Family (Daily Encouragement)
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. – Proverbs 1:8
For all the DIFFERENCES we see with people throughout history and the world, one thing common to ALL people is family. Everyone is a part of one. They are a part of God’s design. The book of Proverbs is written from a father to a son – a family
A second thing common to all people is that the family they are a part of is dysfunctional. There are no perfect families (and those who seek to appear so are often the most dysfunctional). Over the next couple weeks we will look at aspects of and how to live well in the areas of marriage, parenting, singleness.
In order to understand how to live well within our families, we must know the framework for the design of families.
Creation – From the beginning, God created family and he created it GOOD. God created man in his image. He made them male and female. He blessed them and called them to be fruitful and multiply – to fill the earth and subdue it (Gen. 1:27-28). It was “really good” and the call was to extend the family and bring “shalom” – God’s peace and prosperity – to all the world.
Fall – The first family went against God’s design and brought brokenness and dysfunction to the world and all families since. Pastor Matt Chandler put it this way in his book The Mingling of Souls: “Two chapters into the book of Genesis, we see sin’s arrival wreaking havoc on the creative order, poisoning every earthly relationship—beginning with Adam’s marriage to Eve. Where the relationship between man and woman was originally one of joyful exuberance and complementarity, sin made it confusing, fraught with conflict, and at times extremely painful.” Sound familiar? This is the dysfunction that has affected every family which we find ourselves in.
Redemption – The good news of the gospel reveals that God doesn’t cast us out and leave us in our dysfunction, he comes and enters in. He lives and loves perfectly – the way we ought in our families – for us. He suffers the penalty for our failures in family on the cross to bring us into His family – all as a free gift! He then gives us a new heart with new desires and power through His Spirit to re-create healthy lives and families that honor God. This is where the instruction and guidance of the book of Proverbs reveals how to live well within our families.
Restoration – The gospel also has a future promise that one day Jesus will return and set all wrongs right – even in our families. There will be no more sin, no more dysfunction, no more brokenness in the world or in our families. We will fully enjoy them with God forever.
Until then, we invite you to join us as we – God’s family the church – seek to live in light of the promises and power God has for us, his world and the families he created.