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Lesson Three: The First
Assault on the Family
Genesis 3:1-7
Introduction:
This morning we are going to be in Genesis 3:1-7 as we consider the
first assault on the family. I shared with you several weeks ago
that Satan lost no time at all in attacking this wonderful
institution that God created, so we are going to look at this first
assault in a little more depth. What we are going to see is that
the first attack gives us insight into how our adversary works,
because his tactics haven't changed over the years.
But before we can get into
looking at Satan's assault on the family, I need to take a minute or
two to clarify something that I said last week. As I was making the
point that the family is a divinely created institution
as opposed to a humanly created invention, I
emphasized the fact that we tamper with the model God established at
our own peril. I then gave two illustrations of how our culture
does that. First of all, our culture is trying to change the
definition of marriage. According to the original model, marriage
is to be between a male and a female. Marriage between two males or
two females violates the model, and is contrary to God's pattern.
And if we tamper with God's model, we will pay a very high price for
our folly. That is just one example of how our culture has been
trying to alter the model.
The other illustration I gave
has to do with roles in the family. God created Adam to pursue a
vocation (cultivating and keeping the garden - Gen. 2:15). The
results of Adam pursuing his vocation enabled him to provide for and
protect his family. God created Eve to serve as a helper for Adam.
What I said was, "Adam was created to provide for the family, and
Eve was created to play a supportive role to the man. Her role in
life was to enable her husband in his calling. She was not
created to function independently of her husband and forge her own
way in the world and pursue her own interests."
The question that has come up
is, "What about women who are married to men who don't make enough
money to provide for the family?" If a woman were to come to me and
say, "Murray, I want to follow the biblical model and play a
supportive role to my husband. I want to enable him in his calling
in life. I don't want to be out there functioning independently of
my husband and forging my own way in the world; but we have four
children and my husband doesn't make enough money to support the
family, we need two incomes to make ends meet. What do I do?"
My first line of advice would
be to have her and her husband examine their standard of living. If
the reason they need two incomes to support the family is because
they have an $1800.00 mortgage payment every month because they
unwisely bought a home beyond their means, the issue is not that the
husband can't make enough money to support the family, the issue is
that they made unwise spending choices. The reason most families
feel financially strapped is because of lifestyle choices. So I
would start with this family by asking the hard questions:
?
Is it necessary to buy your
children brand name sneakers when off brand names would be
sufficient?
?
Is it necessary to ski in
Utah every winter, or would Windham be sufficient?
?
Is it necessary for your
husband to buy his suits at Brooks Brothers, or could he get nice
suits at Men's Warehouse?
?
Do you really need
cable television? Do you really need DSL internet access?
Do you really need a snowblower and a riding lawn mower? Do
you really need a woman to come in and clean your house once
a week?
So, that is where I would
start - look at the lifestyle choices. But let's say that isn't the
issue. The family struggles, but it isn't because they have
overextended themselves financially or have poor spending habits.
Where I would go from there is to look at the makeup of the family.
If you have children at home, the mom needs to be at home nurturing
those children. That is the biblical model. Will you pay price for
that decision in the material realm? Yes - but that is the nature
of following Christ - there is always a price to pay. Now, if the
children are all basically out of the house, or if the youngest is a
senior in HS, that nurturing environment may not be as critical, but
a mother's first human priority in life is to her husband, children,
and home. It is not to maintian a particular standard of living.
So, as I said, this family has four children - 8, 10,
12, and 14. As a family, they are good stewards of their finances,
and they don't live extravagantly; but they just can't make ends
meet. I would tell this woman that ultimately and primarily, this
is an issue of her heart. I would tell her that she has to make
sure her heart is with her husband, her children, and her home.
That is her role and God's model. And with that in mind, she is
going to have to find some way to generate revenue for the family.
Ideally, it should come from within her home because she has
children at home. We see a good example of this in Prov. 31, and as
you read those verses that describe the excellent wife, you see
where her heart is - it is in the home with her husband and family.
But she isn't just sitting around in the house she "looks for
wool and flax, and works with her hands in delight. 14
She is like merchant ships; she brings her food from afar. 15
She rises also while it is still night, and gives food to her
household, and portions to her maidens. 16 She considers
a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a
vineyard. She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and
her hands grasp the spindle. She is not afraid of the snow for her
household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22
She makes coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and
purple. She makes linen garments and sells them, and
supplies belts to the tradesmen. 27 She looks well to
the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness."
Everything about this woman makes the same statement - her heart is
with her husband, her children, and her home. Three times it
mentions her concern for her household. And I would tell this woman
asking me for advice that she would have to do the same.
Is it possible for a woman to
stay in the home, and even work from the home to help make ends
meet, and at the same time have her heart elsewhere? In other
words, could she be physically following the model while she was
internally violating the model? Sure. That could happen. Is it
possible for a woman to be employed outside the home, and at the
same time have her heart in the home with her husband and family?
Sure. That can happen. What I want you to see is that this isn't
simply a matter of "Can a woman work outside of the home?" It is a
matter of the heart.
Let me give you two
illustrations and then we'll move on. The first one involves a
woman named Melanie, my brother-in- law's wife. Holly's brother
works for Northrop Grumman. He has multiple master's degrees, one
in electrical engineering, and one in business administration, he is
pretty high up in the organization, he designs sonar systems for the
Navy, and basically does very well financially. His wife Melanie
was working for Revlon when they met. She was some kind of state
manager, she had lots of people working under her, and she did very
well financially as well. In fact, in their study she has a picture
of her standing with some super-model and the president of the
company because she had the highest sales for that year. When Drew
and Melanie met, she was making more money than he was. In other
words, she was on the fast track to a very successful career with
Revlon. Three years after they got married, she got pregnant, and
after the baby was born, she walked away from Revlon. I thought she
was taking maternity leave, but it wasn't - she left for good.
Today, with three children, she runs a pretty successful home
decorating business from her home. It isn't as lucrative as her
Revlon job, and she doesn't get her picture taken with world famous
models; but her heart is with her husband, her children, and her
home. She is following the model.
I want you to contrast that
with another couple who briefly attended my last church. They had
several children, and they visited because they had both gone to
college where I did. As I was talking with them, I asked they why
they had moved into the area, and she told me it was because her job
had transferred her there. She had a very high position in a
national company, and even though I don't remember exactly what it
was, it was something like North American Vice President, or
something of that caliber. So when the company transferred her to
Columbia county, her husband and children packed up and went with
her. This had happened several time in her career, and each time
her husband would just find employment wherever they moved.
I'm not trying to be
judgmental, and I know I can't see into her heart and assess
motives, but I am entitled to my opinion, and I believe that is
wrong. It violates the model. Her role in the family is not to be
pursuing her own vocation, and charting her own course in life - and
subsequently having her husband and children tag along after her.
Her role is to be a helper suitable for her husband. She needs to
be enabling him in his vocation, not the other way
around. This isn't chauvinistic, this isn't condescending - this is
biblical.
So, that is what I would tell
the woman who came to me and said, "What do I do if my husband
doesn't make enough money to support the family?" Number one, look
at your lifestyle choices. Number two, look at your heart. Your
heart needs to be in your home with your family, especially since
you have three small children. That doesn't mean you can't generate
revenue to help out, but your first priority is not to maintain a
certain standard of living - it is to care for the home. Find a
creative way to nurture the family and help with living
expenses.
Well, now that we are almost
out of time, let's get back to thinking about Satan's first assault
on the family. We find the account of what happened in Gen. 3:1-7.
Let's read these verses and see what we can learn from them.
Now the serpent was more
crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And
he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden '?" 2 And the woman said to the
serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle
of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it,
lest you die.'" 4 And the serpent said to the woman,
"You surely shall not die! 5 "For God knows that in the
day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil." 6 When the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its
fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he
ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves loin coverings.
III. The Assault on the Family
As we read these verses, we see at least
two things happening. First of all, Satan launched an attack on
God's words to Adam and Eve. This is instructive. Satan
attacks the family by attacking the family's source of authority.
Satan attacks the church by attacking the church's source of
authority. Satan knows that if he is going to accomplish his
objectives he is going to have to first of all separate God's
creations (whether the church or the family) from
their source of authority. And our source of authority is
God's words to us. If you go back to the great battles that were
fought in the early 1900's in Christianity, they were all over the
nature of the Bible. Is it the product of divine revelation, or is
it the product of human recollection? Is it normative for people
today, or is bound by the culture of 2000 years ago? Does it record
real events, or does it record fictional stories with moral
applications? The battles were over the nature of the Bible. And
the battle for the Bible was lost in the mainline denominations.
Look at 2:16 and 17 to see
exactly what God said to Adam. "The LORD God commanded the man,
saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat
freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from
it you shall surely die." How did Satan convey God's
instructions? In 3:1 he says, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall
not eat from any tree of the garden?'" Do you see how Satan
maximized the negative and minimized the positive. He competely
misrepresented the tone of what God said originally. This is
malicious. God's original command to Adam and Eve was lavish, and
bountiful, and generous, and kind. But Satan took the single,
restrictive element, blew it out of proportion, and then presented
it to Eve. The net effect was that it made God look like a
restrictive, begrudging, dictator. Suddenly, the Garden of Eden
isn't as beautiful as it used to be. In fact, Eve can't even see
the hundreds of trees she can eat from, all she can focus on is the
one she can't. And now she is aggravated over this injustice that
God has placed on her. Her view of God changes and you can almost
see her line of thinking - "That tree doesn't look dangerous. How
could a good God prohibit such a good thing? How could a just God
put it right here in front of us and then expect us to deny
ourselves its pleasure?" And Eve fell for it.
This is the very same way
Satan attacks families today. He tries to separate us from the
authority of God's Word. God's Word says, "Marriage consists of a
man and a woman, coming together as one flesh, until they are
separated by death." Satan says, "Indeed, has God said that two
committed individuals who love each other cannot be married because
they both happen to be of the same gender?" Satan is trying to
separate us from the authority of God's Word. God's Word says,
"There are different roles in the family." Satan says, "Indeed, has
God said that wives have to live unfulfilled lives stuck in the home
under the dominion of their husbands?" Satan takes isolated,
restrictive elements, blows them out of proportion, and then
presents them to us as if God is some kind of restrictive,
begrudging, dictator. And we fall for it all the time. We can't
see the bountiful goodness of God - all we can focus on is that
little restriction. This is a classic, Satanic ploy, and we see it
all the time.
?
Monday - can I go out w/ the
boys - yes, just be back by 11
?
Tuesday - can Suzi and I go
up to Indian Ladder Trail and look at the foliage - yes
?
Wednesday - the youth group
is going bowling, can I go - yes - but I need $ - OK
?
Thursday - Dick's is
having an end of season sale, can I go to Albany and get some stuff
- yes - can I use your credit card - sure, just keep track and pay
me back
?
Friday - can I go camping
with the guys this weekend - no, we have to go to a cookout at Aunt
Betty's, and I want the whole family to go.
And so the son gets all upset
and says, "You never let me do anything!" That is a classic,
Satanic ploy. He takes some isolated, restrictive element, blows it
our of proportion, and then presents it to us as if God is some kind
of restrictive dictator. He did it in the Garden of Eden, he does
it in the church, and he does it in the family. Because he knows
that once he gets God's creation separated from their source of
authority, he can do whatever he wants to.
Conclusion:
And do you know where he has the most success with this ploy? He
uses it with great success in keeping individuals from coming to God
for salvation. God bountifully offers salvation to us, free of
charge. The Bible says that "in [Jesus] we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
riches of His grace, which [God] lavished upon us." That is the
biblical picture of God. But Satan comes up to us and says, "If you
come to Christ for salvation, think about all the restrictions God
will hang over your head. In fact, just think of the 10
Commandments - "Thou shalt not, . . . thou shalt not . . . . , thou
shalt not . . ."
If you have never come to
Christ for salvation, don't fall for the deception again. Right
now, you can silently call out to God and ask Him to forgive you of
your sins. And then you can be a part of the greatest family around
- God's family.
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