GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE FAMILY

About Jesus’s forthcoming birth, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Jesus purpose is to bring peace. Peace on Earth shall come when the Thousand Year Millennial Reign of Jesus arrives. Until then, there will be little peace and negligible good will. Although Jesus came to unite mankind, not even those in one home shall be united as a family:

KEY VERSES: ⁴⁹ I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! ⁵¹ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: ⁵² For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. (Luke 12:49-53)

  The Baptism of Jesus of which He spoke was baptism in blood — His own blood. Jesus’s “house” was not only His family, but His apostles and the world. Imagine if you will, how Jesus dreaded dying, and even agonized over it in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing that He had few heirs. Jesus’s baptism in blood was to provide an estate; and the estate of Jesus is Christianity and the true Church.
  Jesus's agony was because, as the Master of the House, He remained unloved. He was going to His death with a great burden. He came to bring peace, but that was not to be; families would be torn apart and there was nothing that He could do other than die that the discord might end. Finally, after Jesus died, His Holy Ghost returned when His House was of one accord (Acts 2:1). It was His “Jewish” House, but not for long. Discord would soon come when Paul was led to turn to the Gentiles since the Jews had rejected Jesus. With that change, the Church became Gentile but not genteel. That House soon became divided and is to this day and will be until the Millennial Reign.
  Today, I want to focus on one of the earliest institutions, if not the oldest, in existence. After God Created heaven and earth, He soon created man, woman, and children. The family was of paramount importance to God since He commanded them to replicate. Jesus, as the Word, first agonized over Adam and Eve, but had mercy, and covered their decadent flesh with the innocent flesh of an animal which gave its life. Adam and Eve learned at that moment what death entailed.
  Soon after, Cain killed Abel in a situation wherein Cain was covetous of Abel’s relationship with God. For the first time, a person had killed another living soul, and it was his own brother. That act was the epitome of hatred (1 John 3:15), and that is followed in the same passage by, “no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Hatred is a form of murdering because it is demonstrative of discord. Before, God’s Holy Ghost came, His disciples had to be of ONE accord. There had to be unity, no begrudging, no animosity, but mutual love. They had to take Jesus’s Words to heart, and love others. The family system is metaphoric for God’s family – The Groom, the Bride, and the adopted children. Jesus is the Groom, the Church the Bride, and “whosoever” (John 3:16) the lost children available for adoption in the Family of God.
  First off, the Father and Mother must be honored. That is God and the Church. Parents are representative of that. When the Word said to honor parents, and gave a promise of a long life, He was indicating that we should honor God and others to have eternal life. Our earthly parents are representative of that relationship. If children do not love and honor parents, how could they love and honor God and others? The commandment does not distinguish between good parenting and poor parenting, but ANY parental relationship at all. At one time I scolded one of my brothers for not honoring our Dad. He finally saw that in a proper light, and I am certain that he is now enjoying a long life in Heaven!
  Satan has a strategy; that is to divide divine institutions. The family system is one of the most divinely ordained of them all. Not by coincident, godless Marxism exploits that weakness. Their goal is to diminish the family and replace it with the “common good” which in practice, is for the good of the government. With the family divided, people are ripe for further division. Soon communism expects children and siblings to inform on each other.
  This is not, however, about socialism, but that the family is under attack. Marriage is almost a dying institution, the first… and the first to go, and soon followed by the family. Even if people do get married, it is civil marriage only, and not Holy Matrimony because that institution is forever. Likewise, families are forever! or are meant to be.
  Satan undermines God by the prevention of marriage, by divorce, and by dissolution of the family system. He wants Cains to hate Abels, and he wants Cains to hate Aclimas — brothers and sisters. In Genesis 4:6, God asked Cain, “Why are you incensed?” Indeed, why would Cain be incensed against a brother who loved him? Why would he be incensed against his sister? Cain seemed to hate his family, but mostly rebelled against God!
  Jesus, speaking of incense, said, “Henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father,” and so forth. I know of a divided household that fits that perfectly well. It started with divorce of the parents but did not stop there. The system was to be in harmony but is now out-of-balance due to discord. One family member has been incensed against the father for years and incensed against the mother for quite some time. Now he is incensed against his brother and sister; all five family members are in discord.
  Now there is discord between another brother and his sister, and even the other brother to the father. Through it all, the father and mother have loved all the children. Satan has not got to them yet because the father and mother depends on God. Sometimes they seem to be harsh, but because of the intellectual dishonesty and mind-games of Satan, love is often tough. Sometimes, children do not want to hear things that they need to hear, and sometimes even well-meaning parents don’t hear the “silent scream” of children. Even good parents do things wrong, but God still wants them to be honored so much that He commands it!
  Adam still loved Cain even after Cain hated Abel. However, God cast him out to the land of Nod. There are consequences to incense; Cain became more like Satan and Seth, the righteous brother, remained true, at least until Satan go to his family years later.
  Jesus wants there to be Peace on the Earth and goodwill toward each other. When the people were in discord with each other and God, God destroyed what they had built and babbled their language. Finally, after Jesus came, some did get peace, there was accordance among the brethren and Jesus’s Holy Ghost came down. When there is discord, the Holy Ghost of Jesus is still there, but he agonizes when He can’t Comfort us. Jesus agonized when He was here in the Flesh, and still does in the Spirit. How can we as individuals cease Jesus’s weeping? Unity — to be of one accord and to love each other. “Toughlove” is that we are even to love our enemies. How can that be when God’s people don’t love their neighbors nor even their own families?
  We people called “Christians” must self-examine? Are we doing God’s Will? If not, and probably we aren’t, there must be change; and discord must be changed to accord.

(picture credit: 123RF.com)