“No longer orphans, but sons and daughters of the King” – Jhn 14: 18
The origin of the human family has its very conception in the heart of God – the One who claims for Himself the title Father. Yet, through sin, mankind has lost its way and has gone totally astray in its understanding of healthy, functional family life. Thank God for Jesus who left the glories of heaven to come and show us how to find our way back to the Father. By placing our personal faith and trust in Jesus Christ - in His death and resurrection - we have the forgiveness of sin, a second chance and a whole new perspective on life and our new journey that starts with our relationship with our eternal Father, a relationship with our new family of brothers and sisters in Christ, and the sure knowledge that we have an eternal home prepared for us where we will all be together with Him for eternity.
In Malachi 2:15 we read that God desires a godly offspring. This always was our Father’s desire for us – that we should imitate Him and live freely in the fullness of an abundant life here on earth. Unfortunately, when satan got a hold of the dominion mandate that was first given to the human race (Genesis 1:26 – 28), he started to mar the model of the earthly family that was to imitate the image of God’s Family in heaven. Instead of Father God’s will being done on earth as it is done in heaven, satan successfully set himself up as the father of lies disguised as the Angel of light. Now, more than 2000 years after the birth of Christ, we see that the condition of the human race is more desperate than ever before, and that even the very understanding of right and wrong is now rising and falling on the bias and laws of Government institutions – another “wanna bee” parent to our nation’s children.
As much as we are admonished to pray for and be subject to governing authorities, the fact still remains that the responsibility and task for raising a godly offspring belongs first and foremost to parents and then to the local church - Deuteronomy 6: 4 ; Deut. 7: 6 – 8 ; 1 Peter 2: 9 -10, etc. . In the Judeo – Christian ethic of the Old Testament we find the roots of our Christian faith. Yet, in the newness of the New Covenant for us as gentiles, we also have the freedom to cultivate and train our children in the uniqueness of our own cultures while all the time preserving the perspective of godly wisdom that finds its very origin in the heart of God and that emphasizes the fear of the Lord.
We live in perilous times where godly wisdom seem to oppose so much of what is widely accepted norms for child behaviour, healthy child development, family dynamics and healthy child discipline. This “enlightened “ way of raising children however does not seem to produce healthier individuals. The statistics for mental illness, behaviour problems, suicide rates and family divorce has reached an all time high. It is furthermore of incredible concern that research statistics for the Christian family does not show much difference in its divorce rate between the Christian and the non-christian family.
As never before the body of Jesus Christ as His heart, hands and feet to a dying and lost world, are called to make a difference in the lives of the hurting, the rejected, the poor, the widows, the orphans and all those who have been marginilised and wounded by our anti – god and anti-sound wisdom methods, beliefs and actions of child training and accepted norms of dysfunctional family life.
The task of nurturing Families and teaching them “to obey all things that I have commanded you” is a disciple making process that should include solid Biblical teaching, practical knowledge steps, one-on-one counseling and ongoing training courses for the healing, recovery and restoration of the Christian Family. In this way, the church will be actively involved and providing solid answers for one of the most pressing needs of our world – that of preserving a godly offspring.
Written by: Yulande Oosthuyzen
