God’s Design for Family

We live in a culture that seems to be attempting to redefine everything that God has ordained. This is especially seen in issues of family, marriage, and gender. Our culture as a whole is not just becoming more accepting of a new definition of family but is aggressively pushing this redefinition as good, healthy, and enlightened. But rejecting God’s original design is not good, healthy, or enlightened.

All throughout Scripture we see examples of people who thought that they knew better than God, and each time it led to judgment and tragedy. Of course, the most obvious example of this happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and decided that they knew better than God (Genesis 3). That one act of rebellion and its tragic consequences are the root of the problems we’ve seen all through history. And people continue to follow in the footsteps of Adam and Eve and continue to rebel and exalt themselves above their Creator.

In the Western world, a large part of this battle is being fought in regard to the definition of family. Our culture is increasingly trying to redefine family to be whatever people want it to be. TV shows (even kids’ programs), commercials, and other pop culture mediums often portray families as made up of two fathers or two mothers. A recent example is a series of commercials made by Tylenol that show how “our definition of family is now expanding and blossoming, so it’s not this rigid, fixed picture of what the family is,” according to the Washington Post. One of these commercials features a blended lesbian family. This depiction goes completely against God’s original design for the family and for marriage, which was designed to be between one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–5).

Although in today’s world it is unpopular to say so, the best and only family is still the one that God designed: a father and a mother. Of course, in a sin-cursed world where divorce and single parenting is a reality, this is not always possible. We should certainly have compassion on those who are living in broken homes, but that doesn’t mean that the church should shy away from boldly proclaiming God’s design for the family.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ offers hope for those who come from broken families. When we come to know Christ, we get added into the family of God (John 1:12). We get a new family—the worldwide family of Christians (Ephesians 2:19). Now that’s a special family!

I encourage you to learn more about God’s design for the family on our website's family topic page. You can also see my feature article about leaving a lasting godly legacy for your children.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.