Page 18 - Potters Vessel - Vol 1, Jan 2018

FINAL 2 - Jan 18_Potters Vessel - First draft 13/01/2018 18:08 Page 18

the Potter’s family

The Family As God Created It

"God created man in His own image: in the image of might give life to those on whom his love might
God created He him; male and female created He them. flow forth, that God created man in His image, male
And God blessed them; and God said unto them, Be and female. In the home on earth, in the love of
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" husband and wife, of parent and child, were to be
(Gen. 1:27-28). reflected the love and the blessedness of the
Father’s home in heaven, were to be imaged forth
od’s purpose in the creation of man was to the deepest secrets of the life of Godhead in the
show forth and make visible to the universe fellowship of the Father and the Son by the Holy
GHis own unseen glory and perfection. He Spirit.
[man] was not only to have single points of resem-
What a solemn and what a blessed view this truth
blance to God; in all he was and did upon earth he
was to prove that he was indeed created in God’s gives us of the parental relation! What a sanctifying
influence the right apprehension of it would have
image and after His likeness.
upon its privileges and its duties! How much better,
in the light of this
e traits of that likeness
Divine origin and
were greatly varied and
most wonderful. In the purpose of the
family, we can
dominion he was to have
understand and
over the earth, he was to
value our relation
exhibit the power of God
to our children!
as King and Ruler of the
universe. In the won- And how, on the
other hand, all
drous mental powers
our interaction
with which he was en-
with them would
dowed, fitting him for
strengthen our
this work, there was to be
seen the image of God as obedience and
our confidence
the All-wise. In his moral
towards the
powers there was to be
Father in heaven!
some reflection of the
light that is inaccessible We should see
and full of glory: God’s how the action of the heavenly and the earthly
righteousness and holiness were to be revealed. home on each other is reciprocal. Every deeper
insight into the Father’s love and the Father’s home
But then there still remained one trait of the Divine would elevate the interaction in the home on earth,
perfection, the very highest, to be set forth. God is and enlarge our expectations as to the blessing the
love. As Infinite Love He lives not for Himself God who appointed it will certainly bestow upon it.
alone, but finds all His blessing in imparting His And every experience of what the love and blessing
own life. In His bosom He has the Son of His love, of a home on earth can be would again be a ladder
begotten of the Father from eternity. rough the by which to rise up and get nearer the great Father-
Son He hath created living beings, that upon them heart in heaven. "In the beginning God created the
the fullness of His love might flow out. As the Lov- heaven and the earth" – the two in correspondence
ing One He is the fountain of life; as the Living One with each other: the home in heaven, with the
He is the fountain of love. It was that in this, too, Father there, the original of the home on earth, and
man might bear the image of God, that his whole the father there.
life might be a life of love, and that in loving he

The Potter’s Vessel Vol 2, Issue 1, Jan 2018 18