One of the things I enjoy about blogging is the opportunity to share some personal things going on in my life and Lord willing this week we will welcome our fourth child into the world. We didn’t always have this attitude towards children. Before salvation it was more of an obligation than a desire. As a Believer I’m to have my mind changed and renewed by the Word of God (Romans 12:2) and as I look back now I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
I really enjoy the quizzical looks that I receive sometimes and it’s actually quite humorous for people to think that four kids is a huge family. By today’s standards it’s almost double the average but by no means is it a big family. I will be 48 years old in less than 2 months and Jen will be almost…. Well let’s just say she’s north of 40.
Someone told me when I announced Jen was pregnant with Lydia, “I hope you’re not going to have 12 more kids…” I’m not sure that’s possible but if that is what God chose for us I would be all for it. As I thought about writing this I had to consider why would I desire to have has many kids as God would provide? This is surely foolishness to the world.
Recently I was picking up my daughter Grace from a dance class and I heard a woman going on and on about a family that has so many kids and they don’t use birth control. That was so completely foreign to her thinking. After all doesn’t God use these sorts of modern inventions to assist us in controlling the chaos? For this woman absolutely “yes”… For the unbelieving world the message of the cross (all God’s Word) is ridiculous. She went on to say, “but at least the children are well behaved…” and “oh she home-schools them also…” I wanted to walk over and ask the lady for their phone number. Sounds like someone I need to meet.
So what’s the big deal about all of this?
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
This is so full of the truth of God and so incredibly rich how could I begin to scratch the depth of what it all means? God created all the animals and pronounced it “good”, but God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).
Man is the image bearer of God and with that the responsibility to glorify God in everything. God also gave man an eternal soul. God did not breathe life into the animals only into man.
Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Notice that it was God that blessed the marriage relationship and it was for the filling of the earth. After sin entered the world everything about this has been distorted and debased. As with the woman I heard at Grace’s dance class, she should not be filling the earth and it is better for her to limit the children in her home.
Believers should understand the purpose of raising children is all about the glory of God. When I raise my children according to Biblical standards and I trust God’s promise from Exodus 20:6 that He will show mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments, I then have an opportunity to subdue and take dominion over the earth.
Does this mean I conquer politically or wage war? No, this means we execute what the Lord Jesus Christ told us in Matthew 28:18-19. We go out into the world teaching those to observe everything Christ has commanded, and that He Himself has given us this authority. When God blesses us with more children we have more opportunity to bless Him back by faithfulness to His Word and His commands.
We must believe that children are a blessing, and we must believe that these blessings are actually arrows in our hands (Psalm 127:4). We must trust and believe God’s Word that His command to be fruitful and multiply extend over all of time, not just when the earth was first being populated and certainly not what a culture dictates. If we are to truly have impact, we will look different from the world and they will wonder why. They will make fun of us, they will revile us but some might be saved because we are faithful and trusting in God.
If God has blessed you with many children, few children, or no children at all, be faithful to Him in all circumstances. If you don’t understand His plan, simply trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).
I’ll leave with these two questions.
Are you willing to have your mind changed by God’s Word?
Do you desire to be obedient to God’s Word?
Kevin
Uncommon Faith 