"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air , and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:28).

Creation Mandate

The above stated verse is one of the biblical mandates that we refer to as the "Creation Mandate."  A mandate in its most simplistic form means an authoritative command.  God issued this command to mankind.  There are several instructions that God gives to man in this verse.  Pastor Robert L. Dickie in his book "Living for Jesus" shared some keen insights about this topic:

1. Be fruitful.  I believe that this idea can involve the concept of accruing wealth.  Wealth can give us leverage and influence in the world that God has made for us to rule and subdue.  Although it is not necessary to have wealth in order to have influence with others, we do know that those who have wealth, if they use it wisely, can have great influence on those around them.  This fact has been seen all throughout the bible where people with wealth had great opportunities to influence for good or evil.

2. Multiply.  I believe that this has reference to reproducing offspring.  The believer is to produce a godly seed that will come after them,  The ungodly are aborting their influence today.  This gives the Christian a greater advantage to exercise more influence in the coming future.  We, as believers, should not refuse to have children.  A godly heritage spreads the Kingdom of God from one generation to the next.

3. Replenish the earth.  This command involves filling the earth with the beauty and the wonders of all that man can make.  Man is to make this world a more beautiful and wonderful place to live.  When we die, we should be able to say that we made the world a better place because of our presence here.

4. Subdue it.  This word is from the Hebrew word "kabhash" and means "to knead or to tread."

5. Have dominion over.  The Hebrew word for dominion is "rabhah" and means "to trample down, or master."(1.)

The part of the mandate we are concerned with in this blog post is God stating that mankind is commanded to procreate in order to have a legacy of multigenerational faithfulness.

Pastor's Enthusiasm

I recall very vividly the advice Pastor Dickie gave my wife and I the day after we were engaged.  Excited about our recent commitment to each other we eagerly sought out our Pastor to share the good news.  He was very happy for us...just as we had anticipated; however, his response was not expected.

After receiving this news Pastor looked us both straight in the eyes and said, "Remember what the creation mandate says!  Be fruitful and multiply!"  After the initial shock of his comment I took sometime explaining to Pastor that we were not married yet, but would certainly take consideration of his advice once we say 'I do.'  In all serious what a great biblical advice he gave to a young couple.  Our Pastor truly understands that one of the reasons that God instituted marriage was for the purpose of having children.

Children are Gifts

God desires us to have children.  Children are gifts that the Lord gives us and we should treasure them.  In Genesis 48 we read about the reuniting of Joseph with his Father.  As they were coming together to embrace each other Joseph brought his children with him.  As Jacob stood there with his son he looked to these little children and asked, "Who are these?" (Gen. 48:8).  Joseph responded to his Father with great delight, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here" (Gen. 48:9).

Joseph told his father that these little ones that he embraces are gifts from God.  If we are blessed with children they are a gift from the Lord above.  So, remember that by having children we are fulfilling one of the key commands that God has given to us.

Footnotes:
1. (Dickie, Robert; Living for Jesus; pp. 20-21)

J.C Ryle in his treatise titled "Duties of Christian Parents" ended his book with a very powerful exhortation about the responsibilities parents have in training their children in the doctrines of God:

Fathers and mothers, you may take your children to be baptized, and have them in the ranks of Christ's Church: you may get godly sponsors to answer for them, and help you by their prayers; and you may send them to the best of schools, and give them Bibles and Prayer Books, and fill them with head knowledge but if all this time there is no regular training at home, I tell you plainly, I fear it will go hard in the end with your children's souls.  Home is the place where habits are formed; home is the place where the foundations of character are laid; home gives the bias to our tastes, and likings and opinions.  See then, I pray you, that there be careful training at home.  Happy indeed is the man who can say, as Bolton did upon his dying bed, to his children, "I do believe not one of you will dare to meet me before the tribunal of Christ in an unregenerate state."

Fathers and mothers, I charge you somenly before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, take every pains to train your children in the way they should go.  I charge you not merely for the sake of your children's souls; I charge you for the sake of your won future comfort and peace.  Truly it is your interest so to do.  Truly your own happiness in great measure depends on it.  Children have ever been the bow from which the sharpest arrows have pierced man's heart.  Children have mixed the bitterest cups that man has ever had to have caused the saddest tears that man has ever had to shed. Adam could tell you so; Jacob could tell you so; David could tell you so. There are no sorrows on earth like those which children have brought upon their parents. Oh! take heed, lest your own neglect should lay up misery for you in your old age. Take heed, lest you weep under the ill treatment of a thankless child, in the days when your eye is dim, and your natural force abated.

Ryle, J.C. (2010-06-20). The Duties of Parents (pp. 78-79). Unknown. Kindle Edition.

Here is a video of my wife reading the Ten Commandments to my daughter.  I feel so blessed to have a wife that is very concerned about training our children up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6)!!

House insurance is a necessity for every homeowner.  It is a way to protect the large investment (or liability) that was just acquired.  Two and a half years ago my wife and I went through the process of selecting our homeowners insurance after purchasing our first home together. Although we did not like the financial sacrifice we had to make we understood this would provide financial protection for us in case of a disaster striking destroying some or all of our home.

Being prudent with our money we spent a lot of time getting several quotes and weighing the pros and cons of low versus high deductible insurance.  With a low deductible you take less personal financial risk in case of an emergency in exchange for a higher yearly premium. Having high deductible means you take more personal financial risk in case of an emergency which means you have a lower yearly premium.  After much thought we decided to go with the higher deductible insurance.  We knew the chances of some major catastrophe happening was pretty slim so we set enough money aside to cover the high deductible and decided the savings on our premium per year would make up for it.

Now, what's the point?  We spent much time selecting the most appropriate insurance for our home.  We did nothing wrong by being very diligent and scrutinizing in our decision.  In fact this is exactly what every homeowner should do.  However this is not the most important protection we should seek for our home. The most important thing is we should seek is the protection of the Lord upon our homes.  Matthew Henry describes the best insurance policy in his book "The Church in the House or Family Religion":

If we make our homes little churches God will make them His sanctuaries and He will be Himself to your family as a sanctuary (Ezekiel 11).  The way to be safe in your houses, is to keep up religion and the fear of God; so shall you dwell on high, and "the place of your defense shall be the munitions of rocks" ( Isaiah 33:16). Wherever we encamp under the banner of Christ, the angels of God will encamp round about us, and pitch their tents where we pitch ours; and we little think how much we owe to the ministration of the good angels, that we and ours are preserved from the malice of evil angels, who are continually seeking to do mischief to good people.  There are terrors that fly by Night by night and by day , which they only who abide under the shadow of the Almighty can promise themselves to be safe from (Psalm 91:1,5).  Would you insure your houses by the best policy of insurance, turn them into churches, and they then shall be taken under the special protection of Him who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps. (Matthew Henry)

I am sure a lot of families particularly women find themselves in the same dilemma as the statement below indicates:

My dilemma is that my husband refuses to be the spiritual leader in our home. He doesn’t take a stance that we WILL be attending both regular church services and special meetings. He doesn’t lead us in family devotions or prayer time. He doesn’t set standards in our home that are to be followed (I’m speaking here of television/movie viewing, clothing choices, etc.)… I have prayed a lot about this issue. My question is how do I encourage my husband to take his God-given role without nagging him? And, what do I do in the meantime? I do not feel I should lead the family in devotions.

I found a great article that addressed this situation and offered some very practicle advice.  You can read it at  likeawarmcupofcofee.com

What that family religion is which will be as a church in the house. Churches are sacred societies, incorporated for the honor and service of God in Christ ; devoted to God, and employed for him ; so should our families be.
 
Churches are societies devoted to God, called out of the world, taken in out of the common to be inclosures for God : he has set them apart for himself; and because he has chosen them, they also have chosen him, and set themselves apart for him.

The Jewish church was separated to God for a " peculiar people, a kingdom of priests." Thus our houses must he churches ; with ourselves we must give up our houses to the Lord, to be to him for a name and a people. All the interest we have, both in our relations and In our possessions, must be consecrated to God.

"When all the members of the family yield themselves to God, subscribe with their hands to be the Lord's and surname themselves by the name of Israel, and the master of the family, with himself, gives up all his right, title, and interest, in his house, and all that belongs to it, unto God, to be used for him, and disposed of by him, here is a church in the house." - Reverend Matthew Henry, 1704