Joy in The Family!

by Gary B. Patterson

God's purpose in redemption is to provide for all of His children to be at peace and joy in the family. The Gloria sung by the angels at the Annunciation clearly states this purpose. "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men." We sing the same in the chorus taken from Jesus' words to His disciples recorded in John 15: "These things have I spoken unto you,...that your joy might be full...Love one another" (verses 11,12).

Stern harshness is not in keeping with the joy and love God wishes us to experience in His family. When we do not understand our relationship with our heavenly Father in the light of joy and love, we are unable to understand or comprehend the joy and love that are to be found in the earthly family.

So crucial is the family relationship that our concept of God rises or falls with it. In the same way that children relate to and understand their parents we relate to and understand God. God designed it that way. The Bible uses the experience of family as a helical loop illustration: God is as family, and family is as God. When God wishes to describe His love for His people He calls them His bride and His children. And conversely, when He speaks of the love that should exist in families He urges, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church" (Eph. 5:25).

Family Experience
Neither God nor family can be understood properly without the other. Our family experience draws on our God concept and our God concept is informed by the relationship that exists in our families. Either these two concepts contribute to the up building of each other or they become a black hole, drawing us into a pit of destruction. It is absolutely crucial; it is absolutely mandatory; it is absolutely determinative, that the future of our church as a whole and our salvation individually rises or falls with the family relationship. (JT emphasis)

Although I am addressing primarily the family as a unit, I cannot avoid considering the church institution in the context of this family model. The church also in a sense is the parent of the individual.

G.B.Patterson, President, G.C. Conf. SDA. Advent Review. 9-24-1981.

Prayer should be a key in the hand of faith, not a cushion on a bed of sorrow.