Giving Our Children Back to God

Genesis 22

 about how Hannah brought Samuel (the son for whom she had prayed),
and presented him to God, and handed young Samuel over to Eli the
priest. (1 Samuel 1:27-28)
• about how Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to God in the temple. (Luke
2:22)
 But the most dramatic example is the story of Abraham offering Isaac on
Mount Moriah.
 Not only did Abraham love Isaac, but he’d been a “miracle baby.” – He
was born when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years of age.

 Just try to put yourself in Abraham’s place. It was incomprehensibly painful

for Abraham to strap his dear son on an altar, raise a knife to kill him,
cremate the body and watch him disintegrate into a pile of ashes! I don’t
know if I could do that…even if God asked!

But it’s a good thing he did; the best thing Abraham ever did for Isaac was
to tie him to that altar and to surrender him back to God! Had Abraham
refused to give Isaac back to God, he would’ve forfeited all God’s promises
and plans for Isaac and Isaac would have lived and died in obscurity—a
nomad and a nobody. But because Abraham obeyed and gave Isaac back
to God, Isaac received the fullness of God’s best plan and promise for his
life…Isaac became a wealthy man; he became the forefather of God’s own
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and Isaac’s life is still blessing millions of
people worldwide through his offspring—Jesus Christ.
 So we need to learn from Abraham today. If we refuse and fail to
give our own children back to God—we may very well be forfeiting
God’s best plan and purpose for their lives.

Parents, let me share with you what it means to give your children
to God:

I. FIRST, IT IS A CONFIRMATION OF YOUR LOVE FOR GOD.

The first thing you’re saying when you gave your child back to the
Lord is simply this: that you love God even more than you love that
child.

Your child are a most prized possession…but don’t allow them to

take the place of God! Abraham proved his supreme love of God by
his willingness to offer Isaac. Abraham loved God above the most
prized treasure of his life…his only son Isaac.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:37-38 – “He that loveth father or mother

more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

So dedicating your child to God is a way of confirming that God is

first in your affections.

When Jesus was asked what was the greatest of all commandments,
He said in Mark 12:29-30 – “…The first of all the commandments
is…30…thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is
the first commandment.”

Dad, Mom—the MOST important thing you can do for your children
is NOT to love THEM first and foremost, but to be an example of
parents who love God as your HIGHEST priority in your life with a
passion that is summed up by those words “with all your heart, soul,
mind and strength”—that is, your WHOLE BEING.
II. SECOND, GIVING YOUR KIDS TO GOD IS A CLARIFICATION OF
OWNERSHIP.

When you give your child to God, you’re openly declaring that your child is a
gift from God; that your child does not really belong to you; that he or she
belongs to God.

This is what must have been on Abraham’s mind when he laid Isaac on the
altar. Was he not saying, “Lord, my son belongs to you—not me.”? Was he not
saying, “You do with him as YOU please. He’s YOURS!”

If you’re a follower of Christ, listen carefully: That precious little boy or girl
does not really belong to you—he or she belongs to God! Your child is a
precious loan to you from God. Ps. 127:3 puts it this way: “Lo, children are an
heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

Ang mga anak gasa gikan sa GINOO; sila tinuod nga mga panalangin.

Now…if our children belong to God and we’re merely stewards of them, we’d
better be careful how we treat and care for God’s property! When parents
ABUSE their children—physically, verbally or sexually—they’re abusing what
belongs to GOD and God will judge those such parents severely. Children are
God’s heritage, not ours; so we have great responsibilities to love them; care
for them; nurture them; teach them; protect them; discipline them; tell them
about Jesus; and prepare them for a life of service for God and others.
III. THIRD, IT IS A COMMITMENT TO RAISE THEM UP GOD’S WAY!

In Ephesians 6:4 Paul teaches that we’re to rear our children “in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.”
What do these two words, “nurture” and “admonition” mean?
• The Greek work translated “nurture” is paideía, which has no exact equivalent
in English. The underlying concept of paideía is “structuring.” This would mean
discipline and chastisement when needed, but also covers the whole training
experience whereby a parent structures a child’s life, instead of simply letting
him do whatever he wants.
• The Greek word for “admonishment” is nouthesía, which means “exhortation,
warning, correction, counsel—all of which, you may have noticed, are verbal in
nature.
So basically, Paul says to bring your kids up with structure and discipline on
one hand, and plenty of verbal exhortation, correction, and counsel on the other.
Listen...To give your child to God is a COMMITMENT that you’re going to be
godly parents to set an example; to give your child direction and guidance and
structure, and yes, even discipline when it is needed; and to teach and exhort
and counsel your child…about what the Bible teaches; about God and His
character; about Christ and the way of salvation; about right and wrong
behavior; and the consequences of sinful behavior and the blessing of righteous
behavior.
Whether you’ve publically dedicated your children to the Lord yet or not, may
God help ALL of you parents to commit yourselves to rearing your children in
the Lord.
Notice what Joshua told the Israelites as they settled into the Promised Land
in Joshua 24:14-15 – “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity
and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served…5 And if it seem
evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve…but
as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
THAT’S the kind of commitment God is looking for in parents today! Not only
is a child dedication a confirmation of your love of God, a clarification of God’s
ownership of our kids, and a commitment to rearing our children God’s way…
IV. LAST, IT’S CLAIMING GOD’S PLAN AND PROMISES FOR YOUR
CHILD’S LIFE.

Isaac inherited God’s blessings, protection and promises because his dad
Abraham gave him back to God.
God told Abraham in Genesis 22:16-18 – “…for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will
bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,
and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate
of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
Your children are BLESSED by your OBEDIENCE to God…and CURSED by
your DISOBEDIENCE to God. They do have a free will, but you stack the odds
in their favor or against them by the way YOU live! As you obey God with your
own life, and as you give that child back to God, you’re posturing that child to
receive God’s very best for his or her life.

Proverbs 22:6 tells us a general principle of life, “Train up a child in the way he
should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

CONCLUSION
So, this is what it means to give your children back to God:
• It’s a CONFIRMATION of your supreme love for Christ.
• It’s a CLARIFICATION of God’s ownership of your child.
• It’s a COMMITMENT to raise your child under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
• And it’s a CLAIMING of God’s best plan and promises for your child’s life.
This is exactly what transpired when Abraham took Isaac up Mount Moriah and
laid him on the altar to give him to God.
As we close, let me ask you two key questions to bring this sermon home to us
all this morning:
First, whether you have children or not, have you first of all given YOURSELF
to God? God is worthy of all our devotion and love. Give your life to Him and
serve Him with all your heart.
And then, may I ask all our parents: Have you given your children back to the
Lord? Maybe you’ve done it publicly like these today, or maybe only in your
heart, but have you confirmed your supreme love for God, clarified that your
child belongs to God; and committed yourself to rearing your child in God’s
ways? If so, good!—Now be faithful in that commitment; persevere no matter
what the world says; don’t quit and don’t give up, no matter how difficult the
challenges! In so doing, you can lay claim to God’s best plan and promises for
your child’s life.