And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28)

Why do we have families? The unbelieving world answers the question naturalistically. They claim that the family is a social construct – some say an archaic social construct. Children need nurture, care, and support, much like primates, and the family can provide that.

But then, so can the government. Some argue that the government would do better at it. Certified experts raising children would avoid the abuse and neglect that often comes at the hands of parents. The world, in rebellion against God, has decided that the nuclear family – one father, one mother raising children together – is no longer needed. Humanity evolves, and evolution adds malleability, so a family could consist of two fathers or two mothers. Science works tirelessly to enable two hens and no rooster to hatch chicks.

The conservative response to gay mirage has been entirely inadequate. Many have countered the secularist utopia by arguing that “every child deserves a father and a mother.” We feel safe arguing this way against a hostile world. But this sort of answer is unsatisfactory at the acceptable end and at the unacceptable, entirely deceptive. Any answer that ignores Jesus or that marginalizes Him is self-defeating. Either God made the world, or He didn’t. Either God’s Word governs our world, or it doesn’t. There is no middle ground, no fence to straddle on this question. 

God created the family; man did not. So, when we try to define the purpose of the family, we must look to God’s Word for the answer. We cannot understand something as essential as the family apart from God’s design purpose. The Bible’s first book gives us the family’s genesis and describes God’s design purpose.

Our cultural dysfunction comes from a wrong view of the family. When we define our purpose in light of God’s Word and seek to center our family on God’s purpose, we will bring all things back into alignment under God’s authority. In pursuing this worthy goal, I want to show you God’s purpose for the family and how this goal can be accomplished.

God’s purpose for the family

Immediately after God created man, He created the family. God didn’t give Adam time to enjoy his “bachelor years” first. When God made Adam, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” And when God pointed out what was not good, He immediately created the solution.

God made Eve out of Adam, woman out of man. But God did not make Adam alone over here, and Eve alone over there, and then watch to see how long it would take for them to notice each other. He didn’t build a movie theater and an ice cream shop and say, “Have fun dating.” When God made Eve, He brought her to the man and made them husband and wife.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

All on the same day, God made Adam, God made Eve, God made marriage, and God made the first family. Not a single day passed on this earth where man was not connected to a family. That is important: it demonstrates what God always intended for us. But it also reveals God’s purpose in creating mankind at all. God didn’t make us on a whim, or to amuse Himself, or because He was bored and needed some outlet for His creativity. God had a definite purpose for mankind in the world. And that purpose cannot be disconnected from His purpose for the family.

The family doesn’t exist, so you have a place to hang your hat, a refrigerator to raid without someone calling the police, or a bed to sleep in. God wants families to enjoy making much of Him by subduing the earth for His glory. Our text speaks of three specific things God gave the first family: glory, a blessing, and a task. We find the blessing in the middle (Genesis 1:28) between the glory (vv. 26-27) and the task (v. 28). I think this blessing is central to God’s purpose — that He blessed us to be able to bear His image and spread His glory throughout the world. These three gifts guide us to God’s created purpose for the family.

God created families for glory.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

God created both male and female in His image and likeness. But it is man and woman together that most completely bear the glory of our Creator. God is more than a simple personality. We shouldn’t be surprised that a culture that has rejected the Triune God has lost sight of its created purpose. The Unitarian God is no god at all. God is the Triune God – Three Persons in One Godhead — the most accurate form of Unity in Diversity.

As a reflection of that, God created a lesser unity in diversity: man and woman. He brought them together in marriage and produced children as the fruit of their love for each other. That is the glory of the family — the way families bear the image of the Triune God in the world.

God created families for dominion.

When God blessed man, He gave Him five instructions that amount to one great duty.

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion.

God stamped His glory on mankind and then commanded us to spread that glory to the four corners of the earth. We might divide these five commands into two parts: the first three are closely related, as are the last two. The first set includes “be fruitful” (produce offspring), “multiply” (increase, be numerous, thrive), and “replenish the earth” (fill the whole earth). The second set includes “subdue” (conquer, overcome, control) and “have dominion” (rule over, dominate, direct, lead, control, manage, or govern).^[1]

So, God’s purpose for families includes a two-fold task: have children and rule the world. God designed families to bring the world into subjection to Jesus Christ by having children and raising those children into godly Christian maturity. This is how we spread His glory throughout the world.

But one in a certain place (Psalm 8:4-6) testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Hebrews 2:6-7)

Through fruitful marriages, God intends to accomplish this dominion mandate. Our task is simple yet glorious: have lots of kids and raise them for God. God has blessed families with this task. He gave us work to do and a way to do it. I hope you will embrace the blessing in this glorious labor as you seek to build your home!

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD. (Psalm 128:3-4)

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^[1]Swanson, James: Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. DBLH 8097, #1