Luke 18:15-17 Becoming like little children?

Luke 18:15-17 Receiving the kingdom of God like children. Jesus rebuked the disciples for trying to keep the children away from Him. I can think of no stronger evidence that refutes the doctrine of infant damnation, or original sin. The question that we need to try to understand is what are the characteristics of children that Jesus says make them in effect the picture of God's kingdom, and becoming like them is a condition for entering it?

          There is relatively little Biblical guidance on what attributes of childlikeness are those that make children a picture of God's kingdom. It seems to be implicit that we will recognize them or understand what this means. One theory is that until they reach a certain point - the age of accountability - children are innocent even though they may sin. This is alleged to be because they are incapable of understanding what right and wrong are, and of forming the intention to deliberately choose to do wrong. Therefore this theory asserts they are morally innocent. The problem with this theory in my estimation is that anyone who has raised children understands that they are self-centered and stubborn, and want their way even before they are a year old. There would have to be an almost indiscernible line in which such self-centeredness crosses the line from being innocent to being morally culpable as to impute sin. A second theory is that children are open and receptive to things of God until they reach a certain point where worldly desires and temptations overwhelm that innate spirituality. If that is the case, then it would be a fascinating case study to follow carefully the development of children who are raised in Christian homes and those who are raised in completely pagan environments, to try to correlate this kind of conceptual and spiritual development. A third possibility is that children see the world as a magical place where they know they are not in charge and that adults provide anything and everything without them (the children) having to worry about if or how something will happen. Transferring this wonder to God is, in this view, what we need to enter the kingdom of God.