new church life: march/april 2015
in this use, and some of how they are called to go about it.
As the Scripture we’ve focused on so far indicates, you are called to
participate in this use. “You are the light of the world” for the children in your
purview.
On the Lord’s Team. One way to hold this is to hear the Lord inviting
each of us to be a part of His team. In the creation story the Lord says: “Let
Us make man in Our own image, according to Our
likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) Many Biblical scholars have
concluded that this verse refers in some way to the
Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the Heavenly
Doctrines clearly state that it is not a tri-personal God
that is indicated here; rather it is the one God and the
team of human beings He uses to help people choose
the path that leads to heaven.
Regarding the regeneration of a person we read:
“Now because this is done through the ministry of angels, it is said here, in
the plural first of all, ‘Let Us make man in Our image.’” (Arcana Coelestia 50:3)
Angels are part of the “us” in this verse of Genesis.
This passage continues to describe what those angels do. From the Lord
they “distract [us] from plunging into utter evil, and so divert [us] toward
something good.” When we respond, they are able to draw nearer, “[breathing
into us] every kind of good and truth, as well as a horror and dread of evils
and falsities.”
Leading away from bad things, and inspiring good things: doesn’t that
sound like what parents do every single day? The powerful thing to consider
here is that the Lord calls parents – and teachers and anyone else interacting
with children – to be like guardian angels for the children in their care. We are
invited to be a part of the Lord’s team, as He leads them to grow and develop
into the kind of people who can live in heaven some day.
The Lord’s job description for parents. Let’s focus first on parents in this
regard. Almost everyone who has held a newborn child has felt that awesome
responsibility to care for this tiny person. The love that flows in is incredibly
powerful, opening the mind to the Lord as Creator, and the wisdom of turning
to Him for guidance in how to be a good parent.
In many cases this leads families to seek baptism for
their young child. Often by means of this experience,
and also by other means, parents can become aware of
their parental responsibilities, according to the Word.
I would like to point to 10 such invitations from the
Lord, directed specifically to parents, to demonstrate
the significant role He asks them to play in the lives of
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