Be Fruitful and Multiply

Q: God said to man, "Be fruitful and multiply", yet his only son had no children. Does not God lead by example?

A: I have never actually thought about this before. But when you look back at the times that God told man to 'be fruitful and multiply,' it was not to man in general, necessarily. It was at specific times in which the earth or a people group needed to be populated. The first instance was during creation. God created all of the creatures and Adam and Eve, then empowered them to populate the earth by being fruitful and multiplying. The next instance was after the Great Flood. Every person and creature on earth was destroyed, save Noah and his family and the animals that were taken on the ark with them, so again the need was there to populate the earth. Finally, the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was to be God's chosen people, which would eventually be the line that Jesus came from. God promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars (Genesis 15:5). In order for them to do that, they had to be fruitful and multiply. So it was not a general command that God gave to people, such as worship Him alone or do not murder, but to a specific person/people in a specific circumstance.

Regarding Jesus leading by example, His whole life was the ultimate example. When He would tell people to follow Him, He was inviting them to do as He did and live as He lived. He showed us what it looks like to be a believer in God. If we call ourselves Christians, our primary goal should be to model His life. The fact that He wasn't married and didn't multiply physiologically is not necessarily an example that we should feel the need to follow, any more than Him being a carpenter or wearing robes are. It is simply a social construct that, in itself, neither violates nor fulfills God's commands or desires for life.