As we read God’s word, we discover that God has always had a plan for the family.
We also find when humanity departs from God’s plan for the family, all sorts of sins and issues pop up.
God’s plan for the family is structured around two things: respect and love. We will notice God's emphasis on these two things as we study together.
It’s Not Good to Be Alone.
God created Adam first, and then He said, “It’s not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). God already knew this – I think God wanted Adam to realize it for himself. So God created Eve out of Adam’s rib to be a help and companion for him.
As Christians, it’s also not good for us to try to exist all on our own – we need our spiritual family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and they need us (Hebrews 10:24-25). We are a “help” to each other and so, forsaking or abandoning the assembling of ourselves together is not just harmful to our brethren, it’s harmful to the individual who attempts to “go it alone.”
Understanding that our family is meant to help us, and knowing that it’s not good to be alone, we look to God’s plan for the family.
Husband and Wife: Parents Must Imitate the Relationship of Christ and His Church.
God’s plan for the family begins with a husband and wife – Mom and Dad.
God’s emphasis for the husband is love.
The example of how the husband is to love his wife is how Jesus Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25).
The husband’s love for his wife is supposed to be selfless - just like Jesus’ love for the church (Ephesians 5:28-29, 33).
God’s emphasis for the wife is respect.
The example of how she is to respect her husband is how the church is under Christ’s authority (Ephesians 5:24).
The wife’s respect for her husband is likened to the respect or reverence we ought to have for God (Ephesians 5:33).
Parents to Children: Parents Must Train Their Children in the Right Way.
Parents are to be teachers to their children (Proverbs 1:8). Our children are in school – and we are the teachers, and our school must center on the knowledge and respect of God (Proverbs 1:7).
Parents, and fathers especially, are commanded to raise up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). In training our children, we must not be too hard on them, lest they become disheartened – our teaching must be done with love (Colossians 3:21).
Failing to discipline our children has disastrous effects – but so does going too far to the opposite extreme and being overly harsh and hard on our children.
Children to Parents: Children Must Obey and Honor Their Parents.
Children must “listen carefully” and obey their parent’s teaching in the Lord, for this is what’s right and pleasing to God (Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20).
Children also must “honor” or place great value upon their parents if they wish to receive God’s blessings – it’s in doing these two things that children show love and respect for their parents (Ephesians 6:2-3; Deuteronomy 5:16).
Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees because they taught people not to honor their parents (Matthew 15:3-6).
Children to Children: Love One Another.
John reminds us of how children – brethren – ought to love one another, and he refers back to a negative example that we should not follow (1 John 3:11-15). Cain did not love his brother – we must not be like Cain “who was of the wicked one” because we are the children of God (1 John 3:10).
Brothers and sisters ought to love one another. It’s impossible to love God and to hate your brother (1 John 4:20-21).
Those who love God and keep His commandments are the ones who love God’s children (1 John 5:1-3).
A respect and love for God and our parents ought to lead us as children to love each other.
Because God said it’s not good for us to be alone, our family is critically important to us.
As we have observed, God’s plan for the family – from our relationship with God, between husband and wife, parents and children, and between children - revolves around two main things: respect and love.
May we strive to build our families upon God’s plan for the family!
The Family is the basic structure of society and what you have said was very basic understanding in our society until the last few years.
God established the family as an analogous relationship that we are to have with him, for now and all eternity.