One Mind Church

Find the Blessings of Family (Eph.5:21-30)                                                                             May 6, 2012

May is a Family Month in Korea. As we share God’s Word concerning family, we must take this time to restore the blessings of family. First, today’s message is entitled “Find the Blessings of Family.” We use the word “find” because God did give us the blessings of family, but we cannot enjoy them because we either lost them for some reason or do not know how important they are. What happens when you lose hold of or do not enjoy those blessings? All problems begin from your family. In fact, how did the curse come upon mankind in the very beginning? It came to the family of the first men Adam and Eve; unbelief, crime, and works of Satan began here. It says in Mt.10:36, “A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” If you have any enemy within your family, you must find a resolution for that today. Certainly, family is a blessing that God gave us. If you look in Gen.1:27-28 and Gen.2:18-25, God created man and woman to form a family and gave them everything, but they lost hold of it when they fell into curses. How are you going to restore and find those blessings?

1. First, you must find the blessings of the spiritual family within you.

(1) What is the very first blessing that comes the moment you accept Christ and receive salvation? It is the change of your relationship and your identity.

a. You become God’s family. It says in Jn.1:12, “You shall be given a right to be God’s child,” and in Rom.8:15-17, “You received the Spirit of sonship and cry ‘Abba Father.’” That is why you receive an answer whenever you pray, you have become someone who cannot be destroyed, and you will go to your Father’s Kingdom heaven even if you die today.

b. What does your relationship with Christ become? When Christ becomes the Lord of your life, He becomes your husband. A lord takes responsibilities. When the people of the ancient days recognized husbands as lords of their families, it did not just simply represent a hierarchy between a lord and his slave, but a lord had to take care of whom he was responsible of. It is all because Eve came from a rib bone of Adam. That is how much a husband must love, protect, and care for his family. When a husband does not or cannot play the role of a perfect lord of his family, a problem occurs. For that reason, who has become the Lord of each and every one of us? Christ. That is why it says in Rev.21:2, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

(2) Why does the Bible compare the relationship between God and us to that of a father and his son and the relationship between Christ and us to that of the groom and his bride? We are within the blessings of God’s eternal family. What happens when you cannot enjoy this?

a. First, your individual life will become very difficult. You are God’s family, which makes you a member of the royal family. You must restore great pride, self-confidence, and self-esteem. You must maintain the appropriate demeanor as a member of the royal family. That is why you cannot say whatever you want to say, fall into discouragement whenever you feel like it, and act however you want to. Being a member of God’s family itself is a tremendous privilege. It is tremendous even if you find the seven blessings of God’s child.

b. You can block the curses of the world and Satan’s attacks that come upon your physical family only when you restore pride, self-confidence, and self-esteem form that fact that you are God’s family. When Adam and Eve lost hold of God’s covenant, their relationship with God was shattered and problems came upon their family. Of course the woman was tempted first and disobeyed the covenant. The man should have been conscious of this, but they were both deceived by Satan. Can you not receive any strength from any parents? God your Father is still with you. Receive strength from Him first. Can you not receive any strength from your husband or your wife? You still have Christ who has given His own life for you and is now holding on to you.

c. There is a real reason why we must keep holding onto this. Your physical family lasts only on this earth, but your spiritual family is an eternal blessing you will enjoy in heaven. No matter how well your husband, wife, parents, or children treat you, it is not eternal or complete. That is why the Bible urges us to keep our eyes off of earthly things, but fix them upon heavenly things (Col.3:1-4). We call enjoying the heavenly blessings on this earth “God’s Kingdom”. Look upon God your Father every moment. Rely upon the Lord and your husband Jesus. That is when the Holy Spirit works within you and the forces of Darkness flee.

2. You must find blessings of your family that have been allowed to you right now.

(1) The relationship with your spouse, parents, and children was not for by an accident. Can you not stop yourself from complaining and resenting because you think it was just a mistake? Well, none of those things can happen if you truly believe in God. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Mt.10:29-30) That is God’s sovereignty. God has united your husband or wife with you (Mark 10:9) and allowed you the relationship between you and your children and parents.

(2) What you must find here is a reason to give thanks. “God has given these people as my family as a blessing.” Believe in it and give thanks for it. At that time, you will be able to see what you can do for your family and realize your commission. The very first family of mankind originally became as a “helper” to one another (Gen.2:18).

(3) You must let Christ reign over your family. Do not try to speak your opinion all the time, but let Christ take care of it and just pray. You end up fighting with your spouse because you keep on pushing your own opinion.  “Christ is the Lord of my family and the Son of the living God.” Make this confession of faith your family motto. That is when the work of Christ’s taking control in every aspect of your family takes place. Let Christ take control and work upon your family. That was originally the idea of a family. That is when all blessings of family are restored.

3. In a way, church is a family.

(1) Church is not just an organization. Christ paid the cost with His own blood to build the church (Acts 20:28), He became its head (Acts 20:23), and all saints are His body/family (Acts 20:30). In fact, today’s passage seems as if it simply talks about how husbands and wives should respect and love each other, but if you deeply meditate upon it you will discover that it explains the relationship between Christ and the church. Think about how Christ loves, protects, and makes the church holy. That is why you must disappear within the church and only let Christ be manifested.

(2) Church is your spiritual background. All believers who are sitting here are my spiritual family whom God has allowed that should prolong until you go to heaven. That is why people from all nations must gather together just like it happens in our church because we are all one family under one father. I hope that you may take the Picnic Service as an opportunity to get to know your family better, be thankful for one another, and share love together.

(3) The Early Church was a prime example of a spiritual family. They became one centered on the apostles who delivered God’s Word. They considered one another precious, always gathered and prayed together, and encouraged and strengthened one another. No hindrance or persecution could make them collapse. That is why when the church receives strength, its families are bound to be revived.

<Conclusion>

Satan attacked family from the very beginning, and now this world is full of families with hardships. I bless and hope that you may restore the true blessings of family as you remind yourself of the three meanings of family.