Kids & Parenting

---

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created………….

Genesis 1:27-28


God created man….male and female created He them.
And God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply..”

God created male and female and He created them differently. Like pieces of puzzles, no two are alike. But also like a puzzle there are pieces that fit together. We will look at how these puzzle pieces fit together later as we go into detail of the anatomy of the sexes.

There it is I said it. Sex! Sex is not a forbidden word. There will be many other words you may or may not have heard that we will discuss. And it is okay to look around and snicker at first, but as we delve into the truths of reproduction the simplicity will hush the giggles. New words will be introduced. Some you may have heard and others not. We will add each of these words to our vocabulary list as we discuss the birds and the BIBLE - a Christian address of the birds and the bees.


I began designing this program around Christmas when my fifth grade class studied the birth of Christ and I thought what a wonderful Christian way to present the facts of life. Most adults will admit they never discussed sex in Sunday School or at home. Sex Education in middle school and high school comes a little late for many children and adolescents. I believe we have a responsibility to our young people to address God’s intention and gift of sex.

So as with many Christmas Seasons the birth of Christ is revisited and our Sunday School lessons focus on the birth of Christ. As you may recall in Luke Chapter 2, verse 6 “the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.” Verse 7 – “And she brought forth her firstborn son…”

When reading those verses, usually around Christmas how many young people have wondered “How did this happen, how did she bring forth a son, from where, how many days were accomplished, and if the Holy Spirit placed this child inside her, how do all the other babies get here?”

Lots of questions. And the Bible has lots of answers if we take the time to address them. The chapter in Luke goes on to say how that in 8 days, Christ was circumcised and in so many other days Mary’s purification was accomplished. “Accomplished” is a big word and it usually means, “Done!”

Why were all these things done? What is circumcision? We will soon add this word to our vocabulary list.

All these things came up during Sunday School and with the limited time I had, I tried to illuminate a few minds without sending the young people home with too many questions for mom and dad. I warned a few parents and then decided, what I had done was only the beginning. So here’s where I start……….In the beginning God.

Way back when, in the beginning God created man and woman, He began with dust. Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils.” From dust God created every living creature of the field and air. Genesis 2:19 But the man was alone in his form and design. None of the other creatures were found to be a help meet, someone similar to himself. So God created a woman, similar in design, but very different in form. Let us look at the forms of a man and a woman. We will add many words to our vocabulary list. Ask questions and say the words. Realize these are not bad words, but private words.

Men and women both have reproductive organs. God gave us these organs so that we can produce offspring - what we call babies. The male reproduction system produces sperm, which the Bible refers to as “seed,” (Leviticus 15:16) and the female reproduction system produces an egg. These eggs are most only produced once a month. During this time several changes occur in a woman’s body. The woman’s body is preparing for the baby, even though there may not be one. A baby house is being prepared and it is called the uterus. The Bible calls this the womb. Many things are happening inside each of our bodies. Hormones that trigger these events are rushing around inside.

For the egg to become a baby what is scientifically called an embryo it must be first met by the male sperm. “Hello, how do you do?” This meeting and joining to become an embryo is called conception.

However, if this doesn’t happen the egg leaves the body and another one has a turn next month. When the egg leaves the body, it takes with it all the preparations it made in the womb. For instance, as a baby grows inside a woman, nutrients, blood and such are provided for the baby and the womb walls thicken to protect the baby. This starts as the egg awaits the sperm. But when the egg and sperm do not meet, the egg leaves. The thickening and blood also leave the body. This is called a menstrual flow. Most persons call this a “period.” The Bible refers to it as an issue of blood.

In Leviticus, God explains to Moses about things that are clean and unclean. He tells Moses that during this time a woman is considered unclean because of the blood flowing from her body. Leviticus 15:19 “And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days.” Seven days, this is approximately how long a normal female period lasts. He further states that the items she touches are unclean. Think about this, a woman having her period in Bible times without the items we have today would create many unclean things. No products were available for purchase to prevent the flow from touching other things. Today we have pads that are placed in our underwear that absorbs this flow. There are also tampons that are inserted inside the woman to absorb the blood before it flows outward.

After the seven days, the woman is to wash everything she sat upon, lied upon or touched. The odor of blood attracts animals and insects so it was only good hygiene to clean everything. Remember a few things…there were no washing machines; not many persons had more than two changes of clothes and several persons lived in the same house. The woman separated herself from others during this time and kept to herself. Now this may all seem like a hassle, but probably none more than what we consider during this period.

In Genesis 31:35, when Jacob left his father-in-law, his wife Rachael took some belongings of her father’s. When he came to search for them, she hid them in her saddle and told her father, “I cannot rise up before my lord; for the custom of women is upon me.” He didn’t go near the saddle!

During this period, your body is cleaning the baby house and many changes occur. Other hormones begin rushing around inside and cause some confusion. This inside confusion can sometimes cause women to be irritable, but not always.

Now we will talk about what happens when the egg and sperm meet. First of all we need to discuss the anatomy of males and females and the many differences God created. These differences are the puzzle pieces God made. The scientific term is called “Reproductive Organs.” God made them to fit together as you will later understand.

A man’s organs are primarily located outside and a woman’s primarily inside. The outside parts of the reproductive system are called genitalia.

A man has a penis, yes vocabulary word. It is okay to say. He also has attached to the penis a pouch called a scrotum. Inside this sack there are testes. The testes main function is to produce sperm. Now the hard part is to get the sperm from inside the male to inside the female where the egg awaits. This isn’t really difficult. The difficult part is explaining the procedure called sex to young people because it is such a private matter that should be between only a man and a woman. A married man and woman. A man and woman married to each other. Let us make sure we get that straight. In Corinthians 7:2 it says, “let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband.” Sex is a gift from God that He gives as a wedding gift to a man and a woman. I believe if sex occurs before marriage, then it is like stealing something from God. His gift will not be special when marriage happens. St Paul said in Ephesians 5:31-32 “…they two shall be one….this is a great mystery.” The mystery should not be known until the wedding night.


Before we go much farther let us talk about a female’s genitalia. A woman has as we talked about earlier a womb where the baby grows. She also has two ovaries. They hold the eggs. Before a female’s monthly period one of the ovaries sends an egg down through a passage called a Fallopian tube. A female has two of these. It is usually inside one of these tubes that the sperm and egg meet. Once this happens the embryo moves into and attaches itself to the womb.

Besides the womb, ovaries and Fallopian tubes, a female has an outside organ called the vagina. It is also okay to say. As most of you know, growing up our parents may have led us to believe that the vagina and penis were called other things. We won’t mention those right now, but I am sure most of you know a few. But the correct terms are penis and vagina. We will use those as we continue.

As we get into some detail, remember this is a private experience and you will not quite understand the importance of it until as married adults God gives this gift to you. The intention of sex is to reproduce mankind. However sex can be very pleasant and performed for this reason. The Old Testament Book, Song of Solomon details the many pleasures associated during this private time. As you get older this book will become more understandable. But for now, let us hit the basics.

The vagina has an opening that allows for the male’s penis to enter during intercourse. Intercourse is the appropriate term for sex. During intercourse is when the sperm leaves the male and enters into the female in search of the egg. This is when the puzzle pieces fit together.

In the Bible it says that “Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived.” Genesis 4:1.Hence the word conception we mentioned earlier when a sperm and egg join. A man and woman get so close that the penis enters the vagina and the sperm can travel toward the Fallopian tubes. Up until the time this happens, a female is a virgin. A virgin has not experienced sex.

When Abram’s (Abraham) first son was conceived the Bible says. “And he went in unto Hagar and she conceived.” Genesis 16:4 The male organ went in to the female organ. His penis entered her vagina and the sperm traveled inside her to the Fallopian tubes. He went in unto her. There the sperm met and joined with the egg forming the embryo, which attached itself to her womb. I said, “Itself.” A self. A human being self. It was immediately a self like “your self” and “myself”. Alive! The embryo was alive from the moment the egg and sperm joined and the baby began to grow. The Bible tells us so. The Lord told Isaiah that He made him and that He formed him in the womb. Isaiah 44:2 Jeremiah wrote that the Lord said to him, “Before I made thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou cameth forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..” Jeremiah 1:5 The baby is known and formed by God. This embryo is a human being.

The baby human grows for about nine months inside the female. It takes about that long for all the babies’ parts to develop that he will need on the outside. And as it says in Luke 2, “the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.” Mary’s nine months were up while she and Joseph were in Bethlehem. “She brought forth her firstborn son,..” Luke 2:7 And how did she bring forth you ask?

As a baby grows, the mother’s body changes to allow room for the baby and the birth. When the days are accomplished, many things happen. The baby inside turns upside down. His head is aimed down toward opening in the vagina. The opening has to stretch to allow for the baby to pass through. This is not an easy task. Nor is it pain free. Once the baby arrives, the baby house what we call the womb empties out. There are lots of unneeded fluid and tissue that leave the mother’s body. It is called the afterbirth. She may continue to pass fluids. An issue of blood could continue for a few weeks even. After this time, Mary was allowed to go into Jerusalem. Earlier we talked about the time a woman spent away from others while she was considered unclean. Luke 2:22 says, “And when the time of her purification according to the law of Moses was accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem….” The time of a woman’s purification varied depending on whether she had a son or daughter. The flow time remains the same, but the cleansing time is longer. The entire twelfth chapter of Leviticus explains the timeframe. It takes 33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl to pass before the mothers’ purification time is up. Read the entire 12th chapter of Leviticus at this time.

I had said earlier that I would discuss what circumcision means and now here it is mentioned in the chapter I just read. First of all the Bible denotes two kinds of circumcision. There is a circumcision of the physical kind and a circumcision of the spiritual kind. The physical kind was first mentioned after the birth of Abraham’s son Ishmael. The Lord and Abraham made a covenant. An agreement, a promise. As part of this agreement the Lord told Abraham, “Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt you and me.” Gen. 17:11-12

Circumcision is the cutting away of extra skin from the penis. Baby boys are born with extra skin, the foreskin covering the area where urine and sperm come out. This covering can hide drops of urine and even sometimes it can cause an infection. God instructed Abraham to remove that skin. He said to cut the foreskin back and open up the area. Even though this was instituted as part of the covenant and sounds painful, it is what we now consider good hygiene. Today most baby boys are circumcised before they leave the hospital to prevent infection and easier urination. In Bible times, Jewish boys were to be circumcised on the eighth day following the birth. At the same time the child was to be named. Remember in the Christmas story we read where in Luke 2:21 it says, “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus…” In chapter 1, we read where John the Baptist was circumcised also. “And it came to pass on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child.” Luke 1:59

The second type of circumcision, that involves the heart, is the cutting back of the covering from your soul. It is to open your heart and eyes to a clearer understanding of God. St Paul tells us in Hebrews chapter 8 verse 10 that there is a new covenant and that God will write the laws into our minds and hearts. So a circumcision must take place to open our heart and mind to make a covenant with God. In Romans chapter 2 verse 29 Pauls tells us, “…..and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit.”

God made a covenant with us. A new covenant was offered when Christ died on the cross. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Eternal life, Life ever after can be ours.

The book of John tells us about a man named Nicodemus that came to Christ and asked how he could receive eternal life. Christ said unto him, “..except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 Now we just went through how a baby is conceived and born. Nicodemus knew this all very well, too. So he asks Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother’s womb and be born?” John 3:4 I don’t think any of us would fit.

Christ explained to Nicodemus the difference between the first birth and the second birth. He said “That which is of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit……Ye must be born again.” John 3:6-7 The second birth involves a circumcision of the heart, a growing time and even sometimes turning yourself upside down.

God has given us many gifts. Many things beautiful like the private time between a man and a woman. Yet the greatest of all God’s gifts is His Son Jesus Christ who was born of a virgin as promised in Isaiah 7:14. “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name, Immanuel. What a beautiful name!

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 The writer says, “He hath made every thing beautiful…” And before that verse, he said there is a time for everything. The scripture says “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Also in the same chapter, in verse 8 it explicitly says “A time to love.”

There is a time to love, a time to have intercourse, a time to discuss it and a time to move on. It is now that time. If you have learned anything today I hope it is that there is a time to be born and a time to be born again!!! That time can be now. I will be glad to help you understand God’s gifts and covenant He has made with and for us. I hope I have enlightened you with God’s word and made known that in the beginning…. God.

If as parents we start all the answers to our children’s questions with “In the beginning God…” we cannot fail. And He will not fail us. Deuteronomy 31:6 Check it out!

Thank you.

Vocabulary List to follow
Circumcision
Conception
Embryo
Fallopian Tubes
Genitalia
Hormones
Intercourse
Menstrual Flow
Ovaries
Penis
Period
Scrotum
Seed
Sex
Sperm
Testes
Uterus
Vagina
Virgin
Womb

Limited Picture and visual aids
Possibly Fathers and sons, Mothers and daughters separate
Church members have different views on mixed gender classrooms and whether young people would be more at ease without their parents

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE