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Sep 22, 2019

Family Matters

Family Matters

Speaker: James Gallaher

Series: Family Matters

Category: Sunday Morning

We’ll begin the series with brokenness because God continues to use families to bring about His purpose on the earth in spite of the dysfunction.

FAMILY MATTERS: Broken Families

Families are under attack. We tend to think we have isolated problems within our own families, but we all come from some degree of dysfunctional families. We all have areas that need improvement. Broken families need to acknowledge that we need help or it’s unlikely that we get better.

We’ll begin the series with brokenness because God continues to use families to bring about His purpose on the earth in spite of the dysfunction. It started with the first family: Cain and Abel – murder; Noah – Alcohol; Abraham and Sarah – doubt; David – adultery and murder; David and his son, Absalom - war against each other. Yet, God describes David as a man of God’s own heart. Even Mary forgot her own child, Jesus, on a trip. Jesus’ own family thought that He had lost His mind.

Maybe our families are not as messed up as we think. Temptation is common to man. The good news is that when we take the family that God has given us and commit it to God’s hand, He can bring something beautiful out of that.

THE PURPOSE OF THE FAMILY

Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

From the very beginning, the creation of the family was intended for something specific. Verse 26 - rule over, Verse 28 - subdue it. The primary purpose of family in God’s Word is so that we would take a position of dominion and rulership over the earth. The purpose of dominion is so that the likeness of God can be experienced in every part of the earth. Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 

All creation is from God. Yet, the final act of creation is formed in His image so we would be recognized as God’s children all over the earth. God created family in His image so that when it is broken, we can go back to the creator to get it fixed.

The enemy doesn’t show up on the scene until the first family is established. When oneness came, the enemy came to destroy. There is power in unity. Perhaps a wrong approach we tend to have to conflict is leaving when we should be willing to fight for unity, for relationship, for family. There are things worth fighting for, more marriages that need to fight, kids worth fighting for, and the church fighting for the family. There is power in unity. Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Sharpening breaks down what has been hardened. Through friction and difficulties, the hardened can be changed. God can use rejection to change our direction. Recognize what God is doing.

Ecc. 4:12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. A triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Here is the principle of unity – together, we are stronger. We are called to unity because we are stronger together. Fight for unity. Family is worth fighting for. With unity comes dominion. God has dominion and it’s the dominion that the enemy wants. We need to guard what God has given us.

In Genesis 1, Adam and Eve were all of mankind and in perfect relationship with each other and with God. In a matter of a couple of verses, mankind went from being in a perfect relationship with one another and a perfect relationship with God to a broken relationship with everyone on earth and with God. That brokenness remains today. NOTE:  Genesis 3:1-6 The very first thing the enemy did was to cast doubt on God’s Word. This doubt works in us to remove us from our place of authority and isolate us to a condition of ineffectiveness. Be aware of people who cast doubt on the Word of God.

Compare: I John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. There are no new tricks from Satan.

TWO THREATS TO THE FAMILY:

1. SHAME:  Genesis 3:7-11 Shame entered when sin came into the world. Adam and Eve felt shame. They were hiding from each other and from God. Shame is destroying families as we think we are too broken to ever have any hope of restoration. Verse 21 The Lord made garments of skin… What Adam and Eve had made was insufficient. The garments that God made required something that had never been required before – God had to shed blood to cover their shame. The only thing that will cover shame is blood and this is a shadow of what would happen when Jesus would offer the perfect sacrifice. The only thing that takes away shame is righteousness. Righteousness can only come through Jesus Christ and the acceptance of His sacrifice. Revelation 3:18; Isaiah 61:10

If the enemy can convince you that because you still sin and still make mistakes then you must not be worthy, then guess what you are going to experience? Shame! The shame is going to cause you to back away from relationship with both God and family. Realize that we can’t fix our past, but we can step into the future and look to what God is calling us to. The only way to get rid of the shame that comes with being human is by accepting the righteousness of God through the cross.

2. BLAME:  Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the devil. Neither one of them took responsibility for their sin.

So, if rulership and dominion is the purpose of family then the enemy is going to use anything that he can to destroy your purpose and destroy your family. Blame is that great divider of relationships. Blame prevents transformation. Don’t live in the bitterness. Lay it down.

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

In our sermon series, Family Matters, why is it important to start in Genesis? 

What is the purpose of the family and how does that unity or disunity play out in our lives today?

Give examples of ways that you have seen “shame” and “blame” in your own families. How have you overcome or changed that behavior?