OceanSide church of Christ




Click here to see all of the YouTube videos belonging to OceanSide
(opens in a new browser)

 Previous Return to Sermons Next  Click to download Audio

THE PURPOSES OF THE HOME

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    The home. 

1.        The home is a very simple unit of society consisting of a father, mother, children, and possibly another relative or two.

2.       The home is something with which most individuals are very familiar having grown up in one, even if it were a horrible environment.

3.       The home is a God-ordained institution, having been established by God at the very beginning of the Creation (Gen. 2:18, 21-24).

 

B.      This simple, God-given unit of which everyone has been apart is under attack today. 

 

C.     Starting today, and from time to time during this year, we will be presenting lessons on the home.  The title of this lesson is:  “The Purpose of the Home.”

 

I.             PURITY OF SOCIETY

 

A.    God created man to be a sexual being. 

1.        Sex is a gift from God.

2.       Sex has numerous purposes.

3.       Sex is not sinful in and of itself.

 

B.      God has confined sexual relationships within the marriage bond (Heb. 13:4).

 

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled:  but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 

C.     Sexual desires were never intended to be left unchecked.  When they are not disciplined:

1.        People are hurt.

2.       Diseases are spread.

3.       “Crime” rates rise:  rape, pedophilia, slave trafficking.

4.       Relationships are built on lust and not on trust.

5.       Perverse relationships are formed:  homosexuality, transgenderism, beastiality.

6.       Abortion becomes a “hot” topic because people do not want to face the consequences of their behaviors.

7.       God is not honored. 

 

D.    If individuals were to abide by God’s laws regarding sex and marriage, our society would be purified from all kinds of evils that presently plague our nation.

 

II.           PURSUIT OF HEAVEN

 

A.    Living in such a way here in order to have a home over there should be the ultimate focus of every man, woman, and child (Phil. 3:13-14).

 

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 

B.      In the home, there are several individuals who can assist one another in their efforts to get to heaven.

1.        The husband and wife

2.       The parents and children

3.       The immediate family and extended family

C.     When God acknowledged that it was not good for man to be alone, He made an interesting statement (Gen. 2:18).

 

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.

 

1.        The woman was created to be a “help” meet for him.  She was to be a helper, an aid, an assistant.

2.       One of the areas wherein she needs to focus her attention is on helping her husband make it to heaven.

 

D.    In like manner, God put the man over the home as the spiritual head.  The Scripture is plain that man is accountable unto the Christ (1 Cor. 11:3).

 

But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

 

1.        The head of man is Christ.  Surely Christ will hold the man accountable for being a servant of Christ and faithfully following Him.

2.       And, as “the head of the wife,” the husband should do all he can do to lead and help his wife and children in the paths of righteousness (Eph. 5:25; 6:4; Gen. 18:19; Josh. 24:15).

 

III.         PROMULGATION OF THE HUMAN RACE

 

A.    The home is the place wherein new generations are to be born (Gen. 1:27-28a).

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…

 

B.      The home provides an anchor and an identity to all family members.

1.        Individuals are linked to their last name.  (NOTE:  Even after daughters are married and assume the name of their husbands, they will use their father’s last name as their middle name).

2.       Individuals know something about their grandparents, and, perhaps, their great grandparents.

3.       There are some people who love to trace their ancestry back as far as they can.

 

C.     Home is a place to which family members can always return and be accepted. 

 

D.    Can you imagine a world where everyone was born with no identity?  No father?  No mother?  No siblings?  Each person would be a single entity in the world.  There would be no roots and no heritage. 

 

IV.        PROVISION OF BASIC NEEDS

 

A.    Man has an outer shell, his body, and inner being, his spirit.  Both of them have needs.

 

B.      God put man in the home so the needs of both the outer man and inner man can be addressed.

1.        The head of the house is the man and is supposed to provide for his home (I Tim. 5:8).

 

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

 

2.       The man is also supposed to take care of the spiritual needs of his family (Eph. 6:4).

 

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:  but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

C.     Children up for adoption, children in foster care, children in group homes, children in half-way houses are all evidences of homes that have failed in their missions. 

1.        What we really mean is individuals, mothers or fathers or both, have failed to fulfill their obligations to provide for the basic needs of those little ones they have brought into this world.

2.       All need to give heed to the warning of Jesus found in Matthew 18:5.

 

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

 

V.          PERFECTION OF CHILDREN

 

A.    Psalm 127:3

 

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord:  and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

 

B.      The Lord knew the best way for human offspring to be brought into the world and raised to perfection.

1.        They could not be left on their own.

2.       He did not want them left to the policies of an evil government.

3.       He did not want them trained by strangers who did not have any real investment in them, especially if the children were “flawed” in some way.

 

C.     Thus, God created the home.  Children would be given a mother and father who were responsible for rearing the children to perfection, that is, maturity.

1.        Talking, behaving, and expressing emotions

2.       Character

3.       Education

4.       Relationships, especially their relationship with God

 

D.    Example:  Abraham (Gen. 18:19)

 

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment…

 

VI.        PROCLAMATION OF GOD’S WORD

 

A.    God wants His word to be proclaimed throughout the world (Mark 16:15).

 

B.      The home is a perfect place for God’s Word to be spread (Deut. 6:6-7; Eph. 6:4).

 

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them which thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 

1.        The relationships therein are built on love and trust.

2.       The training can begin very early.

3.       There is plenty of time to instill the teachings of God’s Word into the hearts of the children.

4.       The projection of souls saved in the future is tremendous:  2 parents, 3 children, 8 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, 27 great great grandchildren.  That is a total of 55 souls that could be saved.

 

C.     It is interesting that the home is a model of the church (I Tim. 3:15). 

1.        Marriage, covenant, faithfulness, love, joy, unity, father, children, teaching, discipline, responsibilities, etc.

2.       Was this by accident?  Or, was this by divine design to help parents teach their children spiritual truths and to assist children in understanding these truths?

 

VII.      PROTECTION FROM EVIL

 

A.    There is a lot of evil in the world.  Every human being needs a place of safety to which he can retreat and find protection.

 

B.      God designed the home as a place of protection from evil.

1.        Safe from the elements

2.       Safe from criminals

3.       Safe from abusers

4.       Safe from false teachers

5.       Safe from emotional struggles

 

C.     When the prodigal son came to himself, he remembered home and what was there (Luke 15:17-18a).

 

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father…

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    Some might argue by saying:  “My home did not provide those things.”  Thus, they have come to believe that the home is not a positive.

 

B.      The fact that the divine plan for the home was perverted by sinful man does not negate the true purposes of the home.  When the home is established in the manner God intended, it will:

1.        Purify society

2.       Enable the pursuit of heaven

3.       Provide for the promulgation of the human race

4.       Provide for the basic needs of individuals

5.       Perfect children

6.       Proclaim the Word of God

7.       Protect individuals from evil

 

C.     As we close, let us all pray for the home, support the home, and try to make our homes what God would have them to be.  Why?  Because there is a movement that seeks to remove the home from our society.  We will address it in another lesson.