First let me say that I sympathize with those who can’t have children.  Because of the fall, sometimes that can be the case.  We were unsuccessful (with the exception of a miscarriage) for about five years with no medical explanation.  There are those who are never able.  We have known a very small portion of the agony and struggle that you have faced.  The Lord for His own reasons chose to give us children after a time of unexplained barrenness.  What follows are just some thoughts after discovering that we will have our third child in January.

It Is Biblical To Desire Children (For a more thorough treatment of these ideas click here or here)

• Psalm 127:3-5:  Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!  He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
• We are commanded to be fruitful and multiply in several places (Genesis 1:28; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 35:11; Jeremiah 23:3)
• Great quote from Dr. Al Mohler:  “Christians must recognize that… rebellion against parenthood represents nothing less than an absolute revolt against God’s design. The Scripture points to barrenness as a great curse and children as a divine gift… Morally speaking, the epidemic in this regard has nothing to do with those married couples who desire children but are for any reason unable to have them, but instead in those who are fully capable of having children but reject this intrusion in their lifestyle.”

They Are Our Spiritual Legacy

• One of the reasons that God gives us children is because we make disciples this way.  We are always teaching and training our children in something.  We want to make sure that we are training up our children to love the Lord.  Voddie Baucham said, “One of the principle purposes of marriage is procreation.  Of course, this goes beyond merely having children to actually bringing them up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4) in an effort to spread the image of God (and the gospel) throughout the earth.”  That’s exactly what we are purposing to do.
• Deuteronomy 6:4-9 :  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
• Psalm 78:1-8:  Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!  I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The Lord Often Uses Children To Conform Us To The Image Of Christ

• There is no doubt that God uses all kinds of means to form us in character, both adversity and blessing.  Two very powerful ways that the Lord chisels us into the image of the Son is through marriage and having children.  Whether it is asking forgiveness from your wife or struggling not to discipline your children in anger, the Lord knows just how to expose your weaknesses through family relationships.
• Romans 8:28-29:  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.