Third week into the Family Month celebration (the Married Women week) at Strong Tower Parish, the topic of creation and the concept of, and God’s vision for the Family as a spiritual entity is further examined. Sermon by Pastor Emmanuel Olowokere.
Click to see Part 1 of God’s Vision for the Family
View a photo album of the service
In the first part of these series last week, we were able to establish scripturally that family started with God (Ephesians 3:12-15); and that by creating Man on the Sixth Day (Genesis 1:28), God decided to replicate the same unit on earth. The Plan started to materialize when God formed Adam as the first male, and Eve, as the first female (Genesis 2:7; 21-22).
We also saw that while the work of Creation was concluded on the Sixth Day, Formation is ongoing until Jesus returns. That easily explains why you are not the first to be formed in your family and may not be the last. Finally, we saw that once Adam was formed, Man became time-bound. Before then, we were spiritual beings like angels.
Today, we will see that family predates and transcends marriage. Marriage is just a unit and an extension of family. Although the first marriage took place when Adam and Eve became “man” and “wife” in Genesis 2:21-23, family had been in existence albeit spiritual before then (Ephesians 3:12-15).
Besides, the covenant blessings upon Man: fruitfulness, multiplication and replenishing, need “ male” and “female” to materialize since they were pronounced on both at creation (Genesis 1:26 -28).
To our key scripture we turn next: Genesis 2:15-23
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Note these from the passage:
God purposely formed man and woman differently to complement each other in establishing a family. Otherwise He would have formed Eve just like Adam. And once Adam and Eve came together (Genesis 2:23), God set their union as example. In Genesis 2:24, God decrees “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Whereas Adam and Eve became the first couple on earth, family was already in spiritual existence (Ephesians 3:12-15) before then. Besides at creation God had created Man- male and female- as Genesis 1:26-27 attests. But Eve did not become Adam’s wife until (Genesis 2: 21-23).
Yes, when a man leaves his father and mother and marries a woman, a marriage and a new family ensues but the concept of family predates that of marriage as we have seen from the passages.
Have a week filled with all round plenty in Jesus name.
