“For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:”-Psalm 78:5-6
The generations to come affect every living person. Saint or sinner, young or old, the next generation brings with it the future of this world. With that a tremendous hope. At our local hospital (and perhaps yours as well) when a baby is born there is this sweet jingle that plays throughout the hospital. This lets everyone know that a new baby is here. That new life has come into the world. I always found this both poetic and instructive, because even in a place of pain and suffering the song of hope plays. This is the Gospel.
Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundant. Life springs forth from within. It is the devil's business to set us to seek the things that are without in order to satisfy that which is within. Fine homes, automobiles, lavish vacations, drugs and drink, worldly entertainment, and the like. The pride of life, the security of riches, the satisfaction of ambitions lived and accomplished. These things a man would chase after to find peace, hope and contentment in order to satisfy that which is within. What makes a person happy? What brings peace? Is it not the unseen things? Love, joy, hope and contentment? These come from God. These are the things that come to the born again Christian. The new birth brings us into a right relationship with the God Almighty. Through the truth of the gospel the creation once again finds fellowship with the Creator. The born again experience is wrought by the risen Christ, and manifested in the believer by the Holy Ghost. This bond is accomplished by faith. It is the bosom of the Church that carries in trust this generational faith on down through the line of time. The Church (not a building but a fellowship of believers committed to Christ) is the womb in which every Christian is carried. Within the Church is the Christian home. A pillar and foundation of training and teaching. The ideal opportunity to manifest generational faith. Not that every Christian must come from a Christian home, or will come from a Chrsitian home, rather that every Christian home has the opportunity to produce generational Christians. God’s commandment of the scripture is to do so. God's will is such that we might teach it to the next generation, even those that should be born. Born of the flesh by the will of man, but born of the Spirit by the will of God. The Church, and the home. These two remarkable institutions work together to carry on the hope of the gospel to generations. In the days of Nehemiah, as they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, he tasked the families of the Israelites to each section of the wall. It was up to the patriarchs and their generations to build, maintain, and guard their section of the wall. What a beautiful picture of the role of generational faith in the Church. That “ye fathers” are to lead our families in the way of the Gospel. Leading through serving, leading our families to build, maintain, and guard our sections of the wall. In our day, and in our generation. Guard our homes from the onslaught of Satan forces. Keep ourselves, and our homes unspotted from the world. Live in accordance with scripture and teach our children by thought, word, and deed to do the same.
It is open season for Satan's attack on the Christian home. For attacking the home is attacking God. Many persons have found the Lord through the faithful living of their parents before them, and many more have been won to the Lord by those who lived in generational faith. It is no small task to raise a family in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and no light responsibility. The wall must be staffed and ready against the armaments of Satan with each family at their post. So when you are looking toward our side of the wall, I pray that you will find the Collins’s family standing watch.
