What is a Family?
Family means a lot of things to different people; sometimes our definitions differ to a degree as to what makes family for us, but family is important in every culture. God has “put the lonely in families,” the Bible tells us. And God has given THE definition of family for us.
From the beginning, God saw the loneliness of Adam for “one like him,” and so He created Eve and the very first family was formed. “Male and female He created them,” Genesis tells us. From them, children were born and so the human race began on planet earth by God’s creative and powerful Word.
But the sin that Adam and Eve were guilty of committing was passed on to their offspring. The first family conflict in history was a domestic dispute between two brothers that ended with the murder of Abel. From there, well, enter “The Jerry Springer Show.”
Some of the most horrific crimes in history have been committed in the context of family. Families are broken by sin, just as individuals are. Yet, just as God was committed to redeeming individuals through the cross, He also desires to redeem this important institution called “the family.”
The family can be the place of greatest blessing, or a place of great wounding and injury. The brokenness brought by sin guarantees that. Yet God never gave up on family, as hard as it sometimes is to live with.
It is through the “seed of the promise,” the offspring of Abraham and son of David Jesus Christ that “every family on the earth will be blessed.” God’s desire is still to bless families… your home, your marriage, your children, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
It is God’s desire that you live in harmony with your siblings, with your parents, and with your marriage partner.
But we cannot create our own definition of family and then ask for and expect that blessing to come to OUR creation. We follow carefully the Word of God as we create a household. While the image of “perfect family” may not be how your family looks, as we live in covenant with a Holy God, we can expect His blessing to rain down on us.
You may be in a single-parent household today, or simply be a single adult, widow or widower… you may have children overwhelming you right now at home, or long to hear from your adult children through a phone call or text. You may be living with children at home and at the same time be caring for aging parents. You may be surrounded by biological children, or be blessed by adoptive or foster children.
The key question is: Are you living in a Biblical covenant with the God who made you?
Are you passing along the faith in your heart to the next generation, starting with those in your own household? Are you living, desiring that God is glorified through your family and home, no matter how imperfect it may be?
And do you have at the center of your family a cross… a cross that redeems, and heals, and helps you to live and do according to all that God commands? If so, you are on the right path: A path that leads to peace and blessings and grace overflowing from the family God has given you.
If not, then today is not too late for you to bring your family to the foot of Jesus’ cross…
And leave them there.
When you do, you will find the true blessing God always meant for your family to know.
