Why in the world would God say:So, God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth." - Genesis 1:27-28
And, why in the world would this be the subject of my blog today?
God told the first couple to have a lot of kids. He did this after He blessed them. Does this command apply to you? While I can't answer that question with certainty, part of the story in Genesis certainly applies to you today - you have been blessed - blessed with great wealth, health and liberty.
So, what if the command is for you too? And, what if you obeyed it? What if Western Christians had obeyed the command over the past 40 years? What if we had many more children and what if American's had not aborted 45 million children?
If we had obeyed this command, would you be facing the myriad of crises with which you are now confronted?
Social Security Crisis - There would be no crisis if there was a generation of 75 million or more young tax payers paying taxes. Right? Think about it. The reason Social Security is about to fail is because there are more old, retired people than can be supported by those still working.
Record National Debt - If 75 million or more young tax payers were employed and paying taxes, would there be any National Debt at all?
Terrorism - America's ability to fight terrorism around the world has been stretched to the limits by the fact that we have a limited number of military personnel. We also have limited resources. With 75 million or more young tax payers, wouldn't we have more money for military spending and development and wouldn't we have more people to fight religious zealots that want us all dead? Wouldn't we have more missionaries reaching more people around the world making the peace of a loving God more prevalent in the radical Islamic world? Wouldn't European Christians also be impacting all these things?
American Industry - One of the major problems for America's economy has been the necessity to ship jobs to lower-developed countries because we don't have the necessary workforce. When we have 4-8% unemployment, that means there's no one left to do the work that American companies need done. Wouldn't 75 million more young workers solve that problem?
World Poverty & Disease - Would 75 million or more young Americans be able to make a difference in feeding the hungry and stopping disease on the continent of Africa, in Appalachia and around the world?
Virtually all Western nations like France, UK, Canada, Germany, etc. are actually losing population because their citizens are not having enough children to replace themselves when they die. Their overall population growth comes from immigration. And, in many instances, the majority of immigrants to these countries are Muslim. That means their culture is being displaced by Islamic culture.
The United States is the lone exception. We've averaged just 2.3 children per couple - which barely replaces our citizen population as people die. That's not enough to keep us from all the major problems we now face.
Now, back to the command in Genesis 1. It seems to me that God's wisdom applies across the ages. Does it apply to you? As you begin to start families of your own, keep in mind that having children is a selfless act. Getting a career, making money, living your dreams, buying a home, owning cars and televisions - none of these things are necessarily bad - but they are all selfish. They are selfish because they are all about what you want for yourself.
Could God's wisdom and the command he gave Adam and Eve be calling you away from that selfishness and into something infinitely more important? Maybe God is calling you to take the prospects of children and family much more seriously than Christians in my generation did. I don't know. I'm just asking.
