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Does Jesus Love All the Little Children.....


  

13 members have voted

  1. 1. Does Jesus Love All Children?



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Perhaps that is why Jesus said that those who harm children, it would be better if that someone had a millstone put around his neck and he be dropped in the sea......


Matthew 18:6- But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me...

Matthew speaks of those children that believe in Christ. What about those who don't?

I Corinthians 7:14 is another curious verse.

14- For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

Seems to suggest that children of unbelieving parents are unclean.

God's love for the world only goes as far a Calvary (i.e. wanting them to be saved) but you can't say that God loves the wicked outside of that. The bible says they are his enemies, without hope, under his wrath and that he is angry with them everyday.

Job 27:13,14

[13] This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
[14] If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Psalm 21:10

[10] Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. Edited by Wilchbla
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I don't deny this. Jesus desires everyone comes to him. But what about this verse and could this explain why there is so much violence against children these days?

Hosea 4:6- My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

We like to apply II Chronicles 7:14 to America but the verse in Hosea is ignored.

For the most part this is directed at Israel and in particular to the priests. The priests had turned from God and in their sin they led the rest of Israel into sin. The Lord declares He will reject them as His priests and He will "forget thy children" in that they will not be raised up as priests after them.

I'm not so sure there is more violence against children today or there is just more coverage of such today. When looking throughout history it really wasn't until the 20th century that children were elevated to a higher status. Prior to that, children were often looked upon mostly as a means of cheap labor. That's not to say parents didn't love their children, but their value was viewed differently by many, and still is in some parts of the world.

Factories used to have young children working dangerous jobs for exceedingly little pay, often for 10-12 hours a day. It was not uncommon for some parents to decide they didn't want a child (whether because of economics, friction in the home, etc.) and they would send the child off to find their own way; or in some cases the child would go off on their own.

There are many cases of children that went missing over the years and it's likely many of them suffered a violent end.

Today one can look to several countries around the world, the most often reported being places in Asia, where young girls are sold to pimps who prostitute them. Other children are sometimes sold to factory bosses.

As has been mentioned, many ancient cultures used to sacrifice babies and children to false gods; this happening among the tribes around Israel to the Aztecs and all around the world.

I do believe that when it comes to Christians, we do risk the removal of God's hedge of protection if we reject Him, and that can effect our children. The same with a nation that has been blessed of God. When they reject God, God will pull away His blessings.

Even so, God still protects various families, individuals and His remnant.

We simply can't see God's overall plan and how even these evil deeds fit into His plans.
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Terrible, aweful things happen in this world. Why does God allow them to hapen? I surely do not know. Theologians and philosophers have unsuccessfully tried to answer that question for ages. Unjust things happen. People harm others. Famine and natural disasters kill people and cause great pain and suffering.

The one thing I do know is that God unconditionally loves people, especially children. Jesus has compassion on those who are suffering. He desires to bring about wholeness and healing. He sought out those in pain and with suffering to heal them during his time on earth. He came to heal the sick and to come for those with spiritual darkness.

Our world can be a dark place. Where is God in all of this? We can find him through the works of people seeking to follow him. We can find him down at the soup kithcen as we join in serving the homeless. We can find him in the inner city as people work with disadvantaged children to give them a better future. We can find him in a family adopting a child who was destined to be an orphan. We can find God in many places. Jesus said that he who serves those who are hungery, or clothes those who are naked serves me (a paraphrase, but that is the essence of it.) In James, the observation is made that those who do not care for widows and orphans are not following Christ. If the love of Christ is in us, we will serve those who are in pain and are suffering.

So does God love children? Yes, without a doubt. How does he show that love to children? Through followers of Christ who give their lives to serve children. We will never make sense of the bad things that happen, but we can find hope and assurance in the love of God poured out throgh his Son Jesus, and by embracing that love and grace, we become the love of Christ for other people.

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Matthew 18:6 - "offend" - "to entrap; i.e. trip up; entice to sin or apostasy"

The context of this verse is speaking of salvation - coming to Christ. Seems to me that 'offend' here is speaking more of spiritual hurt than physical harm - as in, teaching children false doctrine or forbidding them to accept Christ as their Savior (which some parents have been known to do).

Job is simply stating his observations - are those observations principles of God?

Psalms & Hosea are speaking to an OT audience. The Israelites were given physical blessings - if they served God, they would remain in the land, have many children, be blessed materially, etc. Alternately, we can see that those that rejected God would be removed from the land, lose their children, etc. As New Testament believers, we are not promised the same physical blessing that Israel received - our promises are generally spiritual. I don't think you can apply those verses to the question at hand for the present day.

If God loves, then He loves completely. Yes, He is also angry with the wicked. Can I, with my finite reasoning, reconcile that love & that anger? No. But God IS LOVE. That must encompass so much more than we can understand or comprehend.

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These are just Deborah's thoughts...

Upon conception I believe the child within me is my child, yet it is not until the birth that he/she is in my arms where I can hold him...but if anything happens to him/ her before the actual birth it remains my child...

Now think with me...John 3 Jesus uses the word picture of birth in the rebirth so much so that Nicodimas says. John 3:4 "Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"

He goes on to say, John 3:5-7 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

So the question is, when is one born of the Spirit? We know how one is born of the Spirit...the when is an inward decision that causes one to confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved and that impacts the outward walk...Romans 8

Now back to my original word picture...Romans nine is a chapter that talks of the Sovereignty of God, yes? Romans 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) The verses in chapter nine are hard verses for me to comprehend...

Read the whole of chapter nine...

Any way, the word picture... because God who knows the beginnning all the way to the end has established in his Sovereign will that the child be his before he has understanding to receive Him I venture to believe that death before his ability to receive truth would not supercede His desired end for this child...it remains His child...

Again these are my thoughts...I am not inclined to believe all children who die before he/she is able to make a decision is heaven bound and I think this because of Romans 9...believe me I want so to be corrected and shown the opposite of my inclination...
but truly I do not see where it is really clear either way...

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Every person has either God as their Father, of old Satan. And if old Satan is thier father them they are God's enemy.

Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

God's love is offered to all, yet few accept His love, why? They hate the conditions God has set. As we all know, there be many that have tired to change the conditions that God has laid down on how one can be saved, thus trying to enter heaven as a thief.

Of course those that serve Satan has between now and the time they take their last breath to repent accepting Jesus as Savior and enjoying the love He offers, yet failure to do this will bring His wrath upon them, not love.

I had a friend that once said, "God is love, He loves for us to sin just so that He can show His love and forgiveness to us though Jesus His Son."

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