& A Blessed

• Families come in different shapes and

sizes.

• All families are imperfect and flawed.

• All families are a work in progress.

• God designed that we become part of

a family for a special reason and

mission.

A LOOK AT TWO FAMILIES IN THE BIBLE

A. The First Family (Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel)

B. The Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and Jesus)

A.Adam , Eve, Cain and Abel

(Genesis )

Genesis 2:18-2518 Then the Lord God said, “It is notgood for the man to be alone. I will makea helper who is right for him.”19 From the ground God formed everywild animal and every bird in the sky,and he brought them to the man so theman could name them. Whatever theman called each living thing, thatbecame its name.

Genesis 2:18-2520 The man gave names to all the tameanimals, to the birds in the sky, and to allthe wild animals. But Adam[b] did notfind a helper that was right for him.21 So the Lord God caused the man tosleep very deeply, and while he wasasleep, God removed one of the man’sribs. Then God closed up the man’s skinat the place where he took the rib.

Genesis 2:18-2522 The Lord God used the rib from theman to make a woman, and then hebrought the woman to the man.23 And the man said, "Now, this issomeone whose bones came from mybones, whose body came from mybody. I will call her ‘woman,’ becauseshe was taken out of man.”

Genesis 2:18-2524 So a man will leave his father andmother and be united with his wife, andthe two will become one body.25 The man and his wife were naked,but they were not ashamed.

Genesis 3:4-104 But the snake said to the woman,“You will not die.5 God knows that if you eat the fruitfrom that tree, you will learn aboutgood and evil and you will be like God!”

Genesis 3:4-106 The woman saw that the tree wasbeautiful, that its fruit was good to eat,and that it would make her wise. So shetook some of its fruit and ate it. Shealso gave some of the fruit to herhusband who was with her, and he ateit.

Genesis 3:4-107 Then, it was as if their eyes were

opened. They realized they were naked,so they sewed fig leaves together andmade something to cover themselves.

Genesis 3:4-108 Then they heard the Lord God walkingin the garden during the cool part ofthe day, and the man and his wife hidfrom the Lord God among the trees inthe garden.9 But the Lord God called to the manand said, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:4-1010 The man answered, “I heard youwalking in the garden, and I was afraidbecause I was naked, so I hid.”

Genesis 4:1-121 Adam had sexual relations with hiswife Eve, and she became pregnant andgave birth to Cain.[a] Eve said, “Withthe Lord’s help, I have given birth to aman.”2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’sbrother Abel. Abel took care of flocks,and Cain became a farmer.

Genesis 4:1-123 Later, Cain brought some food fromthe ground as a gift to God.4 Abel brought the best parts fromsome of the firstborn of his flock. TheLord accepted Abel and his gift,5 but he did not accept Cain and hisgift. So Cain became very angry and feltrejected.

Genesis 4:1-126 The Lord asked Cain, “Why are youangry? Why do you look so unhappy?7 If you do things well, I will accept you,but if you do not do them well, sin isready to attack you. Sin wants you, butyou must rule over it.”

(GOD WARNED CAIN ABOUT SIN BUT HE DID NOT LISTEN TO GOD’S

WARNING).

Genesis 4:1-128 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.” While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is

your brother Abel?”Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my

job to take care of my brother?”

Genesis 4:1-1210 Then the Lord said, “What have youdone? Your brother’s blood is crying out tome from the ground.11 And now you will be cursed in your workwith the ground, the same ground whereyour brother’s blood fell and where yourhands killed him.12 You will work the ground, but it will notgrow good crops for you anymore, and youwill wander around on the earth.”

LESSONS FROM THE FIRST FAMILY:

1. Roles are meant to be observed toavoid confusion and chaos.

We all have God-appointed roles.Husbands are to lead, wives are to helpand submit. Peace and order aremaintained if we stick to our God-givenand God-appointed roles. Chaos ariseswhen we stray away from God’s design.

LESSONS FROM THE FIRST FAMILY:

2. Rules are meant to be followed togive us long and enjoyable lives.God gave us rules not to restrict ourfreedom but to make us enjoy life more. Ifyou’re a borderline diabetic and thedoctor tells you to cut down on your sugarintake, it is not to deprive you of what isgood, it is to make you healthy and toprotect you from the ill-effects of diabetes

LESSONS FROM THE FIRST FAMILY:

3. Redemption is possible even forthe most problematic families.

You would think that the first family wasalready beyond redemption. Imagine,destroying creation’s perfection with onebite of the forbidden fruit. Imagine killing¼ of humanity because of anger and envy.The first family committed grave sins andheinous crimes, yet God’s grace was stillavailable for their redemption.

Gen 3:21-2421 For Adam and Eve, the Lord Godmade clothes from animal skins for theman and his wife and dressed them.22 Then the Lord God said, “Humanshave become like one of us; they knowgood and evil. We must keep them fromeating some of the fruit from the treeof life, or they will live forever

Gen 3:21-2423 So the Lord God forced Adam out ofthe garden of Eden to work the groundfrom which he was taken.24 After God forced humans out of thegarden, he placed angels and a sword offire that flashed around in everydirection on its eastern border. Thiskept people from getting to the tree oflife.

B.The Holy Family

(Jesus, Mary and Joseph)

Matthew 1:18-2518 This is how Jesus Christ was born. Ayoung woman named Mary was engagedto Joseph from King David’s family. Butbefore they were married, she learnedthat she was going to have a baby byGod’s Holy Spirit.19 Joseph was a good man[a] and didnot want to embarrass Mary in front ofeveryone. So he decided to quietly calloff the wedding.

Matthew 1:18-2520 While Joseph was thinking aboutthis, an angel from the Lord came tohim in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph,the baby that Mary will have is from theHoly Spirit. Go ahead and marry her.21 Then after her baby is born, namehim Jesus,[b] because he will save hispeople from their sins.”

Matthew 1:18-2522 So the Lord’s promise came true, justas the prophet had said,23 “A virgin will have a baby boy, and hewill be called Immanuel,” which means“God is with us.”24 After Joseph woke up, he and Mary

were soon married, just as the Lord’sangel had told him to do. 25 But they didnot sleep together before her baby wasborn. Then Joseph named him Jesus.

Matthew 2:13-1513 After the wise men had gone, anangel from the Lord appeared to Josephin a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry andtake the child and his mother to Egypt!Stay there until I tell you to return,because Herod is looking for the childand wants to kill him.”

Matthew 2:13-1514 That night, Joseph got up and took

his wife and the child to Egypt,15 where they stayed until Herod died.So the Lord’s promise came true, just asthe prophet had said, “I called my sonout of Egypt.”

Matthew 2:19-2319 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”

Matthew 2:19-2321 Joseph got up and left with them forIsrael.22 But when he heard that Herod’s sonArchelaus was now ruler of Judea, he wasafraid to go there. Then in a dream he wastold to go to Galilee,23 and they went to live there in the townof Nazareth. So the Lord’s promise cametrue, just as the prophet had said, “He willbe called a Nazarene.”

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY:

A. Roles were carefully observed.a. Joseph acknowledged the

leadership of God in their family.

b. Joseph led his wife and son to safety.

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY:

B. Rules and God’s command werecarefully heard and heeded.

a. It is important that parents hearand heed the word of God individuallyand corporately. (Huwag maghintayankung sino ang mangunguna sa familydevotion.Both parents are responsiblefor their daily intake of God’s word).

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY:

C. Redemption flowed to humankind because of Jesus.

a. The holiness of Jesus madepossible redemption for Joseph,Mary, Adam, Eve, Cain, Able and allthe sinful family of the world (thatincludes my family and yours)

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY:

b. The strength of a family is in ourweakness.

1. Our weakness makes usrealize our need for God.

2. God works through ourweakness.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

CONCLUSION

Three Reminders about having aStrong Family:

1) We are strong when we observeGod’s design for the family.

(This 2017, let husbands step up andembrace their leadership roles. Letwives submit with joy and let childrenobey without complaining).

Three Reminders about having a Strong Family:

2) We are strong when we obey God’s commands and rules.

(This 2017, let it be our families goal to know God more by spending time reading, studying and memorizing God’s Word).

Three Reminders about having a Strong Family:

3) We are strong when we surrender our weaknesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He uses our weakness as a platform to demonstrate His power, love and grace. (This 2017, release any stronghold of the enemy in our family by confessing our secret and hidden sins, by repenting