The Family: Commissioned to Have Children…Physically & Spiritually

TITLE – The Family: Commissioned to Have Children…Physically & Spiritually TEXT – Genesis 1:28 Jefferey Johnson – “The family as God has designed it, is the backbone of society. How is the next generation to be properly raised up to maturity? How will society function without responsible, disciplined, educated citizens? It is the family that God designed to raise up, discipline, and educate the proceeding generations of individuals.” The Family: The Foundational Institution of Society….Commissioned to have children: 1 – HAVING CHILDREN IS GOD’S GOOD & NORMAL PLAN – V.28 Three countercultural truths from God’s Word for families: 1A. Children are a blessing, NOT a burden – Psalm 127:3-5 Psalm 127:3-5a - Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! 1B. Jesus loves the little children – Mark 10:13-16 Mark 10:13-16 - And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” Mark 9:36-37 - And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” 1C. Parents must bring their children to Jesus – Mark 10:13, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 2 – HAVING PHYSICAL CHILDREN IS NOT ULTIMATE, HAVING SPIRITUAL CHILDREN IS – Genesis 1:28, Matthew 28:19 ​​Genesis 1:28 - “…Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Matthew 28:19 - “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Genesis 12:2-3 - And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Galatians 3:13-14 – “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit [notice] through faith.”