CrossTalk: God sets the solitary in families

The most universal fact of human existence is that every single person who has ever lived has both a mother and a father. There are no exceptions to this rule. While biologically true of all animals, this has special significance for human beings.

Feelings of family connectedness are among the most powerful of human emotions. The bond of love between father, mother and child is unparalleled among animals. Even where those bonds are broken, our deepest longings testify to the profundity of our loss.

None of this is accidental. “God sets the solitary in families” (Psalm 68:6a). Creation itself teaches that the family structure of father, mother and child is integral to the very image of God. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female created He them.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply” (Gen 1:27-28).

God said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). We are created for relationships. First comes parent and child. Marriage of husband and wife is equally profound. Family is the basic building block of all society.

Christian thinkers have observed that the God-given triangle of father-mother-child is nothing less than an echo of God’s own nature. From eternity, God is not solitary, but He is a community of Three.

While these words are true, they also expose raw nerves. Contrary to our deepest yearnings, family brokenness is everywhere. We all experience it. If we ourselves are not missing father, mother or child we all love someone who is.

We live in a time and place that has forgotten the importance of family and does more to attack family bonds than to protect them. The devastation of this inattention to family is getting harder and harder to ignore. Our hearts ache for ourselves, friends and loved ones who suffer in the wake of broken relationships.

One response to this intense pain is to deny the importance of relationships lost. We desperately try to convince ourselves that families are really not that important. We attribute our pain to something else and numb ourselves to avoid further hurt. But it doesn’t help. Eventually, reality breaks through our defenses and the devastating pain returns with a vengeance.

Jesus knows and cares. Never forget that He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father. He knew your nature before He even created it. So, His atonement for the sins of the world is also for the healing of relationships broken by sin. This is the great news of Christ’s Church!

Christ gives His Church on earth for two present blessings. First, by Jesus’ blood and forgiveness Christians can forgive one another fully and completely. Relationships that were once destroyed are fully retrievable in Christ. There is always hope. Loneliness is not inevitable.

Second, even where the reconciliation of God-given relationships is rendered impossible by unrepentance or by the finality of death, still there is hope. “God sets the solitary in families,” is not just a statement about being born. It is also a promise for all who are reborn.

By Baptism, God is begetting new Children and building a new family of God. This family is no cheap substitute. The family of God in Christ Jesus is the true family that God intended all along. Holy Communion is about a new community made possible through the blood of Jesus.

The Holy Christian Church is here for the lonely. It is God’s place of healing for everyone devastated by broken relationships.