God Loves to Make Families by Aaron Menikoff In a few weeks, something wonderful is going to happen: you are going to witness a parent being remarried. That means God is going to make a new family. This is something you need to think about carefully. Do you know what a family is? What do you think a family is? ADAM, EVE, AND THE FIRST FAMILY The Bible begins with the story of a family. It s the very first family. First there was a husband (Adam) and a wife (Eve). God loved Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve loved God. God gave Adam and Eve responsibility: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28). What were Adam and Eve supposed to do? God blessed Adam and Eve. They multiplied by having children. Sadly, Adam and Eve did not obey God. Though God was their king, they choose to obey themselves rather than obeying God. God wanted them to live as a happy family in the Garden. To do that, they had to obey God. But they did not obey God. Because of their rebellion sin entered the world. Sin also entered their family. Adam and Eve had a son named Cain and another named Abel. Cain hated his brother, Abel. Cain was so mad at his brother that he killed him (Genesis 4:8). From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, every family has problems. Jesus said that being angry with your brother and sister is a sin just like murder (Matthew 5:21-22) 1
What are some problems every family faces? What are some problems you have seen in your own family? Adam and Eve were surely very sad when they lost their son, Abel. God punished Cain for murdering his brother. Cain had to leave his family and start life on his own. There were no prisons back in those days, so God simply sent Cain away. This was not the family that Adam and Eve had hoped for when they lived in the Garden. They were beginning to realize just how horrible their sin was. Because they turned away from God, families, forevermore, would have problems. Sometimes sin even breaks up families. We see this in a lot of ways. Because of sin parents sometimes yell at their children. Because of sin children sometimes disobey their parents. Sin can even lead to divorce. Divorce is when a husband or a wife decide he or she will not live together anymore they will no longer be husband and wife. Divorce hurts everybody. What are some ways that divorce has hurt you? It hurt Adam and Eve to see their family broken. But God is alive. He is good, strong, loving, and kind. Even though there is terrible sin in our hearts and in the world, he doesn t stop blessing people. He loves making new families even after families break apart. 2
Not long after God sent Cain away, Adam and Eve had another baby. They called him Seth. The name Seth means He Appointed. Adam and Eve named their son Seth because they knew God appointed or gave Seth to them. Seth was a very special gift to Adam and Eve. Seth could not take away the sadness of their loss. No one could replace Abel. But God gave Seth to Adam and Eve because he loved them. Seth grew up, got married, and had a son. He named his son Enosh. The Bible tells us that Seth and his family and other families began to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26). These families prayed to God and praised God in song just like we do when we gather as a church today. Adam and Eve never forgot about their sin that broke apart their family. They never forgot about their son, Abel. They remained sad that their son, Cain, could not live with them. But God taught them that he loves to make families. He had given them Seth. Then God gave Seth a family. Adam and Eve smiled when they saw many families praising God. How do families call upon the name of the LORD today? JOSEPH, MARY, AND AN UNUSUAL FAMILY Most people know something about Joseph and Mary. They were a young couple engaged to be married. That is why they were both so shocked when the angel said Mary was going to have a baby she and Joseph were not yet married! This was highly unusual. We know that God works miracles. He has always worked miracles. From Genesis to Revelation we see God doing amazing things. What are some miracles we find in the Bible that God has done? It is wonderful to remember that God is powerful and works miracles. He can do anything! One of the things God did was to give Mary a baby without the help of a 3
husband. This had never happened before and it will never happen again. God did this because he wanted to take care of our sin personally. Jesus came to take the punishment of our sin. But in order to do this, Jesus had to be 100% God and 100% human. We know Jesus is 100% human because Mary really was his mother. We know Jesus is 100% God because of the way he was born without the help of a human father God is his Father. This is what we celebrate every Christmas. Jesus can die in our place because he is 100% human. Jesus can forgive our sins because he is 100% God. This is a tremendous miracle. Let s get back to Joseph. God called him to get married to a young woman named Mary. Mary had a son, Jesus. God told Joseph to raise Jesus as his own son. It s kind of funny to think about, isn t it? Joseph read to Jesus. He changed his diapers. He took him for donkey rides. They went fishing together. Joseph taught Jesus how to work. They laughed and played together. Even though Joseph wasn t his father in the normal way, Joseph was still his father. We don t know a lot about this unusual family. But the Bible tells us that Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him (Luke 2:40). What do you think it was like for Joseph to raise Jesus? Mary and Joseph had an unusual family, to say the least! But Jesus honored Joseph as his earthy father. In fact, Luke refers to Joseph and Mary and the parents of Jesus (Luke 2:41). Soon your family is going to change. After marriage God will give you another parent just like God gave Jesus another parent. What can you learn from Jesus about honoring your parents? 4
THE GOSPEL AND YOUR FAMILY When God changes a family it is not unusual to have a lot of questions. You may even be a little nervous when you think about living together in the same house. You may wonder if it s okay to talk about your new parent with your biological mom and dad. What do you call your new parent? It s important to talk about these questions and to know that sometimes there isn t a right and wrong answer. The most important thing to remember is that every family on earth is broken, one way or another. Christians will have to wait for heaven for the perfect family. This is why Jesus came to earth. He paid for the sins of everyone who would ever trust him. When you put your faith in Jesus, believing he died for your sins, God adopts you into his family. God is the Father of every Christian, and he is a perfect Father! Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! Romans 8:15 So every Christian has God for his or her father and the church for his or her family. God is at work, through the gospel, restoring broken families. The local church is not a perfect family, either. But in heaven all of God s children will live together forever and ever and there will be no fighting, no arguing, and no pain. The gospel is all about God building a perfect, forever family. What do you think the family will be like in heaven? All those who have been adopted into God s family believe the gospel. What is the gospel? 5
WHEN REMARRAIGE HAPPENS: A NEW, EARTHLY FAMILY Maybe you have a new parent about to be married. That means you are going to have a new parent, too. This person will likely play, in many ways, the role of a mother or father to you. If this seems strange, just remember Jesus dealt with this, too! Your mom or dad has been hard at work preparing for marriage. But you need to prepare, too, because you are part of this new family God is making. Below you ll find a few more questions to answer. You don t have to answer these questions alone. Take some time to work through them with your parents. As you do, pray that God would give you wisdom to know how to be the son or daughter he would want you to be. What do you want to call your new parent after the marriage? How can you honor your new parent as a stepfather or stepmother? Are you prepared to receive correction and discipline from your new stepparent? 6
What are some ways you can honor the parent who isn t in the process of getting remarried right now? What questions do you have about your parent s divorce or the remarriage? Very soon you can talk about your answers. This will be an important time. Remember that God is very good and very powerful. As hard as all of this may seem, it is not to hard for God to handle, and he can help you, too. 7