The man [Adam] called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now… (1 John 3:1-2a)
God’s plan has always been “Family”: the family of humankind and the family of God, both loved by God.
The family of humankind begins with God’s creation of Adam and Eve, who married, told to “be fruitful and multiply,” and had many children together. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:21-24; 5:1-5) The family of humankind has been growing ever since because we all share the same original ancestors and, thus, are part of one family tree “planted” by our Creator. (Ephesians 3:14-15)
The family of God, unlike the family of humankind, has no beginning because the one eternal, unchanging God has always lived in the family love of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 14; 10:30; 2 Corinthians 3:17; 1 John 4:8, 19)
God revealed the importance of the family of humankind by His commands in the Old Testament that all people honor their father and their mother, that spouses honor and uphold the covenant of marriage, and that parents train their children in righteousness. (Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 18:22; 22:6; 31:10-31; Malachi 2:13-16)
The New Testament affirms this importance. (Matthew 19:4-6, 14; Ephesians 5:22–6:4; 1 Timothy 5:8; Hebrews 13:4) And the New Testament goes beyond that affirmation to reveal the wonderful truth of why God treasures the family of humankind so much. God’s plan has always been to use the family of humankind, made in His image and likeness, to grow the family of God!
God sent His Son so Jesus could be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. (John 3:16; Romans 8:29) By trusting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit and become in that moment (“now”) children of God who share the same Father with Jesus because we are born again, born of the Spirit, and born of God. (John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; Romans 8:15-17) We remain in the world but are no longer of the world. (John 17:11, 14-16)
To understand the importance of these biblical revelations about family, remember what happened to the family of humankind after we became separated by God through sin. Woman will continue to desire her husband, but he will lord it over her. (Genesis 3:16) Brother will kill brother. (Genesis 4:8) Joseph’s jealous brothers will sell him into slavery. (Genesis 37:28) King David’s son Amnon will rape his sister and be killed by his brother Absalom, who will then rebel against his father. (2 Samuel 13; 16) And the list goes on.
The most instructive story about this sin-separated family of humankind may be the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:1-9) God had commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful, multiply, and disperse over the earth, just as God instructed Adam and Eve, but under the leadership of the “mighty man” Nimrod, the “children of man” decided to defy that command and stay together in one place, building a city and tower that reached to the heavens so they could make a name for “themselves.” (Genesis 9:1, 7; 10:8-12; 11:4-5) To prevent this rebellion and enforce His command, God confused their language, effectively dispersing them and creating the ethnic and cultural diversity and divisiveness we have today.
God’s plan, however, was never permanent division. Revelation 7:9-10 describes a great multitude from every nation, culture, ethnicity, and language who have come together through Christ into the family of God. Here there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, because as Christians we are God’s family – “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession …” (Galatians 3:28; 1 Peter 2:9-10)
The sin-separated family of humankind has throughout history shown itself to be arrogant, selfish, divisive, greedy, lustful, idolatrous, easily angered, brutal, and/or untruthful. (Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:1-5) The family of God is defined by the Golden Rule (my last column) and the agape love of 1 Corinthians 13 – patient and kind; never envious, boasting, arrogant, or rude; never irritable, resentful, or insisting on their own way; never rejoicing in wrongdoing and always rejoicing in truth, which must be spoken in love. (Ephesians 4:15)
The sin-separated family of humankind will come to an end, but the family of God is wondrously everlasting. So, which family best describes your family of origin? Your present family? Your family of faith? Your city and region? Your nation? Your role in each of those? God wants us all in His family. (1 John 2:2; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Peter 3:9)
God bless you, and God bless our community.