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“Why would anyone want to bring children into this horrid world?” I imagine many of us have heard someone pose a question like this. I have even heard accusations that it is downright selfish to bring children into the world given the likely state of their future. Of course, many of us already have children and look ahead with trepidation. After all, what will the world be like when they are adults? How do we prepare them to face an increasingly unstable and uncertain future?
Ultimately, what all these questions reflect is a yearning for real, substantial hope for our children. I don’t mean the “I hope they’ll be ok” or “I hope things turn out alright” kind of hope. I mean the kind of hope that is grounded and stable and gives peace and brings a smile. I mean biblical hope. What is our hope for our children?
The answer lies in the new creation. (Revelation 19–22). And before you tap out on this article because it is untethered from reality and more ethereal and theological than actually helpful, let me assure you what I am about to address is decidedly tangible, practical, and real. The new creation can shape our prayer, our attitudes, our posture, and our approach as parents. We can pray our kids toward it and pray it towards our kids. Here are four ways the new creation can shape hopeful parenting:
The new creation is the trajectory of Jesus’ ministry.
Most Christian parents make some effort to familiarize our children with stories of Jesus’ life and ministry — healings, feeding the 5,000, calming the storm, walking on water, even raising the dead. What we sometimes fail to do is connect the dots between what Jesus did on Earth and what Jesus will do upon His return. Each of Jesus’ miraculous acts was a foreshadowing of the kind of world Jesus will bring about in the new creation. They were also a glimpse into the heart of our Savior —compassionate, patient, kind, wise, strong, and loving. And Jesus has not changed. He ascended into heaven, but His heart is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our kids need to hear and see this so that when they think about Jesus, they are thinking about a living, ruling King with that kind of heart on a mission to redeem His people and all of creation. As parents, we get to connect the dots from Jesus’ earthly life to His eternal rule so that both we and our children can have a horizon of hope.
Jesus established His Church to be a new creation microcosm on Earth.
The Church was not some man-made organization put together by early believers. It was, and is, an entity created by God on Earth to be His mouthpiece and representation. The Church is a supernatural community formed and bonded by the Holy Spirit. We see this especially in Acts 1–4 where we witness the Holy Spirit bringing thousands to faith and forming them into a Church that gathered around the Word, prayer, worship, fellowship, and meeting needs. In Ephesians 2 Paul gives a theological description of what happened as the Church spread: For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility (Ephesians 2:14–16).
This collection of believers, in all its local expressions across the world, is God’s plan to declare the Gospel of Jesus and display His glory (Ephesians 2:21–22). It is the context where God’s transformative grace changes enemies into friends — across ethnic lines, political lines, socioeconomic lines, generational lines, etc. — in such a way that the world doesn’t know what to make of it. The one-another commands of Scripture are to be lived out in the Church (love, bear with, forgive, encourage, build up, etc.). And when we trust Jesus fully and lean on the power of the Holy Spirit, our church community becomes a little appetizer of heaven, of the new creation. It is a context of peace and joy and restoration and healing.
This means two amazing things for anxious parents. First, it means that the Church is not going anywhere. It is God’s idea, His plan, and he will not let it fail. So, raising our kids to love the Church, prioritize the Church, and be at home in Church gives them a solid foundation for faith and hope. Second, it means that raising our kids to love and prioritize the Church not only plants their feet in heavenly realities, it also teaches them to contribute and participate in these realities. By doing this, we are instilling a proof of concept in them so that their hearts burn within them(Luke 24:32).
Believers are called to belong to Jesus and work for the good of His creation.
Romans 1:6 says that believers are called to belong to Christ. This is our highest calling, the one that supersedes and defines every other. We want our kids to know this: they belong to Jesus. From this foundation we can explain the implications and how it plays out in life. Belonging to Jesus means we are uniquely equipped to do good in the world. All the way back at the beginning, humanity was tasked with stewarding creation, working for the good of all God has made. Jeremiah 29:7 calls God’s people to invest deeply in our world even though we are exiles, not citizens: But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
This means our lives matter. Our work matters. Our relationships matter. Christians contribute to society in such a way as to push back the darkness and reflect the light of Christ. You do this in your parenting; in fact your children are a gift to the world as reflections of Christ too. You get to raise children with purpose and with a reason to be hopeful that their lives will not be in vain and their efforts will not be wasted by God.
In the new creation all tears, pain, and evil will be no more.
Sometimes, in spite of all these beautiful biblical reasons to persevere and take hope and keep going and give our best, we get overwhelmed by the pain and sorrow and evil of the world. We get overwhelmed at the thought of our children facing it down the road. So we need the reminder that Christ will make all things new (Revelation 21:5). This is why Paul could so boldly say in 2 Corinthians 4:17: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
We can persevere as faithful parents because Jesus has won and will win. We can assure our children of this same promise. We can raise them in resilient, hopeful, confident homes because “the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3–4). Parents, as believers we are in Christ, and that means His victory is ours and our future is assured. Let this be your prayer and your hope for your children.
Barnabas Piper serves as one of the pastors at Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of several books including, The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help and Belong: Loving Your Church by Reflecting Christ to One Another. He is married to Lauren and has three children.
