Our world is full of problems, and—as every parent knows—sooner
or later our kids will be asking about them. If a child or teen is on Facebook,
then they have access to all the news that’s “trending.” If they’re watching TV—even
age-appropriate shows—they might see a commercial for tonight’s newscast,
complete with a teaser about footage of some horrific crime.
It’s only a matter of time before we have to answer
questions from our kids about our world’s problems. How might we approach
conversations like this? I’d like to give you a helpful and handy outline for
such conversations – an outline that is based on the grand story-arc of
history, as recorded and predicted in the Bible.
According to the overall narrative of the Bible, we can
divide history into four broad stages:
1. Creation: The beginning of the universe and of
angelic, human, and animal life, when God brought every created thing into
existence, surveyed all that he had done, and called it good (Genesis 1-2).
2. Fall: The moment when sin entered the world through
Adam, with all of the resulting devastations that it brought upon humanity,
animal life, and even the physical world (Genesis 3 and beyond).
3. Redemption: The work of God to undo all the effects of
the Fall, culminating in the atoning death of Jesus Christ and his glorious
resurrection, also leading directly to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the
hearts of believers (The events are recorded in the four Gospels and the Book
of Acts. These events were foretold in various passages of the Old Testament
and are expounded upon in the New Testament Epistles.).
4. Restoration: The eventual fulfillment and
accomplishment of God’s full plan of redemption, undoing all of the effects of
the Fall upon mankind (Revelation 20-22).
Creation—Fall—Redemption—Restoration. There’s our basic
outline. In the context of discussing our world’s problems, we might sum up the
flow of the narrative like this: Though God created our world in a state of
perfection, sin has disrupted everything and brought about great sorrow and
trouble. But God has already enacted a plan that allows us even now to begin to
see victory over these troubles, and when his plan is complete, these troubles
will be no more.
I think it’s important to emphasize to our children that
in the present Redemption stage, the Holy Spirit gives us power to start doing
something about our world’s problems right now. Though we are not in control
over these problems, neither are we powerless against them. We can do practical
things to push back against the effects of sin in our world.
It is also important to stress to our children that God
will not tolerate these problems forever. He is patiently putting up with them
for now to give people more time to repent and trust in Christ (2 Peter 3:9),
but he won’t put up with him forever. He is going to put an end to the sorrows
and troubles that we face!
So what might it sound like to have a conversation with
your child based on this outline? Recently, I had a conversation with a mother
who had been asked by her young daughter about children in India who were
starving. Let me use that topic to give an example of what your answer might
sound like. This might sound a little artificial, but bear with me!
“Darling, I’m glad that this bothers you, because it
bothers Mommy and Daddy, and it bothers God, too. You know that God didn’t
create the world to be this way. He put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden that
had plenty of food, and their children would’ve had plenty of food, and their
grandchildren and on and on. But sin has disrupted so many things that now we
have to deal with problems like people not having enough food. Sin has made the
ground less productive than it could’ve been; it’s led people to have false
ideas, like that they shouldn’t eat certain animals for food; and it’s led
people to be selfish and not share with other people when they have more than
enough for themselves.
“But you also know that God sent Jesus to die for our
sins, and when we trust in him to save us, he gives people like you and me the
power to start doing something about these problems right now. He helps us not
to be selfish, so maybe we can start to share more of what we have with people
who need it. Maybe we should find some missionaries who are helping people in
India right now and see if we can help them. We can also help other people know
the truth about God and Jesus Christ so that they don’t have to follow false
ideas anymore.
“And remember this – God has already told us in the Bible
that he’s not going to let these problems stick around forever! He’s going to
put an end to them and make things new again, just like he created them to be
in the first place!”
Creation—Fall—Redemption—Restoration. It’s not just the
storyline of the Bible—it’s a handy guide for tricky conversations with your
kids as well.
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