And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18)

Family Matters

When God created the world and placed the man in the garden, He looked upon His creation with great joy but realized something was missing. Knowing the nature of the creature formed in His own image, the Lord recognized it would not be a good thing for the man to be alone. He formed the woman from the side of man to show a relationship to the need of man to companionship. This is first found in the family element of a man and woman forming the family as designed by the eternal plan of God. The joy of the home would become more clear when children would be born as in the case of Cain and Abel. When Cain was born, Eve said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord. She bore again, this time his brother Abel. What a magical world it must have been for Adam and Eve to now have two sons in the world to keep them company. The first man Adam lived nine hundred thirty years and he had sons and daughters with only Cain, Abel and Seth named in scripture. From the early days of the world, the population grew from the family units of Cain, Abel, Seth and the other children of Adam and Eve. The world would have filled with many children, grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren and a myriad of relatives from the single family of Adam and Eve. When God saw that it was good for a man not to be alone He spoke of the need of Adam to have a helper comparable to him but to also create a family that would bring love, joy, and companionship. Through the seed of Adam and Eve, the world has been filled with the seed of man beginning from the basic element of one man and one woman. Companionship and camaraderie came to man through the seed of Adam and Eve as the family mattered in the eyes of God. In the days of Noah, the world became a corrupt place because the heart of man had turned away from the purpose intended by God. Through the grace of God Noah and his family were saved including three sons and three daughters of other families. Wickedness like fornication and adultery stand against the purity of the family unit. Jesus would later tell the religious leaders of His day that from the beginning God intended for the family unit to a holy consecration of God’s love. The husband and wife begin a family and then if the Lord wills children are born forming a pattern of love and joy designed by the wisdom of God. All of this is for the purpose of family and how family matters in the eyes of the One who created the home.

Family matters because it matters to God. Society has from the beginning of the world redefined the role of the family but in every case, the outcome is chaos and ends in destruction if the pattern of God is not followed. The Lord created Adam and Eve and to change the definition of family does not change the reality of how God created a man and woman to be together and to bear children. There is no other meaning to family than the pattern of a man and woman sharing together in the family and bearing children. This union is the fulfilling of the need for a man not to be alone. All children come from parents that are male and female because that is the absolute pattern of reproduction. God wanted the family to fill a need of a man that remains unchanged. A man and woman unite in the covenant of marriage to share in their love for one another. Children become a blessing in the home as young infants grow into adulthood. The Lord expects the children to care for the parents in the golden days of life completing a cycle of the family that bond together in their love for one another. Family matters because of the independent relationships and the dependent need for one another.

The design of God to form the home was to complete a need within the soul of His highest creation. It is not good for man to be alone and the most important answer to that need is the family. Husbands and wives must live each day with the blessings of the love of one another fueling their passion to care for one another. This will serve them well through the hard paths of life. Children are a special blessing that brings joy to the heart while they remain at home. Growing and nurturing in their development as young adults bonds the family as a unit of one. Children must be taught the value of family and the need to share in their relationships with one another. As they leave home and begin their own families, these lessons will serve them well as husbands, wives, and parents. One of the great rewards of life is when the children bring their own children back to hearth and home of parents. There is a lot of noise and activity when the family comes back together but it is a joyful noise to the Lord who formed the family fulfilling a need. It is not good for man to be alone and family is where this need is met with great vitality. A home built upon the love of God will stand for eternity because it is founded upon the rock of His love and His will. Nothing is more perfect in creation than when man follows the pattern established on the sixth day of creation. God created a man and then He brought a woman to the man. Family. Thank God for family.