Grace Emmanuel Church
Pastor Sam Chess
(Fatherhood)
It's Father's Day…we've celebrated the
papa's in this room… we've watched a video that links human fathers
to our Heavenly Father. Abby's song was directed toward God as our
Heavenly Father…where did that whole ' father' concept come from…by
the way?
I. The Fatherhood of God
Here’s a possibility… God created Adam
and Eve… then along came Cain and Abel. God watched carefully, the
growing relationship between Adam and his sons and finally said…Wow…
that really works!
Maybe…I can liken my relationship to
human beings to this father/son relationship between Adam and his
children…so when God got ready to send Jesus to this earth to die for
our sins, He thought… I’ll call Jesus my son…. and I’ll have him
refer to me as his Father… and that will, eventually, cause everyone,
on earth, to think of me as their Heavenly Father.
T or F; God is our
Heavenly Father?
But how did that come about? When did
God become a Father?
(John 1:1) In the beginning
the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the
Word was God. 18 No one has ever seen God.
But the unique One (the only begotten), who is himself
God…. is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. (NLT)
This verse takes us back, beyond
creation, before mankind came onto this earth…before there even was
an earth…. to time when only God existed… and we find Jesus. His
only begotten Son…our Savior, already in existence…and we find God
already represented as Jesus' father.
1) Fatherhood did not
begin on earth…it began in ______________.
2) Fatherhood began with
God before recorded time began.
3) All fatherhood must go
back to it’s source.
If you are a papa, here today… you're
not in the process of trying to figure out how you can be good at
some human invention of mankind's modern mind. Our world has been
messing with the whole family concept for some time now…trying to
redraw the borders to make the idea of fatherhood less significant….
or even unnecessary . I know, for a fact, that our attempts at
fathering sometimes leaves men feeling frustrated and unsuccessful.
If only we had a guide that was better at this thing of fathering
than we are….
Apparently we do….Apostle Paul said…
(Ephesians 3:14-15) For
this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ 15 from whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, (NKJV)
We know that Jesus came to this earth
to pay the price for our sins…to die in out place to provide us
eternal life. We know that accepting Jesus death, on our behalf
provides us freedom from the guilt and penalty of our sins. We love
Jesus…we have a very tender place in our heart for one who gave so
much for us…
Sometimes our view of God, the Father,
is not quite so tender… Perhaps our experiences with our earthly
fathers has not been so good… perhaps our lives, on this earth, have
been filled with very difficult times and while we are thankful to
the Son for his generous sacrifice on our behalf…we are not quite so
willing to open ourselves up to Jesus Father…our Heavenly Father….
Jesus himself was very open and
consistent in trying to guide us down this path… thyis is a familiar
passage…but we don't always read it to the end….
(John 14:6) Jesus said…."I
am the way, and the truth, and the life;
1) Jesus is the way…… to what?
2) If Jesus is the way… what is the
destination?____________________
(John 14:6) Jesus said to
him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father, but by me.
We talk a great deal about Jesus as
our Savior, our mediator, our intercessor….. We invite people to come
to Jesus…But God’s purpose is not just that we come to the Son but
through the Son we are to come to the Father... Our Father… Abba,
Father!
The 'Abba' relationship Jesus enjoyed
with his eternal Father is the Abba relationship he is leading us to
enjoy, as well….In fact Jesus himself lists this linking of our
hearts with the tender Father heart of God as one of his earthly
accomplishments,
In the whole chapter of John 17 Jesus
is praying to His Father… but he makes sure we see…with great
emphasis… how much his Father…. is also our Father!.. and how much
one of his tasks on this earth was to introduce us to God the way he
kinew him…
John 17:11
After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can
give glory back to you. (NLT)
John 17:6
“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world.
They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they
have kept your word. 7 Now they
know that everything I have is a gift from you, 8
for I have passed on to them the message you gave me.
They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you
sent me. (NLT)
John 17:11
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in
the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect
them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so
that they may be one as we are one. (NIV)
John 17:24"Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me where I am,
and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous
Father, though the world does not know you, I know you,
and they know that you have sent me. 26 I
have made you known to them, and will continue to make
you known in order that the love you have for me may be
in them and that I myself may be in them."
What is the Name Jesus is revealing to
us?….Yahweh? (God's covenant name)…El Shaddai (God as all powerful)
No…those names of God have already been revealed over and over again
in the Old Testament.
Jesus sets out to get us to understand
God from another angle…one he desperately wants us not to miss!
The new revelation, the special
purpose Jesus was revealing was God’s name of FATHER. In the New
Testament the name FATHER is the ultimate name of God!
Throughout the Old
Testament when God is trying to convince a pagan world and
the rebellious Children of Israel that He is a God of
power and strength, and wisdom, and faithfulness, he
reveals those names (characteristics) about himself and
we still benefit from those revelations today.
But when we get to the New
Testament, and God wants to give us the ultimate picture
of his relationship with us, his children, He through His Son Jesus
reveals himself as our generous, loving, Father.
To Jesus…and obviously God
himself… the word Father, to the believer,
describes the nature of God more accurately than any
other word in the human language!
There is a practical aspect to all of
this as well…
II. Comparing our Heavenly Father to
an Earthly Father
A) Since the eternal nature of
God is that of a Father… all fatherhood derives from Him
as the source….it follows that the role of every father on earth is
to represent God.
B) If God Himself is most
satisfied with His characterization as a Father… If
He is the source of Father
hood…it follows that He would be very interested in how
we go about imitating Him in the Fathering process.
III. Representing our Heavenly Father
as an Earthly Father.
The Heavenly Father gave his Son
responsibilities in his role of bringing mankind to Himself. I’m
going to suggest that He then gave human fathers the next level of
responsibility to carry out the same functions.
Just like Jesus:
As a Priest the
human father represents his family before God
As a Prophet he
represents God to his family
As a King he
guides his family into the Ways of God
A) As a Priest the human
father represents his family before God
Do you remember the example of Job in
the Bible. He was a “perfect and upright man before God“. Each week
his seven sons and three daughters would meet in each others homes
for feasting and just as faithfully :
(Job 1:5) When a period
of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have
them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt
offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children
have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was
Job's regular custom. (NIV)
This would correspond in New Testament
or modern times to a dad, or single mom, or grandparent carrying
their children to God in prayer, interceding on their behalf.
There is a constant flow of examples,
in the Bible, of Dad’s being responsible for the spiritual condition
of their families.
Remember the original Passover in the
Old Testament.
(Exodus 12:3) Tell the
whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this
month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each
household. (NIV)
The Father was to represent his family
before God and it was his sole responsibility to have the blood on
the doorpost to guard his family's welfare. Each head of home had the
God- appointed responsibility to act as a priest for his entire
family.
Obviously, just like today, there
would have been many families where the biological father was no
longer present. Somebody, whether it was the single mom or another
related or unrelated man, had to assume the role of priest for the
spiritual welfare of the children in each household. So it must be
today….
In the event that Dad
is present in the home he has a Divine imperative to
serve in a priestly ministry to those who are in his household! He
must not try to delegate this responsibility to someone else!
Remember the story of the epileptic
boy brought to Jesus to be healed... Jesus questioned the father:
(Mark 9:22-23) "And
often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the
water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on
us and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe,
all things are possible to him who believes." (NKJV)
Notice, Jesus held the father
responsible to believe for his son. Same with the Philippian Jailer
after the earthquake set Paul and Silas free….
(Acts 16:30-31) And he
brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So
they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved, you and your household." (NKJV)
We know from other Scriptures that his
faith couldn’t actually bring his family into salvation but Dad’s
belief would open the spiritual doorway for the rest of his family to
believe.
So… A) As a Priest each
human father represents his family before God
B) As a Prophet
each human father represents God to his family
Hard, cold, fact is that a father, by
design does represent God to his family. He may do it well or he may
miserably fail…. Children naturally form their view of what God is
like from how His representatives to them act.
Depending on what kind of Father you
had you had to come to your heavenly Father as a result of or in
spite of who your father was. You who’s fathers guided your viewpoint
had a much easier pathway to follow.
There are not a lot of direct commands
to fathers in the Bible but we can gain guidance:
(Ephesians 6:4)
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring
them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (NIV)
(Colossians 3:21)
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become
discouraged. (NIV)
Fathers have the primary
responsibility to “bring up children in the training and instruction
of the Lord. If there is no biological father present someone has to
assume that role…. But if a father is present, he cannot pass
that responsibility on to someone else!
This doesn’t lower the responsibility
of motherhood but it certainly does elevate the responsibility of
fatherhood for the spiritual development of children. Single moms and
dads… you have to fill both roles and you must trust God to give you
a double portion of his grace.
1) Two directives
a) Maintain
discipline ; bring them up in the training and instruction
of the Lord. (NIV)
(Deuteronomy
11:18-20) Fix these words of mine in your hearts and
minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and
bind them on your foreheads. Teach
them to your children, talking about them when you
sit at home and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up. Write
them on the doorframes of your houses and
on your gates, (NIV)
b) Guard against
discouragement: Fathers, do not exasperate your
children….. do not embitter your children, or
they will become discouraged.
c) Balance of
discipline without unfair or excessive demands,…
brings
feelings of failure, frustration,
As a Priest the
human father represents his family before God
As a Prophet he
represents God to his family
C) As a King he guides
his family into the Ways of God
A) The Father as Governor
(1 Timothy 3:4-5) He must
manage his own family well and see that his children obey
him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to
manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) (NIV)
1) rule….to lead out
in front, to set the example
B) Abraham- Father of Many…..why
did God choose him?
Abram means “exalted Father” changed
to “Father of a multitude”.. Abraham's qualifications for leading the
nation of Israel seemed to revolve around his father’s heart.
(at least according to his name…)
I get all that from his names??? Not
quite…
(Genesis 18:17-19) Then
the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about
to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,
and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and
his household after him to keep the way of the LORD
by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring
about for Abraham what he has promised him." (NIV)
(Malachi 4:5-6) "See, I
will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and
dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their fathers; or else I will come and
strike the land with a curse." (NIV)
It’s interesting that God started the
children of Israel with an emphasis on fatherhood and then ended the
Old Testament with a warning about fatherhood….
