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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Family: The Means to Generational Blessings

When men understand selfless love, and the singularity of attraction reflected in marital union, lifelong multi-generational commitments are created. We then begin to understand a God “whose ways are higher than our ways” Isaiah 55:9. This profound truth is then reflected in our most personal relationships. This insight leads to the development of our personal redemptive gifts and assist us in the cultivation of those gifts in our spouses, children, grandchildren. This generational blessing is evoked every time the scriptures declare a blessing from “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”Acts 3:13 The understanding of the blessing of family is not limited to the Judeo Christian cultures but is universal. Where it is most present, cultures prosper in their understanding of the divine nature of God. The opposite of selfless love is selfishness and is witnessed in the acts of the sinful nature. Faith demands that we see with a heart that understands “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.” (Romans 5:20) and it abounds everywhere and at all times.

Sexual immorality and impurity cause us to worship the creation instead of the creator. It represents the highest form of idolatry. The dominion mandate to be fruitful in multiple within the family system is replaced by personal sexual gratification completely separated from the process of family or procreation. Homosexuality is the predictable out come of this process. Men and women become unwilling to negotiate the difficulties of cross gender relationships and instead worship that which looks like them-selves. But it is the process of understanding these relationships that we understand the nature of God. Christ indicated that marriage reflects the union between himself and His church. Ephesians chapter 5 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-33 therefore makes marriage the most scared of God’s institutions.

The individuation of the culture free of the responsibility and rewards of family creates debauchery. It reflects the character of Satan that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. On a national scale it leads to rape and pillaging in war zones and the destruction of millions of lives. It is a type of idolatry and witchcraft that seeks to replace God with things we make and things that we do. They replace faith and trust in God who would bless us with living vibrant spouses and children with lifeless objects like cars and houses. It is partnership with the devil. Fighting over things instead of raising children or caring or aging parents leads to discord, jealousy, fits of rage. It separate us from each other like Adam and Eve were separated from the Garden. They cause us to assign blame instead of being accountable for our sin. It leads us into situations in which we avoid or hide from responsibility for our own behavior. (Genesis 3:11-12) Selfish ambition, dissensions, factions systematize the above works of the flesh. It is what happened in the days of Noah when men grew in violence toward each other. Envy; drunkenness, orgies, are the dregs from the table of the above meal served to the flesh. It is wantonness without direction. It is anarchy. It is often spring break. It is frequently Bourbon St. New Orleans. It is normalized in advertisement that states, “What happens is Vegas stays in Vegas”.

Making the connection from ancient Garden of Eden to “Sin City” is vitally important. The modern world separates the beginning from the end, we as evangelical want to connect the beginning to the end in one continuous story. Adam and Eve’s rebellion and subsequent failure is identical to our own, “because we are their offspring, Acts 17:28. The world would have us evolving from primitive people to modern sophisticated people. This is a Darwinian thought not a Christian one. If men became more primitive through time it is because of sin and debauchery and not because they had failed to climb the evolution scale to modern times. It is because shame has ruled them and often their people and therefore violence, aggression, and sexually immorality become the fruit of their lives. They grow to hate children and the task of subduing the Earth through hard work and cooperative living with their fellow human beings in a family system. This was never God’s will. God actively pursues a relationship with all men born on the face of the Earth. He does so through eyes that sees his glory in creation. He does it through a conscience that is wounded when it sins. Creation is most clearly seen, conscience is most tender, and Christ is most highly exalted when men reflect upon the glory of new born children. The blessing of children is most appreciated in the context of life long committed families with multigenerational connections.

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