Reading 2
by A. Di Franca
“THE FAMILY IN HEAVEN” – Ephesians 3:15
ORIGIN IN PARADISE
The family’s origin is in paradise, a realm of peace, harmony, and happiness. As such, the family is part of the divine creation and reflects the ideals of God’s plan and work. All other creatures were created in pairs-male and female-so that they could co-exist and multiply. After the Lord brought them to Adam to name, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”‘ Genesis 2:18, English Standard Version. God could have created this helper in the same way that He had created man from the dust of the ground. But His plan was different; man’s companion must come from man himself. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.” Genesis 2:21, 22.
The second human being thus had the same nature and dignity as the man. She was also perfect and noble, reflecting the holy image and likeness of God. That is why, when he saw her, “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:23, 24. This marvelous event took place in the earthly paradise, a place of great serenity and happiness, so the family came into existence in the ideal environment for enjoying communion and mutual service and to continue the creative work with the animals.
Unfortunately, the entrance of sin altered not only God’s plan but also the very nature of people to the point where relations between husband and wife were not always characterized by support and solidarity but by division and adversity. Genesis 3:11-13. Over time, clashes and problems also emerged between children (Genesis 4) and also between children and parents. Genesis 26:34, 35. Then the atmosphere in many families was no longer that of paradise.
WHAT THE FAMILY REPRESENTS
History shows that the heavenly love in the hearts of men cooled and was replaced by separation, divorce, and even polygamy; but God’s plan for the human family did not change. In His eyes and in the holy Scriptures, the husband, wife, and children were symbols of God and His people. There are places in His holy word where God presents Himself as the Betrothed, or the Bridegroom, who loves His bride. “For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” “And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.” Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2:19,20.
In other places, He promised, as the Father full of love for His son or sons, “I will be his Father, and he shall be My son: and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee.” “And He said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build My house and My courts: for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.” “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” 1Chronicles 17:13; 28:6; Psalm 103:13.
These illustrations depict the divine love, harmony, and readiness to serve and sacrifice that must characterize the lives of our families. Is it like this in our families, dear brothers and sisters? Can we say that our lives as fathers are an expression of God’s love and that they indeed represent God’s love and sacrifice? And, dear sisters, can you say that your constant experience as wives and mothers reflect the love that God has for you? Let us not take weak, poor men and women as the example to follow in dealing with our family members, but rather our Father in heaven, whose love is eternal. “… I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3.
The warm reflections of God’s love do not appear only in the Old Testament; similar views of the Christian family are also found in the New Testament. The husband represents the Lord, and the wife is a type of the church.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” Ephesians 5:22-33.
It is too sublime and beautiful to forget that the members of God’s family are presented as betrothed to Him as a pure virgin: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2. In the description of paradise, in the Old and New Testaments, and also in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, marriage and family continue to represent the relationship between Christ and His church. “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Revelation 19:6-8.
Let us remember how highly the family and family ties are esteemed in God’s eyes, and let us determine by His grace to value them that highly in our daily lives. If we do this, the Lord will protect our marriages and families from the snares of evil. We will not face disappointments and bitterness or unfaithfulness, betrayals, or separations; but we will rather be prepared to live together in the eternal kingdom of heaven.
“God designs that the families of earth shall be a symbol of the family in heaven. Christian homes, established and conducted in accordance with God’s plan, are among His most effective agencies for the formation of Christian character and for the advancement of His work.” -Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 430.
“The grace of Christ, and this alone, can make this institution what God designed it should be an agent for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. And thus the families of earth, in their unity and peace and love, may represent the family of heaven.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 65.
FAMILY MEMBER WILL BE KNOWN
Sadly, sickness and death separate dear spouses and beloved family members; but these events are not the end. Death and the resurrection will not change each person’s identity; everyone will recognize each other and their family members. Concerning this, the Spirit of prophecy writes: “The resurrection of Jesus was a type of the final resurrection of all who sleep in Him. The countenance of the risen Saviour, His manner, His speech, were all familiar to His disciples. As Jesus arose from the dead, so those who sleep in Him are to rise again. We shall know our friends, even as the disciples knew Jesus. They may have been deformed, diseased, or disfigured, in this mortal life, and they rise in perfect health and symmetry; yet in the glorified body their identity will be perfectly preserved. Then shall we know even as also we are known. 1 Corinthians 13:12.” -The Desire of Ages, p. 804.
“Then Jesus’ silver trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised His eyes and hands to heaven, and cried, ‘Awake! Awake! Awake! Ye that sleep in the dust and arise.’ Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. The 144,000 shouted, ‘Alleluia!’ as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed, and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.” -Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 60.
“Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part and with songs of gladness ascend together to the City of God.”-The Great Controversy, p. 645.
DEATH DOES NOT DISSOLVE FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
The resurrection will not alter the family relationships; it will not dissolve the wonderful bond that unites God’s children in the family. The harmonious, united family here on earth will be united and happy in heaven.
In Israel, there was a belief in the resurrection and the reunification of marriage, but the Sadducees questioned the resurrection. They presented their objection to Jesus by referring to the case of a woman who had been married seven times, because her husbands died one after the other. “Therefore/’ they asked, “in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven?” Matthew 22:28. Jesus replied by correcting certain misconceptions, but He did not teach the dissolution of the family bond.
We read in the Spirit of prophecy: “We will pray for you and your precious little ones, that you may by patient continuance in welldoing, keep your face and steps always directed heavenward. We will pray that you may have influence and success in guiding your little ones, that you, with them, may gain the crown of life, and that in the home above, now being prepared for us, you and your wife and children may be a family joyously, happily reunited, nevermore to be separated.” -Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 262, 263.
” … The marriage ordinance … is an ordinance ordained of God, to be looked upon with the greatest solemnity. As the family relation is formed here below, it is to give a demonstration of what they shall be, the family in heaven above. The glory of God is ever to be made first.” -The Adventist Home, p. 101.
“I warn F. and the rest of the children to prepare to meet Jesus, and then they will meet their mother again, nevermore to be parted.” -Selected Messages, book 2, p. 263.
“When our friends go into the grave, they are beautiful to us. It may be our father or mother that we lay away: when they come forth, those wrinkles are all gone, but the figure is there, and we know them …. ” -In Heavenly Places, p. 353.
NO NEW MARRIAGE OR GENERATION OF CHILDREN
The fact that after the resurrection families will be reunited means that the previous family bond will not be dissolved but will continue to exist. However, this should not lead one to think that redeemed will continue to celebrate new marriages and have other children. In His conversation with the Sadducees mentioned above, the Lord made this clear, for He said: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God heaven.” Matthew 22:30. We read the same thing in the Testimonies. “There are men today who express their belief that there will be marriages and births in the new earth, but those who believe the Scriptures cannot accept such doctrines. The doctrine that children will be born in the new earth is not a part of the ‘sure word of prophecy.’ The words of Christ are too plain to be misunderstood. They should forever settle the question of marriages and births in the new earth. Neither those who shall be raised from the dead, nor those who shall be translated without seeing death, will marry or be given in marriage. They will be as the angels of God, members of the royal family.” –Medical Ministry, pp. 99, 100.
THE FAMILY IN HEAVEN
“There the redeemed shall ‘know, even as also they are known.’ The loves and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together ‘the whole family in heaven and earth’-these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed.”-The Adventist Home, p. 544.
What should we do if we wish to remain bonded with our loved ones forever? What mutual attentions and tenderness should we practice daily? What efforts should we make so that the family atmosphere is that of the heavenly family? “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.” “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” Ephesians 5:25; Titus 2:4; Colossians 3:20.
“The presence of Christ alone can make men and women happy. All the common waters of life Christ can turn into the wine of heaven. The home then becomes as an Eden of bliss; the family, a beautiful symbol of the family in heaven….
“God would have our families symbols of the family in heaven. Let parents and children bear this in mind every day, relating themselves to one another as members of the family of God. Then their lives will be of such a character as to give to the world an object lesson of what families who love God and keep His commandments may be. Christ will be glorified; His peace and grace and love will pervade the family circle like a precious perfume.
“Much depends on the father and mother. They are to be firm and kind in their discipline, and they are to work most earnestly to have an orderly, correct household, that the heavenly angels may be attracted to it to impart peace and a fragrant influence….
“Fathers and mothers who make God first in their households, who teach their children that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom glorify God before angels and before men by presenting to the world a well-ordered, well-disciplined family a family that love and obey God instead of rebelling against Him. Christ is not a stranger in their homes; His name is a household name, revered and glorified. Angels delight in a home where God reigns supreme and the children are taught to reverence religion, the Bible, and their Creator. Such families can claim the promise, ‘Them that honour Me I will honour.’ As from such a home the father goes forth to his daily duties, it is with a spirit softened and subdued by converse with God.” -The Adventist Home, pp. 28, 17, 27, 28.
We want to be prepared to meet these dear friends as they come forth in the resurrection morning…. Shall we lay hold upon the hope set before us in the gospel that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is?” In Heavenly Places, p. 353.
May the Lord grant us His special grace to do everything on our part to have families that are united, faithful to Him, and in complete harmony, so that the joy and happiness here below will not end but continue and be complete in heaven. May He give us His Spirit of love and tenderness so that our family on earth may be an image of the family in heaven.
Amen