It Begins At Home Part 1

This study addresses family matters.

1. It will treat of husband/wife relationships.

2. It will treat of the parent/child relationships and the solemn duty of training children.

3. It will treat of children's responsibility to honor and obey parents.

4. It will treat of God's order for the home in general, including immediate and extended

   family.

5. It will have a direct relevance to married couples.

6. It will have an indirect relevance to singles who can thus:

   1. be better prepared for marriage, should God grant it.

   2. better relate to their own parents, siblings and extended families.

   3. be able to witness to others of God's order for the home.

7. It will of necessity address submission to authority: children to parents, wives to husbands, the whole family to Jesus Christ.

8. It will prove to be a challenge of your faith: to what degree will you yield to God's word?

Consider the theme, "It begins at home."

1. Marriage (and family): the first human institution. Mat.19:4-6.

2. Family is the first form of society and government to which children are normally exposed.

3. Parents are the first educators of the sons of men. What is or is not learned in the home has

   incredible consequences for future development.

   1. Home is where a child should first learn of God, His love, His will.

   2. Home is where a child should first learn language skills.

   3. Home is where a child should first learn basic health and hygiene.

   4. Home is where a child should first learn of submission to authority: by the example

      his parents set and by the boundaries his parents impose upon him. God Himself in

      the incarnation was subject to His earthly parents. Luk.2:51.

   5. Home is where a child should first learn that his will is not preeminent.

   6. Home is where a child should first learn of discipline, i.e., the need to restrict and

      focus ambition.

   7. Home is where a child should first learn of the painful consequences of

      lawbreaking.

   8. Home is where a child should first learn responsibility: being responsible for

      assigned tasks and accepting responsibility for incompletion.

   9. Home is where a child should first learn cooperation and social skills.

   10. Home is where a child should first learn of nurturing and giving.

   11. Home is where a child should first learn economics.

   12. Home is where a child should first learn dietary nutrition.

   13. Home is where a child should first learn about physical exercise.

   14. Home is where a child should first learn about "the birds and the bees" (from

       parents, not the television or internet).

   15. Home is where a child will first learn to prioritize. But what?

   16. Home is where a child WILL learn. The question is "What?"

4. Piety begins at home. 1 Ti.5:4.

5. Provision begins at home. 1 Ti.5:8 c/w Jdg.6:11.

6. The office of the ministry is qualified by home life. 1 Ti.3:4-5.

7. Abraham is the prototypical man of faith. He was singled out for blessing because of

   faithfulness in family matters. Gen.18:19.

8. Many personal and societal ills can be traced back to some form of dysfunction in the home: spousal abuse, child abuse, self-indulgent parents, absentee fathers, unsubmissive wives, sexual impurity in a parent, rejection of God and religion, lack of child restraint, lack of instilled respect and reverence for authority, etc., etc., etc.

   1. Research and experience show that homosexuality and lesbianism tendencies too often develop as a backlash to poor parental role models, particularly in fathers.

   2. Child abuse is often the result of the lack of timely, measured discipline of children which results in a powder-keg reaction when children are out of control.

   3. Lack of respect for leadership or submission to authority in public arenas (school, workplace, before the law) starts with the lack of the same in the home.

   4. Lack of self-discipline in adult life is often the continuation of a behavior developed and tolerated in the home.

   5. Unrestrained behavior in public is usually because of the same in the home.

   6. Healthy family life = healthy public life and healthy adult life.

9. Consider Eli and David.

   1. Eli was God's priest to Israel. But Eli did not restrain his own appetites, nor did he restrain his sons which debauched the priesthood. 1 Sa.2:24; 3:13; 4:18.

   2. David was a good king. But David's lack of Vitamin "N" (NO!) bred trouble in his children and trouble for Israel. 1 Ki.1:6.

The family is bedrock to many spiritual things.

1. The relationship of God to His redeemed bears many marks of family. Eph.3:14-15.

   1. God is Father.

   2. The heavenly Jerusalem is Mother. Gal.4:26.

   3. Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom. Joh.3:29.

   4. The church is His bride/wife. Rev.21:2; 19:7.

   5. The union of Christ to His church is a marriage. Rev.19:7.

   6. The redeemed are God's children: sons and daughters. Rom.8:16; 2 Co.6:18.

   7. There is child discipline. Heb.12:5-6.

   8. There are family meals. 1 Co.10:16; Rev.19:9.

   9. There are family get-togethers. Heb.10:25; 12:22-24.

   10. There is a family reunion. 1 Th.4:15-17.

2. Marriage pictures Christ's love for, union to, and Headship of the church. Eph.5:22-33.

   1. Christ's love for His bride was effective by His cross. Gal.2:20; Heb.9:15.

   2. The cross was the undoing of the devil. Heb.2:14.

   3. Biblical marriage, therefore, is a reminder of Satan's defeat.

   4. Is it any wonder that the Biblical order of marriage comes under such heavy attack by "shack-ups," infidelity, divorce, unsubmissive wives, same-sex unions, etc.?

3. Children are a gift of God to (married) parents. Psa.127:3-5.

   1. Parents are expected to bring children up for God. Deu.6:5-7; Psa.78:5-7; Eph.6:4.

   2. Parents are, in essence, "tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father" (Gal.4:2).

   3. Parents, not the State, are God's appointed guardians and trainers of children.

      1. Parents thus endowed by God should take command of the education of children.

      2. It is very much because of the unwillingness of parents to shoulder this responsibility that a god-like State has arisen which usurps parental authority.

      3. Parents are at liberty as to how their children should be educated but they should carefully consider the ramifications of "public" (State) education.

      4. As a youth, Jesus Christ, under parental authority and tutelage, "increased in wisdom [intellect] and stature [physical], and in favour with God [spiritual] and man [social]" (Luk.2:51-52).

   4. Couples who have no intention of raising children in God's ways for Him should consider having none. God desires a godly seed. Psa.144:11-12.