AP

1 Timothy 5:1-2  Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.  Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 

Our loving Creator, in whose likeness and image we were fashioned (Genesis 1:27), has so designed us that family relationships are very important and precious to him.  He designed us male and female in order that one man and one woman might come together and be bound together by covenant in an exclusive and permanent bond (Genesis 2:24).  The first commandment given to the first man and woman was to “be fruitful and increase in number” (Genesis 1:28) so that “children are a heritage from the LORD” (Psalm 127:3).

It is clear from the whole of Scripture that all this is very important to God for a number of reasons.

Firstly, he wants us to enjoy fully all his blessings by living in the way we he designed us to live.

Secondly, the proper functioning of these relationships is important because they also reflect his relationship with us.  He discloses himself to us as both a ‘Father’ who promises to protect and provide for those who belong to him, and as a ‘Bridegroom/Husband’ who is committed to his people in trustworthy covenant relationship for ever, and not just whilever it suits him.

Thirdly, he wants the nuclear family to be a model for how all his people are to relate to one another.  His Church is to see itself as a family.  In the light of all this, it is not surprising that God’s enemy, Satan, would be most active in making every effort to disrupt these relationships and to dismantle the whole structure of human life as much as he possibly can.  Sadly, in our own society, this ‘Deceiver’ seems to be making significant headway in this at every level.  It is disconcerting to see the degree to which same-sex relationships are accepted by so many as being no different from God’s design (I originally wrote this in 2015 when same-sex marriage was only being debated and before it became legislated for, and those of us who don’t approve of the legislation now find ourselves in strife with the law and being criticised as ‘un-Australian’ and ‘non-inclusive’); it is disconcerting to see the degree to which ‘casual’ male-female sexual relationships are approved of without the covenant commitment of marriage; to see the degree to which marriages are failing; and to see church relationships being disrupted by disharmony, bickering and bitterness.

The apostle Paul was no doubt concerned about how prone we are in our fallen nature to allowing Satan to gain, not only a ‘foothold’ (Ephesians 4:27), but the upper hand in his wicked schemes.  This is why Paul wrote as he did to Timothy.

Let us be thankful for God’s grace in our many situations where Satan is not succeeding; but let us also be active in seeking to follow Paul’s directions in all our relationships with one another – in the family, in our social interactions, in our churches, and in all our expressions of partnership in Christ.

– Bruce Christian