The Forgotten Order: Reclaiming God's Design for Family in an Age of Rebellion "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) Brothers and sisters, I stand before you today with a heavy heart but a spirit emboldened by the unchanging truth of God's Word. We live in an age where the very foundations established by the Creator are not merely questioned but actively dismantled and mocked. The world around us has declared war on the created order itself, and nowhere is this more evident than in the assault on God's design for family, marriage, and human flourishing. The Created Order Established Let us return to the beginning. In Genesis 1, we find the blueprint of God's perfect design. After creating the heavens and the earth, separating light from darkness, and filling the land with vegetation and animals, God came to the pinnacle of His creation: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:27-28) Note carefully what God established in these foundational verses. First, mankind is created in God's image—both male and female bearing this divine imprint, yet distinct in their creation. Second, God blessed this complementary union with a command: "Be fruitful and multiply." The very first command given to humanity was to form families, to have children, to populate the earth. This is not a suggestion. This is not a cultural preference. This is divine design. The family unit—one man and one woman united in covenant, bearing and raising children—stands as the cornerstone of human civilization precisely because it is God's established order. Genesis 2 elaborates further: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) The pattern is unmistakable: one man, one woman, united in a covenant before God, designed to be fruitful. This is the foundation upon which all human society was meant to be built. And God declared all of it "very good." The Modern Rebellion Against Creation But what do we witness today? A coordinated, intentional campaign to subvert this created order at every level. Make no mistake—this is not merely cultural evolution. It is rebellion against the Creator Himself. The secular world has systematically attacked the biblical family structure through multiple avenues: First, by separating marriage from procreation. The contraceptive revolution divorced the marital union from its God-ordained purpose of creating new life. What God joined together—sexual union and procreation—man has perverted. Second, by redefining marriage itself. No longer is marriage understood as the covenant union between man and woman that God established. Instead, it has been reduced to a mere contract based on emotional connection, easily formed and just as easily dissolved. Third, by blurring and eventually seeking to erase the distinct categories of male and female. Genesis is clear: "Male and female He created them." Yet our culture now insists that these categories are fluid, subjective, and self-determined rather than divinely established. Fourth, by promoting childlessness as a virtue rather than the exception. The command to "be fruitful and multiply" is openly rejected, with many viewing children as burdens that limit self-fulfillment rather than blessings from the Lord. Finally, by dismantling the family's educational authority. Parents are increasingly marginalized in the moral and spiritual formation of their children, replaced by institutions hostile to biblical values. Brothers and sisters, we must recognize this for what it is: not progress, but regression into paganism.