GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE FAMILY

Genesis 1:26-28

26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

I pray that this sermon will help us to

understand that God created the

family unit to display His oneness in

the three persons of the God head.

That is God the Father, God the Son,

and God the Holy Spirit.

INTRODUCTION: I read a story about a

man who noticed some cracks on his

living room wall. So he called a

painter to repair and cover the cracks.

It looked like the painter fixed the

problem but a few weeks later the

cracks reappeared. So the man called

the painter back and he once again

covered the cracks with putty and

paint. The problem looked like it had

been fixed; however, in several more

weeks, the cracks came back but this

time there were even more cracks. So

the man called the painter again. After

looking at many more cracks than he

had seen before, the painter said, “Sir,

I can’t help you because you don’t

have a problem with cracks.” The

frustrated homeowner said, “Can’t

you see my living room wall? Of course

I have a problem with cracks!” But the

painter said, “The problem isn’t the

cracks in your wall. Your problem is

that you have a shifting foundation.

The cracks you see on your wall are

the symptoms of a deeper issue—the

foundation of your house is moving. If

you want to fix the cracks, you have to

fix your foundation. But unless you fix

the problem, you will forever be doing

patchwork.” I’m sure that most people

in here today would agree that our

country and that our society is

crumbling. There are all kinds of

cracks—social cracks, economic

cracks, and relational cracks. In our

society, chaos often describes the

state of the family. Relationships

between wives and husbands,

children and parents are strained.

Divorce and redefinitions of the family

abound. While there are many efforts

to fix the cracks, they are just the

symptoms of a shifting family

foundation. The breakdown of the

family is the single most basic reason

for the disintegration of our society

and culture. If we don’t solidify the

foundation of the family, we will

forever be doing social patchwork.

I say this to you. “The strength of a

nation lies in the strength of its

families.” That’s why when God

created the world and originated

society He started by establishing a

family with a specific purpose in

mind. Let’s explore God’s purpose for

the family unit.

1. RECOGNIZE THAT GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR FAMILY IS TO REFLECT HIS KINGDOM. GENESIS 1:28-30

28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 

30  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 

• God’s kingdom agenda for family is

dominion— that the family would

reflect God’s rule on earth.

• Our society has redefined family so

that its purpose is to fulfill our

individual happiness and personal

fulfillment.

• God created the family to mirror and

reflect Him throughout history and to

serve as a visual representation of the

invisible God on earth.

2. BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO DISPLAY HIS ONENESS THROUGH YOUR FAMILY. (GENESIS 1:26-27)

 26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

• Our Triune God— God the Father, God

the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—

made man and woman in His image

• The family is a unit on earth to reflect

the unity of the Godhead in heaven.

• God commanded Adam and Eve, the

husband and the wife, to be fruitful

and multiply and fill the world and

history with God’s image.

*God wants people to see how the

Father, Son, and Spirit work together

in harmony by looking at the inner

workings of the family.

3. SUBMIT TO GOD BECAUSE HE IS THE HEAD OF YOUR FAMILY.

• Our society has accepted a social

definition of family instead of the

theological and spiritual definition of

family.

• Family is God’s idea and He intends

to be the authority in every family.

• When God created the heavens and

the earth (Genesis 1:1), He identified

Himself as Elohim,( supreme, the only

God) which points to His

creative power.

• When God created man and woman

and began to explain His relationship

with Adam and Eve’s family in Genesis

2, He added “the Lord” (Yahweh, the

self existent one) to the title “Elohim,”

which combines a relational element

with the creative power of God.

• When God wanted to relate to the

family He had created, He used the

name “the Lord God” because it

points to His power expressed in the

context of relationship.

4. UNDERSTAND SATAN’S SCHEMES SO YOU CAN PROTECT YOUR FAMILY FROM HIS ATTACK

2 Corinthians 2:11 

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

• When Satan showed up to tempt Eve

in Genesis 3, Satan left the relational

part of God’s name (Yahweh, “Lord”)

out.

• Satan said, in essence, keep your

religion, but abandon your

relationship with God and don’t

submit to His authority over you.

• When Adam and Eve fell, sin

destroyed their relationships with

God and with each other, and as a

result the family unit was broken.

(Genesis 3:8-19)

• Our society today can accept God,

but it doesn’t want “the Lord God”

because it doesn’t want to submit to

anyone other than itself.

• When families submit to the Lord, He

will enable them to stand against

Satan’s attacks.

Instead of living by God’s

righteousness mankind has

established his on righteousness.

While being unaware that this is a

scheme of the Devil.

But thanks be to God for Jesus who

gives us the way to live in God’s

righteousness.

If we want our families to be one

family under God, then we need to go

to the marriage maker, the family

maker, GOD. He knows more about

marriage and family than we do. When

you understand your role in the family

and live it for the King of Kings, the

LORD OF LORDS and His kingdom…

you can experience family as the

Creator intended it to be.

1. RECOGNIZE THAT GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR FAMILY IS TO REFLECT HIS KINGDOM. (GENESIS 1:28-30 NASB)

2. BELIEVE THAT GOD WANTS TO DISPLAY HIS ONENESS THROUGH YOUR FAMILY. (GENESIS 1:26-27)

3. SUBMIT TO GOD BECAUSE HE IS THE HEAD OF YOUR FAMILY.

4. UNDERSTAND SATAN’S SCHEMES SO YOU CAN PROTECT YOUR FAMILY FROM HIS ATTACK