Sermon Archives
The Mission of Multiplication
Genesis 1:28Extending Eden
Rickey Primrose
July 19, 2015
Description:
Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden to worship and represent God. They worshiped Him by loving Him and obeying His commands. They represented God by reflecting His glorious image on earth. Adam and Eve were the first family that ever existed, and they were to be a part of the mission of God. God’s mission has always been to fill the earth with His glory through image bearers who reflect His glory and worship His name. But how were Adam and Eve, two limited and finite individuals, supposed to fill the entire earth with God’s glory? The answer to this question is found in Genesis 1:28, and it is the mission of multiplication. Adam and Eve were given the mandate to multiply, bearing children who also bear the divine image, and rear those children to worship the Lord. Through this mission of multiplication, over time, Eden would have expanded to fill the earth, thus accomplishing God’s mission of filling the earth with His glory. From Genesis 1:28 we see a foundational truth: The mission of multiplication is a gift from God for the glory of God. Children are a blessing and are to be stewarded for the glory of God. The mission of multiplication has at least three implications.
First, the mission of multiplication means we must make children a high priority in our family planning. Since Christians believe God when He says children are a blessing and since they understand and embrace God’s mission to fill the earth with worship through multiplication, they should make bearing children a high priority in planning their families. This is not to say Christians must have as many children as naturally possible or that couples with small families are not as spiritual or godly as those with large families. This is a heart issue. Christians should never have the same mindset toward large families as the one found in our culture, which is that having a large family is strange and irresponsible. Furthermore, the motivating factors that go into our family planning must be different from the world’s motivating factors; they must be driven by kingdom rather than worldly ambitions.
Second, we must make children a high priority in our family pursuits. Both mother and father must make children a priority when determining what activities and careers they will pursue. God does have design for the home. Fathers are to carry the primary responsibility of providing for the resources of the family. The primary role of mothers is to be a homemaker. Should Christian moms who have children living in the home have a full-time career outside the home? This is a complicated question and one to which a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer cannot be given. What we can say for sure is that a mother’s life and ministry is to be centered in the home (cf. Titus 2:3-5; 1 Tim. 5:9-10, 14), which is an incredibly high and significant calling. The question moms must ask regarding a career is this: If I am fully engaged in this career, can I fully accomplish my primary calling as a homemaker? We must make sure we do not neglect the roles God has given us for the sake of a standard of living we want to achieve as a family. Children, and the home, must be given priority.
Finally, we must make children a high priority in our church. This means placing a high emphasis on children and family ministry as a church. It means engaging in multi-generational, Titus 2, ministry as a church where older Christians invest and mentor younger moms and dads. It means we must, as a church, defend children who cannot defend themselves. God loves life; He loves children, and so must we. Children must be a high priority in our church family.
This was a hard message to deliver and I know it was in many ways a difficult message to hear. We live in a fallen world and because of the effects of sin on the world, Christians sometimes cannot help but be in a situation that is less than God’s ideal, whether they are unable to bear children, or mom is unable to stay home. Remember, God is able to redeem us from the effects of sin and the less than ideal situations those effects put us in. Hope in God!
If you are looking for more resources regarding some of the topics we addressed this morning, I recommend to you a book entitled Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I would also recommend desiringgod.org, which contains a lot of helpful resources on both family planning and working mothers.
Keywords:
Children, Family, Marriage