God’s Plan for the Family Part 1

When God created Adam and Eve and placed them on the earth, He ordained the institution of the family. God has a wonderful plan for the man and his wife. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” — Genesis 1:28

When God created the original family, He gave them authority to reign over creation in power and in unity as God’s representative on the earth. They were placed on the earth to be blessed with unlimited supply to enjoy life, love and happiness. They were to be a blessing to one another in a holy unity instituted by God. God is a God of order and structure. The Bible says: “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints,” 1 Corinthians 14:33. He places authority for our protection. As long as man and woman stayed under God instituted authority, they were safe and the blessings would flow freely from heaven upon them. They would enjoy unity, peace, joy and abundant life.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. — Genesis 2:24-25

Here we see the foundational truths of God’s plan for the family. One man, separated from the influence of his parents, is to join himself to one woman, who is to be his one and only wife for the rest of his life. If this union stayed in obedience to God’s Word, then God would bless them and they would know no shame. Their conscience would be clear and they would not live under condemnation. They would enjoy peace, blessing and prosperity as long as they stayed in union under the authority of God’s Word.

But before Adam and Eve were created and placed on the earth, there was a rebellion that took place in heaven. One of the highest ranking angels called Lucifer wanted to seize God’s throne and overthrow God instituted authority in heaven. He deceived one third of the angels to rebel with him against God. This rebellion was quickly put out by God and the rebellious angels were cast out of heaven. And He [Jesus] said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” — Luke 10:18

Heaven is a place of complete order, peace and unity. The moment that Lucifer rebelled against God, he became Satan, which means the opposer. Satan is the opposer of everything that is good and God ordained. He is a deceiver and a liar. His ultimate purpose is to kill, steal and destroy as a thief (John 10:10). He once despised God’s authority and rebelled in pride. He tried to destroy order, unity and peace in heaven, but was unsuccessful. Now Satan works to destroy the family order on the earth.

Today we see families broken with divorce and separation. Husbands and wives are unfaithful. The children suffer abuse at the very hands of the parents whom God ordained to love them. Children are rebellious to their parents and many live in sexual sin out of the blessed wedding covenant. Satan has come to destroy the family, to cause suffering and pain and to steal God’s blessing. In order to understand where things went wrong with the family, in the next part of this series we will look at the original family in Adam and Eve to see how Satan worked against them.