God's Design for the Family

Genesis chapter 2 in will be looking at the end of that chapter here in just a second. But as we as we say that and as we talked about starting a new series and jumping into it, I want us to talk a little bit about what that series is. We're talking about family in this series and we're talking about family because we look at the word of God. It is really important. But I recognize that even as we talked about family there are many of you for whom family does not have positive implications many of you who have been hurt by Family many of you who are still being hurt by family who have not experienced it as a beautiful and good thing. I just want you to understand I I get that but right here as we as we start this series as we begin to look at Family through the Ends of the word of God. We need to start with saying what was God's design for it? What was what was God's intention for the family? And we do that for a very particular reason now in order to illustrate that particular reason I want you to look at this picture. It's going to come up behind me. Does anybody know what that is? It's a Ferrari. Does anybody know which Ferrari?

It's a red one. It is a red Ferrari. It is a red Ferrari. I believe it's a 488 and this would be the spider Edition. Okay the convertible there so it's a 48 Ferrari. That's what they look like new now. I want you to look at this next picture. Oh now if you were in auto body repair and somebody called you and said can you put my Ferrari 488 spider back together again? Which picture would you start with?

Right because of all you were handed was this with no idea of what it was supposed to look like. How would you even begin to go about repairing that you wouldn't just scrap it. But if you had the picture of wholeness you would at least have an idea of what that was supposed to be and so as we talked about the family, I want you to understand that most of us, that's our family right there. Most of us this is our experience of something that God designed to be beautiful something that God designed to be useful something that God expected to turn heads under hear me say this God intended the family to be something that other people look at me, like wow. Just like a Ferrari. We're supposed to say wow, but when you see this, they see the mess in the broken. Is she start thinking? Most of us probably come from families that if it's turning heads. It's for the shock value.

Or it's because it's good entertainment putting the fun in Dysfunctional. I don't know but regardless in order to look at our families. We need to understand. Yes, there's broken this. Yes, we've been hurt by family. And as we talk about this over the next several weeks as we go through the series we're going to deal with some of that broke in this weird to talk about things that are opposed to the family room to talk about some of the dysfunctions of the family the first we want to set the stage if you will with a picture of wholeness we want to start with this idea of family as God intended it not family as we experience it. So as we talk about this some of you were going to be tempted when you hear God's design, you're going to be tempted to think yeah, right. Whatever. I've never seen that. Will you bear with me we're going to talk about the Brokenness, but first, let's look at the wholeness. Let's look at what God designed the family to be in the first thing. I'll tell you what guys it is so much easier to prepare a sermon when you're just walking through one passage of scripture. Then when you're doing a topical thing like this this week, I had a sermon that probably would have gone for hours. I showed my wife my notes and she said that looks like a good series. I'm like no, that's the first sermon in the series. And so I had to convince and so there's some stuff that I've got to leave out when it comes to talking about God's design for the family, but we're going to look at are some of the high points throughout scripture of what God intended. This thing to be the first thing I want to see is it God designed the family to undergird all human interaction. That's a mouthful of words. And what do I mean by that? I mean that every time we interact with one another God designed a family to be the thing that supports teaches trains instructs and is in the back of our minds as we engage with any other human or Human Institution. The family is the fundamental building block of reality socially speaking night. And so that's how God designed. This was the very first human relationship package that God put together. All right. We see that in Genesis 2. I hope you turn there. But if you didn't it'll be on the screen. We're going to start in Genesis chapter 2 looking at Verse 18. Then the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. Now this is a shocking statement. And if we had time we would have read Genesis 1 and 2 to this point so we can get the contacts. I'll try to just give it to you briefly in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth was empty without form. It was void and God created everything and he put it on the earth and he created man in his own image. And every time that God created something scripture says and it was good and got side and he saw that it was good and God saw that he had made the sun in the moon and the stars and behold it was good and got sauce. Do you make green plants? And it was good and he saw that he made oceans and it was good and then we get to this verse and we here it is not good. This is a shocking statement. If we if we could read the whole context. This will just jump out at us like Everything was good. Why is this not good? It's not good because the man is alone. It's not good because this man that got it created to image him can't do it on his own women. Can I get an amen?

The male part of the human species is not adequate to represent. The image of God that we are intended to do the male of the species is not sufficient ladies. Thank you.

I was actually going to say though. Neither. Are you? Sorry. God recognizes that we is male or we as female are not enough. It's not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him more suitable for him and that that phrase helper has thrown some people off particularly in the wake of of the feminist movement, which has done some great things and some not-so-great things K in light of that. We looking at helping her like oh so women are inferior to men. Not what he saying. Actually I did this is my favorite Bible fact. I've said I said it this week again is my favorite Bible fact that have learned in the last two or three years that would help her is a word that can also be translated as a lie of the thirty some odd times and it's used in Scripture. Its most often applied to God himself being the helper of his people had so this is not Ada meaning of the woman. This is God saying this man is not good by himself. He needs someone suitable for our needs an ally in battle is another way this word b translate. He needs someone beside him in order to make this Complete because the purpose for mankind was that we would image God that we would reflect God and so got this I got to have men we got to have women. This is where the image of God is seen so it's not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. Skip down 2% Play with me the man gave names to all livestock to the birds of the heavens every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit frame got this is not good that he's alone. He needs a helper all the Beast go by it's not fit dogs are man's best friend, but they're not a helper suitable. Okay, this still the problem is not solved. It's still not good. So God says let's fix it. So he caused a deep sleep to fall Upon A man while he's like, you took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh the rib that God had meant taken from the man who made into a woman. He brought her to the man. Then the man said this at last which if you'd just gone through a named all the animals and the birds and the livestock and not found a helper suitable that at last has some meaning at last this is 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 his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. The family at its most basic unit one man. And one woman is God's solution to the first problem The family one man and one woman is God saying this is not good. Let's make it good. And that reality is meant to undergird every other human relationship Adam knew how to have authority over the animals he knew how to say, this is your name. If you don't like it suck it up and deal with it he knew how to do that. He knew how to submit to God's Authority. God says name the Animals. Adam says, yes, sir. He didn't know how to relate to somebody who is his equal. Until God gave him Eve until God gave him the woman. He had no relational understanding. He had authoritative understanding he understood what it meant to be above something the animals he understood what it meant to be below something God, but he did not understand how to relate to somebody who is his equal every other human interaction has its foundation in this one the fact that we would relate to somebody that completes us the fact that we would relate to somebody without whom we are not sufficient the fact that we would relate to somebody else as an equal. Is the first thing that this family is intended to undergird it teaches and trains us relationally I end up talking to people around me by and large condition by the family that I grew up in I grew up in a family. That was very sarcastic. We liked to use words. In what we consider to be funny ways. However, when I met my wife, she did not come from a sarcastic family and she could not believe how mean I was to my brother.

It really cause some issues between not her and I but between her and her her sister and I I think her sister hated me. I'm not sure if she still doesn't have some of that cuz I was a little sarcastic family training came at now. Probably not what God intended the family between us and sarcasm but none the less because of the relationships that we form in our family that set the tone for how we communicate relate to people for the rest of our lives the family trains us. Morally the family is what trains as morally right right here. God says, this is my intention. It would be one man and one woman and yet it doesn't take long and scripture before we're going way out the rails from that. We got one man and two women and we got one man and one woman and then this other woman on the side over here that the first woman doesn't know about and that's just in the first 10 chapters of Genesis. It's amazing how broken the family gets and yet we see Morley God intended it to be founded on this relationship one man. One woman one Flash and that moral instruction is an element of the family Adam and Eve were intended to pass on to their kids this same idea. They were intended to save this family that God designed. It's his does this first example is what he intends for the others Jesus points back to that it when he gets around to teaching they come and ask him will what about divorce. From the beginning it was not so one man one woman right at our day and age. There are a ton of questions that circle around this what about divorce and remarriage? What about homosexual relationships? Right? God addresses this the first place that he gives us this this Foundation is here in Genesis later on in the series. We're going to talk about some of the ways that we as humans have were dissing Twisted this where to talk about what we do with that Brokenness, but we see hear the original design not only does a family train us relationally and morally and also trained civically right now. So we're not a word we use all the time, but it trains us to VN broader Society. I posted a quote this week. For the sake of time I didn't bring with me now. I wish I would have about it from GK Chesterton GK Chesterton said that being born into a family is the Supreme Adventure, right? You coming to people who are existing just fine without you. Before you got there and now you have to figure out how to make this work. He also says this he says we can say that the family is the unit of the state that the cell that makes up the formation his his basic premise here is that the family is what trains us to relate nationally civically politically, right? We learn how to be in a community by first being in the family. We learn how to be in a state by first being in a family. We learn how to be a nation by first being in a family. We learn how to interact with global neighbors by first being in a family round the family doing deed gather the sanctities that separates men from ants and bees property is but the Family Farm honor is but the family flag in the Practical proportions of human history. We come back to the fundamental of the father and the mother and the child. The family is what is the foundational social unit? And we learn how to interact with another one another by what we learn in the family. Now if you were to look at the social climate the political climate rather here in the United States You can conclude one or two things are politics are screwed up. or I think our families might be screwed up. Chesterton would argue that it's the latter the politics flow from the families and when we grow up in families that are just certs entered competition centered on argumentation. Whoever can yell the loudest wins. What do you think we're going to do when we engage politically compete yell. Try to be the one who makes the most noise. And what do you see in our political system of representation of the families that we've created so the family is designed to train Us and how to relate with the broader World. Imagine if you will being born And not growing up in the family. Imagine being born and not having social interaction. What would that do for your later engagement with Society will interesting enough we've seen this right there their unfortunate test cases of this around the world where we have children who were abandoned children who were orphans and did not receive anything other than the nutrients they needed. All sorts of issues develop out of that. They don't know how to interact because the family is designed to be that which undergirds every subsequent interaction we have for good or for ill. That's what the family does the family also trains us. Transas ecclesiastically I Ever Wanted everything to end with the alley like the strangest relationally morally civically in ecclesiastical if we don't use civically very much and where we certainly don't use ecclesiastically that just means to church it changes how to be the church church understand. This family is the model for the church. I want to say this again and I want you to hear what I'm saying. A Fortune 500 company is not the model for the church. A business is not the model for the church. That's why I one of the reasons that when we rewrote are documents, one of the things we changed was we didn't call it what we do when we gather to discuss things as a as a family we music on business means we quit that because the business is not the model for the church. The family is the model for the church.

That has huge implications. For how and why we do what we do together, but Timothy addresses that Paul writing to Timothy rather addresses that first Timothy 5:1 through to do not rebuke an older man, but encouraged him as you would a father younger men as brothers older women is Mother's younger women as sisters in all Purity went so Paul is writing to Timothy who is leading a local church and he's giving him instruction. Here you go Timothy. Here's what the church out to look like and he talks about you need to be people of prayer. You need to be people who have a right understanding of leadership. You need to be people who understand the importance of what you believe.

And then when it comes time to say, how do you interact as a church? Paul doesn't say what you need to be like the grain Merchant down in the marketplace. He doesn't do that. You need to be like the guys down there who are making a profit off of selling stuff. No, that's not what you're supposed to do. He says look at the family. If you want to know how to interact with one another look at the family you talk to an older man in the church like you would talk to your father. You need to talk to the older women in the church like you would to your mother and enter those who are the same age as you be talking as if they were brothers or sisters. The family becomes a model for how the church interacts. This is all God's design every single human interaction. God designed the family to set the stage for how we would do that. He designed it to be good. He designed us to relate to one another in love and Purity and Holiness and righteousness and encouragement and the family was the place where we learn to do that. Morally. He trained us to recognize his authority and to recognize the needs of those around us and the family was where we first learn to do that. Organizationally civically politically he recognized that there was going to be a need for us to engage with people who didn't think like us talk like us dress like us.

And the family was supposed to teach us how to do that. And then when it comes to the church, he recognized we're going to gather a bunch of people who have nothing in common, but Jesus. Who come from all different walks of life who have all different economic background? Social backgrounds racial backgrounds tons of difference is culturally how are they going to get along? They're going to get along because I learned in the family how to get along. That's the design. It's a good thing that God gave us the family what we do with it. That's another story and we'll talk about that. But that's God's good design that this would be the training ground for all the rest of our interaction. God also designed the family to set or to give us a foundation of faith. God designed the family. To be in my understanding the primary incubator of faith. This was the primary place where we were going to see the truth of who God is and how he designed the world famous Passage. many of you probably could quote it, but I'm going to turn there just so I don't let my failing memory get a hold of me Deuteronomy chapter 6 in Deuteronomy chapter 6 we have something that was called the Shema and the people of Israel would would recite these words at multiple points along their journey of life and you'll see why they did that but it's interesting to note to the context in which the stomata is given to look at Deuteronomy chapter 6 with me starting in verse for hear o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mites and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart at this point. We understand at this point we get it. Okay, right. We're relating to God we are to remember who got it is at this point. We understand that we are to love God and that his commands are to be something not just that we have an intellectual assent to but they have to actually entered into our lives they begin to change us. How does that happen? according to the Shema what happens

number 7 you shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk about them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise you shall bind them as a sign on your hand between your eyes to write them on the doorposts of your house and your Gates. The primary place where we learn that God is God and we are not the primary place where we learned that his direction for my life is going to work out better than my direction for my life is in the home. The family is where this instruction is supposed to take place. The family is where God intended for the majority change to happen. Some people come to Faith later in life again. They don't have that family underpinning. They're making their own way. They have the church there to encourage and stop when we talked about that earlier with the baptism right Church our role for Jesus. Okay, but God's design is that mom and dad follow the lord Mom and Dad teach the kids about the Lord how many of you have heard the phrase plausibility structure familiar phrase or not? So plausibility structure is basically the idea that there are certain things that society would say. That would contradict what we would say as Christians. There's not certain thing. There's a lot of things that society would say that would contradict what scripture would say and that's what this getting been driven out here. You can't expect the world to teach you to respect Yahweh. You can expect the world to treat you teach you to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength. The plaza ability structure the place where that makes sense is in the home. It's in the family the plausibility structure when the world says that none of this is true. Here's an example that we can look at and say this is true. I mean if you guys are familiar with the name Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus. Alright on the upper left there. That's Nicolaus Copernicus. What do you know about Copernicus? He was the one who after centuries of this Theory being rejected came back and said, you know, I'm pretty sure that the sun doesn't rotate around the earth. I'm pretty sure the Earth rotates around the Sun. That was Copernicus. Do you guys know who the middle guy is? Giordano Bruno. All right, they believe the same thing. Who's the last one Galileo? He believed the same thing. Now, these guys are spread out of roughly in the same. Of time, but they're spread out of a hundred years. I guess released his book that expounded this heliocentric theory. He released it in 1543. I think I got that date. Right if anybody is a historian here, you can correct me afterwards. Alright 1543 was the year that he died. So he releases this book and probably die. So he doesn't have to deal with the backlash. That's my read of History anyways. Bruno picks up the idea. And Society kills him for it because there's like no no. Now the Earth is the center.

Galileo was the one that surprises me. Alright Copernicus died right after he published his book. So I wouldn't have to deal with the backlash Bruno was killed for believing this why in the world would Galileo stand up to his society and say wait a second. I don't think that's right. Why would he continue to hold this belief despite intense pressure? despite intense pressure to not hold that belief because he had been given a plausibility structure that countered the claims of the society that we he was in his beliefs made sense because he had been taught them because others had held them. Let me say this is clearly as I can to family is the plausibility structure for Faith. The family is the place when the world comes against us and says don't believe any of this nonsense. The family is the place where our kids out to be looking and saying but I can't believe it. It does make sense because I've seen it. A plausibility structure a believable faith is not a Sunday only face.

A Sunday only faith will give your kids. If you are a parent to your a Sunday. Only faith will give your kids nothing to hold onto when the world says.

A Sunday only Faith does not lead to people willing to die for their convictions. But if they've been raised in a family that demonstrates the truth of the Gospel. In in and day out Deuteronomy 6 style when you're walking when you're lying down when you're in your house when you're out of your house when you're coming into your house when you're going out of your house, right? If that is the kind of house that you have one in which Jesus is King and everybody knows it. Your kids have got something to hold onto that was God's design that the house would be this foundation for Faith. The family would be this place where Christianity didn't look weird. It look like the only truth available because you saw it live doubt. It can't just be talked about it's got to be walked out that kind of family was God's design a family where it made sense to submit to Yahweh where made sense to love one another that made sense to take that message out the door of the house behind it on your hands put it on your forehead that kind of stuff. That made sense in a family of faith. We see this kind of family again in Paul's writing to Timothy in the second letter to Timothy Paul writes to his young Protege and he says, I am reminded of your sincere Faith a faith that go out first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. this is this is the shortest testimony of family as a foundation for faith in the word of God and yet it is one of the most clear Timothy's dad was not a worshipper of Yahweh so far as We Know But his mom was and his dad was and they as Timothy was growing up in this house. He saw their faith. He saw them living out this certainty. The Jesus was the Messiah. And Timothy comes to Faith out of and against a culture that would stand against him and say don't believe that nonsense. You're going to worship some Jewish Craftsman that was murdered or that was convicted of treason and hung on a cross you're going to do that Timothy really and he stands in front of that culture that says don't believe this nonsense and he says I have to believe it because I watched my mom live this out and I watched my grandma live this out and I saw them gather with the Saints on the Lord's day, but more than that. I saw them fraying Faithfully. I saw them reaching out. I saw them feeding the poor. I saw them encouraging those who are downtrodden. I saw the ministering to widows and orphans. This faith is the only thing that makes sense no matter what the world says. God designed the family to be the plausibility structure for face the place where our kids would see the evidence of this. Not Just 2 hours a week but literally every single day every single hour of the week they would see parents who pray parents who read the word of God Parents who love their neighbors and are willing to serve them parents to encourage one another to follow Christ parents who confess their sin and ask for forgiveness family is the plaza ability structure gives it foundation for Faith. That's God's good design. That's what God intended intended for our training in the family to impact our future relationships with one another he designed the family to impact our relationship with him to be the place where we learned about him where we came to understand the truth of who God is and how he designed the world that all happens in the family according to God's design. The final thing that I want to look at in God's design is it God designed the family to give a glimpse into eternity? God designed the family to give a glimpse into eternity and I'm not talking about hell just so we're clear here. I know some of us have to design. Now we live in Utah. Okay, if you don't live in Utah, welcome, we're glad you're here. If you're in Utah a phrase that you've heard at some point is families are forever. You guys heard that phrase or is that just me? Okay Families Are Forever this idea. I want to say that I love that idea. I love that idea, but I don't think that it's biblical. but if we make just one slight tweak, it can be family is forever. God's design has always centered around. The family but not the family that my wife and I established as opposed to the family that some other couple established not families unique and distinct from one another a family that God would bring together from a vast and diverse group of people and the family little f is designed to point us to that family capital F that God is designing until the family is designed to give us a glimpse into eternity. I want you to look at Ephesians chapter 1 with me. Go ahead and turn to this one. It'll be on the screen. But if you got a Bible in front of you I'd encourage you to turn to this. This is note to self. I should probably mark my passages before I get up here.

Ephesians chapter 1 and then almost the entire first chapter of Ephesians is one sentence. in the original Greek Paul just goes off and he is just worshipping God for what he's done and he forgets to put any punctuation in. All right. This is how I write to Sao Paulo and I I think we'd get along in that regard but they were going to jump into the middle of this long sentence, but I don't want that to throw you off understand what Paul is saying is this is what it means church at Ephesus and I would say Church in Enoch. This is what it means for us to be in Christ. This is what Jesus did for this was God's plan for us in Christ. So as I read this is the longer passage track with me and understand Paul is worshipping God for what he has done in Christ in love. He predestined us verse 5 in love. He predestined us for adoption as Sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious Grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved in him. We have Redemption. Through his blood the Forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished Upon Us in all wisdom and insight making known to us. The mystery of his will according to his purpose which is set forth in Christ has a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things on her in him. We haven't obtained an inheritance hadn't been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to Hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory and him you also when you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of your salvation and believed in him, we're sealed with the promise Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory and I would add amen. Amen, look at the language that Paul uses to talk about this God is uniting all things to him in Christ all things in heaven and things on Earth are designed to be United in Christ. There's no bifurcation. There's no differentiation. These things are supposed to come together in Christ. How do they come together they come together and family terms. We are now Sons through the adoption provided in Christ. We we have been adopted into the family of God in Christ. Not only that by being adopted as Sons and Daughters. We now receive the inheritance who receives the inheritance of person who's part of the family.

families are not forever. But family is forever. That is the whole message of the word of God is that family is God's design what God is doing from creation until now is taking this disparate group of people this spread out cast of characters organized in different families in different tribes in different tongues in different languages in different nations. He's going to take them and he's going to bring them all together into one family the family of God. Adopted in Christ and granted the inheritance of eternal life. That's God's design for us to be a part of that family forever. Our families here designed to give us a glimpse of that. The love of a parent for a child is meant to point us to the love of God for his adopted children. The love and encouragement that can happen in a family that rally around a hurting member is designed to point us to the fact that one day God will in that forever family wipe away all tears.

Family is God's design. That's why the Bible starts with the wedding and ends with a wedding. Right, we look we looked at the one Genesis 2 if you ignored me and didn't turn to Ephesians, you're still there in Genesis to write we don't have to read that again Genesis to you have the first family started you have a wedding and that first wedding that first family really encapsulate every subsequent one. Something Beautiful It's Mark bison.

And all those who are married would say Amen. There is a beauty in a marriage. There's a beauty in a man and a woman putting aside their past and coming together and committing to one another until death do us part. We're going to love one another until death do us part. We're going to encourage one another until death do us part sitting together. Until they die. Right. That's the human reality. It's a beautiful thing. It's still points us to God's original design, but it's marred by Brokenness. Nobody starts out when they get married to say, let's be like Adam and Eve and let's destroy the whole world's or our marriage.

And yet we inevitably for all the best intentions bring suffering and pain along with the beauty. The second wedding the final wedding the wedding to end all weddings. We read about in Revelation chapter 19. Look there with me Revelation 19. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude like the Roar of many Waters and and the sound of Mighty peals of Thunder crying out Hallelujah for the Lord Our God the Almighty Reigns, let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted to herself to closer close herself with fine linen bright and fewer for the fine linen is the righteous Deeds of the saint go back 2 verse 7 real quick. Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come if every human relationship is encapsulated in brief is is predicated on the marriage of Adam and Eve Beauty and broken this in this marriage the marriage of the Lamb to his bride the marriage of Christ to his church the wedding to end all weddings fulfills every hope has all of the Beauty with none of the Brokenness has all of the promise with none of the letdown. This is the marriage to take all of these broken families and gather them together into one family that will eternally fulfill God's will for it to demonstrate what piece really looks like to demonstrate what love truly looks like to demonstrate will worship truly looks like that family. The results from this wedding is the one that fulfills all our hopes. And doesn't let us down that. Family that results from that wedding. Does not annihilate every marriage that's come before but it does fulfill them all of their hopes and all of their desires. I love my wife and I love my kids and when I say Families that I don't believe in families are forever. It's not that I don't want to see my wife and my kids forever in heaven. I want them to be there but I don't want them to be their isolated and kind of shut off from everything else. I want them to be there as a part of that family. I want my family to be fulfilled in that family. I don't want to Center eternity around us. I want to censor eternity around him. And it done if I was thinking about it right now and some of my family wasn't going to be with me and Eternity. That would break my heart.

I would break my heart. I want them to be there but I don't want us to be the point. I want him to be the point. I love the kolob canyon part of the national park system. I love going down there to that observation point where you can see all the different finger Canyons coming together right there. I've got pictures on my computer of that scene. And yes, I'll admit it from time to time. I open those up and just look at them when I can't get down there. But I don't pack my computer down there drive up to the observation Point shut the car off open the computer and stare at the screen. Don't need the picture once I've got the reality. That's how I view my family. I love them. I want to spend eternity with them. But when we get there, we're not going to be just looking at us. We're going to be looking at the reality of what God intended the family to be something that showcases his Redemption something that showcases his love and his grace and his Mercy something that demonstrates the Comfort available something that demonstrates the acceptance available something that demonstrates just the sheer amazing love that God has for his people. We don't need the picture. Once we got the reality family is designed here. And now to give us a glimpse into eternity. It's meant to make us long for that day when family is no longer Define genetically or socially are contractually, but when family is designed, Urban Family is defined rather. By Christ and those who are in them in him who look different from one another speak different from one another we sing a song here from time to time. We sang it a couple weeks ago a week ago where we seeing the same song, but then people sing it in other languages, right and then we worship as we hear words that we don't understand most of us are Americans. We speak one language. Okay, by the way, we need to work on that guy's we need to step our game up a little bit. Because when we get to heaven people from every tribe and tongue and language will be worshiping the king Before the Throne not not segregated into Americans and Chinese and Koreans and Kenyans. But as the family of God declaring the glory of the Lamb. Forever and here's the best part of this you're invited. Whether you've got a family that makes you long for that because of how amazing it was or you got a family that's so screwed up. You can't wait for anything different you're invited regardless of the family you grew up in regardless of the family that you've created regardless of the mistakes you've made or the successes. You've had your invited to be a part of God's family. You're invited through Christ to like Jesus said, I'm going to quit going my own way, and I'm going to follow Christ. I'm going to quit leaning on my own understanding. I'm going to start seeing what it is that God says is truth.

You're invited to submit yourself to Jesus is lord. It's simple if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. That you will be saved. We don't unpack that weird saved all the time. You will be saved from the wrath of God. You will no longer be an enemy of God, you will be part of the family of God. Everyone is invited. It's your choice whether or not you will come in Christ to that family or whether you will reject that offer of Grace. Let's pray.