God’s Design for the Family John Muketha
Throughout the world, families are disintegrating with divorce, immo- rality, homosexuality, and adultery. Physical and emotional abuse, sin- gle parenthood, disobedient children and abortion are becoming the order of the day. When a society upholds the family and family life it will be morally preserved. However, the neglect of the family unit coupled with permissive sinful influences results in moral decadence in society.
God’s design for the family is clearly spelt out in His Word, the Bible. In the book of Genesis, it is evident that the family was God’s initiative at creation. God created man and woman and established marriage and the family relationship on which every society is built. Genesis 2:18-25 is God’s blueprint that provides guidelines to a fulfill- ing marriage relationship. The family, and not the government, or even the church, is God’s first human institution. This demonstrates the great importance that mar- riage and family holds in the sight of God. No wonder this institution is subjected to serious attacks by the devil and the world more than the institutions of govern- ment and the church. We can safely conclude that the society is only as strong as the families that make it up. This also applies to other human institutions like the church.
Today the family is under attack. In the West, about half of marriages end in divorce. We have single parent families while others cohabit without any marriage whatsoever. Mar- riage infidelity and sexual activity before marriage all take their toll on the family. Homo- sexuality is the most recent of the devil’s attacks on God’s first institution as some seek recognition of same sex marriage. This clearly is an abomination in the sight of God (Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26, 27), which all boils down to nothing more than human rebellion against God. God in His wisdom established the home for the protection of the human race.
God has much to say concerning the sanctity of marriage. The Word of God be- gins with a marriage (Gen. 2:18-25) and also closes with a marriage (Rev. 19:7). The very first miracle that the Lord Jesus Christ performed in His ministry was at a wed- ding (Jn. 2:1-11). The LORD God himself said, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen. 2:18) God also tells us that if a man finds a wife he finds a good thing and obtains God’s favor or grace (Prov. 18:22). This shows the great delight and blessing which the Lord bestows upon those who enter into a marriage relationship (Ps. 128).
When a man and a woman come together in marriage they become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). God’s perfect design for marriage is one man and one woman for life. This is the natural order of creation as established by God. Christ said that from the very beginning it was one male and one female (Matt. 19:3-7). We were not meant to have multiple wives. Neither is it God’s will for two men to make a marriage or for two women. They will never fulfill the purpose which God assigned to Adam and Eve then, and husbands and wives today. God’s plan for marriage is that there would be no divorce. God takes marriage seriously and so should we and not seek to break marriages apart (Matt. 19:3-9; Mk. 10:2-12). God’s design for the family is clearly spelt out in His Word, the Bible. In the book of Genesis, it is evident that the family was God’s initiative at creation. God created man and woman and estab- lished marriage and the family relationship
Throughout the world, families are disintegrating with divorce, immo- rality, homosexuality, and adultery. Physical and emotional abuse, sin- gle parenthood, disobedient children and abortion are becoming the order of the day. When a society upholds the family and family life it will be morally preserved. However, the neglect of the family unit coupled with permissive sinful influences results in moral decadence in society.
God’s design for the family is clearly spelt out in His Word, the Bible. In the book of Genesis, it is evident that the family was God’s initiative at creation. God created man and woman and established marriage and the family relationship on which every society is built. Genesis 2:18-25 is God’s blueprint that provides guidelines to a fulfill- ing marriage relationship. The family, and not the government, or even the church, is God’s first human institution. This demonstrates the great importance that mar- riage and family holds in the sight of God. No wonder this institution is subjected to serious attacks by the devil and the world more than the institutions of govern- ment and the church. We can safely conclude that the society is only as strong as the families that make it up. This also applies to other human institutions like the church.
Today the family is under attack. In the West, about half of marriages end in divorce. We have single parent families while others cohabit without any marriage whatsoever. Mar- riage infidelity and sexual activity before marriage all take their toll on the family. Homo- sexuality is the most recent of the devil’s attacks on God’s first institution as some seek recognition of same sex marriage. This clearly is an abomination in the sight of God (Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:26, 27), which all boils down to nothing more than human rebellion against God. God in His wisdom established the home for the protection of the human race.
God has much to say concerning the sanctity of marriage. The Word of God be- gins with a marriage (Gen. 2:18-25) and also closes with a marriage (Rev. 19:7). The very first miracle that the Lord Jesus Christ performed in His ministry was at a wed- ding (Jn. 2:1-11). The LORD God himself said, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen. 2:18) God also tells us that if a man finds a wife he finds a good thing and obtains God’s favor or grace (Prov. 18:22). This shows the great delight and blessing which the Lord bestows upon those who enter into a marriage relationship (Ps. 128).
When a man and a woman come together in marriage they become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). God’s perfect design for marriage is one man and one woman for life. This is the natural order of creation as established by God. Christ said that from the very beginning it was one male and one female (Matt. 19:3-7). We were not meant to have multiple wives. Neither is it God’s will for two men to make a marriage or for two women. They will never fulfill the purpose which God assigned to Adam and Eve then, and husbands and wives today. God’s plan for marriage is that there would be no divorce. God takes marriage seriously and so should we and not seek to break marriages apart (Matt. 19:3-9; Mk. 10:2-12). God’s design for the family is clearly spelt out in His Word, the Bible. In the book of Genesis, it is evident that the family was God’s initiative at creation. God created man and woman and estab- lished marriage and the family relationship
on which every society is built. Gen. 2:18-25
is God’s blueprint that provides guidelines
to a fulfilling marriage relationship. The
family, and not the government, or even the church is God’s first human institution.
This demonstrates the great importance that marriage and family holds in the sight of God (Hebrews 13:4). As a young man hoping to get married one day, are you looking up
to the Lord to provide a companion comparable to you? As a lady looking forward
to marriage, put your trust in the Lord to provide the man with whom you will share
the rest of your life.
It is only in the security and stability of the home that children can be properly nur-
tured and prepared for life in order to be able to carry the torch to the next genera-
tion (Exodus 20:12). As parents, what kind of examples are we to our children? Are
we truly faithful to our spouses? The home is the first school where our children will
learn how to love and care for their spouses. As a husband, you should love your wife
even as Christ loved the Church. Love, cherish and nourish her as you love yourself
so that your son will learn to love and cherish his wife in the next generation. You are
also setting the standard for the kind of husband your daughter expects when her
time for marriage comes. As a mother, you are by your life teaching your daughter
how she should treat her husband when that time comes. You are also setting the
standard for the kind of wife your son expects when his time for marriage comes.
Sin messed up the first family. We fail in many ways because we inherited the sinful na- ture from our first parents. It is in Christ alone that our sins can be cleansed so that we are able to fulfill God’s design for the family. We must pray for our families, that each member comes to know and love the Lord, and that Christ may truly be the Head of the home and the unseen Guest at every meal and silent Listener in every conversation.
Sin messed up the first family. We fail in many ways because we inherited the sinful na- ture from our first parents. It is in Christ alone that our sins can be cleansed so that we are able to fulfill God’s design for the family. We must pray for our families, that each member comes to know and love the Lord, and that Christ may truly be the Head of the home and the unseen Guest at every meal and silent Listener in every conversation.
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