Marriage, Family and the Image of God

In Marriage, Family, and the Image of God, Keith Edwin Schooley follows Jesus’ lead by going back to the creation account in Genesis to discover core truths about how and why God made marriage and parenthood the way he did. Schooley draws upon personal experiences with his wife and children, upon general insights he has gained over 25 years of marriage and family life, and upon careful examination of relevant biblical passages. He shows how our marriages and families can best be enhanced by allowing God to use them to help conform us to the image of his Son, to reflect God's image better and better throughout our lives.

Marriage, Family, and the Image of God begins with the author meeting his future wife, Cecile, at a temporary job. She was recently divorced and bitter about men and marriage. Their relationship caused them both to look into scripture to see if marriage was a valid option for them, and in the process, learned a lot about God's design for marriage. The marriage relationship is intended to reflect God's image in the Trinity, with perfect love and harmony. So how do things get so messed up? The answer lies in the selfishness human beings have been plagued with ever since the Fall. Our own selfishness tends to ruin our marriage and family relationships, and it is only by the grace of God that we can overcome that innate selfishness and truly be conformed to the image of Christ. This will transform our marriages and our parenting, if we let it.

In the process of working this all out, Schooley deals with such marital subjects as divorce, submission, and sexuality,, as well as such parental subjects as encouragement, discipline, making memories, and stepparenting. The final section, "The Image of God," brings all of this together to see how it fits into a unified whole. By becoming who God wants us to be as individuals, we emulate Christlikeness and transform our relationships, especially those close to us. Most marriage and parenting books deal with surface issues and symptoms. Marriage, Family, and the Image of God delves into the core of what family is supposed to be about, to transform it from the inside out.