February 5, 2021 — The First Family

Remember this: God didn’t just make individuals; He made families. And He cares about yours, too.

We have come to the words of Genesis 4:1-2 – “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the Lord.’ Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel….” Welcome to the family—the first in history! Yes, this was God’s idea. We read in Psalm 68:6, “God sets the solitary in families.” How important families are! They are the primary self-governed building blocks of every civilization. When the family breaks down, it can’t be long before the country begins to collapse. It is in the family that we should learn the lessons that aren’t in the school textbooks, lessons like honesty and fairness, diligence and co-operation, respect and forgiveness, courage and empathy, and so on. Theodore Roosevelt warned: “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” So true! But back to that exciting day, when Eve gave birth. They had never observed childbirth, and had never seen a baby. I remember well the birth of our first child; it was just about the most thrilling moment of my life! It’s nothing less than a miracle: two cells join, divide, differentiate, and voilà! a baby is born with the ability to think, speak, create, love, and worship God! When Eve said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord,” she may have thought this boy was the answer to God’s promise to send “the seed of the woman” to defeat Satan, the serpent. But that was not to be. It would be several thousand years before God’s own Son would come to save us. And then it would not be one family in need of saving, but a vast world of billions. Yet His solitary life given is sufficient for every sinner, including you and me! Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”