20-20 Vision for family.
20-20 Vision • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 97 viewsAfter God, your family must be your most important priority.
Notes
Transcript
Read Gen 2:18-25
Adam was surrounded by animals, but none of them qualified as a proper help or proper companion for him. Why? Because animals are not equal to human beings (evolutionists are complete wrong teaching such equality). Man was created in the likeness and image of God. That’s why God gave man dominion over animals.
Man has been created to be social being, to be in relationships with others like him, either in friendship, society, church or family. Of all these, family is the most important relationship!
It will not help much if we have a 20-20 vision for life, for personal growth, for missions, or for service, if we do not have a clear vision on that area of relationships called family.
To have a 20-20 vision on family, it must be clear that:
Family is the most important institution.
Family is the most important institution.
The first one ordained by God.
The first one ordained by God.
The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
With the union of Adam and Eve, God was establishing the first institution of Creation.
Gen 2:20-22
With the union of Adam and Eve, God was establishing the first institution of Creation.
With the union of Adam and Eve established the first institution of Creation.
As such, the family became the fundamental base of all other institutions. Society, church, and state are all based on the family.
The state of the family determines the nation’s state.
The state of the family determines the nation’s state.
If the foundations crumble, the walls will crack or fall.
When the family deteriorates, the nation deteriorates. The weak spiritual and social states of our country is the result of the weak state of the family. That has been true throughout the centuries (Sodom and Gomorrah and the Roman Empire are good examples).
“…the majority of problems that now infest or trap human beings all over the earth, are based or provoked by the disorders or bad governance of the families.” (Richard Baxter)
Jails are full of men who grew up without a father present in their lives or with fathers who were a bad example. The majority of prisoners is not composed by those who belonged to a pious, Christ following families, but by those who grew up without being taught God’s commandments.
A 20-20 vision on family must also requires that you clearly understand that:
Your family must be your first priority.
Your family must be your first priority.
The man 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.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
gen 2:23-24
Why it must be your first priority?
Why it must be your first priority?
It’s the first thing God has entrusted you with.
It’s the first thing God has entrusted you with.
These last verse shows us that when you form a family, that family becomes your priority. It is not longer dad or mom, but your wife!
The world was shocked last Sunday by the news that BKB star Kobe Bryant was killed in an helicopter crash. The world will remember him as the great star, but how do think his surviving wife and children will remember him? As a loving and dedicated husband and father! They do not care that the star is gone as that their family head is gone!
Yes, he made lot of money, but he knew that the most important thing entrusted to him was his wife and four daughters. Do you think that at the moment the chopper was going down he cared about his money? I am sure he cared about his family!
No matter your position within the family (father, mother, or child), God has entrusted with caring for that family. Mothers: before you had children, you had a husband. Husbands: before you had children, you had a wife. Children: before you had friends, you had father and mother.
It’s the most valuable thing you can lose.
It’s the most valuable thing you can lose.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord.
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
psa 127 3
The greatest blessings are in the form of a family; not in the form of money or a job!
You may lose your job, but you can get a new one! But your family is irreplaceable!
You may lose your money, and get it back, but your family is irreplaceable!
You may lose your health, and recover it. But your family is irreplaceable!
If I lose the church, I may get another one; but if I lose my family, I cannot get another church!
If your family is the most valuable thing you can lose, as soon as your job or any other activity starts to interfere with the welfare of your family, it is the time to make changes; not changes to your family, but to the thing that affect the welfare of the family.
“Are you insinuating that I have to quit my job?” Let me ask you, “What do you work for?” It is not for their welfare?
You might ask, “How will I feed them then?” Don’t you believe that God can give you a job that will allow you to place your family first?
“Do you mean I have to quit my sport?” Is that your priority? Your family must be your priority! I quit playing my sport to care for my family!
Money comes and go, but family no!
A 20-20 vision on family requires that we have:
Clarity on what a Christian family is.
Clarity on what a Christian family is.
It is one where Christ reigns.
It is one where Christ reigns.
Without Christ reigning in the home, you may have a religious family, but not a Christian one!
In a Christian family, Christ must reign in the heart of every member of the family. Therefore, its members are submissive to what Jesus, the Master, and obey Him before others.
When Christ reigns in the family, its member are submissive to what Jesus, the Master, and obey Him before others.
A Christian family is that one where the head of all is Jesus, not the husband.
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
ephe 5:23-24
It is one where the Bible rules.
It is one where the Bible rules.
Read Ephesians 5:21-33
The Bible is the ultimate rule for the family. It is not what any member think, but what the Bible says.
The roles of the members are rule by what is established by the Bible. Those roles are very clear and must undisputed:
The roles of the members are rule by what is established by the Bible. Those roles are very clear and must undisputed:
The husband is the head of the woman and priest of his family and, as such, he must lead the spiritual life of the family.... A place where the husband leads by example, not b force!
It is a place where wives must submit to the husbands, children must submit to their parents, husbands must love the wives and sacrifice themselves for them, just as Christ sacrifice himself for the church, and they respect their husbands.
It is one where love reigns.
It is one where love reigns.
In a Christian family, where love reigns, there is no place for bitterness or resentment among the members. It is a place where forgiveness is given unconditionally.
It is a place where the way we treat each other reflects the love Christ shows for us.
A place where love is expressed in words and deeds; where the members support and help each other.
A place where children honor and show extreme respect for their parents:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Eph 6:1-3
But also a place where parents do not provoke their children to anger:
But also a place where parents do not provoke their children to anger:
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Eph 6:4
When Christ, His Word, and His love reigns in a family, problems are solved much easily. It is a matter of asking, what would Jesus do? what does the Word tells us to do? and, how can we do it showing the love of Christ?
How is you vision regarding family? Is family your priority? Is family your most valuable asset? Are there any changes you need to make?
Invest your time and effort in what it really matters: your family!