Lesson 22: Of the Family and Household of God

As we learned in the last lesson, this gift of salvation makes us citizens of Heaven. This means we are also of the family and household of God – our home is God’s home. God is our Father. This is an even more personal relationship with Him than just belonging to His nation.

We must understand the culture of the Bible to understand all that was understood by the meaning that God is our Father. First, the father was responsible for the care and providing for his family. This was not only provision of food and shelter, but also spiritual guidance – see Deuteronomy 4:9-10 – and caring for their futures – see the blessing from Jacob to all his sons in Genesis 49.

God our Father does the same for us. He provides our physical needs when we place His work as our priority – see Matthew 6:25-34. He provides for our future – see Ephesians 1:11-14. Jesus said in John 14:1-6 the Father was providing a home for each of His followers for eternity. Some Bibles read, “In my Father’s house are many mansions” while others, perhaps more correctly say “there are many mansion-rooms.” In the culture of the Bible, the father would add rooms to his home so his son could bring his bride there and they could raise a family in the father’s house. This fits with the description of the New Jerusalem given in Revelation 21.

It also means we are directly accountable to Him for everything we do, every choice we make.