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God’s Perfect Patterns

by Micky Galloway

From the very beginning, everything that God has created has been perfect. His physical creation was perfect. We read in Genesis 1:31 that when God looked upon all that He had created, it was “very good.” In terms of providing all that man needs for a suitable environment to live in – it is perfect. This world is not the only thing that God designed that is perfect. Consider these other patterns that God established which are perfect.

Consider God’s pattern for the family. It is God who not only created man and woman but He also is the One who created the institution of marriage. In answering the Pharisees’ questions about marriage and divorce, Jesus stated in Matthew 19:4-6, “Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh'? Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." Whatever social debates may rage, God is the only one who has the authority to define the institution of marriage which He created. God also defined the roles of the members within the family. It is God who determined that the pattern for the family calls for the man (the husband) to be the head of his wife and his family (Ephesians 5:23; I Corinthians 11:3). According to God’s perfect pattern for the family, the husband is to love his wife and make whatever sacrifices are necessary for her even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25).

God’s pattern also calls for the father to be primarily responsible for the training and discipline of the children in the family (Ephesians 6:4). The father is also responsible for providing for the physical necessities of life for his family. God’s pattern also calls for children who obey, honor and respect their parents “in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1-3). The wife is called upon by God’s pattern to “look well to the ways of her household” (Proverbs 31:27) and be “keepers” (KJV) of the family home (Titus 2:5). When the father, mother and children faithfully and consistently adhere to this pattern with love, patience, forgiveness and respect, then the family has become the fulfillment of God’s perfect pattern.

Consider then God’s pattern for the church. God is also the creator of the church and we must be diligent to ensure that we “make all things according to the pattern” (Hebrews 8:5). We read in the New Testament of God’s pattern for the organization of the church. While we recognize that the church has just one head, Jesus Christ (cf Ephesians 1:22-23), each local church is designed to be organized with elders, deacons and saints just as we read of in Philippians 1:1. The pattern calls for a plurality of qualified elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) who are to “exercise oversight” over the saints that are “among” them (I Peter 5:2) which precludes the common pyramid structure of many denominations in the world today.

There is also a pattern for the worship within the Lord’s church in which the scriptures give authority for singing (Colossians 3:16-17), praying, scriptural observance of the Lord’s supper (I Corinthians 11:17-34), giving of our means (I Corinthians 16:1; II Corinthians Chapters 8 & 9) and study of God’s word (I Timothy 3:15; II Timothy 4:1-3; Acts 20:7-11). When the pattern is followed, our worship is perfectly pleasing to Him to whom we offer it.

There is also a pattern for the work of the church. It is a pattern that, if added to by men, results in the church being “burdened” with tasks that God did not give to His church to do that, rather, are the responsibility of each individual Christian (I Timothy 5:16). That work includes the preaching of the gospel (Philippians 4:15), the edification of the members of the body (Ephesians 4:11-16), and benevolence extended towards needy saints (Acts 11:27-30; I Corinthians 16:1; II Corinthians 8:4; 9:12; Romans 15:25-31). When the pattern of work for the Lord’s church is followed and adhered to, it’s perfect.

Finally, there is a pattern revealed in the scriptures for the salvation of man. The pattern repeated throughout the book of Acts is summarized in Romans 10:10-17 in which the gospel is preached, the divine message is heard, believed and “heeded” or obeyed. That message which was proclaimed and to be heeded, whether by the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38), the believers in Samaria (Acts 8:12), the Eunuch from Ethiopia (Acts 8:35, 38), the former persecutor of the church Saul (Acts 22:16) or Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48), included the command to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins after they had also repented and confessed. When the biblical pattern for salvation is followed, it’s perfect.

God’s patterns are perfect. The problem has never been in the divine pattern for the home, the church or the plan of salvation, but in man’s willingness to adhere to it. If our homes and the church are not what they should be, rest assured, the problem is not in the pattern.

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