HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

Lesson One

PARENTS (1): THE FIRST FAMILY

Burden to Impart:

Children are God's gift to parents (Gen. 33:5; 48:9a). God created man like Himself so man could have a close relationship and companionship with Him. God created the woman to complete the man so that man and woman could have an intimate relationship in love and unity. This sweet relationship is consummated with God's blessing: reproduction, children. Children are a blessing from God to the parents.

Memory Verse: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3).

Facts to Teach:

  1. God created the first man, Adam, out of the dust of the ground. He created him in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). In this way, God and man could have a close relationship with one another and could understand one another's thoughts, desires, and feelings.
  2. God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone. Although Adam had many animals as friends he had no human companion. So God made a deep sleep fall upon Adam and from his side He took a rib out and made it into a woman (Gen. 2:21-22). When God awoke Adam and brought the woman to him, Adam must have greatly rejoiced. She was made just like him. She was a perfect match (Gen. 2:23).
  3. Now, Adam and Eve were happy, so God was happy. God blessed this first couple and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth..." (Gen. 1:28). One purpose of marriage is to have children.
  4. Just as Eve was a blessing to Adam, so also children are a blessing from God (Psa. 127:3). When a couple has children, that relationship of love and unity that they share together is increased and enlarged.
  5. If a couple does not have any children they feel sorrow, as Hannah felt in 1 Samuel 1:10-20. Hannah, as other women in the Old Testament, had no children even after many years of being married. She felt sorrowful and ashamed. She did not feel happy or blessed. So she cried out to the Lord and asked Him to give her a son. The Lord answered her prayer and blessed her with a dear baby boy who later became a great man of God named Samuel.