Introduction
God has created all life. And God has placed a blessing over the whole of life – from beginning to end. This also includes, where things have gone awry, the possibility of a new beginning … with no ending! Life is all about relationships, and God has invited us into the greatest relationship of all. This is God’s world and we are His creations. This all begs many questions! How do we view our lives? Do we fully grasp all of the love God has for us?? And, what is the legacy we are creating for our children???
Created in Love
Can I suggest from the outset, on the basis of what we have read from Psalm 139, that we should never let ourselves forget … how much God loves and cares for us – each one of us. This began in the design stage within our mother’s womb. From this point … all the potential that our life held … waited on our birth, and for the nurturing we would receive, and for our gradual maturing … through whatever life threw up. The purpose and calling for which our lives could be known, was planted very early.
Our sense of worth should be lifted through reading this psalm … should it not!? We read this grateful psalmist say (in verse 14) in response to God, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made – wonderful are your works”. I, myself, for one, may NOT look like what this verse states now – but’s that just aging skin and bones. It is also the work within … that we can remark upon. Truly, we were created in the image of God – just as we are taught in Genesis (1:26-7). So, we have the capacity to feel, think and act … as God would!
All of us – male and female – are created in the image (or, ‘the likeness’) of God – which is the one of the most important lessons the early chapters of Genesis have to tell. And, God declared all of this creation to be “very good” (1:31). We are created with God’s blessing for a joyful, productive and love-filled life. So, each new life is a precious gift to the earth! The Psalmist goes on (in verse 16) to write very positively about our good prospects in life – “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me …”.
Before we view all this too individualistically though, we should also note the other two most important lessons we learn from the early chapters of Scripture – which remind us that we live in community. We were created by a God of community. We are to be good stewards of all of God’s creation (Gen 1:28); and, we are to love our neighbour. Our potential productivity lies in this relational context. Yet, too, we were created in a way in which fulfilling these tasks and responsibilities became absolutely possible!!
Loved in Rebellion
But then, here’s the rub! In one way or another, and at one time or another, each of us has rebelled against God to a greater or lesser degree, preferring our own ideas, and own control, and our own ways, over God’s! We have been given freewill, and so we have utilised our license to make bad choices – we reach out to take our own apple from the tree … the tree that was better left alone. Because of this, our focus increasingly rests on ourselves, and we lose our sense of community; and, as a result, we can quickly lose our sense of the ‘common good’, and potentially let others down more and more.
What extreme examples we have seen this week – violent assaults against police officers on the streets of Melbourne, reports of attacks against school principals just doing their job the best way they can, the sexual abuse of children … how gravely humanity has strayed from its ideal. A deep darkness can ferment in human community. But then there are also the smaller resistances to God’s best … that lie within each of us; and even if they don’t seem to do too much damage – there will always be some cost (and some consequence).
Yet even then, and even now, with whatever water has flowed under the bridge, our great human potential for good … encased in God’s design, has NOT being fully destroyed – far from it. God continued to so love the world, that there was a plan for this – and God intervened in a wonderfully redemptive way! To recover that image that we were born to wear, the image of God, we have the opportunity to embrace Jesus, and accept his offer of forgiveness – made possible, sacrificially, on a Roman cross. And, in so doing, we experience the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection – where new life and new creation begins! Here … hope is restored!!
Despite life’s bruises and dark experiences, we can still recapture God’s design for us. When, for any number of reasons, anyone has become broken or desperate or lost – there is still a way forward. Life, even if it appears desperately sad right at the moment, can still be re-created. And this is because we can know Jesus. Jesus understands our difficulties, temptations, family tensions, disappointments, grief and pain – because Jesus was here on earth for 33 years. We can know God personally, and appreciate even more His creativity, as we choose to follow Jesus as our Saviour, friend and leader.
This path forward … is NOT necessarily a quick fix, although sometimes there is a sense of instant relief and joy. More often, the power of God’s mercy and forgiveness … works away little-by-little, stage-by-stage, season after season, until we notice that there has been real change, and there is actually a sense of real freedom and tangible joy in us. It’s like God is a couple of pages ahead of us … in the book of our lives – wanting to draw us toward our best case scenarios – our best future! In these ways, God brings a complete blessing to our lives.
Loving the Children
So, therefore, we want each of our children to know how much God loves them; and that any mistakes they might make … cannot make God love them any less. All children are of the highest value, and must be regarded as such – loved, protected, encouraged, afforded patience and wisely nurtured. We should NOT allow any of our adult agendas to unnecessarily interfere with any child’s sense of well-being. Do we ever repress a child’s excitement because this may be inconvenient? Do we ever obstruct faith?
Each parent, and each children’s worker (in church and community), every teacher, needs to appreciate the tremendous value of that child before them. Children must always feel encouraged, and when given boundaries or disciplined or being taught important lessons about sharing and cooperating … they must be able to come to understand … that this was out of love, and in their best interests. Children must be listened to – in an attempt to discover their personalities and interests; being helped to feel accepted and valued. Of course, we need to say this, more than ever before!
We know there are children with special challenges and needs, and we wonder at the environmental factors behind this. We know there are naughty children … that carers and teachers have to deal with every day, and we wonder what type of dysfunction lies behind this behaviour. In all these diverse situations, there still lies the potential of the image of God. This is why we need to pray for and support each parent, and each teacher, and grow with wisdom in our own children’s ministry. The children of this congregation, and this community, are a gift to the world.
With each new child, there is an opportunity of a better world! Because they are so fresh and raw, and don’t wear the baggage we often do – children represent hope – they so often reflect the enthusiastic love of God. Jesus once remarked that children make the most natural worshippers (refer to Matthew 21:15-16). Therefore, in the church, the place where God is worshipped, children need to feel especially appreciated, that they belong, and that this gathering place – is always, always, a good place to be. Of course, we need to say this now, and prove that we mean it, more than ever before!!!
For those whose attitude to children leads to their discouragement or their destruction, whoever they are, known and unknown, directly guilty or by covering up, there is a drastic judgment to come. We pause to regret with tears the damage that has been done by so many people within certain institutions … who should have known better – and who had NO valid excuse! We pray for all victims who continue to struggle. This church is committed to all initiatives that will make for safer places – and therefore more gracious places.
Jesus and Children
When there were some people tending to block their path, Jesus called for the children to come to him – he welcomed them to his side, and he pointed to them – Jesus held them up as an example – and said the famous words … “… for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10:14). This was because they were enthusiastic yet humble, mischievous yet pure in heart, dependent and uncomplicated.
It is said that … young children, in every culture, have a natural concept of God. Psychologist Paul Bloom at Yale University reports that, “When children are directly asked about the origin of animals and people, they tend to prefer explanations that involve an intentional creator, even if the adults who raised them do not”. Scientific evidence has shown that, “Built into the natural development of children’s minds [is] a predisposition to see the natural world as designed and purposeful, and that some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose”.
Another psychologist Justin Barrett at Oxford University says, “Even if a group of children were put on an island and they raised themselves, I think they would believe in God”. It appears that we have to be influenced out of belief in God. This would happen through who we listen to, the groups we are a part of, and how we interpret certain circumstances. All such analysis makes sense to me, and is certainly consistent with what we read in the Bible.
Emulating the Children
Children are, in many ways, what adults need to return … to being like – recapturing their innocence and purity (out of the clutches of guilt and shame), emulating their creative spontaneity (being able to newly respond to God’s Holy Spirit), becoming uncluttered and free from unnecessary obsessions (other than God), being open to learn (rather than fixed in our attitudes), and being socially active (rather than fiercely independent).
Jesus went on to say, “… whoever does NOT receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). Each of us need to find our way back … by approaching Jesus … in humility, with an open truthfulness, and in trusting dependence. Even when our trust has been tragically broken by people in past days – we must find ways of appreciating … that God is always faithful and trustworthy. And this is a God who always suffers with those who are suffering.
Conclusion
Most of us were born in the context of great expectation and much happiness. And God’s blessing was upon our future lives. At some point, for nearly all of us, life goes wrong; but God, through Jesus, will receive us (again) just like he welcomes and blesses the little children. God is always there, waiting for each young person, and each adult – to simply respond to God’s wonderful open arms of welcome.
God’s desire … is that at the other end of our life, that we will be found in God (Psalm 139:18). For all those struggling – let me say … that God still loves you, and God will NOT stop loving you! God loves with a light that does NOT dim. God never loses interest – God never loses track of us. God never forgets us. Why? Because God has a large investment in how our lives turn out! Many here today can no doubt testify, that even with over 6 billion people on planet earth, it is still definitely possible to have a personal experience with God.
No matter where we go, and no matter where the extremes of life take us, God is there to redeem us (Ps 139:7-12). There are no doubt many here who can say … that God has found them where they are, and when they have needed Him the most. May we all experience and appreciate this wonderful blessing … that God brings upon each of our lives!! Amen.
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