In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the foundational theology that God created the heavens and the earth. The duties and responsibilities of mankind are discussed in relation to the dominion mandate, which includes being fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth, and having dominion over it. The sermon also addresses the biblical truths about children's ownership, care, and authority, highlighting that children belong to God and are entrusted to parents for stewardship. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for children to come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

Turn with me again to Genesis chapter one. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And right there you have the foundation of all theology that God created the heavens and the earth. So we need to know who God is, we need to know how he created, what he created and how we relate to him as creatures. Now if you go down a little bit, go again to verse 26 of Genesis chapter 1.

Then 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 birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and 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 him and God blessed him and God said to them Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.

And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. I want to start with a disclaimer. The danger with disclaimers are that you can have too many disclaimers and you take away from the beauty that you find in scripture, but someone very kindly and graciously reminded me that when when you address topics like this someone might feel that they are not specifically addressed with their problems or things that they might be struggling with so this morning we will we will be speaking about children and the blessing of children. And there might be those in the congregation who cannot have children.

The Bible actually have several occasions where childlessness is being addressed. We have the story of Hannah, if you remember how she cried before the Lord. We have the story of Rachel and Leah, where Rachel could not have children until the Lord provided for her as well. So I don't want to be insensitive, And I want you to know that if you do not have children, that does not mean at all that you do not fulfill the Lord's commandments. One of the things that you might remember is even if you don't have children, you must have been a child yourself at one point.

So even in that the Lord has blessed your parents, but also the fact that as a human being created in the image of God, you have responsibilities and duties and blessings that fall upon you. So I want to say that so that you can know that there's a reason for you, even if you are childless, to rejoice with those who have children and to look around and to find ways in which you can be a blessing to others. It is important that you rejoice in the blessings of the Lord, even if you yourself personally have not received that specific blessing. So I hope you understand that right from the beginning. Well, we're still in the series and it is an art series because usually we preach through a book in the Bible, but this is a topical series and the reason why it's important is you do find in scripture the apostle Paul for example having to address current issues in the church facing dangers.

We even see the first seven churches in the book of Revelation when they are mentioned. John addresses specific issues that those churches had to face in their time. So no apologies for preaching this, because we understand that we live in a time where we need to be trained in righteousness and we need to be discipled by God's Word in order for us to stand faithfully in a world that is becoming more and more hostile to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're all disciples, aren't we? We're either disciples of the Lord Jesus and we follow him, or we are disciples of the world and we follow the doctrines of this world.

I guess it is practically the case that even true born again believers who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are often influenced by the teachings of this world and that we struggle to recognize sometimes the stark differences between that which God's Word says and that which the world is teaching us. So this series we are going through at the moment is to help us really to get back to the basic foundational doctrine that we find here in Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. With that we have made some conclusions in the first sermon I preached on this topic. Number one, this is God's world.

Amen? If he created it, it's his world. We are created by God and we live in his world. Thirdly, we are designed according to God's wisdom. He does not make mistakes and the way that you are is by design male and female for example.

Fourthly we should therefore live according to God's revealed will. If he created us, if this is his world and we live in his world, we need to live according to his revealed will for us. And then finally be joyfully submitting ourselves to his divine rule. There should be worship in our hearts. So we start at the very beginning, because it's a very good place to start.

Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God created, and when we get to chapter 1 verse 26 to 28, especially verse 27, we see that so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created him, and look at verse 28, and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and he goes on. If you look carefully at what we've just read, you'll see that we have a two-fold blessing in verse 28. After God created man in his image, male and female, we read in verse 28, and God blessed them. You see that? God blessed them.

And then it says how God blesses them. Now, when you read it, you don't, you don't get the idea that this is, that this is only a blessing. You get the idea that this is a command, that this is a duty, a responsibility that God places upon man, but it is a blessing because God blessed them. The first blessing is given to us in three duties related to the second set of blessings. So bear with me.

The first set of blessings is be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. It's a blessing that God grants us, but it's also a duty, responsibility. The second blessing is given to us in tasks then related to a specific office, that all men, mankind that is, fulfill collectively, subdue the earth and have dominion over the earth. And by the way, just a small little note here. I read this quote from a man called Dr.

Henry Morrison. I want to encourage you by this. This is now the second blessing part, subduing the earth. He wrote and he said, in order to subdue the earth, we must first understand its processes. Research is a foundational occupation for fulfilling the dominion mandate and he says, listen to this, this knowledge must be applied then in technology, in engineering, any engineers here?

In medicine, doctors are you here? Agricultural, we don't have many farmers here in Auckland but you might know one or two, it must also then be implemented for use by all in business and in commerce and transmitted to future generations in education. He says the creation can also be described and praised in the humanities and fine arts. And here's the crux of the matter. The dominion mandate thus authorizes all honorable human occupations as a stewardship unto God.

What it means is whatever you are busy doing, do it to the glory of God. Because as you do that as an engineer or a teacher or a farmer, you are fulfilling the subduing of this earth under the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. So be a good teacher, be a good engineer, be a good software person. Okay, back to Genesis 1. If you look at the Bible then you will see that the second set of blessings, the Dominion Mandate, is actually supported by the first set of blessings.

In other words, for man to subdue the earth, and to have dominion over the earth, man had to be fruitful. He had to multiply, he had to fill the earth in order to subdue the earth. So keep that in the back of your mind while we focus mainly then on the first set of blessings, this being fruitful. Now Let me give you a preview of where we're going this morning. First of all, we're going to look at the fact that children are a gift from the Lord.

Secondly, we're going to look at the fact that all children are sinners. Original sin inherited from Adam, and that is part of their nature. Thirdly we're going to say that children need Jesus Christ to be saved. Next week, Lord willing, we will go over and we would look at the place or the onus of raising children as it falls upon parents. And then God placed the onus on the church to raise godly families and how the family and the church then fulfilled this dominion mandate in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So today only the first three. Children are a gift from the Lord. Well we have this classic go-to passage in Psalm 127 and maybe you want to turn there quickly. In Psalm 127 there is this wonderful statement that we all know so well. But note again as we read this how this passage actually relates to the dominion mandate.

You know every time a preacher prepares a sermon, what happens to me, I don't know, maybe, maybe to others as well, you have, you have those verses in your mind that you will know. I must end up saying something about that verse because it relates so directly to the topic. And obviously speaking of children, you have to go to Psalm 127. But I was so surprised as I read it to see how linked the second part of the Psalm is with the actual passage that we're dealing with in Genesis chapter one. And I will make it very clear to you.

He starts and he says this is a song of a sense of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep. Verse 3.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb, a reward. 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. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." Now when you read that psalm and you read verse one to two, How does Solomon move from if the Lord doesn't build the house we labor in vain.

How does he move from unless the Lord watches over the city the watchman will stay awake and then suddenly move over to behold children are a blessing from the Lord. Maybe it's got something to do with the Lord gives his beloved sleep and children don't always afford that to their parents, but that's not what's happening here. This Psalm speaks of God's power and God's effective care for his people, But we also see that man is expected to participate in this by nature of then having this mandate to have dominion over God's creation. Our labor can end up being in vain if the law doesn't build the house and if the law doesn't care, sure, but you and I need to labor. The labor command came before the fall.

And from building and watching over the city toiling with little sleep, then the psalmist suddenly switches over to behold children are a heritage from the law. You know, God graciously blesses us with children so that we can continue to build, continue to watch, continue to take care. He blesses us with children so that in our fruitfulness and in our multiplying and filling the earth, joyfully submitting to his will, we could occupy our office as vice-regents, as those who rule over God's creation under God. So God blesses us with children to fulfill that purpose in us. Now this is not accidental and the significance of this as well as the application of this reality, will inform us now how important children are.

Repetition is a great teaching tool, so here we go again. This is God's will. We are created by God and live in his will. We are designed according to God's wisdom. We should therefore live according to God's revealed will and by joyfully submitting ourselves to his divine rule.

In God's will, designed according to his wisdom, God created us male and female. The biological, anatomical and physiological differences between men and women were partly designed to accommodate the first blessing fruitfulness multiplying filling the earth in order that we can act and serve as vice-regions over God's creation. God's ownership, therefore, doesn't only cover what he made on the first six days of creation. It's not only those things that God made in the beginning that belongs to him, everything and everyone who then by natural means come into this world, They also belong to Him. This is God's world.

So, we must look at our children and we must acknowledge that children belong to God. He created them. They live in His world. They are designed by him and for him. Psalm 119 verse 73 we read, Your hands have made and fashioned me.

Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. And then in Isaiah 64 verse 8, but now oh Lord you are our Father, we are the clay, you are our potter, we are all the work of your hand. But in true Adamic form, modern man rejects this biblical truth. To them children are either a burden, so we need to abort them before they even see the light of day. If the child even manages then to come into this world, the world will quickly claim children for themselves in order to mold them into their image, in order to be those who continue to reject the authority of God.

We'll have to address the second claim. The world believes that the ultimate ownership and care of children and the authority over them belong to the state. What does God's word say about the ownership and the care and the authority over children? First of all children belong to God. Amen.

If God created us, we all belong to him. And by the way, state belong to God. Secondly, the care of children has been delegated to parents of those children. If you have a child in your home, you have responsibility over that child, that child has been given to you so that you can steward that child in the ways of God. That precious little baby or child in your house belongs to God, and God has given him or her to you so that you can care for them.

That's huge! And we'll talk a little bit about what that care looks like. The third biblical truth about this is that along with the stewardship, God also gives parents particular authority over their children. He entrusts that child to you, and you as a parent have the ultimate authority over your child. No one else.

All three of these biblical truths are under fierce attack in our society today. Let me read to you here. In 2022, at the Teacher of the Year ceremony hosted by the White House, not our White House, but the other one, The current president of the USA claimed that school children don't belong to parents when they're in the classroom. And if you follow the news a little bit, you will see that there's kind of an uprising in America at the moment from parents trying to take back the authority over their children as it comes to what is being taught in schools. Most of those in charge of education actually believe that children belong to the state and it is their duty to care for these children.

So they see it their duty to educate them in the socially engineered ideologies that they now believe in and they will do so even if it is in direct violation of the parents will. So you find unnatural sexuality being promoted in schools, you find overly sexualized material being taught in classrooms, you find pornographic books in school libraries, and every perversion of God's design in the letters of the LGBTQ alphabet are being taught to children in our schools today, long before they even reach the age of 10. Now I want to believe that we are here in New Zealand not so far down that road, but I think we are. The only relief in New Zealand is that a parent can still have the legal right to pull their children out of certain classes. You can do that.

But these unbiblical ideals are woven into almost every subject that is being taught in our schools today. When I served on the on the board of a school we receive the New Zealand curriculum and we have to deal with that especially in the context of a Christian school how do we look at that how do we imply that I'm telling you every time something new comes out you can see what is being done. The general revealing philosophy among those who reject God is that it is essential and absolutely necessary to educate children and to create new social structures where God's given rights of parents over their children must be torn down because children ultimately belong to the state. Ask any ex-Soviet person in this room, you can ask my wife and there's Anna, ask them what it was like growing up in Soviet Russia. As young kids they would walk around with their little red scarves, the pioneers.

And they would go to to pioneer camps. And these little children were taught that Lenin was their grandfather and Stalin was their uncle. Let me read to you what one such a woman wrote. She said, we studied a school curriculum and participated in youth programs designed to instill appreciation for communism and reverence for its leader, our dear Vladimir Illyevich Lenin, Diodushka, that means grandfather Lenin. As we were taught to refer to him as grandfather, we were told we lived in the best country in the world and as kids we thanked grandfather Lenin for our happy childhoods.

Yes, we wholeheartedly believed our childhood were happy. Now today this is the predominant worldview also in our country. The state believes that our children belong to them. And let me make it clear, this is not a political statement. I know some of you might think it is.

The only reason it sounds like a political statement is because Satan and rebellious men will use power within political systems to set themselves up against God. So let's go back to what the Word of God says. God's design for the family is that parents are given authority over their children. Parents are to take care of their children. Parents need to let the Word of God bear on the lives of their children as they raise them.

God's design for the family though in the world is rejected, it is being attacked. They want to destroy that which God in his wisdom designed for the good of man. They make statements like, all children are the nation's children. And it sounds great if they mean by that, that we're all part of the nation. That should be fine.

But behind these statements is the idea that the state has the right to educate and to indoctrinate children apart from God's design for the family, apart from the permission of parents. This is a textbook of atheistic socialism. The Bible clearly teaches that the government has no right, nor mandate, nor authority to claim ownership over your children, or to educate children in any way contrary to God's Word. And here's why. Children belong to God.

They are given to parents who are entrusted with the responsibility to raise them in the ways of God. But they belong to God. Now if our children belong to God and we've been entrusted to look and care for them, then what are our duties then as parents? You can understand why throughout history the state took upon themselves the responsibility to take care of children is because sometimes parents have not fulfilled their duty. They've not done it well.

But that doesn't take away the responsibility that we have as parents. Well, before we can answer the question how we should then raise our children, we need to recognize something about these precious little gifts that the Lord has given us. So that's my second point. All children are sinners. Original sin inherited from Adam and that's part of their nature.

Proverbs chapter 22 verse 15. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Now I know many of you will get stuck on the second part because it's illegal in New Zealand to do so, but don't miss the first part. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child. David acknowledged this when he wrote Psalm 51, when he said in verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in inequity and in sin that my mother conceived me.

Children are precious gifts. They are a blessing from the Lord, but they are ruined by the sin of Adam. I thought I should I quote and should I not quote the way in which Zvody Bakam refers to children, vipers in diapers. He's got a point. I actually read an article where someone took him on on that.

It's interesting, the person who said that's the wrong statement doesn't believe in total depravity. We do. When you look at your child, there's nothing and no one in this world that you would love more. Amen? But you must admit and realize theologically and in practice that that child is a sinner.

This week I walked past a young family in Silverdale and the dad was walking in front and the mum was following and the mum had a little boy who was about this tall and she just bought sushi and he wanted that sushi now. And he was screaming. Did you guys who live in Silverdale heard him? He was screaming, so loud. And I remember as I walked by thinking, poor mum, as I walked by the mum said to the dad, oh I think we need to stop, The boy definitely needs to eat now.

I thought to myself, right there, that boy and that mum have broken at least three of God's 10 commandments. Number one, thou shalt have no other gods before me. That child's god was his stomach. I need to eat now. Honor thy father and thy mother.

Well, most certainly that little child cannot do that naturally, can he? Though shall not covet. He wanted that now. He wanted his sushi. And he was very close to breaking the sixth commandment, you shall not kill.

Poor mum. Who taught him this? Who taught that child to rebel like that against his parents? No one. He didn't have to learn this from his environment, he knew this from his nature.

And let's not ascribe this only to a child being naughty or acting out or he's just a difficult child. He's a viper in a diaper. He's a sinner. At the core of every child's heart is that natural inclination of his will to be satisfied. He wants to satisfy his flesh.

He wants to reject God's authority over him, that's his parents. Right now at that moment that child is sinning against God who created him. We call this total depravity. I think sometimes parents because of the immense love they have for their children, they fail to realize that their children are lost in sin without the grace of God. And they will act according to their sinful nature.

We forget that because we love them so much. So this leads us now to our final point. Children need Jesus Christ. We have another well-known passage in this regard and we already read it in Matthew 19. But look again at verse 13 to 15.

Then children were brought to him that he might lay hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people but Jesus said, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belong the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and he went away. Now you have probably heard many sermons or comments on the passage before. I'm sure you have.

We always hear something about this. But he sometimes asserted that verse 14 teaches that all children are saved. I've heard this. Let the children come because such is the kingdom of heaven. So by the mere fact that they are children, they are supposedly in the kingdom.

And this is actually the exact opposite of what this passage teaches these children were brought to Jesus possibly by their parents so that they could receive a blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ You could just imagine how these parents wanted their children to see what the Lord Jesus Christ did, to hear what the Lord Jesus preached, and to have him bless them. He had the words of life. The disciples rebuke the people who brought the children to Jesus, and what did Jesus say to them? No, no, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came to declare that the kingdom of God has come.

So to say, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for such the kingdom of heaven, it means that children must come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. They must, if they want to be part of the kingdom, they must come through faith. They should not be hindered. They are not excluded from the grace of God. He gives salvation to children as well as adults.

As a matter of fact, this kingdom belongs to such as them who come to him with joy. The love of Christ Jesus extends to children, because children need Christ. If they are sinners, how are they ever going to be saved? And I want to say this very, very respectfully. If you believe that a child is saved because he was baptized as an infant, It does not align with how God's words speak about children.

Salvation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we read about our sinfulness, we don't read anywhere in the Scripture that it is exclusively an adult problem. For all, but everyone under the age of 16 have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Or there is none righteous, no not one, except my little boy. Your children are one of the greatest gifts that God will give you, this is from a quote Lisa Wingate, she writes books.

New York Times bestseller, but I like this quote, she says your children are one of the greatest gifts God will give to you and their souls are the heaviest responsibility he will place in your hands. May I ask everyone here this morning to stop for a second and just think about this. Maybe you can look around, Maybe you have your own kids sitting on your lap or sitting next to you. Or maybe you don't have children of your own. I want you still to look around.

God created that little boy and that little girl. They belong to God. God gave that child to that parent, so that those parents can look after that child, nurture them, Teach them, raise them up in the ways of God. Look at the children and then you ask yourselves, how precious are their souls? How precious?

How can I tell them about the glory and the beauty of Christ? Parents, do you ask that question? If they belong to God, if they are so precious, if they are sinners in need of the Lord Jesus Christ, how can I bring to them a knowledge of the glory of God so that they can repent of their sins and turn to Christ and be saved for all eternity? If you have your own children, do not be the one who hinders them from coming to Christ. Hold before them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let them see it in you as you live out your faith. Let them hear as you teach them, as you read to them the scriptures, that God is good, That he's the giver of eternal life, that he forgives sins. And if you don't have your own children, come alongside parents. You know, that's one thing I probably missed most, and it's possibly because of my position as a pastor. You know, people think pastors got it all sorted out.

If there's one thing I would have loved to see more, and it's not too late by the way, come alongside my kids, because I'm going to try my best at home to teach them about the glory of Christ. I'm gonna read the scriptures with them, I'm gonna pray for them, but you know what? They need you as well. I don't want to embarrass my kids. Well I am gonna embarrass them probably.

No I know, I won't do it. Sometimes it happens in families that the dad can say everything over and over again and then some lesser person comes and says to that child exactly the thing that you've taught them all their lives and said, Dad! He said so and so and that parent might sit there thinking, I've said that a hundred times, they need you. That child that's growing up here in the church, they need you. Pray for them, pray for the parents, encourage the parents.

Do not hinder the kids from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love how Daniel started our service this morning, again telling you that it's important for children to sit in the church. Yes, they can be noisy sometimes, but you know what? That child is being created in the image of God and need to hear the gospel. Let us not hinder the children from hearing the Word of God.

And if you are in the habit of not bringing your family to church, stop it! Bring them! Do not hinder your child from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive his blessings through his Word. Now I've spoken to the parents and I've spoken to all the adults in this room. Children, can you listen up?

Right, eyes here. Well done, well done. The final words of my sermon is going to be addressed directly to you children. You ready to listen to this? Children, bring your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ.

When you are disobedient to your parents, They might need to discipline you and you might not like it, but do you know what those parents are doing? They are showing to you that God loves you so much and that in your sin there is forgiveness in the Lord Jesus. So as they discipline you, I hope those parents will tell you that it's not only me disciplining you, but I want you to know that in your naughtiness, in your sin, that you need to repent before the Lord Jesus Christ. So children, I ask you that you will come to the Lord Jesus, ask him to forgive you all your sins and love him with all your heart. Do you know why?

Because this is the only way that you can be right with God. Because you have been created in God's image. You as a little child are precious, so tremendously precious. You've been created in God's image. And finally, because those the Father has given me, Jesus said, they will come to me and I will never reject them so children if you have not repented of your sins yet and come to the Lord in faith my I asked that you will consider it even now today and next time when mom and dad have to speak to you about difficulties, know that you're a sinner and you need Jesus Christ just as much as mum and dad do.

Amen. You are precious. I love children. God loves them far more.