Genesis 2 (The NET Bible)
2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.” 2:19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found. 2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh. 2:22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family. 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” 1:27 God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”
Explanation: Note a subtle difference. The author did not consider gender to be an important feature to stress in his account of the creation of the other forms of life. But for humans, it’s important to note. We are like God in function. Being made in God’s image in verse 27 is extended into verse 28 to further describe what this means. We (male and female) are to do two things: 1. Reproduce: In procreation, we will share in the divine work of creating human life in the image of God. A man and a woman can co-create a living soul with God.
Illustration: The most incredible worship experience that I ever had was not in a church or concert or prayer meeting. It was in a birthing room in Palm Beach Gardens, FL on May 10, 1991 at about 8:29 AM. When I looked up and saw little Megan Leigh, I realized that a miracle had taken place. I had shared in God’s Genesis week by co-creating a human life, a living soul. I was literally crying and smiling at the same time. I had partnered with God to create a human life.
Explanation: 2. Rule: In ruling, we will serve as God’s vice-regents on earth. We are His representatives, His servant-masters. It’s a responsible stewardship, not exploitative dominion. We are not to be ruled over by the creation. We are to reflect God’s creativity. Human-beings can compose a symphony or design a computer, paint a picture and plan a building, or devise a new recipe. A baby can stack blocks on the floor and make a playhouse and, in imagination, enter it and live in it. No animal can do this. Man has the function of creativity because he is made in the image of God. This is the dignity of mankind that separates him, by a vast gulf, from the whole animal creation. Adam was to be an engaged Leader/Lover in the family (Eph.5), not a passive bystander. When the Leader/Lover is missing, the family suffers.
1 Timothy 5:8.
5:1 Do not address an older man harshly but appeal to him as a father. Speak to younger men as brothers, 5:2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters—with complete purity.
5:3 Honor widows who are truly in need. 5:4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty toward their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. For this is what pleases God. 5:5 But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day. 5:6 But the one who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 5:7 Reinforce these commands, so that they will be beyond reproach. 5:8 But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Illustration: My father was not perfect, but I know that there were two things he gave to me growing up that I have come to appreciate. One, he had a great work ethic. Two, not one time did I ever sense that he was going to walk out on the family. He was there to stay and provide for us.
OUTLINE
A Good Family is An Incredible Sanctuary in Life if We follow Biblical Guidelines
Explanation: Life can be a very cruel and lonely place. The family is being redefined by our culture as well. If you let the culture give you and your family your identity and values, you will self-destruct. Your home will shatter. Everything is challenged today. One of the most dangerous places to be is in the American home.
Illustration: Dr. James Dobson shares in his book Children At Risk that there is a Second Great Civil War – a war of ideas, of worldviews that permeates every level of society. You have to understand that I want to be known more for what I’m for than what I’m against. But there is a place for “moral outrage” as he calls it because it impacts us individually and our families in a negative way.
Exposition: God gave us a family to provide companionship. If we live in our families the way the Bible tells us to live, it will be a heaven on earth. The Bible tells us how to treat our bodies, how to treat each other, how to serve.
1. Be kind and forgiving (Eph.4:32).
2. Treat your body as a temple (1 Cor.6:19-20).
3. Husbands, love your wives (Eph. 5:25,33).
4. Wives, submit to your husbands (Eph. 5:22,33).
5. Give to God’s work (2 Cor. 9:6-8).
6. Children, honor your parents (Eph.6:1-3).
7. Don’t provoke children (Eph. 6:4).
8. Don’t be bound with unbelievers (2 Cor.6:14).
9. Respect authority (Rom.13:1).
10. Don’t lie (Col. 3:9).
11. Don’t use filthy language (Eph. 5:4).
12. Do your work the best you can (Col.3:23).
A Good Family is An Incredible Advantage in Life and Reaches to Many Generations
Exposition: The Bible speaks to this point.
Exd 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
Exd 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].
Luk 1:50 And his mercy [is] on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Psa 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word [which] he commanded to a thousand generations.
Illustration: What difference does family make? That’s a question that Richard Dugdale asked himself in 1874. As a member of the executive committee of the Prison Association of New York, he was chosen to inspect thirteen county jails in the state. When he got to one particular county, he was surprised to discover that six people related by blood were in the same jail. They were being held on a variety of offenses including burglary, attempted rape, and assault with intent to kill. When Dugdale talked to the county sheriff, he discovered that the family had been in the area since the settling of New York State and they were notorious for their criminal behavior. Dugdale was intrigued, and he decided to study the family and publish what he found, using the fictitious name “Jukes” to describe them. He traced their line back to a man he called Max, born sometime between 1720 and 1740. He had six daughters and two sons. Some of his children were born out of wedlock. He was a heavy drinker and didn’t like work too well. Dugdale began to study this family and his descendants. 180 were paupers. 140 were criminals. 60 were habitual thieves. 50 were common prostitutes. One factory owner kept a no-hire list to ensure that none of them were hired. Note that there is no criminal gene that is passed on. And some people come out of these kinds of families through God’s grace and really bless the world in some way. But one thing is certain from the “Jukes” study: Being in a dysfunctional family had a negative, destabilizing effect on the lives of many people.
There was another family in roughly the same time period. It was the family of Jonathan Edwards, the theologian, pastor, and president of Princeton. He was a devoted family man, married for thirty-one years. He had eleven children – three sons and eight daughters. In 1900, A. E. Winship studied 1,400 descendents of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. They found 13 college presidents; 65 professors; 100 lawyers; 30 judges; 66 physicians; 80 holders of public office, including 3 U.S. Senators, 3 mayors of large cities, 3 governors, a controller of the U.S. Treasury, and a U.S. vice president. Were they all successful high achievers? No. But again, the pattern is clear: a good family is an incredible advantage in life (Maxwell, Today Matters, p 105-107).
Illustration: It would be interesting to trace our family tree like this, but perhaps not. Mark Twain said that he spent a large sum of money to trace his family tree and then spent twice as much trying to keep his ancestry secret! He was like the family that reportedly wanted its history written up so they hired a professional biographer to do it, but they were worried about how the document would handle the families “black sheep.” Uncle George had been executed in the electric chair for murder. “No problem,” said the biographer. “I’ll say the Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, and his death came as a real shock.”
Application: We can’t change our ancestry or upbringing. We have no control over that. But you can influence YOUR descendants greatly. You will determine whether you stay and work things out or leave and abandon your family. Your family can be a source of stability and strength for so many people if you realize its importance and see it as an investment.
Quotation: Ed Frank: "How you raise your family will have a direct impact on 2 generations".... Take your roles seriously but also know you WILL make mistakes (some of them big) and to have a lot of fun along the way. On the negative: If you are a smoker you are probably raising two generations of smokers. If you are compromiser - you are raising two generations of compromisers... On the Positive: If you are a prayer......If you are a giver......., etc…
A Good Family is An Incredible Testimony to Your True Success
Illustration: John Maxwell shares: In 1986, when I was 39 years old, I noticed a terrible trend. The marriages of friends and colleagues were falling apart. That really got my attention. This all occurred when my career was starting to take off. He knew that family disintegration could easily happen to him. He said, “From that moment, success meant having those closest to me love and respect me the most.” “If I achieved outwardly but failed to take my family with me on the journey, success would be impossible (Today Matters, 112).”
CONCLUSION
Application: I don’t know where all of you are with your families right now. You may have a great family life. Or you may have made some serious mistakes from which you fear will have lasting impact. No matter what your situation, you can begin today to value your family like never before.
Quotation: Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
1. Put your family first.
2. Create many wonderful memories.
3. Find something you all like to do and do it together.
4. Keep your marriage healthy.
5. Express appreciation for each other in your family meeting. “If people don’t receive affirmation and appreciation at home, there’s a good chance they won’t get it because, in general, the world does not fulfill that desire (Maxwell).”
6. Be an authentic spiritual leader. Deut. 6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 6:7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the way, as you lie down, and as you get up. 6:8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. 6:9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
Spiritual leadership was the responsibility of the home.
Illustration: Patsy Clairmont tells about meeting a young Marine whom she calls Michael on an airplane who was coming home from Operation Desert Storm after a year and a half of active duty. In their discussion, she found out that he was very nervous and even scared about all the "hero stuff" and that he didn’t want his family to be disappointed. She encouraged him that all that his parents wanted was for him to come home safe.
During their plane ride, they talked about some of his experiences. Michael noted that when he was home, he and his mother were friends. When he joined the service and was moved to a remote location, they became good friends. But when he went to combat in the Gulf War, they became best friends. He spoke of how he had learned to pray, like his mother.
He spoke of the time when there was a four-month space when he had not seen a woman or a child. Michael noted: "The day we drove into Kuwait was very emotional for us. The women stood in the doorways, waving, but the children ran to greet us." He continued, "Since I’ve been stateside waiting to go home, I’ve been thinking about my nephews, and I can hardly wait to hear them call me Uncle Michael."
Pasty Clairmont writes: "The pilot came on the intercom and said, ’We are making our final approach into the Detroit Metro Airport.’ She said, "I looked up and saw that Michael’s eyes had filled with tears. He said softly, ’I just don’t want to cry.’ I told him ’It’s okay. I checked the Marine manual on this one, and it’s all right to cry. Some of the most admirable men I’ve ever known have shed tears at appropriate times, and Michael, this is a right time.’"
She observed: "As we walked out the jet way, we could see a lineup of relatives armed with video equipment, flags, cameras and banners. His family began to chant, ’Michael, Michael, Michael.’" Patsy says "Even from a distance, I could identify his mom. She was the one leaping the highest in the air. As we got closer, she stopped jumping, and her hands went over her mouth to muffle the building sobs. Tears poured down her arms and dropped off her elbows."
Les Clairmont, Patsy’s husband, unaware of what was really going on, saw her staring and told her, "That’s tacky and rude to stare." She said, "Mr. Manners guided me over to the escalator and prompted me on. I turned backward so I could watch for as long as possible. As the moving steps drew me away from the celebration, I saw Michael still holding his mother, and he held her for a very long time."
RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaither, Bill & Gloria, What My Parents Did Right
