What Will This Child Be? Series

WHAT WILL THIS CHILD BE

(The Birth of John the Baptizer)

Luke 1:66

“What manner of child shall this be?”

A baby can draw a crowd. The one in the cradle gets the attention. Some of the onlookers are prejudiced. They are the grandparents who know why these children are called “grand”. They are the parents who know this baby is the best. If you want to make a daddy happy just say, “He (or she) looks just like you.” Using the cradle of little John the Baptist, we will think about the fascination for and the future of babies.

A. THE FASCINATION OVER A BABY

1. Mystery.

A baby is fascinating because he is a mystery. Where does he come from? Timid parents say “the stork.” Dick Van Dyke said “Mr. Cabbage.” Scientists say he crawled out of the slime, wore a monkey suit and became human. The truth is - a baby comes from God.

The Bible says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him” (Ps. 127:3) Here is where we parents go wrong. We see children more as possessions then persons. God does not give us babies as much as He lends them to us for a few years. They come through us but not from us.

2. Independence.

A baby is fascinating because it is unique and independent. We think it looks like every other baby, but God has given it a face different from any other face and on the tips of its little fingers, God has placed a unique mark - the fingerprint. It says, “This baby is one of a kind.”

3. Power.

Babies are fascinating because of their awesome power. When the intellectual giant of Scotland, Thomas Carlyle, held his cousin’s baby in his arms, he said, “To think, Shakespeare was once like this!”

When Israel languished under the iron heel of Egypt and cried out to God for deliverance, God sent a baby named Moses. When the Roman church buried the truth for centuries in darkness, God sent a baby named Martin Luther to lift the light of the Reformation.

We are always worrying about a possible invasion of America. We already have an invading army that cannot be stopped. It is on the way and it will take over our schools, our churches and our government. It is the army of arriving babies.

II. THE FUTURE OF A BABY

Will it grow up and be president or grow up to assassinate a president? Will it discover a cure for cancer or die from a drug overdose? No one knows. But let us look at some determining factors.

When a young boy made three “D’s” on his report card his dad asked him why and he said, “Dad, there are two reasons – heredity and environment.

One is heredity.

Men may be created equal but they certainly are not born equal. Every child has the right to be well born but some are cursed at birth. They come into the world with poisoned blood. Unfit parents who give themselves to life’s lower levels build weaknesses into the fabric of their children’s souls and curse generations yet unborn.

Next is environment.

You can grow beautiful flowers easier in a sunlit garden than in a dark basement. It is far easier to rear children with sound minds and bodies and beautiful characters in a wholesome, healthful environment.

This is why we need morally good towns, capable schools, and honorable homes. By far the most important factor is training. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

Heredity and environment are powerful forces on the side of evil. But they are no match for a child, with freedom of choice, created in the image of God and influenced by God through the twin channels of church and home. The God of heaven, Christian parents and a Bible believing church make up an unbeatable team.

How tragic it is that absentee parents, bent more on making money and fulfilling personal goals than in accepting the responsibilities of parenthood are letting children grow up like wild weeds.

As a Beatle’s song put it, “She’s leaving home after being alone for so many years.” How tragic it is that parents no longer see to it that their children are in church on Sunday and Wednesday nights. How can we as a church and you as a parent be part of this unbeatable team.

1. We Must Teach the Truth. (Deut. 6:4-9)

At the head of the list is propositional, doctrinal Christian instructions. The world, Satan’s tool, goes first of all for the mind. Once the mind is reached, the total person will be enslaved. The cults go for the mind.