A Household for His Name

“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; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”-Genesis 18:19

The Christian home is the most effective educational institute in the world.  Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, and the host of others; they all fall short when compared to the Christian home.  God designed it this way and the devil knows it.  In the very beginning, God ordained a hierarchy that would bless and prosper both His church and His people. 

The Bible says that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and that sanctified men and women make up His church.  God ordained a divine hierarchy for the home, so that the home could guide educate and instruct his people.  It begins with Christ as the head of the church, and the church is subject unto Christ.  Therefore, when a sanctified man and woman get married, it follows that Christ will be over/in this union.  This is the foundation of the Christian home.  You cannot have strong households without a strong foundation, which is one of the reasons why the Bible so forcefully preaches against fornication and adultery (not to mention homosexuality), because it directly undermines the established, God ordained, hierarchy of the home.  Jesus is the absolute authority over the home; therefore, the Word of God is the absolute authority over the home.  No matter what society says, or the wife, or the husband if it does not line up with the Word of God then the hierarchy is broken and the authority withdrawn. 

With Christ as the commander in chief, next comes, the husband.  He is the head of the house; with the wife and children in subjection.  As Christ is the example of leadership over the church, the husbands are to follow the same in the home.   Husbands are the chief servants.  They do for themselves, only after the responsibilities have been fulfilled to those who are in subjection.  The husband is the principle example of servitude to the household, the mark of self-sacrifice, and that is a calling that cannot be properly fulfilled without the help of the Spirit of God.  Husbands are not dictators or totalitarians; not the ruling party.  As the head, the family follows their leadership, and we are to lead as Christ did, both in word and in deed.  Next in line is the wife.  She is the helpmeet.  Divinely equipped to help meet the need(s) that will arise in the duties to both the husband, and the household.  There is no greater calling than this.  CEO’s mold companies, wives mold lives.  When God ordained the union between a man and woman, he modeled that union after Christ and the church.  Christ loved the church (you and I) so much he gave himself for it.  The church is subject unto Christ.  Where he leads, we follow.  Where he sends, we go.  We submit to his direction and submit to one another.  In the same manner, the husbands are to love the wives, and in this loving relationship the wife is to submit to the husband.  Thereby, keeping the hierarchy of the household while simultaneously remaining united in service to the cause of Christ.  The chauvinist societies and the feminist movement are battling for power, selfish power.  Both perverting and condemning the scriptures, when in actuality, this selfsame scripture if applied in the Spirit would save both themselves and their household, thereby rebuilding the foundation of society (i.e. the home) and anchoring within it an institution that will do more good for mankind than any that has ever been created by man itself.  Your opinions and ideals are always secondary to the ordained Biblical hierarchy that has been set forth.  It is not about you, and it is not about me.  It is not about “who wears the pants in the family.”  It is not about pride, it is not about bread winning.  It is all about Christ; do your job, fall in line, serve the church, serve the family and be one unit for Jesus Christ. 

Finally, with the leadership of the home firmly in place, God has now sanctioned and blessed the man and woman to bring children into the world, and therefore into the home.  In the home the man and wife will guide, educate, and instruct the children in the ways of God.  Training up the next generation to serve Him, to love Him, and to bless His name; because he is worthy.  The sanctified household understands the gravity of this calling to rear children in the nurture and admonish of the Lord, and they lay aside their own agenda in answer to this call. 

God chose Abraham because he would keep the way of the Lord.  It was not because he was the smartest, or the wealthiest, the best looking; not for any other reason than he was a man of faith.  Sarah his wife was faithful to a man who was faithful to God.  In this household God chose to place His name.  That is the message to the masses, what do you desire?  To be a household where you strive to place your name?  Or to be a household where God chooses to place His name?  God help us to be a household for His name.  Whether it is just you, or you and your family; we want, we need to be a household for His name.