How Do I Share the Gospel with My Kids?

How do I share the gospel with my children? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.

You can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and of course you can always email us at questions at COREChristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Don calling in from Missouri. Don, what's your question for Adriel? Hello? Hey Don, are you there? Yes, can you hear me?

I can hear you loud and clear. How are you doing today? Good, how about yourself? I'm doing well. I'm here in the studio with Bill, which is real nice, and good to hear from you.

Awesome. What's your question? Yeah, so my question is, and it's so funny because I was actually driving through the Ozarks here in Missouri to go on a camping trip to find God because I'm going through this whole, I guess, awakening part. But my question is, and then I heard you're a radio station so I had to call in, but my question is, how do you tell the difference between knowing God and Jesus and hearing them versus your own ego in the sense of Jesus telling us that the Kingdom of Heaven and God is within us? And the reason why I ask that is because a lot of what I see today with all of this New Age spirituality that's out on social media and everything, you know, are these teachers telling people that you are the God and that you need to raise your vibration or your frequency or whatever.

You know, you need to manifest everything yourself, basically do it all yourself. And, you know, I understand that, and it kind of correlates with what Jesus said, you know, God and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. But how can you tell the difference or at least know that it's actually the Creator or Jesus doing the work within us versus maybe the ego that's doing the work within you? Yeah, down there is a lot there, and there is a total difference between what you hear, you know, some of these New Age gurus say, well, you know, Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you, God is going to live in you, and what Jesus actually meant when he said some of those things. And so that language of the Kingdom of God being inside of you comes from places like Luke chapter 17, verse 20, being asked by the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them, the Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, look, here it is, or there, for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And in part, he's challenging this idea that they had that the Kingdom of God was going to come as this sort of political movement, where they're going to cast out the Romans and Israel is going to be restored again to its might and rule the nations of the world in a very sort of earthly way, at least the way, you know, people think in terms of conquering and conquest. Jesus is highlighting the fact here, Don, that the kingdom he came to bring looked different from that, it wasn't that. I mean, it is a worldwide kingdom that permeates everything, that is everywhere in one sense, in particular, and especially it's where the Word of God is being proclaimed faithfully, and the Spirit of God is at work. And so he's challenging this misunderstanding that the Pharisees had, he's not saying, hey, you know, just try the vibrations, you know, thing or, you know, you yourselves are God's.

No, not at all. That's false. There's a distinction that's so important that's at the heart of good theology and a right understanding of who God is. It's the distinction between the Creator and the creature. I am not God. You are not God.

I can't save myself. It's not about my vibrations or whatever, however you want to put it. It's certainly not about me manifesting the good news or, you know, the world that I want.

Boy, talk about a burden to put on people, right? Like, that's not the good news. Here's what the good news of the Gospel is. Here's how you can, how we can, have an encounter with the true and the living God. It's through his Son, Jesus Christ, who he sent into the world so that our sins might be forgiven. That's how we experience the kingdom of God today. It's through being baptized.

It's through partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ at the table of Holy Communion. That's where God is. That's where his kingdom is manifested most clearly, most powerfully here and now.

It's not that I'm manifesting it. It's that God himself sent his Son into the world to bring it, to inaugurate it, and it is growing wherever the word is faithfully preached and wherever the Spirit is at work in the hearts of men, and it's influencing the world all around it. And so there's a huge difference. The difference is I'm a creature who can't save myself at the mercy of a good, loving, gracious God, the Creator, who has made a way for me to experience his presence. And we experience that presence again through a proper understanding of what he's revealed in his word. Now, I just want to go back to you, Don, because it does sound like you're on a journey right now. And so I just want to hear a little bit more from you in terms of, well, where you are in that journey, I guess. Yeah, so I tell you what, man, it's been a couple years now since I've started this whole thing.

You know, I'm 29 now. I got into construction basically right out of high school, and my entire life was just, you know, a downward spiral of living in sin and, you know, basically doing everything under the book that's self-destructive. But then just one night out of the blue, I just started thinking differently, and it was actually, I'm not sure if this is even relevant to things, but, you know, one night I spent all night in the bathroom just violently throwing up for no reason at all. And ever since that night, you know, I started thinking just differently about life, you know, that everything isn't necessarily about working and paying bills and whatnot, but also to find a greater purpose in life. And so that's what I've been kind of trying to discover the past couple of years. I started looking into different cultures and religions and also others like spiritual teachings and practices, and that's where I kind of got or that's why I threw in there in my question about the frequency and the vibration and stuff, because I'm the kind of person to where, like, I don't immediately subscribe to something. I am an observer.

I sit back and watch and listen, and then I kind of dissect those things in my mind, and then I make my decisions. So that's kind of where I'm at now. I am leaning more towards God and Jesus and the Bible. In fact, I've got the Bible with me and I've probably read more of the Bible in the past month than I have my entire life. And a lot of it makes sense to me.

It's just, I think that the language difference from back in those times to today is a bit confusing, and I think that's what's kind of holding me back a bit. But I mean, it's like I said, it was funny enough that I'm driving through the Ozarks right now to do kind of an overnight solo camp trip to try to get closer to God and learn more. And I just heard your, I was flipping through the radio stations and heard you guys talking, and after a few minutes of hearing you guys talking, I wanted to call in to ask that question, because I think that's kind of what, that's kind of the biggest thing on my mind right now, is trying to find that difference between God or Jesus doing the work in me versus an egotistical thing doing the work inside of you. And I think after hearing you kind of answer that question, I wanted to see if you would agree that possibly God being within you, doing works within you, whatever, to change essentially your heart as far as the way that I kind of am hopefully understanding things. But the faith changing your heart, and it reminds me of that Roman soldier that would persecute the Christians and Christ, but then after, I guess, seeing the miracle of the resurrection, then started to follow the apostles or the disciples, and then started basically imitating them and gradually, I guess, coming into the faith. So could you say that that's kind of how it works in a sense? Is that, you know, by doing the things in which Jesus teaches us and God wants us to do, it would grow the faith or turn you into that faithful person?

Hey, man, great questions. God is at work in us. The apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter 2, God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And Don, let me just say to you right now, I believe that God is working in your life. I think that Jesus is calling you to himself through this journey that you're on, looking for God, looking for the answers, trying to understand, man, the Lord is at work in your life, and I just want to say Christ himself. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

That's what he said in John chapter 14 verse 6. He is the way. We follow him. He's the truth. We listen to his word.

He is the life, true life. True spiritual life is not something that we ever find first and foremost in us. No, it's something that comes to us from God, from the work of his spirit. And so as the Lord works in your life and as your, you know, I'm so glad to hear that you have a Bible with you. I hope that you continue to immerse yourself in the scriptures, even on this trip, man. Open up the Gospel of John and read through the Gospel of John.

And the questions that you have, let me just encourage you, you can bring those questions to God in prayer, too, and say, God, give me understanding. When I first started reading the Bible, Don, there was a gap, right? I mean, there's a cultural gap. There's some of the language barrier. There are, by the way, some translations of the Bible that are a little bit more accessible, like the NIV or the ESV. I don't know what translation you're using. But I would say, continue to dig in, and every time you open it up, say, God, open my eyes.

Give me understanding and help me to know you. And God speaks through his word, Don. Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.

And you said, okay, well, how does it work? People start hearing this stuff, and they begin doing it more, and maybe this Christian life is just sort of manifested. First and foremost, Don, I think it'd be helpful for you to understand the key distinction between the law and the Gospel. The law is what God calls all of us to.

It's good. It's the call, ultimately, to love each other perfectly, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to love God with all of our heart, our soul, and our strength. We fall short of that law. You mentioned it.

You're 29 now for a long period of your life. You're engaged in destructive behavior, what the Bible calls sin. We fall short of obeying God's commandments, and that means that we deserve God's judgment. If I were to stand before God on the basis of my own righteousness, my own works, it would be bad news, right, apart from Christ.

But God has made a way. This is the good news of the Gospel. God has made a way for you, Don, and for me to experience His presence, His love, His goodness, not on the basis of the ability that you have in yourself to manifest good things, but on the basis of what Jesus Christ did for you at the cross. He went to the cross to pay for all your sins, each and every one, so that you and me, separated from God because of our sins, might be restored, reconciled, is what the Bible says, so that we might be reconciled to God. And so as God is drawing you to Himself, brother, call on the name of the Lord and know His grace and receive it, not on the basis of works, on the basis of His mercy, and in light of that great mercy, yes, Don, we do follow Him, we grow in our understanding of who He is, and as we grow, I think more and more we're able to discern the voice of His Spirit speaking to us. Going back to your original question, you know, how do I know it's not just my own conscience or the ego or whatever, but that it's actually God? Well, it's, one, is it coming from His word?

Is it true? It's growing in that relationship with Jesus Christ, and not by yourself, not in isolation, but together with others who have experienced the same grace that you experienced through God and His word, through Jesus Christ, learning to walk with Jesus and to follow His word, and so, brother, friend, it just seems like the Lord is at work in your life, and I want to see you settled, settled, realizing, the search is over, it's Jesus, Jesus is the answer, and so as you continue this trip, may God continue to work in your life and open your heart and give you a sense of His presence, especially as you read His word, and Don, let me just, one more time, I know this is probably the longest we've ever gone on Caller, but this is just so important to me, Don. Are you, have you prayed to the Lord and said, God, I believe in you, I trust in you? Have you gotten to that point yet in your pursuit?

I'd say kind of. I have spoken out in somewhat of a prayer. I probably wouldn't say, you know, that I've been down on my hands and knees, bawling my hands out, but I guess in the sense of, you know, at least initiating prayer, and then I also had, I also had an experience once, a couple months ago, where I did have, I did call out to Jesus to save me, because it was a, it was a weird experience. It would take up way too much of your time to talk about, but basically I thought I was dead, and asked Jesus to save me. At that point, I was crying because I couldn't move my body or anything, but, and then after that, that's when the search in Jesus and God started.

Before that point, it was all, I was looking into different forms of spirituality and practices. Well, my friend, let me just, let me just encourage you. The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 10, speaking about this very thing, for scripture says, verse 11, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You're calling, you called on the name of Jesus, and you've seen him work in your life, and you're seeking. I just want to say, Christ comes to you and says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Receive my grace.

Let me wash away all your sins. You can know, you, Don, can know the true and the living God through Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, Don, I just want to pray for you right now, and pray that the Lord continues to work in your life, and pray especially that you get plugged into a solid church where you can continue to grow in your understanding of God's word and of the gospel and of the truth of scripture. And so, friends, let's pray for Don, that the Lord would continue to guide him and be with him. Father, I am just so grateful for Don. Lord, thank you that in your providence, as he's driving, he turns on the radio, and he hears us having this discussion.

Lord, we know that nothing happens by accident. Father in heaven, I pray for him that you would reveal your son to him more and more, that he would open his mind and his heart, especially as he opens the scriptures, God, that he would hear your voice speaking to him. Lord, that the weight that he's carried with him, sins of the past, the questions that he has, that he would offer all of those things to you and that he would experience the grace and the mercy, the free grace and mercy that you give to us in the gospel of your son. Lord, be with him. Be with him on this trip that he's on, and I pray that he would have no question in his mind, no question in his mind about who Jesus is, God incarnate, come to forgive our sins, and that he would not hold back, Lord, from embracing Christ, Lord, even as you pursue him. Father, be with him now, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Don, thanks for your call. We'll continue to pray for you. Man, you know, I was thinking, Adriel, he said he's 29 years old.

There's a lot of 29, 30, 40-year-olds, 50-year-olds who are going through similar searches, and unfortunately, there's a lot of voices in our culture that are lying to them. I mean, you talked about some of this spirituality stuff and finding your vibrations and even those that will say, well, as we said before, well, Jesus was a good teacher, good prophet. No, Jesus is God. He's the only way. It's so clear, and so my prayer would be that anyone else listening who's going through a similar search would, as you said, pick up the gospel of John, start reading it, and really, we would be praying that God would start to work in your heart to understand who Jesus really is. Amen.

Amen. This is CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can leave us a voicemail anytime. Here's our phone number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. You can also email us. Here's our email address. It's questionsatcorechristianity.com. Here's an email from Robert, and Robert says this interesting one for you as a dad and as a pastor. The Bible has many events about murder, mutilation, rape, demons, et cetera.

Even as an adult, this makes me cringe. My question is, at what age do you think a child can start reading the Bible? Do you think children's Bibles or comic book Bibles are okay? I'm hesitant about these because I'm concerned about adding or taking away parts of the Bible, even if it is to remove the violent parts or make it easier to read for a child. I'm interested to know your thoughts if you have any recommendations for children.

Yeah, great question. We definitely have used some children's Bibles in our home. I think that they can be helpful just in terms of getting kind of a framework for biblical history, big picture, some of the biblical stories. But I would say from early on, start reading the scriptures. Now, you don't have to read through all of those passages. You brought up some of the really mature passages in Scripture. You don't have to start there.

They don't start with Achan. Yeah, that's where your kids will be worried about falling through the ground. No, you can start with the Gospels, but I will say you also don't want to avoid those, especially as your kids begin to grow and understand more, because those stories also highlight for us just the brokenness of the world that we live in, and that's something that our kids see and that we ought to be talking with them about. You know, when it comes to the Gospel message, it's amazing to me how often in the New Testament children understood who Jesus was long before anyone else, the religious leaders even, the people who, you know, they were the scholars of the Word. No, it was the kids who were at the temple saying, Hosanna, you know, save now, Lord. They're singing to Jesus.

They're the ones who are being welcomed to Jesus by Jesus. You know, he's saying, let the children come to me where thereto such as these belongs the kingdom of heaven. And so children can get the Gospel.

The Gospel is for children. And so I think reading the scriptures early on, I mean, Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy, from your childhood, you have known the sacred writings that are able to make you wise for salvation, okay? And in chapter 1, he said, I'm reminded of your sincere faith, the faith that first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. And so how did that faith come to dwell in Timothy? It was through the fact that his parents were reading scripture to him, his mother, right?

His grandmother. The sacred writings able to make you wise for salvation. And so if we don't do that, we're not raising our kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We need to baptize them as it were in the Word of God because God's Spirit works through the Word to create faith in our hearts. And may the Lord bless you. Thanks. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, go to corechristianity.com forward slash radio, or you can call us at 1-833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, let us know how we can be praying for you and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.