Episode 39 – The Ideal Human Estate

Episode 39 explores the many virtues of family life and points out that Jesus based his teaching about God and man on the family. A good family is our ideal human estate and to be desired by all.

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Transcript
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12. The Family Part 1
The Ideal Human Estate (Ep 39)

Introduction. That Jesus regarded the family as a supremely important institution is witnessed by the fact that he based his teachings about God on the family: God is our Father, we are all His children, and brothers and sisters to one another in God’s heavenly family. The father-child relationship was the cornerstone of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom and is the most important truth we need to realize. Sonship with God, by faith, is the saving truth of the gospel of the Kingdom.

The human family is our first revelation of the divine family. Our human family experience helps us to understand our relation to God. Our parental experience bearing and raising children provides us with an enhanced revelation of how our heavenly Father feels about us, how he loves and cares for us with an unqualified fatherly affection, even when we depart from His way. As a child our relation to our father provides us with our first idea of the heavenly Father, while the care and nurturing of our mother provides us with our first concept of our universe environment. Thus, it is obvious that parenting entails one of the supreme responsibilities of human existence. The child’s entire outlook and approach to God and life in the universe is determined by their early experience with their parents.

         Jesus on marriage. Jesus in his life among the Jews demonstrated that he believed that marriage was an honorable estate and was to be desired by all. He upheld the highest and ideal concepts of marriage. The fact that he did not marry was due to the fact that for him to leave behind children on earth would have been a source of great future problems. Jesus noted that the Father had directed the creation of male and female and that it was the Father’s will that they should marry and become one. When he was questioned by the Pharisees he answered: ⁴“Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become as one?’ (Mt 19:4,5)

Jesus on divorce. When the Pharisees asked Jesus: “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” he replied, ⁸“For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Mt 19:8) Thus, Jesus denounced the easy and lax divorce practices of the Jews. He did not sanction any divorce practice that gave men an advantage over women; he affirmed only those teachings that recognized women’s equality with men.

Jesus on children. Jesus believed that that men and women should find their highest service and joy in the establishment of homes for the reception of children. He taught the blessedness of children. Jesus made clear his attitude towards children in Mk 10:13-16: ¹³“And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the children come to me, and forbid them not; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁵Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” ¹⁶And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.

         Partnership with God. Bringing children into the world is a very special act on many levels. When parents unite to bear children, they are actually going into partnership with God to become co-creators of mortal sons and daughters of God.

Antagonistic co-operation. Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. For example, it was the first social grouping that successfully taught the pursuits of peace. Men and women are like two distinct varieties of the same species. Their outlook and entire life reactions are quite different. Complete understanding between the sexes is not attainable. Their union in the bonds of marriage is the highest example of that antagonistic co-operation that so often characterizes the contacts of society. As marriage partners learn how to adjust their antagonisms to each other their example teaches the peaceful resolution of conflicts to their children.

Character growth and development. Family life is the source of true morality and the originator of loyalty to duty. Of all human trusts the most sacred is loyalty to one’s own flesh and blood. It is in the family environment that the child learns the ethics of blood brotherhood. The family is the fundamental sphere in which both parents and children learn the virtues of altruism, patience, tolerance, and forbearance which are necessary to the realization of the brotherhood of man. Of all social relations that act to develop character the best and most effective is marriage with subsequent family life.

         The family is humanity’s greatest achievement and ideal estate. Marriage, which is founded on self-maintenance, leads to self-perpetuation, and simultaneously provides an ideal source of self-gratification. Thus, it embraces all three of the great incentives for living. It combines the biologic relations of man and woman with the social relations of husband and wife. Marriage with children and family life stimulates the highest potentials of human beings and at the same time provides an ideal avenue for the expression of these higher impulses. Many noble thoughts and impulses die because there is no one to receive their expression. “It is not good for man to live alone;” some level of recognition and appreciation are necessary for the development of character. Marriage and family life provides an ideal antidote for human loneliness; this is especially true in old age. It is a simple biological fact that men and women simply will not live without each other. A successful marriage and family life constitute the ideal estate for human beings. The family is humanity’s greatest achievement. A good marriage, home, and family are so valuable and satisfying that they are worth any price, any sacrifice required to attain and maintain.

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