Saved in Childbearing
(God’s Calling to Raise and Train Kingdom Warriors in these Last Times)
[Note: This article was written after spending time praying through the Scriptures on the day in which our fourth grandson was born on Monday, March 24, 2024.]
1 Timothy 2:15
Nevertheless she will be *saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
*“Saved” in Greek is “sozo,” a wonderfully rich word that means “to be preserved safe and sound and unharmed from danger, to be delivered, to be rescued, to be healed, to restore to health, to be made whole.” Therefore, “saved,” in this verse does not refer to being saved to have eternal life. Rather, it refers to a certain kind of deliverance, preservation, and restoration that is available to the woman because of childbearing. Let’s see what this might be.
A Marvelous Blessing in the Midst of the Curse
After Adam and Eve rebelled against God, a curse was first pronounced upon the serpent, and then upon Eve, Adam, and “all Creation” (Rom 8:20-23).
To Eve expressly, God declared this part of the curse:
Genesis 3:16
I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children…
This is part of the curse upon Eve that has come upon all of Eve’s descendants. One has to wonder: What would childbearing have been like before Adam and Eve sinned? This was definitely the saddest moment in human history!
BUT… what is absolutely amazing is what God says to the serpent just BEFORE He spoke to Eve:
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall *bruise your head,
And you shall *bruise His heel.
[* “bruised” or, more precisely, “crushed” – see Romans 16:20]
This is a beautiful Messianic prophecy depicting what happened on the Cross. Jesus is the “Seed” of the woman, and it was His “heel” (metaphorically) that was “crushed” on the Cross, but how did that happen? His “heel” was “crushed” because of how forcefully He stomped upon the serpent [Satan] to “crush” his head! Hallelujah!
Now, it is one thing to have a heel crushed, but crushing the head is a total triumph, just as the Bible declares:
1 John 3:8
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might DESTROY the works of the devil.
Colossians 2:14-15
Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, TRIUMPHING over them in [the Cross].
Now let’s just sit back and take some time to consider the perfect positioning and timing of all of prophecy.
Right while pronouncing the CURSES, God announces a coming and powerful BLESSING. It is a marvelous promise that one day in the future, a descendant of Eve would give birth (through multiplied pain and sorrow) to Eve’s Offspring — the very “Seed” that would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). This is the very first prophecy in the Bible that points directly to the physical birth of Jesus Christ and His triumph on the Cross.
The Connection
But returning to 1 Timothy 2:15, what does all this have to do with this phrase: “she will be saved [“sozo”] in childbearing”?
First of all, let’s back up a little bit and consider the previous two verses as context:
1 Timothy 2:13-14
For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression.
It almost seems as if the Apostle Paul is being a little bit partial against women, right? But such is not the case for Paul also says:
Romans 3:22-23
...for there is no difference;
For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
In the very next verse (1 Tim 2:15), Paul ties the previous verses together with the privilege God bestowed upon women to bear children.
Therefore, in Paul’s exhortation (1 Tim 2:13-15), there are two things we can understand about this connection:
(1) What Jesus Accomplished for Us.
Jesus was “born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal 4:4-5). Jesus was born under the curse of multiplied pain and sorrow of childbearing. In His incarnation (John 1:14), and by His obedience to the “to the point of death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil 2:6-8) where He “tasted death for everyone” (Heb 2:9-14). On the Cross, Jesus became a curse to redeem mankind from the curse:
Galatians 3:13
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).
This is how Jesus fulfilled Genesis’ Messianic prophecy and crushed His “heel” when He crushed the head of Satan.
Jesus’ finished work on the Cross ultimately and for all eternity brought defeat over Satan and his realm of darkness. In Christ, we can now find the full source and provision of “sozo” –salvation, deliverance, preservation, and restoration.
(2) What We Accomplish as Members of the Body of Christ.
As His Body, we, the Church, are promised that Satan will also be crushed under our feet experientially. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within the believer and He transforms us by forming Christ within us from “glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18). Through each stage of glory, Jesus Christ is crushing Satan under our feet. The Holy Spirit also uses us to rescue others from Satan’s kingdom of darkness. Each soul “delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col 1:13) is another way in which God crushes Satan under our feet! Hallelujah!
Romans 16:20
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly…
The Great Privilege and Responsibility Given to the Woman
When we apply this to what Paul was saying about women being “saved in childbearing,” we can understand that, yes, there is a reproach that has fallen upon women because of Eve’s sin of being deceived by Satan. However, Paul also declares that each and every time a believing, born-again woman gives birth and trains her child “in faith, love, and holiness with self-control” (1 Tim 2:15), she is preparing another offspring to overcome Satan! In a unique way, in childbearing and childrearing a woman is further “restored” (“sozo”) from the reproach of Eve’s deception because raising a child to be an overcoming Christian is the God-fearing woman’s powerful “payback” against the devil for his wicked deception in the garden.
Just think about that! What a privilege to bring a living soul into this world that can be raised and trained in how to overcome just as Jesus did and use their “heel” to crush Satan’s head also! Hallelujah!
Revelation 3:21
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Yet within this wonderful privilege, there is a very serious responsibility. Each child born is a precious soul with an eternal destiny. Of course, each child also has their own free will to make good or bad choices in life, but a Christian mother’s godly childrearing and prayers accomplish great things in the spiritual realm:
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Childbearing provides women with an excellent opportunity to experience spiritual authority and Kingdom victories. Even single women and those unable to bear children can share such victories by teaching and discipling this and the following generations to be Kingdom warriors.
And this Applies to the Men also…
Now even though this article focuses on women, men are also called by God to join the women in the incredible privilege of raising training God-fearing children who will be “arrows” to fill their warrior’s quiver:
Psalm 127:3-5 (NASB)
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like ARROWS in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They will not be ashamed
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
The “First and Great Commandment” (Mat 22:38) to love God is expressed dynamically by parents who raise their children to fear God and to love His Holy Word:
Deuteronomy 6:5-7
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
This is God’s End Times Calling to Raise Godly Children
More so than ever before, in these End Times before Jesus’ return and the Rapture of the Church, God is passionately calling both women and men of God to raise Kingdom-minded children and to disciple this and the following generations to take hold of the Keys of the Kingdom – God’s Covenant Promises – to be able to overcome just as Jesus promised we could do:
Matthew 16:18-19 (KJV)
…upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
God declares that it is our honor and our privilege to confess, declare the “written judgment” (Jesus’ finished triumph on the Cross), and execute that judgment upon Satan’s head. Hallelujah!
Psalm 149:8-9
To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute on them the written judgment—
This HONOR have all His saints.
Praise the Lord!
Though this world is getting darker with sin and oppression, it is an excellent time for men and women of God to allow God’s glory to shine even more brightly through them, their children, and these last generations!
Isaiah 60:1-5
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the GLORY of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the DARKNESS shall cover the earth,
And DEEP DARKNESS the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His GLORY will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
“Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your SONS shall come from afar,
And your DAUGHTERS shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy...
Romans 16:20
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
