Biblical Parenting Part 2:

Review of Part 1

Godly home is the foundation for biblical parenting. The focus of part one, was to familiarize us with some of the basic foundations on which a godly home is built.

Genesis 1:26–28 KJV 1900

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

gen

I had already touched on 2 of the three points that I promised to share with us:

male and female created he them: speaks to gender specification for the home - a male must marry a female; sexual purity for the godly home - one lifetime sexual partner; and covenant union of the home - you can not divorce your partner and marry another.

The man is not of the woman but the woman of the man and for the man: the order of headship in the is clarified- it flows from God to Christ to man to the wife; the direction of love is stated - it flows from God to Jesus to man then to the woman; the direction of Authority- from God to Christ to man to the woman; and the direction of Submission - Christ submits to God, the man submits to Christ and the woman submits to the man…

3

Today: I have two major tasks

I will bring conclusion to part 1: by adding the third foundation on which godly home is built.

I will start off on Biblical parenting Part 2. (if there is sufficient time)

so, where do we start from? lets go back to our text:

Genesis 1:26–28 KJV 1900

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Foundation number 3:

And God said, let us make man in our own image … so, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him… If we look deeper into this simple statement, the more natural question to ask is this: “why did God choose to create man in his own image and not in the image of a dog, or any other tangible thing around him? ” straight away, you will realize that this approach of the Godhead speaks of 3 major things: Intimacy, glory, and purpose. I am going to drive this further:

lets begin with intimacy: in the image of God created he him - God intends to see himself through us - we are the prime of his creation, he intends for us to be the extension of him on the earth. Though we have our existence separate from him, he wants to see us always as being part of him, to facilitate a lasting cordiality and highest form of fellowship - INTIMACY.

Acts 17:27–28 NLT

27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

gen 3

Galatians 3:27 KJV 1900

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Genesis 3:8 KJV 1900

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Romans 13:14 KJV 1900

14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

rom

2. This statement also speaks of glory: Why did God create us in his own image after his own likeness: “to simply reflect his Glory” we are created for God’s glory.

Isaiah 43:7 NIV

7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

3. The statement also reveal God’s purpose: man is made for God, as the woman is made for man. which means:

The labour of the godly man is to please God… both in actions and in thoughts. The man is to become married to God through regeneration and the pursuit of the purpose of God. when a man is married to God among many other things, he will become:

a shepherd

a priest

a prophet

a servant

and a king

i will speak in detail about this in part 3 (look forward to that part)

A godly home can not be built around a man that is not first married to God, because latter in life, he will become married to other things - strange women and strange habits inclusive.

Recall that the woman is made for man as his helpmeet, now if a man has no sense of purpose in God, if he hasn’t discovered the mission of God for marriage as an institution, or, if he does not have a specific vision for his marriage as a covenant union to bring about God’s plan, then the woman who married such an empty man is doomed— why did i say this?

the woman will have nothing to help, because by divine appointment, the woman in the life of every man is to:

share man’s vision, carry the vision and run with the vision, as revealed by God and discovered by the man. (most of the time the vision will already include the woman’s vision - this is a mystery, but it is not far fetch, if you realize that

before God formed adam, he already incubated eve in him: gen 1:27-28. so, by virtue of God’s foreknowledge, eve became part of the blessing of God’s fruithfulness for Adam, because she is the womb-man, that is capable of carrying out the purpose of God for replenishing the earth… this is a mystery, but not confusing.

carry his vision

invariably, this means that the vision of the man becomes the vision of the woman at marriage, regardless of whatever vision the lord has given the woman… let us imagine for a moment, if that man lacks a sense of his divine purpose?

if a man has not find his purpose in God, then the woman has just lost her vision for life - except you want to go into rebellion - and fight all through your lifetime. This is the more reason why it is dangerous for any woman to just jump at any man and marry him - this may mean saying bye bye to your purpose in life.

The church made herself ready for the marriage of the lamb, the woman so also need to make herself ready for her marriage to a godly man. it is very important. you also have a role to play. A wise woman most of the time will not end up in the hand of a foolish man; those women who are enlightened about the role of God for them in the home, will never end up in the hand of a visionless man, because before they say yes to you, they were already looking for what they are going to be helping in your life: they are not saying yes to you, but they are saying yes to your vision… so the next time you see a man asking for your hand in marriage, as a wise woman ask this two questions:

what am I prepared to assist in the life of this man?

where is that seed that i am prepared to nurture to maturity in this man: where is that vision that I am prepared to carry as a vision carrier for his destiny?

how can I condense this third foundation on which the godly home is built? God’s purpose for the home is built on these 3 pillars, among many others: (1)INTIMACY , (2)GLORY and (3)VISION. these serves as our road compass as we navigate the waters of life in a godly home. Every man and woman that is going into this long term venture needs to ask:

How intimate am I with God - I am speaking of personal intimacy, before joint intimacy? without personal intimacy with God, there can not be warm fellowship with God in the home.

Am I a reflection of God’s glory? and lastly:

what vision are we running with for building our home? and how prepared are we to bringing God’s purpose to reality?

The reason for laying this foundations is simply because: “Godly home is the foundation on which biblical parenting is built” - so, we need to labour to first understand what makes up the godly home.

More so, a godly home will never happen by chance you have to deliberately work towards building a godly home… a man of God once said “there is no shortcut to anywhere worth going in life”

so, if you are planning towards a godly home, you need to know it takes time to build anything that will last...

I hope i still have time to introduce us to Biblical Parenting part 2

listen to this profound description, because in a way, it is a careful introduction to the next things that we will discuss on biblical parenting:

Biblical Counseling Keys on Parenting Title Page

“Kids are much like kites—struggling to become airborne, yet needing the stability of the string. A kite is not designed to be possessively protected inside the home. Though separation is painful, God designed your role as a parent to prepare ‘your kite’ for flight. As the fragile frame dives again and again, don’t be emotionally torn by the changing winds. Keep running with your child, releasing more and more string into the Lord’s sovereign hands.”1

—June Hunt

this profound description is from June hunt. the title of the article is: steps to successful parenting.

this description is in sync with what the psalmist says in the book of psalms:

Psalm 127:3–5 KJV 1900

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: And the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; So are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be ashamed, But they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

note: before we dive deeper, there are certain things that we can see on the conspicuous ground:

which focus

Parent are the kite holder, they are meant to release the string that helps the kite to airborne.

the kite, is made for flight - and flight is not going to happen inside the house, it will happen when the kite is exposed to the wind… the wind is dangerous, but it is what the kite needed to take fly high...

in the psalms: parents are the mighty warrior, in whose hands the arrow becomes a mighty instrument of war and of victory.

the arrow is not designed for fun, it is prepared for war and victories

this will not happen in the house - the victory happened at the battle ground at the warfront.

the battle ground is a dangerous place, but that is what an arrow needs to shine...

These are just introductory statements to get your mind ready for what is coming....

a child that is not well prepared for flight, will crash in the wind.

just like an arrow that is not prepared for war, will loose its place in the battle of life.

By the grace of God, BIBLICAL PARENTING Part 2 will cover:

The definition of Parent and what parenting entails; How accountable are we as parents?, the role of godly father and mother in biblical parenting and the difference between raising a child and raring a child.

Please bring your friends to this meeting, it is important for everyone that is related to you to hear this teaching, why? so that when your parenting paradigm shifts towards God they will understand your view point and follow suit.