(Genesis 2:15-25)
The family is one of the greatest blessings that God has bestowed on mankind. The blessings that God wants you to experience through your place or position in your family is greater than that which any other your place or position in life can ever bring to you. Also, it is God’s desire and plan that your family relationships should be more beneficial to you than any other relationship you may have with people outside of your family (friendships, business or work colleagues, political associates, even church membership).
After the creation of man, and his appointment as the custodian of the entire created order, God said, “it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18). The implication of this is that something will be terribly lacking in man’s experience of God’s goodness if he remained alone and did not have the help of another person or persons. And that is the fact of human existence since creation. We cannot do without a family—persons who are committed to our wellbeing and to supporting us as we grow to take our rightful and God-ordained place in the world. In order to address man’s need of a helper, God created a woman out of the rib that He took from the man’s side, and this marked the beginning of the human family.
Contrary to the confusion that prevails today when reference is made to the family, the design of God for the family is very clear. It is made up of a husband (man) and a wife (woman) and the children that God gives to them. Any other arrangement, and there are many today, falls short of God’s ideal for the family. But our family will not bring the blessing that God intended for us into our lives if we fail to follow God’s principles and directions in establishing it (Genesis 2:15-25) and operating within it (Ephesians 5:15-6:4).
From the outset, God established the pattern that should be followed in the establishment of a family through marriage: “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Leaving is the first step in the establishment of a new family. Every human being, except Adam and Eve, comes into the world through a father and a mother (or parents) with whom he forms a family. It is the responsibility of parents to take care of their children until they are old enough to fend for themselves. This is one of the goals of biblical parenting. A male child should be brought up to be the breadwinner and leader of a family when he grows up. A female child should be brought up to be a home-maker who will be a helper to her husband when she grows up. A man is ready to get married only when he can survive on his own without having to depend on his parents, whether physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. A woman is ready to get married only when she can run the affairs of her own home and is able to support a husband to fulfil his God-ordained mission in the world. The first step, therefore, that anyone desiring to be married should take is for a man to be prepared to provide for and lead his own family and for a woman to be prepared to manage a home and help a husband to fulfill God’s plan for his life.
The second step towards the establishment of a family is what happens on the wedding day—the joining together of a man and a woman as husband and wife. A wedding is a formal occasion when a man and a woman establish a covenant of lifelong commitment of themselves to each other as husband and wife. The vows that a couple exchange before God and other witnesses are not mere words. On the basis of these words, God supernaturally joins a couple together and He starts from that day to see them and treat them as one. They are no longer two individuals but one before God and the human society. God also holds the couple responsible for the vows that they exchange with each other before Him.
The third step is what begins on the wedding day but continues throughout their marriage, that is becoming one flesh. A husband and wife must be committed to adopting the same position with respect to every aspect of their lives together (Amos 3:3). This process is facilitated by effective communication on the part of both of them.
Your eternal salvation and spiritual well-being are our concern. If you wish to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you can pray the following prayer to God: “Dear God, I thank you for sending Jesus into the world to die for my sins. I repent of my sins right now and invite Him into my life to be my Lord and Saviour. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you offered this prayer to God, please write to let us know through the address below. You are also invited to join us in worshipping the Lord every Sunday in Yoruba language at 7.20 a.m. and in English language at 9.00 a.m.
Good News Baptist Church,
47/49, Olufemi Road,
Off Ogunlana Drive,
P. O. Box 3781,
Surulere, Lagos.
