FAMILY

Dear Friend,
How are you today?  I’m well.
 
Have you ever thought why on earth God created family? I have.
 
I got to learn from a David Pawson’s sermon on the book of Revelation that when Jesus returns, there would be no family relationship. There would be no husband and wife relationship, nor parents and children relationship. And there would be no sex in New Heaven and on Earth. We all will be brothers and sisters in His Kingdom. Then one day, I got curious as to why He created family here if it would not continue in the New Jerusalem. As Almighty Creator, He could just have done mass production if He needed people on earth, not creating marriage and family relationships. From the outset, people could be just brothers and sisters, like friends, and He could just have made a different way of begetting human beings, like being formed from the dust.
 
But I think God wants to teach us the relationship between Him and us, making the family relationship and using it as metaphor, like Jesus used parables and metaphor. If it were not for family, we would not be able to understand what the Father’s love is and what pleases Him: we are able to understand His love toward us, through our parents’ love for us; when children don’t love one another, it also hurts the heart of their parents; disobedient children never please parents.
 
I also got to learn that He is a jealous God. In the book of Hosea, I learned that He told the prophet Hosea to get a prostitute as his wife. Even after marriage, she continued to be unfaithful to Hosea. And the Lord taught the Israelites that what Hosea felt mirrors His heart toward His people. There is a certain level of jealousy among friends, siblings, neighbors, colleagues and so on, but the jealousy that could describe His heart the most is the one between husband and wife when the covenantal relationship between them is broken by unfaithfulness. I think people would never feel the greatest jealousy toward one another, unless they are in romantic or sexual relationships. So, we are able to understand why He is a consuming Fire and He is angry enough to sweep out His people, if they are unfaithful and have other gods like money, power, their own children, and so on. I think it would be hard to imagine and understand His heart, if we didn’t have the covenant relationship between husband and wife. So, we learn how to live as His pure Bride on earth and we have wedding with Jesus when He returns.
 
Dear friend,
Well, this is my thought and I don’t know whether it was really His intention. I’ve never asked Him whether my thought is right, and would care less, even if it turned out to be wrong. But I know we are His beloved children and Bride. And I pray in Jesus’ name that you and I will do our best to obey our Father and won’t make our Husband jealous, but rather remain faithful. One day, we will have a very big family meeting in New Jerusalem. What a joy!
 
Have a bliss!
Yunee

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For your Maker is your husband--
  the Lord Almighty is his name--
  the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
  he is called the God of all the earth.
  The Lord will call you back
  as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit--
  a wife who married young,
  only to be rejected,” says your God.
  “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
    In a surge of anger
    I hid my face from you for a moment,
    but with everlasting kindness
    I will have compassion on you,”
 says the Lord your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 54:5~8)