Lesson 31

The family unit is the basic unit of society.
When God first created human beings, he put the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) together to start the first earthly family.
And through this family, the plans of God for this earth are to be fulfilled (Genesis 1:26-28).

The success of the first family and all subsequent families will determine the success of a society, and of the plans of God for man.
On the spiritual plane, the success of the Christian family is equally vital to the success of the Church.
When Christian families disintegrate, the Church will consequently fall apart.

It is of extreme importance that the righteousness of God is established in every Christian family.
Only then will it truly be a successful family.

When this happens, every Christian home will be a foretaste of heaven on earth.
Such families will manifest the glory of God, setting them apart from the world around it.
When a family truly walks in the righteousness of God, God promised that the family will experience heaven in their home (Deuteronomy 11:18-21 KJV).
Every family can receive such a spiritual breakthrough.
Every family can be an expression of the heavenly family, of God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of HEAVEN UPON THE EARTH.                           (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)

When men see the glories of heaven in our homes, it will draw them to seek the God of the successful Christian family.
Such a family will be a living witness to the power of the risen Lord (Matthew 5:16).

In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.               (Matthew 5:16)

A Christian family that is always in a state of failure, strife and confusion brings shame to the name of the Lord.
Our bad testimony as a family will cause men to mock the name of our Lord Jesus.
Every Christian family must therefore know and practice God's righteousness in their family life in order to bring glory to God.

A family is the basic unit of society comprising a man and his wife, together with their children, all living together to fulfill God's plan and purposes for mankind on earth.
However, where there are servants and relatives staying with the family, the word household is used (Genesis 18:19).

A new family begins when a man and a woman comes together in marriage.
It is at this point that a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, becoming one flesh with her (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6).
It is only in this way that the new family can begin to fulfill God's plan for that family.

"Haven't you read," He replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave His father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let men not separate."         (Matthew 19:4-6)

If a man is unable or unwilling to leave his parents and stay separately with his new wife, he should not get married.
Every man who wants to get married must leave his parents to start his new family.
Possible reasons for a man wanting to stay on with his parents are as follows:

None of these reasons are valid before God.
A man who desires to start  a new family must obey God by leaving his father and mother.

f he marries and yet chooses to remain with his parents, his own family life will not grow as God has planned. His own family plans will be frustrated.
His family will not fulfill God's plans and purposes for the family.

When God made man and woman, God made them in the image of God.
He brought them together in marriage and gave them two commands (Genesis 1:26-28).

The family mandate and dominion mandate are interdependent on one another.
In the dominion mandate, man was to manage God's creation on this earth.
He was to be a steward of all God's creation, managing it for God's glory, under God's instructions.

Under the dominion mandate, he was to rule effectively:

However this dominion mandate could not be fulfilled by Adam and his wife alone.
Two people alone could not fill the earth or rule over the earth.
To fulfill God's dominion mandate to man, Adam and Eve must have children and other descendents.
In other words, man must also fulfill the family mandate.
He must marry and have children.

In other words, marriage and family are God's ideas, not man.
Marriage and family are not cultural ideas, nor are they culturally determined.
Marriage and family are ordained by God to fulfill His purposes for man.
And  we need to seek His revelation concerning marriage and divine family order and life to ensure that we fulfill God's plans.

Thus we see that it take the family unit, comprising parents and children, to fulfill God's mandate to man to rule over the earth.
In fact the family mandate comes before the dominion mandate.
Without families, no rulership of the whole earth can ever take place.
Without godly and righteous families, the dominion mandate will also fail.

When God created the first family, he put a definite order of righteousness into the family so that it may fulfill God's purpose for the family.
And God's order of righteousness in the family must prevail so that a family can fulfill God's ordained purpose for the family.
A family living in God's righteousness will always be used mightily by God.

Any community of persons (whether family, church or state) without a specified order of authority, functions and relationship will be divided within itself.
It will be in a perpetual state of conflict and strife, even verging into anarchy.
In such a state, the family would self-destruct.
It could never hope to fulfill God's purpose on this earth.
Such a family will not have dominion over the earth.

And it is the devil's objective to destroy the divine order that God has set for every family.
In this way, the devil will defeat the purposes of God for man and this earth.

God's order of righteousness in a family must be established in three areas:

God has put man as head of his family (1 Corinthians 11:3-10).
The fact that man was created first by God and not simultaneously with Eve indicated that God gave the leadership of the family to man (1 Timothy 2:11-15; Genesis 2:7,18,22).
In turn, every man is to submit to the headship of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).

In the exercise of family decision-making, the woman must submit to the authority of her husband (Ephesians 5:22).
In turn, the children must submit to their parents' authority (Ephesians 6:1).

The husband must lead his family, provide for his family and protect his family.
The wife's duty is to help, uphold and encourage her husband (Ephesians 5:22-33).
It is the duty of parents to train up their children in the way of the Lord, through teaching and discipline (Ephesians 6:4).

Everyone in the family must live by the Spirit, and love one another as Christ has loved us, in covenant love (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
They must be patient and kind, forgiving one another.
They must not be envious or be boastful, rude or self-seeking.
They must not be easily angered or keep a record of wrongs.
They must not be delight in evil but rejoice with the truth.

The first earthly family was created to reflect the heavenly family.
The earthly family is an image of the heavenly family.
When God first made man, he made man in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28).

However, God did not make a solitary individual.
He made man as male and female, as two people of opposite sex.
He brought them together as a family.
Thus we see that the family, comprising a man and a woman, with children from their union, is a reflection of the image of God.

Then God said, "Let us make man IN OUR IMAGE, IN OUR LIKENESS, and let them RULE OVER the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man IN HIS OWN IMAGE, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.                   (Genesis 1:26-27)

Because the earthly family is an image of the heavenly family, likewise the order seen in the earthly family is an image of the order expressed in the Godhead.

In terms of authority, we see that Jesus as a Son always submitted to the will of the heavenly Father (John 4:34; 5:19; 17:1-5).
In term of function, we see that although the persons in the Godhead are equal, they have different functions (John 3:16; 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; John 10:30).
We see that the Father sent His Son, who came to earth to die for the sins of man, while the Holy Spirit has come to empower us to witness for Jesus.
In term of relationships, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have always existed and loved one another (John 5:20; 14:31; 16:14-15; 17:24).

When the first couple, Adam and Eve, listened to the devil instead of God, sin entered into mankind (Genesis 3:1-13).
Because of sin, death came as a judgment from God (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23).
Because all men sinned, therefore death came into Adam and all his descendents.

Man fallowed after his sinful nature and no longer followed after the Spirit of God (Romans 6:17; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:1-3).
The entry of sin into mankind caused death and destruction not only to man himself, but to the family and society (Romans 5:12).
As a result, the family could no longer fulfill God's dominion mandate to man.
The effect of sin on family order can be seen as follows:

Many husbands do not want to obey God and submit to God's authority.
Husbands that were rebellious against the laws of God brought destruction to their wives and children (E.g. Korah and Dathan in Numbers 16:1-34).

Many wives do not want to submit to their husbands leadership.
The modern movement which demands for women's rights (feminism) is wrong when it goes against God's order for the family.
wives that were rebellious against their husbands lost the blessings of God or brought grief to themselves (E.g. Michal in 2 Samuel 6:20-23; Esther 1:10-22).

Many children do not want to obey their parents.
Rebellious children were judged by God (E.g. Eli's sons in 1 Samuel 3:11-14).

Many fathers abdicate their responsibilities towards their families and enslave or abandon their wives and children (E.g. Eli and his sons in 1 Samuel 3:11-14).
Meanwhile, some wives nag, torture or discourage the husband instead of helping him.

Sin has resulted in hatred, envy and murder (E.g. Cain and Abel, Genesis 4:1-8; Esau and Jacob, Genesis 25:29-34; 27:41; Joseph and his brethren, Genesis 37:11-36).
Sin also resulted in adultery and polygamy (David and Bethsheba, 2 Samuel 11:1-27).
Lot committed incest with his own daughters (Genesis 19:30-38).
Yet others break the marriage covenant and seek for divorce (Matthew 19:1-9).

The family can only be restored through the work of Jesus on the cross.

Through the cross, everyone can die to the old sinful nature and live a new life.
Everyone can be set free from the bondage to sin and live in the will of God.

He can receive God's revelation concerning the grand purpose of God for the family.
He can know from God's word the true pattern of family order and life.

The man can receive the wisdom and strength of God to lead, to protect and provide for his family.
The wife can receive the wisdom and strength of God to help, uphold and encourage the husband.
The parents can receive the wisdom and strength to train up and discipline their children.
The children can receive God's strength to obey their parents.

And God will hear all our prayers for our family, because family is God's idea.
He has set man in families to fulfill His plans for man and the earth.
And He wants every family to shine forth His glory, for every family has been created in His image.
And every family can be a place that shows forth the life of heaven on earth, when we walk in God's divine order and purpose for the family. 

Your thought

1. What is the place of the earthly family in the plans of God?

2. What are the problems facing by the family in the world today?

3. What the solutions that man has suggested to restore wholeness to family life?
   What are the weaknesses of these suggestions?

4. What is God's answer to the problems faced by the family today?

5. Why are many Christian families unable to live a life of victory?
   Why are there still so much division, strife, anger, malice, torture, criticism, rebellion in such families, in spite of the fact that we do have the answer that the world needs?

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