Family

The Bible tells us that children and grandchildren are among God’s most wonderful gifts. The book of Proverbs says, “Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father” (Proverbs 17:6). God truly blessed my wife and me with four wonderful children, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even a few (currently, and still increasing!) great-great-grandchildren during 68 years of marriage. God places each one of us in a physical family as a small taste of the spiritual family He is growing.

Yes, God is building a very special family!

Family is a very important part of God’s creation, and is patterned after His own family, currently composed of two eternal beings called the Father and the Son (1 John 4:14). The Bible tells us that each human being is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27). One of God’s primary purposes for creating mankind is to grow His family in the coming Kingdom of God, a family that is named after Him: “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14–15).

Hebrews 2:10 says that God is “bringing many sons to glory” and the Apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Jesus Christ founded a church that represents the “firstfruits” of that future family, composed of begotten children who will be reborn at the first great resurrection at the end of this age (1 Corinthians 15:50–53). Romans 8:29 tells us that Christ was the “firstborn among many brethren.” These few Scriptures, along with many others, explain a fundamental aspect of God’s overall plan for mankind: He is growing a large family, composed of many children made in His image.

In preparation to be in God’s family for eternity, each person has the opportunity to learn and grow in a physical family. Many of those vital lessons fall on parents, as they have a great responsibility to teach their children to follow God’s ways and to walk as Christ walked, as stated in Deuteronomy 6:5–7:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Proverbs 22:6 adds, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Parents (and grandparents) bear the responsibility to strive to pass down God’s instructions from generation to generation.

This responsibility can be a heavy one, but it is also an enormous blessing. The psalms beautifully describe the blessing of children: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:3–5). Those blessings come with great responsibility to train and help those children to follow God’s way of life.

Parents can accomplish this by setting a godly example of love and concern and following the teachings of the Holy Scriptures throughout their own lives.

One of the great biblical truths is that God is growing His family, a family that will live together forever. May we each learn lessons in our physical families as we seek to be in God’s spiritual family.

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If you would like to read more on this topic, please order our free booklets What is the Meaning of Life? and Successful Parenting: God’s Way. You may also enjoy watching “Raising Good Kids in a Bad World.”