Made in God’s Image
We are created with purpose. The world is not an accident, and you are not an accident. God is purposeful with everything he creates. Frequently we read that God said “it is good” about what he creates, and this includes you and I. Psalm 139:13,14 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
On day 1 your family will learn that each of us is well made, specifically and intentionally, by God. We are not merely the results of a chance set of circumstances or an “unguided natural process”. God makes us who we are, and each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made by him. This will be an important truth for your children when they feel lonely. It was very helpful for me as a child to know this whenever I felt lonely. God made me, and God knows me, and God loves me, and God is with me.
Now you may be asking, what about physical deformities or mental illness? If God is such a good creator then why did he create people this way? The Bible gives a number of answers to that important question, the biggest of which we will discover on days 3 and 4. The short answer is that sin has corrupted God's creation and has fundamentally distorted us. Despite what some people think, God is not mean or reckless or careless when he creates. Everything he makes he makes out of love, and everything he makes is beautiful. Sin, however, has distorted God’s beautiful creation which has led to many abnormalities like sickness and death. This is an important truth to know if we are to honestly teach our children that they are well made, while not denying pain and disabilities. If you feel like you need a better understanding of this truth before you can confidently teach your children that God is good and everything he makes is good, then I encourage you to read ahead and learn what we will be talking about on days 3 and 4.
Gender
The second important topic your family will learn about on day 1 is that God created gender. Genesis 1:27 teaches us that God created humans as male and female, and that our genders are important to him. We must not think that gender isn’t important, or that one gender matters more to God than the other. We see that God intended that his image be fully displayed in mankind through the deliberate creation of 2 genders, not a single gender, and we will only reflect God’s image properly if males and females celebrate both what makes us unique and what we share in common.
Now I understand that the topic of gender is a sensitive one for many, and that some parents may feel that more harm than good can come from discussing what makes men and women distinctly unique. I get that. I leave it to you to determine to what extent you feel comfortable discussing gender distinctions with your young children, but at the very least I encourage you to celebrate the facts that God created gender and He makes each gender unique, that each of is given one of these two genders, and that both genders need each other to best show the image of God. May God bless you in this.
Be Fruitful and multiply
Third, we learn on day 1 that God said to Adam and Eve, “be fruitful and multiply”. In the Bible being fruitful and multiplying most often refers to having many children. God loves children, and a big family is a fruitful family. The Bible says, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth.” This is important. Some people talk about little children like they are burdens, but to God they are anything but. This is your chance to share with your children that God never sees them as a burden, but that God created childhood and blesses children. In fact Jesus said, “let the little children come unto me, for to such as these belong the kingdom of heaven”, and that what he wants from each of us is “faith like a child”. God bless you today as you celebrate and lift up God’s creation of childhood and family.
Subdue the earth
Lastly, we see on day 1 that God commanded Adam and Eve to “subdue the earth”. Scholars have disagreed about what exactly God means by “subdue”, however at the very least it means to make it habitable and fruitful. A gardener must put much care and attention into his plants if they are to grow healthy. Likewise if you’ve had a pet you know it takes a lot of time and effort to train it to be a good pet. God gave humanity the important job of nurturing creation and making it a great place to live for everyone. I encourage you to use this day to teach your children that God created work, and has at least one special job for them to do, which is to tame and care for his creation.
One final note: when we teach our children about caring for the environment it’s important to make the distinction that the environment is not God, nor is it a person. We must be careful never to detach the caring of the environment from worship to God. The Bible warns us in Romans 1 that because of sin, it can be tempting for humans to neglect God and worship his creation instead. Let’s teach our children that the most important reason we care for the environment is because God has asked us to, and that we do it because we want to worship him.
God bless you and your family today on day 1, and I’ll see you again on day 2.
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