Marriage, Home, and Family Child Rearing

Parenting involves more than Spanking them Church attendance/program participation Praying for them

What IS a child? Psalm They are the “property” of God, entrusted to human parents They are mighty weapons—effective against enemies If God counts a child as an arrow— then their purpose is pretty specific

God’s design for children is His design for all people Genesis The primary meaning of “the image of God” is that of ruling the earth as His agent Just as historical emperors put their image on display in the public sphere, so God put His image on display on the earth So Adam and Eve were to have children, thus filling (replenishing) the earth with image bearers

Throughout Scripture, God reinforces this concept by re-stating it Genesis 9.1 Genesis – The “that” expresses God’s purpose. The reason God knew Abraham was SO THAT Abraham would teach his children, not BECAUSE Abraham would teach his children – The reason God gave Abraham a child was to perpetuate the goal of having an “image bearer” rule in righteousness

Throughout Scripture, God reinforces this concept by commanding its obedience Deuteronomy – God’s identity (6.4) leads to – Love for that God (6.5), which requires – Immersion in His words (6.6), which leads to – Instruction of one’s children (6.7-9) Obviously, then, Biblical instruction isn’t just a “Church thing,” or a Youth Department thing, or a Christian School thing

Throughout Scripture, God reinforces this concept by empowering parents to deal authoritatively with their children In other words, the primary point of discipline is not simply to produce “well behaved” children Deuteronomy : It is the parent’s job to weed out career criminals

God’s design is confirmed by Jesus Matthew To Jesus, family wasn’t “everything.” He was