When we read the story of the first human family and their beautiful home in Paradise, we long for the day when God will unite the family on earth with the family of heaven. When God created all things He produced so many beautiful things for enjoyment. A garden home with all that is pleasant to the eye! Then He added the finishing touch: the family unit. All that surrounded the Eden pair was tangible evidence of God’s love. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

The earth was to be replenished by the multiplication of the human family through the formation of homes. The Lord said, “Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished” (Jeremiah 29:6). God wants Christian homes to be a little heaven on earth. But how can we have a heavenly life on this earth?

When our first parents were cast away from Paradise as a result of their disobedience, they took with them the divine institution of the family. Had they maintained the sacredness of this institution as it was originally designed, it would have provided for them a pure and happy home atmosphere. “The home circle should be regarded as a sacred place, a symbol of heaven, a mirror in which to reflect ourselves.”2

“Tender affection should ever be cherished between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters. Every hasty word should be checked, and there should not be even the appearance of the lack of love one for another.”3

“God designs that the families of earth shall be a symbol of the family in heaven. Christian homes, established and conducted in accordance with God’s plan, are among His most effective agencies for the formation of Christian character and for the advancement of His work.”4

How can we bring that heavenly sweet atmosphere to our earthly homes? “The grace of Christ, and this alone, can make this [marriage] institution what God designed it should be - an agent for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. And thus the families of earth, in their unity and peace and love, may represent the family of heaven.”5

The happiness of the home depends upon all members of the family. Parents are to share love and sympathy among themselves and their children. They are to surround their little flock with the atmosphere of heaven. The life of Jesus in His early years is a lesson for those who want to bring this sweet, heavenly fragrance into the home life. In His humble earthly home of Nazareth He set the perfect example.

“During all these secluded years His life flowed out in currents of sympathy and helpfulness. His unselfishness and patient endurance, His courage and faithfulness, His resistance of temptation, His unfailing peace and quiet joyfulness, were a constant inspiration. He brought a pure, sweet atmosphere into the home, and His life was as leaven working amidst the elements of society. None said that He had wrought a miracle; yet virtue - the healing, life-giving power of love - went out from Him to the tempted, the sick, and the disheartened. In an unobtrusive way, from His very childhood, He ministered to others, and because of this, when He began His public ministry, many heard Him gladly.”6

If we desire to bring to our homes the atmosphere of heaven, we must invite daily the presence of Christ. He will gladly bless us with His presence and the holy angels will be our sweet companions. But in order to have the divine presence we must build an altar. The example of Abraham in building altars whenever he went is an object lesson for all Christians. “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 12:7, 8). What was his purpose for building those altars? He built them to call upon the name of the Lord.

“Those who profess the name of Christ should not neglect to establish the family altar, where they can seek God daily with all the earnestness with which they would seek him in a religious assembly. They should make the season of family prayer a season of special interest, and in this way they will be obtaining an education that will fit them to become a benefit to the church. You may obtain a knowledge of how to serve God acceptably in the home.”7

There is another important lesson we can learn from Abraham and his family. It is the relationship between parents and children. The Lord said about Abraham: “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 best way to educate children to respect their father and mother is to give them the opportunity of seeing the father offering kindly attentions to the mother and the mother rendering respect and reverence to the father. It is by beholding love in their parents that children are led to obey the fifth commandment and to heed the injunction, ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right’ (Ephesians 6:1).”8

To have parents that fear the Lord is more precious than silver and gold, for its influence not only has an effect upon our earthly life but also on the future eternal one. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord” (Psalm 128:1-4).

God desires that every home may be a place of rest for the soul. Parents are responsible to make of their homes a piece of heaven on earth. “Let parents devote the evenings to their families. Lay off care and perplexity with the labors of the day. The husband and father would gain much if he would make it a rule not to mar the happiness of his family by bringing his business troubles home to fret and worry over. . . .

“Let the evenings be spent as happily as possible. Let home be a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love exist. This will make it attractive to the children. If the parents are continually borrowing trouble, are irritable and faultfinding, the children partake of the same spirit of dissatisfaction and contention, and home is the most miserable place in the world. The children find more pleasure among strangers, in reckless company, or in the street, than at home. All this might be avoided if temperance in all things were practiced, and patience cultivated. Self-control on the part of all the members of the family will make home almost a paradise. Make your rooms as cheerful as possible. Let the children find home the most attractive place on earth. Throw about them such influences that they will not seek for street companions, nor think of the haunts of vice except with horror. If the home life is what it should be, the habits formed there will be a strong defense against the assaults of temptation when the young shall leave the shelter of home for the world.”9

Fathers and mothers, let us obey the principles of Christianity in our homes. These principles are revealed in the word of God. “Let parents in their words and deportment give to their children an example of what they desire them to be. Let purity in speech and true Christian courtesy be constantly maintained. Let there be no encouragement to sin, no evil speaking or evil surmising. Teach the children and youth to respect themselves, to be true to principle, true to God. Teach them to respect and obey the law of God and the rules of the home.”10

Our conversation in our homes should be such that we hurt none of the other family members. We should be polite, truthful, honest, respectful to one another - knowing that respect is not something freely given, it is something earned. The apostle Paul counseled Timothy, his son in the faith, to set a good example for the believers. He says: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). But how can we observe a Christian attitude under all circumstances of the home life, especially when correction is necessary? “In performing the delicate duty of reproving and admonishing, there will be danger of injuring feelings, unless it be done with the greatest tenderness and care. The best models of character are liable to errors and mistakes, and great care should be exercised that too much is not made of little things.”11

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

Inspiration tells us that the angels are not authorized to bless disorder and confusion. If we desire the company of the holy angels, we must practice strict order and discipline in our homes. This order includes: to have regular meal times, share the burdens of the home, set times for worship, regular hours to sleep, a time for personal study, for recreation, for work, and the like. By observing order and discipline we avoid strife, contention, unkind words, irritation, and many other evils. On many occasions patience is lost because an item was not where it should have been. We must also understand that “order is Heaven’s first law.”12

“One well-ordered, well-disciplined family tells more in behalf of Christianity than all the sermons that can be preached. Such a family gives evidence that the parents have been successful in following God’s directions, and that their children will serve Him in the church.”13

Brothers and sisters, we are the people that profess to believe in the restoration of the family - the people that will eventually manifest to this perishing world the fullness of God’s love! What are you doing to share this love and make of your home a piece of heaven? Please remember that the attributes of a well-disciplined Christian family do not come by accident. These come by earnest effort in following God’s blueprint of education. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 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 when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

When we as a people consecrate ourselves to the Lord and do the appointed work in our families, God will recognize it by the great outpouring of His Spirit upon the church.