Home Improvement Series
GIVING YOUR CHILDREN BACK TO GOD
GEN. 22:1-13
Question: Have you ever given your children back to God? (Some of you are thinking, "I’d like to give them back—but I didn’t think God would take them back. I thought He had a ’no return’ policy on kids! Besides, I lost the receipt!")
· The truth is, there is not a parent here who hasn’t had a few moments or days when they wouldn’t have liked to package up that kid and take him/her back to God’s customer service counter and demand, "I want my money back!"
Ex: One man said, "Before I was married I had 6 theories on raising kids…now I have 6 kids and no theories!"
Ex: One little boy came running in to his Mother and asked, "Mom, what would you like for your birthday this year?" The Mother said, "I would like 3 well-behaved children!" The little boy said, "WOW! Then there would be six of us!"
· Well, I’m not suggesting you return your kids to God and try to get your money back, when I ask you if you have ever given your children back to God?
· What I am asking is, have you ever really:
Recognized that your children are a precious gift from God, and they belong ultimately and always to Him first—not to you.
Release the ownership of your children to Him—understanding God is responsible for the way in which they are designed and already knows the plan and purpose for their lives.
Today, God is asking every one of us who are parents to "BRING OUR CHILDREN AND PUT THEM ON THE ALTAR!"
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES:
There are many examples of parents in the Bible who brought their children to God and gave them back to Him:
1. There is the classic example of Hannah bringing her son Samuel (the son for whom she had prayed), and presenting him to God, and handing young Samuel over to Eli the priest. (I Sam. 1:27).
2. Zechariah and Elizabeth circumcised the infant John the Baptist and gave him the name the angel had instructed them to give him. This was an act of surrendering that child to the purpose and plan for which God had chosen him. (Lk. 1:57-66).
3. Of course, you remember Joseph and Mary brought the infant child Jesus to the temple following his circumcision at 8 days. They brought Him to the temple to "Present Him to the Lord ..." (Lk. 2:22).
But the example of a parent surrendering his child to God that I want us to read about today is that of Abraham offering Isaac on Mt. Moriah. So, let’s go back to where we started several weeks ago, to Genesis 22, and let’s see what God would have to say to us today about "Giving Your Children Back To God."
TEXT GENESIS 22:1-13
I hope before we leave here today, every parent, grandparent and hope-to-be-parent have something of an Abraham and Isaac experience. I hope you have a real encounter with God where you can come and in a very real way, give your children and grandchildren back to God.
That is exactly what Abraham did. He literally, totally, irrevocably gave Isaac back to God. Man, that had to be hard and painful for Abraham. After all:
· Abraham loved Isaac. V.2 God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and sacrifice him ..."
· Isaac had been a MIRACLE baby. He was born when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years of age.
· Abraham’s entire life was invested in Isaac. Abraham had spent his whole life following God around the deserts of the Middle East because God had promised to "bless him and make him the father of many nations, and by him all the nations of the earth would be blessed..." and all of this was to be fulfilled through Isaac.
· Oh yes, just try to put yourself in Abraham’s place. It was incomprehensibly painful for Abraham to strap his dear son on an altar and a stack of wood, raise a knife to slash open that boy’s chest and throat, cremate the body and sit by as he smelled the stench of the burning flesh of his boy—and then watch that boy literally disintegrate into a pile of ashes!
· Whew! I don’t know if I would do that. But in a very real sense, I know I MUST DO THAT with all 4 of the precious children God has given me.
Do you know—the best thing Abraham ever did for Isaac was to tie him to that altar and surrender him back to God?
FOUR ELEMENTS OF SURRENDERING YOUR CHILD TO GOD:
· What does it mean to surrender your children to God? I think it means 4 things:
I. Giving your children to God is a CONFIRMATION of your love for God and the CHILD.
· The first thing you are saying when you give that child back to the Lord is simply this...that you love God even more than you love that child and that you can’t properly love your children without loving God.
· This is exactly what Abraham proved by his willingness to offer Isaac. He was demonstrating that his love and fear of God were supreme in his life above all else.
· Abraham loved God above the most prized treasure of his life...his only son Isaac.
Matthew 10:37-38
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
II. Giving your children to God is a CLARIFICATION of ownership.
· When you give your child back to God, you are openly declaring that:
· This child is a gift from God.
· This child does not really belong to you.
· This child belongs to God.
· You have the privilege to love and train this child.
· But this child is not yours but God’s!
· Was this not what had to be on Abraham’s mind when he lay Isaac on the altar? Was he not saying, "Lord, this young man belongs to you—not me. You do with him as you please. He’s yours!"
· Hey listen! That little boy or girl in your home does not really belong to you—they belong to God! They are a precious gift from God, on loan to you.
Ps. 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." (KJV).
Note: We better be careful how we treat and care for God’s property!
Note: One of the glaring symptoms of the depth of depravity into which our society has sunken, is how we are treating our children.
Ex: 2.5 million abortions a year, American’s holocaust! And if you help elect pro-abortion politicians to office because of your party affiliation, or because of your pocket book, then the blood of 2.5 million innocent babies is on your hands today.
Prov. 6:17 says God hates "hands that shed innocent blood."
· These children belong to God. We better be very careful how we care for God’s precious children.
III. Giving Your Children To God Is A COMMITMENT To Raise Your Children Under The Lordship of Christ.
Eph. 6:4 says we are to "bring our children up in the training and instruction of the Lord." KJV. but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
· LISTEN...To give your child to God is not just a CEREMONY...It is a COMMITMENT. It is a commitment that you are going to:
· Be a godly parent. Love Jesus supremely. Teach this child of Christ. Keep this child in church. Love this child. Pray for this child. Train this child. Stay married for this child. Keep your home holy. Put away worldliness. Live a righteous life. Keep Christ as Lord of your home.
· I think some people see baby dedication as a magical ceremony. Let me tell you—this little ceremony means nothing—zero—if you are not making a sincere, life-long commitment to raise this child under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Ex: I like what Joshua told the children of Israel as they settled into their new home, the Promise Land.
Joshua 24:14-15
"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
· Man, that’s the kind of commitment God is looking for in parents today!
IV. Giving Your Children To God is a CLAIMING of God’s plan and promises for that child’s life.
· Isaac inherited God’s blessings, protection and promises because his dad, Abraham, gave him back to God.
Genesis 22:15-18
· The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
· Your children are blessed by your obedience to God AND cursed by your disobedience to God.
· As you obey God with your life, and as you give that child back to God, you are positioning that child to receive God’s very best for his/her life.
· By giving that child back to God, you are declaring that God has a special divine plan and purpose for that child’s life...and you are posturing yourself and that child to discover that plan and obey it.
· So this is what it means to give your children back to God.
1) It is a CONFIRMATION of your supreme love for Christ.
2) It is a CLARIFICATION of ownership (God owns that child).
3) It is a COMMITMENT to raise that child under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
4) It is a CLAIMING of God’s best plan and promises for that child’s life.
· This is exactly what transpired when Abraham took Isaac up Mt. Moriah and laid him on the altar to give him to God.
1) Abraham was CONFIRMING his love and fear of Jehovah.
2) Abraham was CLARIFYING that Isaac really belonged to God.
3) Abraham was COMMITTING to be a godly father.
4) Abraham was CLAIMING God’s plan and promises for Isaac.
E-mail jomooney@bellsouth.net
