THE PROVERBS ON FAMILY (17)
Scripture: Proverbs 4:3-4
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The Proverbs on Family (17)
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Proverbs 4:3-4
Introduction
In Genesis 2 we read God declare, ''It is not good that the man should be alone.'' I read this and I'm not sure if there is a more profound statement on the nature of humans than this. This one statement, made by our Creator, sums up exactly who we are and what we were made for. First, that man should not be alone points us to the fundamental reality that we were made and we exist for relationship with God. I think the Puritans of the seventeenth century summed it up well when they wrote, ''The chief end of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever.'' Your greatest fulfillment in life is found in knowing God and being known by Him. Your Creator has hard-wired you for this very thing.
But, part of knowing and enjoying Him is found in relationship with other human beings as well. You see there in the Garden God surveyed all that He had called Adam to and concluded that it was not good for Adam to seek to do all these things by himself. It was not good for Adam to seek to worship God by himself; it was not good for Adam to seek to obey God by himself. To fully know and enjoy God, Adam needed other human beings. And so God gave him a wife so that together, a husband and wife, as a family, they could fully worship and obey God.
This, we see, is the fundamental purpose of marriage and the family. Genesis 1 and 2 teaches us that these institutions form the core foundation of God's mission to fill the earth with His glory. Accordingly, Genesis 1 and 2 teaches us that these institutions exist primarily for this purpose. In other words, God's mission and purposes for the world feature the family at its center; likewise God's purposes for the family feature His mission at its center.
And yet, how many of us feel like our families resemble such as picture as this? You see when it comes down to it, I'm not sure many pe ...
Series: Wisdom - Suffering, Thinking, Loving, and Living Authentically
Patrick Edwards
Proverbs 4:3-4
Introduction
In Genesis 2 we read God declare, ''It is not good that the man should be alone.'' I read this and I'm not sure if there is a more profound statement on the nature of humans than this. This one statement, made by our Creator, sums up exactly who we are and what we were made for. First, that man should not be alone points us to the fundamental reality that we were made and we exist for relationship with God. I think the Puritans of the seventeenth century summed it up well when they wrote, ''The chief end of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever.'' Your greatest fulfillment in life is found in knowing God and being known by Him. Your Creator has hard-wired you for this very thing.
But, part of knowing and enjoying Him is found in relationship with other human beings as well. You see there in the Garden God surveyed all that He had called Adam to and concluded that it was not good for Adam to seek to do all these things by himself. It was not good for Adam to seek to worship God by himself; it was not good for Adam to seek to obey God by himself. To fully know and enjoy God, Adam needed other human beings. And so God gave him a wife so that together, a husband and wife, as a family, they could fully worship and obey God.
This, we see, is the fundamental purpose of marriage and the family. Genesis 1 and 2 teaches us that these institutions form the core foundation of God's mission to fill the earth with His glory. Accordingly, Genesis 1 and 2 teaches us that these institutions exist primarily for this purpose. In other words, God's mission and purposes for the world feature the family at its center; likewise God's purposes for the family feature His mission at its center.
And yet, how many of us feel like our families resemble such as picture as this? You see when it comes down to it, I'm not sure many pe ...
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