Having reviewed both the criticism and approval of the family model God gave at the dawn of civilisation in the previous five Q&A’s, let us now look at Scriptures that show how necessary the family is in a well-ordered society and how it will be in the soon-coming Kingdom of God on earth when Jesus Christ returns.
In our booklet “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families”, we read the following on page 18 under the heading “The Christian Family”:
“As the Bible gives clear instructions as to the individual roles and functions of husbands and wives, it also explains the duties and responsibilities of fathers and mothers toward their children, and of the children toward their parents.
“As we have far too many marriage problems, we also have FAR too many family problems. Too often, parents know little about proper parenting, and rebellious children are the result. Children who are victims of divorce are expected to be resilient when someone they love suddenly disappears from their life. More often than not, they grow up with multiple mothers, fathers, and grandparents due to remarriage, and yet are left to fend for themselves too much of the time, because no one has time for them.
“We read, in fact, a startling and sobering prophecy in the Bible for the very last days—just prior to the return of Christ—that addresses the tragic reality of broken families. Sadly, this situation HAS also affected the attitudes of true Christians, and God says that unless these conditions change, something terrible will happen to this planet.”
This booklet was written in 2002 and problems with family matters have worsened as we have seen with continued empowerment of minority interests who have little or no interest in promoting marriage and the family unit.
In Colossians 1:15-16 when talking about Jesus Christ, we read: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
We see here that God created all things through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Genesis 1:26-28 we read:
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
This clearly shows that God the Father and Jesus Christ were both involved in the creation, and man was made in their image.
Genesis 2:21-25 shows that Adam and Eve were man and wife and that a man was to leave the family home and be married:
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
There is no suggestion anywhere in the Bible that there were to be more than two sexes – just male and female who were to become man and wife. Today, there are those who would have you believe that there are over 100 different gender identities. It was reported in January 2021 that a BBC programme aimed at 9-12-year-olds included the astonishing claim that there are ‘over 100 gender identities’. The film, “Identity – Understanding Sexual and Gender Identities”, is being offered on the corporation’s website as part of its relationships and sex education package. It comes despite Government guidance published last year which advised schools to exercise caution when teaching children about gender issues. This just shows how even a national broadcaster, of long-standing, can be biased when it takes a stance on the matter of gender identity which can then affect the traditional and godly family.
The article about the BBC went on to say that “The programme, which features children asking adults about sexuality and gender on behalf of their peers, suggests the different identities include ‘bi-gender’, ‘gender-queer’ and ‘pansexual’.” The film also tells children that becoming transgender is “a way to be ‘happy’ while making no mention of the growing legal and medical concerns about the rising number of children saying they want to change gender.”
The BBC said teachers were “strongly advised” to watch the film before viewing it with their pupils.
God says there are male and female only; the BBC and many others say that there are 100 different gender identities, depending on who is making the claim. Who do we believe? God who is the great Creator of heaven and earth or fallible man who makes up his own mind contrary to his Creator?
In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus, the Creator along with His Father, had this to say about a question that the Pharisees put to Him: “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together [or “bound”], let not man separate.’”
And so, Jesus confirmed that marriage was God-ordained. A man and his wife and children from that union was a family.
In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul teaches about marriage and the husband’s and wife’s responsibilities, and mentions the comparison with Christ and the Church which shows why marriage and the family are so important. Satan knows this and that is why, as the prince of the power of the air (see Ephesians 2:2), he is broadcasting his opposition to those who are members of the Church who will marry Christ at His return (see Revelation 19:7-9).
There are many other Scriptures that further show how a family is to behave and function which is for their own good (see Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; 15:20; 20:7; 22:6; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 3:4; and many others).
CONCLUSION:
The attack on the institution of the family is being brought about by a concerted effort by many in the education of the young, and not so young, including by many politicians and a growing number in all the many facets of the media and even some mainstream churches, who “go with the flow” rather than with biblical injunction. That’s a heady mix of influencers and pressure groups who mold and shape society to their way of thinking. It does seem in some cases, that once a group has achieved their goals, they are then emboldened and then try and stifle any further discussion on the matter.
Schools, colleges and universities have access to the minds of their pupils from a young age where they can be molded and shaped according to society’s immoral and God-defying culture.
In her book “Aware, Not Woke” Noelle Mering makes these interesting comments on pages 73/74 in the chapter “Will Over Reason: “Rather than conforming ourselves to him, we have made ourselves into our own gods around whom God must adjust. Instead of progress, this is the worst form of cultural regression. It is as if the scientific community returned to the pre-Copernicum thinking of the sun revolving around the earth.
“In order to disobey God, we must first diminish him. We will not adore a being who is our subordinate. We don’t stand in awe of what is beneath us. Once diminished, devotion to him becomes unnecessary but unreasonable. This is why for so many today, the Christian faith seems to be a sign of weakness, or even stupidity.
“In ensuring God revolves around us, we conceive of him as being what he is not, and in that void, we make gods of ourselves. This is at the heart of the will’s triumph over reason, over nature and over God. What we desire becomes right by the sheer fact of desiring it. It is now we, not he, who know all, love all, are all powerful. If we keep God around at all, it is for the sake of sentimentalism or custom. Either way, it will not last.”
Those are powerful words about the current woke culture where they seem to insist that God must bend according to the will of man. It is stupidity on a massive scale that will ultimately fail. And those who want to reduce God to having to bend to the will of puny man are those who also want to dismantle and dismiss the importance of the family as we have known it over the last 6,000 years.
There can be little doubt that there are many who are on a quest to try and eliminate the family as we know it—that which has been the hallmark and bedrock of a stable society down through the ages. God who created mankind in the first place, set out the right way of living which is clearly revealed in the pages of the Bible. However, the world’s best-selling book is probably one of the least read or understood and many just ignore its profound wisdom. The reason is that Satan has blinded their minds so that in most cases they CANNOT see and understand.
In Hosea 4:6 we read a prophecy where God levels charges against Israel which also applies today:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
In the previous few verses are other charges laid against Israel both then, and now, for their lack of restraint and disobedience. Surely, we can see how this applies in our lands today.
The divorce rate in most of the English-speaking nations continues to be high but because there are so many doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with the institutions of marriage and the family, but the problem is always with the people concerned, albeit sometimes when it may not be their fault.
The institution of family is perfect! It is perfect because God created a man and a woman and instructed them to be a family and raise children. Any problems with any family are because of the individuals involved, not the institution itself.
Always a good question to ask is “What are the fruits?” and in connection with all of the immorality and God-defying attitudes today, the answer will be obvious for those who have eyes to see.
All the information that we have looked at in these 6 Q&A’s are but a drop in the ocean, but they should give us a reasonable overview of the parlous state our nations are in. Many people around the world may not always fully appreciate how far this assault on the God-ordained family has gone, along with many other ungodly practices. Those of us in the Church of God need to make sure that we are not taken in by any of the practices which society allows, and in many cases encourages. We are fighting an uphill battle as a sodomite-type culture continually approves of wrong behaviour, and we know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah!
In the soon-coming Kingdom of God, true, right and good governance will be the order of the day under the righteous rule of Jesus Christ and His government here on earth. That is the future that all of God’s people must be looking forward to, but in the meantime, all of those who have been called and chosen by God need to ensure that we are following His righteous ways and recognising the stupidity of man’s current governance.
We know that Satan and his demons want to cause doubt and distress to those who are being, and have been called and chosen. By sowing seeds of doubt about the institution of the God-ordained family, these spiritual forces reduce the importance of it in so many people’s minds. In our Q&A, “Where will the marriage supper between Christ and His Church be held?” we read:
“Revelation 19:7-9 states the following about the marriage between Christ and His Church: ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb [Jesus Christ, compare Revelation 5:1-14] has come, and His wife [the Church, compare Ephesians 5:31-32] has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’””
Here we read of the importance to God of the marriage supper and to the future Family of God. Undermining marriage, as society now dictates, will in many people’s minds reduce and possibly eliminate the need for people to be married at all at this time, and this will inevitably impact their view of marriage. Such people could have a hard time understanding the marriage supper of the Lamb!
We mentioned our booklet “The Keys to Happy Marriages and Families” earlier and it seems appropriate to finish this Q&A with the final paragraphs on page 36 from this booklet under the heading “Use These Keys!”:
“We have seen from the Bible the vital keys to happy marriages and families. God wants mankind to apply His perfect laws for our own good. In fact, if we do, God will be in our marriages and in our families, guiding and protecting us as we seek to follow His lead. In Isaiah 66:2, God promises to help us, if we have an attitude pleasing to Him, ‘But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.’
“In the book of Malachi, God takes special note of those who fear or respect Him and who esteem His name. Consider what God says to those people, ‘‘“…And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him”’’ (Malachi 3:17). God is revealed in the Bible as our Father (cp. Matthew 6:9; 23:9). He wants His family to be happy, and the way for us to do that is to apply His keys revealed to us for this tremendous purpose.
“We have been given an awesome privilege of knowing HOW we can better our marriage and family relationships. But with knowledge comes responsibility! We need to ACT upon what we know! Rather than being forgetful hearers or readers, let’s become DOERS of the Word of God (James 1:22–25). And if we do that, the product will be happy and successful relationships, and our marriages and families will stabilize and will last.
“It’s up to us now to respond to God’s challenge—are we going to apply God’s Word in our lives, or not? Our very physical and spiritual survival—as well as the survival of our families—will depend on it!”
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
