In Robert Bosley's sermon, 'Children are a Blessing of the Lord,' he emphasizes the biblical view that children are a blessing and a gift from God. He discusses the dominion mandate, as seen in Genesis and reiterated to Noah, which involves being fruitful and multiplying. Bosley argues that the Great Commission, which calls for making disciples, does not replace this mandate but rather complements it. The ultimate goal is to fill the earth with people who bear God's image and worship Him. Bosley encourages the church to embrace the goodness of having families and children, acknowledging it may not always be easy but is a significant means of fulfilling God's plan. He challenges the cultural disdain for children and advocates for larger families, suggesting that the perceived high cost of raising children is often inflated by unnecessary purchases. He encourages Christians to reject materialistic pressures and appreciate children as a vital heritage.

The church needs to grab hold of what the Bible says about children. That children are a blessing. They're a gift from the Lord. Like the question says, this echoes the dominion mandate. You see it there in Genesis.

You see it also after the flood, the command of Noah. He's given the same dominion mandate. It's echoed here. A lot of churches today have the idea that the Great Commission has completely replaced the dominion mandate. It's no longer be fruitful and multiply.

It's go and make disciples. In reality, it's both. The Great Commission doesn't replace the dominion mandate. It supplements it. The goal has always been, fill the earth with image bearers who love and worship God.

So the Great Commission doesn't replace it, it comes alongside it and kind of completes that vision. But the church needs to really reaffirm what God says about the goodness of having families, of having children, that it's a good thing. It doesn't mean it's always easy, but it is a good thing. And it is one major way that God intends to fill this world with those who bear his image. And so we need to encourage larger families.

We need to encourage the people that, no, you don't need to have every little gadget and gizmo. You don't need to keep up with your neighbors and all their stuff. We hear constantly about how expensive it is to have children. Well, yeah, if you buy everything that the media tells you, you have to buy to have children. It's a lot easier when you realize, oh, well, actually we only need to buy like 5% of this.

It's a lot cheaper, just a practical level. But really getting that in the mindset of the people, children are a blessing, children are a gift from God, they're our inheritance, They're our heritage. And just turning aside from our culture is real disdain for children. And encouraging the families, have large families. You don't necessarily need to have as many children as possible, but you should set your sights higher than one kid and maybe a cat.

That's not really what Christian families have looked like historically or really the the image of what we see in scripture.