Creation Concerning Marriage and Family

Considering Christian anthropology centers on Scripture, what are some divine directives that can be gleaned from the biblical account of creation concerning marriage and family life? Thinking critically, how may Christians continue to uphold their biblical understanding of anthropology while remaining relevant in a secular society that upholds diverse human and family values? 
 

          There are many divine directives that can be understood by simply reading the creation account as given by God’s Word regarding marriage and family. The first that I think of is how man depends on God for all his needs. Our text tells us that, “The dependent nature of human existence is a gift in itself.”[1] Although we depend on our Creator for our needs, this is a good problem. God holds all the keys to our survival and if we find comfort in Him, He will meet every need. Just as man finds his comfort and needs met in the heavenly Father, a man’s family should be able to look to the father of the family to have many of their physical and emotional needs. Just as God is the leader of man’s spiritual life, a man’s family should be able to look to the father of the family to provide that spiritual guidance and leadership. The head of the family is God. If the father of the family is following his heavenly Father, there should be no confusion about what a man’s role is. It is only when a man has his first love in God, that he can then properly love his wife and children. We see this theme throughout both the Old and New Testament Scripture and is directly addressed in 1 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV), “ But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” This same message is also found in Ephesians 5:23. The evidence that our spiritual model is displayed in the family structure is found in the verse immediately after in Ephesians 5:24 (NKJV) as it says, “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”
 
 
 
        We find in Genesis 2:21-22 that the woman was created just as man so that he would have woman as a companion, but this does not mean that man must dominate her. She was made, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”, requiring Adam to respect her as a human created by the hands of God.  Ephesians 6:4 (NKJV) tells us, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Even Proverbs 22:6 tell us that if we do these things properly as God commands then they will not “depart from it.” A good woman, wife, mother, and leader of the home are shown by example in Proverbs 31. I remind my wife constantly of how well she matches that description and that not only makes her feel confident, but encourages her to stay strong in the fight against family life in America. Colossians 3:18-21 gives us the commands for all three positions of the family and how it should be ran. Mark 10:6-9 gives us instructions on how we are to marry and how to go about that business. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 both discuss the unholy nature of same –sex relationships. The creation of both man and woman of Genesis 1:27-28 explain the purpose of gender and how we were made to multiply under God’s blessing. With all the evidence that God has given in His holy Word, man continues to act under the assumption of his own desires.
 
 
 
        Christians should always remain relevant to secular society in the fact that we understand what societal issues that non-Christians face. Of course John 15:19 reminds us that the evil in the world will always hate us, but if we are able to offer solutions to many of man’s issues on this earth we will at least remain relevant to individuals even if we are not relevant to popular culture as a whole. Even now, they mock us and speak hatred towards believers, but when those same individuals need help, prayer, and spiritual answers they turn to the very ones that they discriminate against. We remain relevant by remaining in Christ. There is no other answer than to stick to our faith and our heavenly instruction through the Word. We must keep our way of life and our testimony on full display. Even amidst complete turmoil and suffering in the world, the Christian methods of life are proving to be fruitful even where it is not popular. Secular science refrains from making the true results of unclean lifestyles popular. When the world realizes that all the fornication, lustful desires, homosexual, and deviant behavior are only reaping sufferings; they will break. The world will then turn to God to get them out of the mess that they shook their fists to Him over, just a few years before. We must remember that our journey is one of endurance as we are told in Hebrews 12. There will come a time when the weary will grow tired and thirst for the “rivers of living water” (John 7:38 NKJV). The question is, will we be there to guide them back to Jesus or will we cast the first stones?