When God our Creator established the first home in the Garden of Eden, the first family consisted of Adam and Eve, man and woman, husband and wife.
It was Adam who said of his wife Eve, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:23, 24). It was from this marital union that the family expanded to include children, beginning with two sons, Cain and Abel.
Yet, because of sin and its devastating effects since the initial institution of the family, the basic social unit that God created has been constantly under attack.
Satan, the leader of the attack, hates the family, and has intensified his rage with this God-ordained institution as evidenced by soaring divorce rates, alternative marital unions to the ideal that God established in the Garden of Eden, growing societal acceptance of these familial alternatives, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, and the list could go on and on. The family is under attack!
With the first family, Satan managed to inject poison between spouses, poison between siblings, and poison in all human relationships. He has known from the very beginning what many Christians are just now grasping is that the family is the key in God’s program. When life at home is miserable, parents are unhappy and kids grow up wounded, and often rebellious. A constantly feuding family fails to minister or be a blessing to anyone else. So if the devil can succeed in destroying a family, he can count on weakening church as well!
“One well-ordered, well-disciplined family tells more on behalf of Christianity than all the sermons that can be preached,” wrote Ellen G. White in the book, The Adventist Home (p. 32). Put simply, our churches are only as strong as the families that attend. If we build strong families, then we can build a strong church. If we build a strong church, then we can build strong communities.
What is a family?
Typical definitions for the family, from Merriam Webster, include: “A group of individuals living under one roof, and usually under one head; a group of persons of common ancestry; a household.” The Bible defines family in the following ways:
• A husband (male), a wife (female), and their children.
• A single parent (male or female) with children.
• A single male or female living alone.
Whether it is a husband, wife, children, or a single person, however, be assured that the family is being attacked.
How can we withstand this attack? Two scriptural texts provide the answer. First, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Here, the Psalmist acknowledged that God is the “Master Home Builder.” As the “Master Home Builder,” God is an expert in “home construction.” If we are going to stop the satanic attacks on the family, we must let God be God, and let God build our homes, let God build our families. God created the family. And if God created the family, then God knows what is best for the family.
Second, do not forget that “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!” (1 John 4:4). God, the “Master Home Builder,” is still on the throne! If there is a family problem, under the almighty hand of God, it can be solved! God specializes in “home construction” and “home improvement.” The sting of sin painfully affects some families, but the good news is families can go to God for guidance and direction in “home improvement.” Remember these four things, however, that govern all “home improvement” projects:
1. It takes longer than you projected.
2. It costs more than you figured.
3. It is messier than you anticipated.
4. It requires greater determination, and more patience than you expected.
Yes, the family is under attack, but with the help of the Master Builder, “home construction,” and “home improvement” can be realized!