How are we to raise our children?
This is a question of great interest to Christian parents, as evident by the popularity of various seminars and programs on the family. As we consider this question Biblically, we realize that it is an urgent question as God brings our children to salvation, spiritual maturity, and work for His Kingdom, largely through our rearing.
The single most important, most practical, and most fruitful way of rearing our children is that we consciously examine God’s Fatherhood as our model, and that we deliberately reflect this in raising our children. So the answer to our question is found in the entire revelation of God as the Father of His people and in the manner in which He deals with His children. God’s Fatherhood is the original Parenthood; ours is derived from His. He is the original Father in His relationship with His only begotten Son. He is the original Father in His relationship, in Christ, to His people, whom He adopts as children and begets in His own image. May it be our goal to know God, so that our parenthood may be derived from and reflect His Fatherhood.
This sermon looks at God’s Fatherhood as a model in the areas of discipline (Heb.12:3-13), teaching (Deut 6:4-9), and love (Psalm 103:13).
