Gen 2

God’s First Institution:

The Home

Good morning, friends!

I hope you guys are doing well this morning.

It is a joy to see your faces today, I am thankful to see you guys today, and by making this time a priority, You have honored the Lord as well.

Today we take a moment to honor those who gave all, who served and contributed to what indeed makes this nation a great country.

Please join with me for a minute of silence, and quite prayer thanking God for selfless people who served and have now gone on to their reward.

And I say Amen and Amen…

This morning I want to take us to the first institution that God created, Do you know what that is? It is the Home.

Now you might ask, why would I spend time speaking about the home?

My friends, the home is in danger. If there is one institution that Satan has in his sights, it is the home.

He hates it, because God created it, because it is the first place people learn about worship and adoration of our God and it is the one place where training up children has a life long impact.

So it is vitally important.

So this morning let’s examine what God did, Let’s consider what makes up the home and how are those inside the home supposed to live.

Take your Bibles this morning, let go all the way back to the book of Genesis and lets look at Genesis 2:21-25

Genesis 2:21–25 ESV

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

There is the beginning of God’s plan, and so lets consider just three points from the Word of God.

The first thought is this today,

1 God’s Creation...

The family, is without a doubt the most beautiful portion of God’s creation. I think more lovely than the flowers of the field or the stars in the heavens.

Why you might ask? Because the family is the one place where God can be and should be honored (by our voice and our walk) as we live in front of Him.

So after God had created all that would be, and made man. God saw that it wasn’t good for man to be alone Genesis 2:18, he needed a helper.

You see before this, all the animals of the earth, the birds of the air and fish of the sea, they had the opportunity to be fruitful and multiply after their own kind.

But Adam, as He walked before the Lord and the animals of this earth but had no companion for himself and God saw this wasn’t good.

So looking at our text, God placed Adam into a deep sleep, a sleep so peaceful and restful that he is undisturbed by even this procedure. Look at the text again...

Genesis 2:21–22 ESV

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Now this is interesting...And instead of forming his helper, woman from the dust of the earth, God made woman from the rib of man.

Now consider this, Adam was special in his own right. But the method of making woman tells us that she was a special creation in God’s eyes.

So God operated on Adam, God did this himself and this sleep well, it keeps Adam from witnessing or knowing the “how” of her creation.

Kenneth Matthews said “...the building block for constructing woman is a portion of man’s essential skeletal frame.”

Now some might ask, why is this important? Why is it important for us to know she made from man?

The woman, (Eve) was taken from man’s side, his rib to show that she was of the same substance as Adam, and this underscores the unity of the human family, they have one source.

This is made clear in what Adam says.. Verse 23” ... that she was bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh..”

How wonderful, God made them for each other, her creation wasn’t just to make woman.. it was to compliment one another and join them together. They were meant under God’s plan for one another.

Now listen, I am gonna shock you with this... God made one male and one female, and it didn’t change…

Adam was made male, and he was made for Eve. And likewise, Eve was made female, and she made her for Adam. Their union was the closest of all the relationships. God is the one who established this...

Now there is something special I want to point out here in verse 24 Gen 2:24

Genesis 2:24 ESV

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Because of this union, “one flesh” the relationship between a man and woman, husband and wife will create obligations that even overrides one’s duty to their parents.

Now understand, this doesn’t mean the parents aren’t special, and it doesn’t end their relationship with parents. But it does tell us the obligation to one’s spouse is meant to be before their parents.

With the union of a man and woman, a new family is birthed into the world.

So the dynamics of the relationship changes, husband your wife has to come first, and likewise wives, your husbands have to come first over parents… But it doesn’t mean you abandon parents, you are still obligated to them.

And for the role of husbands and wives, your dynamics will change some as children come into your lives.

The family and with it the home is God’s creation. It is a sacred institution, and it is meant to be treated as such. The home, the family, the marriage is sacred.

Treat it as such… Marriage is hard work, Honor God with your marriage. It is His first institution.

2. The Home’s Purpose...

Now that we have addressed the creation of the home, lets take a moment to discuss the purpose of the home.

The home was set in place to accomplish several key functions as purposed by the Lord. Lets take come time to address these functions.

The first we have already mentioned really briefly, So lets revisit this thought… The Lord sought to give Adam a helper.

A. Helpmate… God has said … it was not good for man to be alone. Listen to Genesis 2:18 “18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.””

God knew that Adam needed a companion. Man and woman were made for each other, the Scriptures say that God made for man a “helper, and I love this phrase fit for him.” You might say, she was perfect for him.

Now that phrase is important, God new that what was previously created while important referring to the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and so forth. and while special, they were not fit for man. So God made him a companion.

This companion was made like him, His helper, the woman would be of the same character and nature, and was of the same likeness.

But here is what is special, a “helper” is one who supplies strength in a area that is lacking.

The term doesn’t imply one who is stronger or weaker than man, but it was someone who was “fit for man.”

So the home was meant to be a place where man and woman would unite themselves together under the covenant of God and build a home that would honor God above.

Q — Now the question one might ask is this, should everyone be married.

Well the answer is obvously no. There are some that can remain alone, it is good for them to be alone, in that is their calling. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 7, if some can remain unmarried and pure, that is fine. But if you cannot remain pure then take a spouse.

But secondly....

B. A Divine Establishment… The home is a divine establishment that is meant as a place of rest, of peace and of spiritual growth.

In the home, man and woman are united together under the blessing of the Lord, and this union helps to bring peace as you both, husband and wife live a life that places the Lord first.

Now Listen, if Jesus is not first in your personal life, he can never be first in your marital life.

And Marriage is important, so often now you see people living together but not getting married. The sad thing here is there is no commitment there. Do not expect the blessings of God on your relationships when you are not following his guidance.

The home is meant to be a place where the husband and wife support and help one another in the role they are given.

What are the roles in the home… well there is a husband and a wife… What does the Bible say about those relationships?

If you go to Ephesians 5, it tells us plainly how our relationships are meant to be.

And I know at times we struggle with these passages. But this morning lets walk through them briefly..

Ephesians 5:22–24 ESV

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Now this word submit causes a lot of confusion in our relationships. People assume we want the husband to be a Lord over the wife..no, not at all.

The word “submit” here isn’t like the obedience children owe their parents. And it doesn’t mean that women are to submit to all men.

So what does it mean?

Listen, as the word of God tells us, both genders are equally created in the image of God. And we ( men and women ) are both heirs of eternal life.

Submission is the idea of deference to the ultimate leadership of the husband for the health of right working of the marriage relationship.

For example, in a right relationship a husband and wife share in the decision making, they should seek to do what honors God in all things. But the wife will defer to the husband to make the final decision.

But ultimately the decision is what they both have agreed upon.

Submission is the not the husband lording over the wife, dishonoring her and their family and certainly not mistreating them in any way shape or form.

But husbands you have a responsibility to your wives as well. Lets go back to Ephesians 5:25-27

Ephesians 5:25–27 ESV

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Husbands, do you see this, your love is to be a sacrificial love. All that you do is to bless and love your wives. The example is clearly given… Just as Christ loved the church and laid down his life for the church. So you husbands are to lay your life down for your wives.

Husbands are not to oppress or rule over their lives like some tyrant, no, Godly husbands are practicing a sacrificial love, that puts her ahead of himself.

The goal of husbands if to help make his helpmate shine. and likewise wives exist to bless and help her husbands.

C. The Home is for a family...The home is meant to be a place for children. Now the Lord gave a command for mankind for mankind, speaking of those who were male and female, if you look at Genesis 1:28 says “28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

Now I know in today’s world not every couple can produce children themselves. But you can parent children, adoption, is a role to help children grow and come to know the one true God.

I think those who are child less should pray and ask God to help them raise and minister to children.

So the home is meant to be a place to grow children and raise up the next generation. But what are you to do?

Well the next thing we will talk about it the home being a place for the spiritual establishment of the family members.

D. A Spiritual Establishment… We may not always think of it as such, but the home is a spiritual establishment.

The home is the first place where we strive to personally grow closer to the Lord, as a husband and wife, we are to grow closer to the Lord together and we are to teach our children the correct ways.

Lets run over to the book of Deuteronomy, 5th book of the Old Testament.. and lets find verses 4-9

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

When you read this, we understand this is the basics for where Jesus gives us the “greatest commandment”

As the children of God we start in the home, we place our lives in His hands and we seek to worship him with all of who we are... He is the total object of our devotion.

So the command is that we would love Him, the Lord our God with all that is within us.

So as the husband or the wife, our devotion is for God first. We have too, if we do not love God and develop our love and relationship with the God first, how can we possibly be a good husband, or a good wife. How can we practice love, and devotion to to each other in front of God.

Now think of this...

What I do with God, how I love and worship Him will define my ability to love my wife and children. And likewise the same is true for my wife.

But secondary to this, and it is dependent upon what i have just talked about, the next step is for us to teach our children to love the Lord as well.

Verse 6 says the “Words” or “commandments” that He has given us should be upon our heart. The “word or commandments” encompass the totallity of God’s word.

God’s word is meant to be invested upon our lives my friends, then and only then can we live it.

Remember what David said in the Psalms about the word of God.

Psalm 119:105 “105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Psalm 119:11 “11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Do you see what is being said… The Word of God is meant to guide our steps, to light the way so that we do not stumble or fall. It is meant to be more than stored up, it is to be treasured up in our hearts so that we can live correctly.

The word of God in my life allows me to live correctly in front of God, in front of my family and of course, others my friends.

And parents, grandparents, what you have done in your heart will make a difference in lives of your children.

So these words are to be upon our hearts, and verse 7 here in Deut 6 , the Word tells us we are to impress them, teach them diligently to our children .

So look: Impress them on your children. we who have received the love and forgiveness of God, we are to take what we know, what we have learned and we are to teach them to our children.

To teach them diligently ( verse 7 ) is the image of one who takes a hammer and chisel and carefully, skillfully cuts an image into a granite slab of stone.

It can be a pain staking task, but in doing so the message will stay with them all the days of their life.

Look at Deuteronomy 6:7 again....“7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Look at the frequency of your labor, you are do impress them upon your children and talk wit them, teach them at every opportunity.. The Lord give us 3 opportunities.. when you sit in your house, when you are walking or traveling down the lanes and or when you are lying down or rising up.

Your ministry mom and dads, grandparents, is to teach spiritual life to our children and grandchildren.

The home is meant to be the key place of your families spiritual establishment. Do not fail in your mission to lead your homes.

And this is important.. why?

One quick last thought..

3. Satan seeks to Destroy your Home...

When we talk about the Devil, Satan, some will dismiss these words of warning.

You know why, some are thinking that Satan isn’t real or that He cannot touch or harm your life and home.

Listen He can and He will....

How do I know this… We could start with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Who came to deceive them? Satan did… Why?

He came to disrupt God’s establishment of the home. He wanted to tear down what God was doing...

The home is meant to be the starting place of God’s wisdom and devotion. just as we have been talking about already.

But Satan wants to deceive so that he can distrupt not only your home but the future generations of the home as well.

How will He try to do this… you name it, the ways are endless.

Satan will seek to entice our children away by attaching them to the things of this world.

Think about your cell phones, we give them to our children to “keep them safe” but we have just given our children to the world.

Other groups, musicians and people will seek to promote an agenda that is opposite than that or Christ, why and how? Because they are children of the devil.

Consider the music they listen too… and I do not hate all music but there are a lot of messages in every form of music that promotes an agenda that is not consistent with the Lord Jesus.

Two passages I would remind you off… John 10:10 “10 The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

This is in contrast to what Jesus came to do, the end of verse 10 says “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

And the second verse is 1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

The devil is constantly looking for those who are weak, who are down cast, who are discouraged, who are hurting that he might wedge in a way to take them, steal them away and devour them.

If we do not raise our children in the church, under the Lordship and headship of Christ, they will be more vulnareble to Satan’s lies and deceit.

The home is meant to be the starting place for the family.

It is the home where two people, have surrendered their lives under the Lordship of Christ, fulfilling the Lord’s mission for the home so that each generation can have hope and success as they replicate the home and raise the next generation.

But it must begin today...

Parents raise your chidlren in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Grandparents affirm this as you support your children.

In all that you do, do it for the Lord and his glory.

This morning, please know the home is the first institution God has instituted, and it is special, the distruption of the home is part of Satan’s plan to ruin people’s lives.

Pray for and protect the home for the glory of God.

lets pray

The Home’s replication