Family As God Intended

Part 2: Living In What You Built!

Previous Lesson Review

In the last lesson we covered: • Family creation…Genesis 2:18 & 21-22, “And the Lord God said, It is not good

that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”; “21 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.”

• Family order…1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

• The vows Adam made regarding his wife to God in Genesis 23-24…bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh…were to God, about her…

Previous Lesson Review Cont’d

• Power of the union…1 Peter 3:7…when in unity God is more readily available to hear us

• Favor of the union…Proverbs 18:22…when we find our wives, we gain favor with God

• Authority of the union…Proverbs 31:23…when our home is functioning properly we find that it allows husbands to sit in favorable places

• Leadership is equipped by the union…1 Timothy 3:4-5…rule well our homes, to perfect our ability to lead Gods home

Foundation Scriptures

So now we understand the importance of unity in the home and how it should be…let’s focus on the function within…

• Genesis 6:12-14, “12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”

• Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as of yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;…”

Foundation Scriptures…cont’d

• Proverbs 24:3-4, “3 Through wisdom is an house built; and by understanding it is established: 4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

This brings us to the question: “Can you live in what you built?”

Status Check

Based on the text from Genesis, we want to explore 2 basic questions:

• What is the status of “His way” in your home?

• What is the status of the “construction” according to his plan?

To get started let us confess: “The current state of my home is the fruit of my planning, my way and my construction. I am asking God to continue the renovation process, so that I may live in what he builds and lead it accordingly.”

“His Way”

• Colossians 3:18-21, “18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”• Wives submitting

• Husbands loving and not being bitter

• Children obeying

• Fathers not provoking

“His Way”…Loving, Not Bitter Husband

Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

• Imagine if Christ was bitter against the church

• What does it mean to “give” ourselves…to be Christ Husbands…in short it is• Remember the cup

• Endure the assault

• Suffer the cross of marriage

“His Way”…Submitting Wives

Submission: the state of being obedient: the act of accepting the authority or control of someone else

• Submitting to Christ, while ignoring your husbands authority is not submission as God instructs…1 Peter 3:6

• Abraham Highlights

• Lied and said she was his sister…twice

• Slept with another woman…although at her direction

• Was going to kill their long awaited son

• Had a problem sending the other woman away

What Happens When We Break The Rules?

GodChrist

HusbandWife

Children

Flow of

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w of

Disobey

ing

1 Samuel 8:7 M

att. 12:48-50

“His Way”…Obedient Children

Ephesians 6

• Obedient children obey your parents and honor your father and mother• How we help:

• Not provoking them to wrath

• Nurturing and training them in the ways of the Lord

• Disobedient children are “tossed to and fro”…Ephesians 4:14

• Their obedience qualifies our ministry…1 Timothy 3:4

Construction

1 Timothy 5:14, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

• If wives are expected to “guide” the house, then there is an expectation that they have:

• Something to guide…provision

• Somewhere to guide…vision

• Opportunity to guide…exercise and autonomy

This brings us to the question of, “What have you as a husband built?”

Construction…Cont’d

Proverbs 14:1, “Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands.”

Proverbs 21:19, “19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.”

To the woman, “What are you doing to guide and contribute to the building?”

The Importance of Noah’s Story

• God provided warning and Noah moved

• God provided instruction for what to build and how

• God provided the material to build with, but Noah still had to prepare it for use through work

• God required sealing, inside and outside

The Ministry of Marriage

Imagine the following: • Our pastor came into church late all the time in just enough time to preach and

then bolted right after offering

• He only preached on money and during leadership meetings he badgered about a salary

• His wife rolled her eyes at him every time he spoke

• He was bailing a child out of jail every other month

• His wife was fired off for cursing out her boss

• How would you feel about the ministry and his marriage? Those same feelings are what people who you attempt to minister to feel when they see your marriage out of alignment with Gods plan

Conclusion

• Proverbs 16:3-4, “3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. 4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

• Some things to do:• Survey your living environment and be honest with yourself…how have you

contributed to the current state of where you live…is your home built to code?

• Seek God for guidance on how to fix it…something’s will require renovation, while others will require demolition and construction

• Heed the warnings and move

• Seal the work in obedience by leading of the Holy Spirit

What Would Have Happened If Adam Didn’t Eat?

The first Adam was faced with the choice of following after God, or doing what he felt was his obligation to his wife…1 Corinthians 7:32-33…he missed Gods heart

The second Adam understood that by following after God’s purpose he would provide a better outcome…redemption…for his wife…he understood Gods heart…he resisted biting the fruit of disobedience