Family, as Shown in the Bible.
Families today come in all shapes, sizes and configurations. Because divorce is so common, it’s no longer unusual for children to be raised in households apart from their biological parents and with siblings who are their half brothers or half sisters or with teens or other children who have no biological relation to them at all. Some believe such arrangements are simply the product of enlightened individuals seeking happiness. Many justify this casual attitude toward divorce, saying: “It’s better for the kids to see us happy rather than fighting. The kids are strong and resilient. They’ll get over the divorce and eventually have a new family.” But rarely do they realize the full cost of divorce.
It used to be commonly understood that, while new inventions would undoubtedly come along and change our lives, we could count on our families to remain stable. We would always have each other—for better or worse. But now the idea of disposable family relationships—lasting only as long as everyone in the relationship is happy—threatens to overwhelm the former perspective. Humanly speaking, changing the definition of family may look like a logical decision to match the realities of our modern world. But this reasoning overlooks the teaching of the One who created families. God Himself is the originator of families, and His intent was that they remain the continuing source of happiness and support for married adults and their offspring throughout their lives.
Let’s see how He did this and what He has in mind for families. Let’s see what He says about brothers and sisters getting along.
God gives Adam a family
At humanity’s earliest beginning, there was only one human being; Adam. As a single male, living alone, with no other human being around to share his life, he was not in what His Creator considered a good environment for him (Genesis 2:18). In resolving this problem, God gave Adam a family that included one wife, Eve, and, later, sons and daughters (Genesis 5:4).
God’s intent for the children of Adam and Eve was that, as they grew up, they would marry and form new families. As God said: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). God wants people who marry to stay married. He hates to see divorce—for a husband or wife to leave and divide the family (Malachi 2:16). Further, God, in the Seventh Commandment, forbids adultery (Exodus 20:14), an important safeguard for protecting family relationships. From the instructions He gave, it is clear that God wanted marriages—and the families created by them—to last. Surprisingly, however, God’s purpose in demanding stable families is for far more than just providing immediate happiness.
In writing to the church at Ephesus, the apostle Paul told husbands and wives to love each other and treat each other respectfully—just as Christ treats the Church. In concluding his discussion on marriage, Paul then made an astonishing statement: “This is a great mystery, but [in speaking of marriage here] I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32). Previously, in this same letter, Paul spoke of God the Father having a “family in heaven and earth” (Ephesians 3:15).
Paul explained that the human family is similar to our spiritual relationship with Christ. In this analogy, Jesus is the Husband, the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23), and the Church is the wife, the Bride (Revelation 21:9). Jesus died to make it possible for us to become part of God’s family (John 1:12; Romans 8:14, 19). This has been God’s purpose and plan from the beginning.
Just as God intended marriage to be a relationship of continuity and trust, so should our relationship with Christ be. In His relationship with the Church, Jesus will never abandon the Bride He deeply loves or betray that relationship (Hebrews 13:5; 2 Thessalonians 3:3). His Bride, the Church, is to be composed of individuals who are likewise faithful (Revelation 2:10; 17:14). God’s eternal spiritual family will not be a temporary, disposable relationship.
A human marriage built on the same principle of trust gives its participants a small taste of this relationship with Christ. Family, as designed by God with inherent trust and happiness, was planned to give us a foretaste of an even greater relationship with God in His future kingdom.