We are living in an age of moral and spiritual decline. Marriage and family are adversely affected in this downward slide. Seldom do young couples find a pattern for a Christian family life that they can follow. Many Christian married couples are groping in darkness. They do not know whom to turn to for help. Even church leaders are often not equipped to handle the problems that confront families in the modern world. In a world where divorce is increasing at an alarming rate, gay lifestyles, cohabitation, and separation are threatening to tear down the very fabric of our society. Men and women who should live in the society are moulded in the families. What happens in the family affects the society. The church also is composed of individuals from different families and therefore the quality of the church also depends on the quality of families to a great extent.
Is there a solution to the problems faced by families? Is it possible to live a happy and blessed married life even in this generation? Can we build families where members love and respect each other and experience the blissfulness of heaven in some measure?
The good news is that the Bible, the word of God gives us enough guidance and help in this matter. Strong, healthy, and blessed families can be built by obeying the rules laid down therein. ‘God’s rule book’ gives us a blueprint for marriage and family. As this blueprint is given by the One who instituted marriage and family, we should seek to understand its teachings and follow its instructions. This will equip us to build strong and healthy families where everyone lives in peace, knowing how to respect, understand and help one another. Conflicts that come up can be handled wisely in such a family atmosphere.
The Biblical Concepts Family
“Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled” says the Bible in Hebrews 13:4. What gives marriage its respectability? First of all, we need to understand that family is divine in origin; that means, it is the idea of an all-wise God. (Family is not the invention of some clever men). The Bible clearly says in Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” It was God who made Adam and saw his need. God made provision to meet that need by making Eve and bringing her to the man. The Lord Jesus, talking about marriage in Mathew 19: 4, 5 said “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female…… God has joined (them) together”. We can rightly say that God Himself instituted marriage and officiated the first wedding. Therefore, God has the right to give us the instructions that regulate it. Bible is God’s ‘instruction handbook’ or ‘The manufacturer’s manual’ that gives us all the guidelines that we should follow in order to run this institution well. Human cleverness and ideas are not sufficient to run the family. The One who originated it knows all about it and we would do well to listen to His principles and rules in this matter. No one can violate biblical principles without dire consequences.
It is an encouragement to know that God is interested in families as He himself ordained it for man. God feels with us when it hurts in the family; because He wants to see it run smoothly. We can always go to God with our family problems confidently, knowing fully well that He is more interested in our families that we ourselves are. HE IS EVER READY TO HELP US. GOD CAN BRING HEALING AND MAKE OUR MARRIAGE STRONGER THAN BEFORE NO MATTER HOW BROKEN THE MARRIAGE IS. No marriage is beyond repair for God. Failure is not final with God.
Family is the first institution of God. Other divine institutions like government and church came much later. Before there was anything else, there was family. Human life on this earth begins in a family and that is where a person’s personality is moulded; that is the school from where he learns his first lesson and that is where he is trained to be what he is meant to become. According to Solomon, the wise man, the first counsel to shun evil is given in the family (Prov.1:8). God designed family relationships to be the nucleus of all human relationships. Family is the basic unit of the society. A person’s life and dealings in the society will reflect what he has learned in the family. Unhealthy families will create unhealthy societies.
As we study the Bible, we see that God of the Bible is a God of relationships. Family is a reflection and extension of the love relationship within the Godhead-Trinity. Ability to experience oneness of fellowship similar to the one existing in Trinity is included in the ‘image’ mentioned in Gen.1:26 when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”. This means God expects us to maintain love, harmony, and oneness in family relationships as it exists within in the three persons of the Godhead. This seems to explain why Satan, the arch enemy of God, is out to destroy the sanctity of family relationships. Human beings were formed by the Creator with a deep need and longing to be in relationship. Man's primary relationship is with his creator God (Remember: Adam and Eve saw God first before they met each other). Relationship which most closely reflects our relationship with God is the marital relationship. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word ‘Yada’ (meaning ‘to know’) used for the most intimate knowledge between a man and his wife is used in our relationship with God also. (“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain”-Gen.4:1. Compare this with Prov.3:6-“In all your ways acknowledge- Hb.‘yada’- Him”.)
Our primary relationship is with our Creator and all other relationships are dependent on this. The quality of our relationship with our wife depends on the quality of our relationship with God. The closeness of the husband and wife is directly proportionate to the spiritual closeness of the husband and wife to God. It should also be understood that no human relationship can do for you what God alone can do. No one can be to you what God alone can be to you. None but God can fill the vacuum in human heart. Even if we get the best husband or best wife, they can never fully satisfy us. We can find the fullness of joy and contentment only in our relationship with God; because that is how God has designed us. Therefore, we need to cultivate and develop a proper relationship and intimacy with God which alone can give us a sense of fulfilment in life. REMEMBER: God is first, and family is only second.
Is there a solution to the problems faced by families? Is it possible to live a happy and blessed married life even in this generation? Can we build families where members love and respect each other and experience the blissfulness of heaven in some measure?
The good news is that the Bible, the word of God gives us enough guidance and help in this matter. Strong, healthy, and blessed families can be built by obeying the rules laid down therein. ‘God’s rule book’ gives us a blueprint for marriage and family. As this blueprint is given by the One who instituted marriage and family, we should seek to understand its teachings and follow its instructions. This will equip us to build strong and healthy families where everyone lives in peace, knowing how to respect, understand and help one another. Conflicts that come up can be handled wisely in such a family atmosphere.
The Biblical Concepts Family
“Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled” says the Bible in Hebrews 13:4. What gives marriage its respectability? First of all, we need to understand that family is divine in origin; that means, it is the idea of an all-wise God. (Family is not the invention of some clever men). The Bible clearly says in Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” It was God who made Adam and saw his need. God made provision to meet that need by making Eve and bringing her to the man. The Lord Jesus, talking about marriage in Mathew 19: 4, 5 said “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female…… God has joined (them) together”. We can rightly say that God Himself instituted marriage and officiated the first wedding. Therefore, God has the right to give us the instructions that regulate it. Bible is God’s ‘instruction handbook’ or ‘The manufacturer’s manual’ that gives us all the guidelines that we should follow in order to run this institution well. Human cleverness and ideas are not sufficient to run the family. The One who originated it knows all about it and we would do well to listen to His principles and rules in this matter. No one can violate biblical principles without dire consequences.
It is an encouragement to know that God is interested in families as He himself ordained it for man. God feels with us when it hurts in the family; because He wants to see it run smoothly. We can always go to God with our family problems confidently, knowing fully well that He is more interested in our families that we ourselves are. HE IS EVER READY TO HELP US. GOD CAN BRING HEALING AND MAKE OUR MARRIAGE STRONGER THAN BEFORE NO MATTER HOW BROKEN THE MARRIAGE IS. No marriage is beyond repair for God. Failure is not final with God.
Family is the first institution of God. Other divine institutions like government and church came much later. Before there was anything else, there was family. Human life on this earth begins in a family and that is where a person’s personality is moulded; that is the school from where he learns his first lesson and that is where he is trained to be what he is meant to become. According to Solomon, the wise man, the first counsel to shun evil is given in the family (Prov.1:8). God designed family relationships to be the nucleus of all human relationships. Family is the basic unit of the society. A person’s life and dealings in the society will reflect what he has learned in the family. Unhealthy families will create unhealthy societies.
As we study the Bible, we see that God of the Bible is a God of relationships. Family is a reflection and extension of the love relationship within the Godhead-Trinity. Ability to experience oneness of fellowship similar to the one existing in Trinity is included in the ‘image’ mentioned in Gen.1:26 when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”. This means God expects us to maintain love, harmony, and oneness in family relationships as it exists within in the three persons of the Godhead. This seems to explain why Satan, the arch enemy of God, is out to destroy the sanctity of family relationships. Human beings were formed by the Creator with a deep need and longing to be in relationship. Man's primary relationship is with his creator God (Remember: Adam and Eve saw God first before they met each other). Relationship which most closely reflects our relationship with God is the marital relationship. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word ‘Yada’ (meaning ‘to know’) used for the most intimate knowledge between a man and his wife is used in our relationship with God also. (“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain”-Gen.4:1. Compare this with Prov.3:6-“In all your ways acknowledge- Hb.‘yada’- Him”.)
Our primary relationship is with our Creator and all other relationships are dependent on this. The quality of our relationship with our wife depends on the quality of our relationship with God. The closeness of the husband and wife is directly proportionate to the spiritual closeness of the husband and wife to God. It should also be understood that no human relationship can do for you what God alone can do. No one can be to you what God alone can be to you. None but God can fill the vacuum in human heart. Even if we get the best husband or best wife, they can never fully satisfy us. We can find the fullness of joy and contentment only in our relationship with God; because that is how God has designed us. Therefore, we need to cultivate and develop a proper relationship and intimacy with God which alone can give us a sense of fulfilment in life. REMEMBER: God is first, and family is only second.