Continued from last week “The English words “call” and “invite,” found in verse 3, are translated from the same Greek word. To be “called” by God and to be “invited” by God are one and the same. This is the invitation the Apostle Peter was describing on the Day of Pentecost when he said: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). Here we see that God offers His gift of the Holy Spirit not just to the “you” who heard Peter speaking on Pentecost, but also to those who are “your children”‘the offspring of Christian parents”and to those who “are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call”‘those whom God will call over time. For all of these, the promise of receiving God’s Spirit is conditional upon seeking and experiencing genuine repentance and surrender in baptism (v. 38). Clearly, though the children of converted parents have potential access to God, not all will seek Him. Our goal as parents, then, is to do the best job we can possibly do in turning our children’s hearts to their true Father, the Supreme God. We want to mold them as best we can, while we have the opportunity in their early years to lay a foundation for their future. Not every child will choose to go God’s way fully, but our teaching and training will not be wasted! Knowledge of God’s laws, at least to the extent that they are followed, will still benefit our children in their lives. This is true even for those whose parents are not Christians. God’s laws operate on cause and effect, and to the extent that even non-Christians apply the spiritual laws of God, they will have better lives. Those children who have been taught God’s way of life in their childhood will at least have a foundation they can turn to if and when they choose. Of course, Christian parents hope and pray that our children will turn to God now. But if they do not, we can at least know that every moment that we spend teaching them (Deuteronomy 6:4″7), every positive example and every loving concern for our children will not be lost. They will have a positive foundation to turn to before the close of this age, even if it is at the White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11″12).” And for those children who ‘see the light” in their youth and turn fully to their God, what an amazing future they have! God offers to be their parent and their partner for life, guiding them through every decision and milestone in their life, just like a loving physical father. The result will be better marriages, stronger families, peaceful and stable minds”and birth into the very Family of God at Christ’s return. They will have the opportunity to work with Jesus Christ Himself as He establishes His Kingdom and brings peace to the earth. Cities will be rebuilt God’s way, without pollution or crime or the blight of overcrowded inner city slums. Our children can have the opportunity of being in on this worldwide transformation of this new age. Parents who are begotten “children of God” have a responsibility to help in fulfilling Christ’s “great commission” at the end of this age. Their prayers and financial support can help the Work of God in announcing the coming Kingdom of God “in all the world as a witness” (Matthew 24:14). We also find that before the Day of the Lord and the end of the age there will be an effort to ‘turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6).
