A Week of Bible Fathers #5 - The Heavenly Father

My father passed away some 17 years ago and there are times I miss him greatly.  Because my siblings were much older than I - I was basically an only child growing up and so my father and I spent much time together, fishing, hunting, and doing various things together just the two of us.  And though I cannot say I was raised without a father, there have been times over the past years that not being able to call upon him for advice or help was surely missed.

But NO ONE is without a father according to the Word of God.  In Psalm 68:5 God is directly called the Father to the fatherless.  In Psalm 146:9 the Lord relieves the fatherless.  And because of God’s heart for the fatherless, all throughout the law He commanded Israel to watch out for and care for the fatherless (Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 14:29, 24:17-21).  There is no doubt that God the Heavenly Father has a tender place for those whose fathers are not a part of their lives.

But this wonderful truth truly hit home when I was studying about the usage of the phrase “our father.”  You see the Old Testament did not really see anyone calling God “their” Father as I am sure that would have seemed presumptuous on their part.  But Jesus broke that barrier down when he called God “Our Father” in Matthew 6:9 as part of the Lord’s Prayer.  The people of the day saw Abraham as their father (Luke 3:8), Jacob as their father (John 4:12), and even David as their father (Mark 11:10).  But when Jesus made it clear that God is truly “our Father” - that was earth shattering, so to speak, especially to the Apostle Paul.

We know literally nothing of Paul’s parents or family except that his father was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and that he had a sister (Acts 23:16).  But to Paul the fact that God was his Father became a major truth as he references this fact in virtually every epistle he wrote, especially when speaking of God His Father's grace (1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 1Timothy 1:2; Philemon 1:3). 

How important is the fact that God is the Heavenly Father to every born again believer?  It means that we are never without a father and we always have the resources of a father to turn to in every situation.  It means that we can have advise that is beyond our meager knowledge, because we can turn to our Heavenly Father in any and every situation.  It means that the resources of a Heavenly Father are available to His children whenever they turn to Him and ask.  It means that we are always under His watchful eye and hand of loving discipline.  It means that I am part of His family, which encompasses all who truly know Him as their Father.  

What a blessed thought that I have a Heavenly Father!

A Week of Bible Fathers #4 - A Father of Fervor

As I sit here this morning writing this, my morning began VERY early as I awoke from a vivid dream where my now basically grown-up children were young again, playing with toys and crying for me to tuck them in bed at night.  The dream was so real that I could not get back to sleep again as I was shocked into reality that they are now 16 to 21 years of age and I can NEVER go back to those days of their childhood again.  It also dawned upon my heart that I probably have less life in front of me, than I have behind me, and thus I wonder what my life could be summed up as having been.

From my earliest memories I have always wanted to serve the Lord and I truly wanted to be known as a man that is faithful, first to his God, second to his wife, third to his children, and lastly to his serve of others.  But after the dream this morning I am asking myself if that fervent faithfulness in my life is really true or not.

David has been my Bible hero for as long as I can remember.  This is mainly because he is called the “man after God’s heart” and I have always felt that was the greatest title any person could have.  And although he often was weak in the flesh and had to make amends for his failings, he was still the man that God used greatly to build Israel and prepare them for the Temple that Solomon built and thus he was God's man in so many areas.  As an example, David had driven out many of the pagan nations that had not been driven out during the days of Joshua and this clearly pleased his God.  David also was a great man of God, I believe, mainly because of his fervor for God.  This fervor was so great that even the children of Israel saw David as their “father” of fervor and zeal as was mentioned in Jesus’ Triumphant Entry (Mark 11:10).

But often when we think of David, our minds usually drift into the sin with Bathsheba and the killing of Uriah afterwards as well as a variety of other situations that overshadow David’s fervent spiritual life.  However it was not David’s sin that made him so close to God but his fervor for the things of God and his reactions to his sins.  We know that David loved the Lord plain and simple, yet, he lived in a body of flesh and would often fail his Lord.  But then he would immediately repent of his sin when it pointed out to him and that is where his servant spirit lay.

If I could sum up what I want my life to be, it would be to have a fervor for the Lord even when I fail to live as I should.  I am reminded of a verse that David write in Psalm 69, where verse nine says, “…the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up….”  David wrote here that he wanted the things of the Lord so badly that the zeal (fervor) had overtaken him - he was consumed with serving the Lord.  Of that I would have that kind of zeal with whatever time I have left in my life!  As a matter of fact, this “zeal” was seen so clearly in the life of Christ as well that His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9 as Jesus was cleaning the House of the Lord out in John 2:13-17.

Our lives are but a vapor and will quickly pass (James 4:14) and we should follow the example of a father of zeal, should we not?

As I was finishing this article for posting I looked out the window and saw a mother deer and her VERY young fawn and I thought about why I was awake so early - my dream about my children being young.  Out of the window I could see that the fawn had gotten some distance away from its mother and then zealously galloped to catch up - which made me laugh.  But then I realized that one day, not long ago, that mother dear had been a zealous fawn and now she had grown up to be the ever watchful mother.  But that’s the way of life that God created.  My children are growing up and I am growing older…hopefully serving the Lord and seeking the be “the man after God’s own heart” - filled with zeal for my Heavenly Father.

A Week of Bible Fathers #3 - The Fathers in Front of Us

It has often been said that the best way to learn anything is by watching and following the examples of others we see.  It is one thing to read how something is done but it is another to actually see it done and then be able to mirror that in your own actions.  This is true not only in areas of learning and higher education but also in fatherhood. 

Being able to see how a family should function is one of the greatest challenges and yet greatest needs in our world today as godly families are clearly under assault.  The ability to actually see a functioning godly family is crucial right now because there seems to be so few families that truly are living the way God planned.  

We need examples we can see and follow and God has a plan for this in Scripture.  In 1 Timothy 3 God makes it clear that the two officers within the church, pastor and deacon, are to live out this example front of the church body for us to be able to follow.  

Let’s look there briefly:

1. Pastors (bishops) are to be the husbands of one wife, rule well their own house, and their children clearly “under control” within their home (1 Timothy 3:2 & 4). 
2. Deacons are also to meet basically the same requirements as 1 Timothy 3:12 states they are to have one wife, have their children under control, and ruling their house well.  Same guidelines with a slightly different order.

God clearly is requiring that the authority positions within the church are to have their house in order, and I believe this is for the purposes of being an example to the church and so that they can take care of the church of God properly (1 Timothy 3:5).

However, we must accept that pastors and deacons are humans and will make mistakes.  Even godly men are sometimes going to fail to make the right decisions and they will even sometimes have moments of fleshliness.  To add to this uncertainty, many leaders within churches have failed so greatly in the past that the testimonies of those who are faithful have also been tarnished as well.  There are even some within Christianity who refuse to trust or follow the example of any faithful leader because another leader has been so untrustworthy that the faithful leader is guilty and untrustworthy by default in some eyes.  But we must accept that there are faithful pastor’s and deacon’s families who are still living a good example in front of their church families and can be followed as an example.  

It is clear that there are fathers in front of us that we CAN use as example for our family and sometimes those example are being lived out by the leadership of our church.

Here are a few question that you can ask yourself to know whether the fathers in front of you can be followed:

1. Does the family in front of you really love the Lord and want to please Him?
2. Does the family in front of you love and honor each other?
3. Does the family in front of you really love to serve the Lord and His church?
4. Does the family in front of you know and believe sound doctrine?
5. Does the family in front of you want to see the lost saved?
6. Does the family in front of you have their children in control?
7. Does the family in front of you see their children desire to go on and serve the Lord?

All fathers should be examples to their children and to the others around them, but church leaders are required to be this kind of example.  If you have that kind of fatherly example in front of you, you really are blessed!

A Week of Bible Fathers #2 - Father of Faith

My son and I were in a store the other day and I started a conversation with one of the workers there.  I introduced my son out of courtesy and the worker immediately said with a laugh, “That’s an easy one to see for sure.”  Why? Because my son looks just like me except for the color of his hair, which he inherited from his mother.

If you are a Christian today, whom do you look like in your faith?  Whom do you mirror when it comes to trusting in God and following His Word?  My goal is to look like my father in faith - Abraham (Romans 4).

Abraham was not a man without his flaws and failings, as we can easily see his times of doubt and disbelief shown in Scripture.  But also just as clear is the fact that Abraham was a man of faith (Hebrews 11:8-17) and really is called the father of our faith by Paul.  I know that I can have faith even if my flesh and my will sometimes get the best of me, because I can follow my father in faith.

So what makes Abraham the father of faith?

1. Abraham’s faith always lead to action in obeying God’s Word to him.  Abraham did not just sit idly by and wait for things to come to him.  He would respond when God told him to act and was even willing to immediately leave the home he knew for a land he did not know. (Genesis 12:1-5).
2. Abraham’s faith always believed that God’s promises would happen - even if it required something from the man himself.  We often chide Abraham for taking Hagar to have the child of promise and even call it a lapse of faith, but was it a lapse of faith or Abraham just assuming that God was expecting some action on his part? (Hebrews 11:11-12)  Abraham clearly believed that God was going to give him a son, and yet no where do we find God chiding him for a lapse of faith in taking Hagar to wife.
3. Abraham’s faith always trusted that God’s end game was going to match His promises, not matter what it cost Abraham.  Remember that Abraham was fully prepared to offer Isaac as a burnt offering even though that seemed far from the fulfillment of God’s plan.  I am one that believed that Abraham believed that God was capable of raising Isaac back from the dead if he had offered him, but it also possible that Abraham just believed that God was just as capable of giving him a another son to replace Isaac.  Either way, Abraham KNEW that God’s end plan would always match God’s beginning promises (Hebrews 11:17-18).
4. Abraham had faith until the very end of his life - it never wavered.  We can see this as he knew that his son Isaac was the fulfillment of God’s promises and was never going to allow anything, not even his love of his other children, to take away from that truth.  We see that Abraham made sure that the child of promise, Isaac, was placed into the rightful position of receiving the birthright, even though he did care for the other children in his life (Genesis 25:5-6).  He did this because he KNEW God had a plan and Abraham accepted by faith that plan right until his death.    

So where is your faith today?  Who do you look like in your faith?  Can you honestly say that you always take God at His Word?  Do you act upon what He says, every time He speaks?  May we mirror our faith after the father of faith - Abraham.

A Week of Thoughts About Bible Fathers - The First Father

Whenever you study your Bible, one of the first principles to keep in mind is the principle of first mention.  Find the first time a subject or word is mentioned for the first time on the Bible and that is often the standard for the rest of the Bible’s usage of that subject or word.

The first father mentioned in Scripture is Adam in Genesis 4:1.  Whenever we think of this first father we usually drift first into thinking about his sin and how it has impacted all of humanity.  However there is so much more to Adam than his failure in the Garden of Eden.  

1. Adam had the privilege to talk face to face with God and then to share with his family what God had shared with him in that quiet time.  So today can every father do the same, if he seeks the Lord first (Proverbs 8:17).
2. Adam had the privilege of being the first person to do work and labor.  Now I know there are many who would scoff at this thought, but work and labor are good and every father today can lead by example in this (Proverbs 14:23).
3. Adam had the privilege of being the first to see the preciousness of God ordained marriage.  It was actually Adam’s first recorded words that showed the wonder of marriage (Genesis 2:23) and so can every father today openly proclaim the preciousness of their marriage.
4. Adam had the privilege of being the first to lead his children to the Lord.  Adam obviously shared the Creation, the Fall, and the Curse with his sons and daughters.  But he also saw his son Abel clearly understand the offering of blood for sin and it appears that Abel knew the Lord from the testimony.  What a thrill to be able, as a father, to see your children come to know the Lord as their Savior!
5. Adam had the privilege of being the first grandfather.  Imagine being the first to see your grandchildren run and play!  What a joy Adam must have had to see the children of Seth run in and out of his door - an honor for anyone who is a grandfather today, I am sure (Proverbs 17:6).
6. Adam had the privilege of being reunited with his son, Abel, in eternity.  When Cain took Abel’s life, Abel was clearly a righteous man and went into eternity trusting in the shed blood for his atonement (Genesis 4:4).  I also believe that Adam was the first fallen man to be saved by God’s grace and clearly as a righteous man he went into eternity redeemed.   Abel and Adam, because of God’s grace and their faith, were reunited there.  What a joy to know that one day we can be joined together again with our loved ones who have left this life for the wonder and glory of Heaven.

Adam may have his faults, but he also is our father and we should honor him as he did give us our lives and the opportunity to serve the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45).