FAMILY: MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE

Why is the traditional one woman, one man family so important?  Many reasons come to mind: It is the basis of a stable society; it is necessary for the nurture of children; it is the testing ground for friendship. We can readily determine other reasons why this family should endure. 

But the primary reason is that the nuclear, one woman, one man, family is a reflection of God Himself. Other patterns of family, particularly those put forth as part of the gender-mainstreaming lobby, are a lie about God, artificial fabrications that cannot last. 

The family mirrors the the Trinity, embedded in the fabric of creation. The following is adapted from our book, Happy Together: Daily Insight for Families from Scripture.

Scripture shows all three Persons of the Trinity existed and were present at creation, Genesis 1:1–4 and John 1:1–5. Thus we find evidence of the Trinity in the world we inhabit. For instance, there are three dimensions: length, width, and height. Matter has three forms, solid, liquid and gas, consider water: ice, and steam. Even time—part of creation—is divided into past, present, and future.

 

 The Trinity is also evident in us: body, mind, and spirit, and we determine our actions by intellect, emotions, and will. 

But male and female becoming one flesh, Genesis 2:23–24, implies a married couple are equal to Adam and Eve, made from the same lump of clay. They, together with the child—one or more, also part of that same flesh, mimics the Trinitarian God. Of course all analogies are limited. The roles of 

human family members are only similar to the Trinity; nor does human sin exist within the Trinity.

Family relationships find their meaning in the fundamental relationship of God himself—one of love and cooperation within the Trinity, so the idea of God in relationship within the Trinity prefigures the dependence we have on relationship with others. We need another person to reproduce children, and for the ongoing heritage of wider family companionship.

A stable family expresses itself in support for others outside the family, as God expressed His love for humankind by His sacrifice for those he created. Without these qualities, relationship is no longer companionship but simply a convenience. A disgruntled wife expressed this by complaining: “living with my husband is more like having a room-mate!”

To disparage the family is to dishonour the God who created it to reflect His own nature.
 

Check Happy Together with our other publications at www.pebblepress.ca.