Week 2: Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5
“In the beginning… God divided the light from the darkness.”
This week’s Come Follow Me lesson, reminds us “God can make something magnificent out of something unorganized” or chaotic. That can be comforting to remember living in a world where lines between light and dark often feel blurred.
For example, another part of this week’s lesson teaches what we also learn in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” — that one of God’s creations is marriage, between a man and a woman, and ordained for eternal purposes. There’s a lot in the world that blurs this important part of God’s plan. But as He did anciently, He can help us divide the “light from the darkness”.
Well crafted and aesthetic social media accounts sometime paint an array of “exceptions” to God’s plan. President Nelson has warned that “we don’t preach the exception.” Therefore, if anything (or anyone) consistently does, it’s probably wise for us to question.
In contrast, Elder Christofferson teaches that marriage is “a post of responsibility“
“Knowing why we left the presence of our Heavenly Father and what it takes to return and be exalted with Him, it becomes very clear that nothing relative to our time on earth can be more important than physical birth and spiritual rebirth, the two prerequisites of eternal life. This is, to use the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the “office” of marriage, the “post of responsibility towards … mankind,” that this divine institution “from above, from God” occupies. It is the “link in the chain of the generations” both here and hereafter—the order of heaven.” (Elder Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family“)
The order of heaven is family, and we all belong to God’s family.
“God is the Father of all men and women. They are His children. It was He who ordained marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Marriage was not created by human judges or legislators. It was not created by think tanks or by popular vote or by oft-quoted bloggers or by pundits. It was not created by lobbyists. Marriage was created by God!”(President Russell M. Nelson, BYU Commencement, Aug 2014.)
Art: Julia Purinton
Don’t forget to check out the latest Raising Family podcast or our new lesson plans for children and youth on important issues like gender, marriage, and identity.
