No one needs to prove to us that we may be watching the death of the germ cell of civilization, the family. All the signs are abundantly clear all around us. We could drag out all kinds of statistics to indicate the dire situation of the families in our culture.

We are all constantly looking at the parade in the media of divorce, sexual rebellion, abortion, sterilization, delinquency, infidelity, homosexuality, women’s liberation, children’s rights, and so on. We are watching the formation of the rope that strangles the family to death. And many, frankly, are gladly carving out the tombstone for the family.

The people who hold these perspectives are aggressive, forceful, forthright, and domineering, and they find their most fertile ground for the propagation of their viewpoints in the universities and the colleges of our society. Consequently, they are in the process of significantly reeducating the youth, who eventually become the leaders and movers and shakers of our society.

On the other hand, others who are watching the death of the family see it as a disaster, a virulent disease. If the family cannot function, who will raise, who will socialize, who will moralize the next generation?

There is no question about the fact that the family is under a major assault and that people want to redefine family in absolutely any terms they want. There is no question that we are watching a generation of young people rising up who have no socialization skills and no moral sense at all.

Sociologists, psychologists, analysts, and so-called marriage and family experts are scrambling all over the place to try to come up with some kind of solution, and they have been doing that now for a couple of decades with absolutely no impact on the slide. Nothing that they are doing seems to slow down the process of the disintegration of human relationships at the very core of life, which is the family. You can tamper with society in a lot of places, but if you destroy the family, you destroy society.

It’s a fascinating time, in one sense, to be alive. The family is certainly at the head of the endangered species list.

Can the family be saved? Should the family be saved? Is it worth fighting for? And if so, how?

The church has made some efforts; there has been a great preoccupation on this subject. Christian book stores are literally filled with books on marriage and the family. There have been endless sermons and seminars and conferences dealing with the issues of the family, but that too doesn’t seem to make much difference.

God has an answer to the question, “Should the family be saved?” and God has an answer to the question, “Can the family be saved?”

The Bible makes it very clear. When it says marriage is the grace of life and children are a blessed heritage from the Lord, that means we must understand the blessedness, the bliss, and the purpose of God that unfolds in the matter of marriage and raising children.

Family is still the heart and soul of human society. Family, as it is defined by God, is the place of intimacy. It is the place of joy. It is the place of memories that build the foundation of life. It is the place of love. It is the place of socialization. It is the place of morality. It is the place of security. It is where you build confidence.

There is a divine pattern for how family’s ought to operate. There is a pattern for how a marriage is to be fulfilled and happy and rewarded. And when we look for that model, we need to go no further than the Word of God. It’s all laid out there. It’s not that complicated and it’s not that difficult.

It’s the truth of the Word of God that makes the difference. And until people get in line with that truth, they will continue the devastating drift downward that’s going to be far worse in the future than it is now.

This post is based on a sermon Dr. MacArthur preached in 1996, titled “A Plan for Your Family: God’s vs. the World’s, Part 1.” In addition to serving as the pastor of Grace Community Church and the voice of Grace to You, Dr. MacArthur is the chancellor of The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, Calif. You can learn more about TMU at masters.edu.