is no phrase "'til death do us part". If marriage is brought into the kingdom of God, death as a separation, is powerless over it. Christ has destroyed death by His Cross and Resurrection; therefore, the union of man and woman in Christ is eternal.

Introduction from an article about Marriage from St. Elias Orthodox Church, Colorado