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8/12/2019 2000 Issue 6 - Like Father, Like Fathers - Counsel of
Chalcedon
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Like P ~ I H E R
'
LIke Fathers
1 1 l 'A ll l R H OUD O F .O l l \:--;j)
\ II
R. : vIATTHEW 11 :2
)
0
One of the complaints made by many con
temporary Christian fathers is that their fathers
were not good role models. Examples are
valuable. Jay Adams acknowledges that we are
deeply influenced both by nature.and nurture .
R.L Dabney stated, "When
aman
a,nd a women
have a child, they have kindled a spark that can
never be put out. That child, blessed
Or
cursed,
will exist forever and
ever. ...
And
further, God
has made the world in such a.way that parents
have a tremendous influence over the direction
their children take - either for good or evil."
Boys should learn from their fathers how to be
men, husbands, and fathers. "Like father like
son" is not a meaningless cliche.
However, we are neither environmentalists
nor genetic d e t e r m i n a t i o n i s t s ~ Whatever our
providential circumstances, whoever our father
was, there
is
both the responsibility and hope
for change. In Eph. 4:22-24 Paul says to those
who were formerly children of wrath and
of
Satan (Eph. 2:1-4), "Put
off
the old man and put
on the new man" In Chapter 5 he commands '
husbands to "love your wives as Chri.st loved
the church," not as your father loved your
mother, and he exhorts fathers to "bring up your
children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord," not bring them up the same way you
were brought up. The lack of a biblical model
and
example offers no eXCUSe
or
defense for .
failing to be the father one has been called and
i
'redeemed '
to
be.
r j ' .
. .
As .a.matter .of fact,: fll'thers do have an
example: G(;id is
a
ather. Jesus refers to Him as
such in thfspassage severa .tjmf;':s. And.He is
not just Jesus' Father- He.
is
'alsoour Father .
Jesus commands us to pray to
our father
in
heaven. As olit Father, we may learn from Ills
fatherhood, how he aci:S and relates
tq
Us as a
father. What can we lefu:n from the "father
hood" of God the Father?
We neep to understand, of course, that the
term father with reference to God the Father
is
used in various senses in the Bible . First
of
all,
we speak of the eternal Fatherhood
of
God
within the Godhead, the Trinity, the unique
relationship between the Father and the Son.
Even though by grace we are given the autho'r
ity to be called the sons
of
God, John 1:12-13,
He, Jesus, is the unique Son ofGnd, John 1: 18.
Second, although some theologians demur,
we may speak
of
the Fatherhood
of
God 'In the
sense
of
e i ~ g the creator of all men. I Corin
thians 8:6 says, "Yet for us there
is
ut one
God, the Father, from whom are all things and
we exist for Him; and one Lord;' Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we
xist
through
Him" (cf. Isa, 64:8, Mal. 2:10, Job 38 :7,Ltike
3:38,
ACts
17:26). The universal fatlierhood Of
God as Creator, however,
dOes
not mean, as the
liberals interpret
and
apply this, that all'mim are
brothers and secure within the 'family of God.
This is unscriptural and illegitimate. Many
of
hose created by God are children
of
their
spiritual father, the Devil, John 8:44, children
of
wrath, by the fall, Eph. 2:1-3. In 2 Cor. 6:14.18,
Paul exhorts the Cotinthians to come out from
among unbelievers, idolaters, do not touch what
is unclean, and "I will be your
Fa:,ther
and you .
will be sons and daughters to me. " So, the fact '
that all men are created by God does not meim
that all created men I\OW have a relationship
with God which may be designated father in the
sense
of
fellowship, acceptance, and love. .
Third, there is the Fatherhood of redemption.
God was the Father
of
His peopie, Israel, in the
O.T., not just as creator, but as one who had a
special relationship with them, and they were
His Sons. Exodus 4:22 says, 'Then you shall
say to Pharaoh,
'Thus
says the
LORD,
"Israel is
My son, My firstborn."'" Israel
is
God's son,
the Egyptians are not God's sons. t is only as
we are incorporated into Him who
is
the one
Son with whom
Goc\
is well-pleased that we
may be restored to a : t a t h e r ~ s o n relationship,
Eph. 1:8, that we have JI right to call God father,
John 1 12, and whereby we cry "Abba, Father,"
Rom. 8: 15. t is only through union with Christ
that we experience the fulfillment of the cov
enant promise
of
2 Cor. 6: 18, "And I will be a
father to you, and you shall be s.ons and daugh-
ters to me,' says the Lord Almighty.:' .
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8/12/2019 2000 Issue 6 - Like Father, Like Fathers - Counsel of
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So we may speak
of
the "Fatherhood
of
God" as long as we understand the proper
distinctions.
At
the same time
we
believe we
can extract principles based on the Fatherhood
of God in relation to Jesus Christ and the chil
dren of God that can serve
as
examples and
principles for us to emulate
as
fathers. I would
like to consider the example
of
God's father
hood from the perspective
of
Matt. 11:25-30.
1
A TRUE FATHER IS A CHILD, A
CHILD OF GOD. True fathers must have God
as their Father. Having God as our Father
implies that we are sons and daughters through
Jesus Christ, or His "babes," as Jesus says in
this passage.
t
is to these
babes,
and to
these alone, that the Father has revealed these
things,
11
:25. You may think this an unworthy
position. You are a real man. You may think tha t
real men are like the men in the riddle , "How
many real men does
it
take to change a light
bulb?" "None Real men
aren't
afraid of the
dark "
What does it mean to be a babe? Jesus
makes a distinction.betwe,n pabes and the wise
and intelligent, 25. The wise and intelligent
are those who are wise in their own eyes, the
independent and self-sufficient. Those who have
come to see God in Christ are called babes, not
because they are innocent, but because they are
humble, teachable, dependent, and obedient.
A. Fathers must be children
of
God. Those
who are regenerate are like babes; they exhibit
childlike humility. You must be like babes in
faith, humble, teachable, dependent, and obedi
ent.
Consider Solomon. When Solomon had been
anointed king in the place of his father David,
the Lord appeared to Solomon and asked him
what he wanted God to give him.
We
read
beginning in 1 Kings 3:6, "Then Solomon said,
'You have shown great lovingkindness to Your
servant David my father, according as he
walked before You in truth and righteousness
and uprightness of heart toward You; and You
have reserved for him this great lovingkindness,
that You have given him a son to sit on his
throne, as it
is
this day.
I am
but
a child,
and
I
don t know how to go out or come in. Your
servant is in
the midst of Your people which You
have chosen, a great people who are too many
to be numbered or counted. So
give
Your ser
vant an understanding heart to judge Your
people to discern between good and evil. For
who is able to
judge
this great
people
of
Yours?'" Solomon, though a
man
and a king,
recognized that he was
but
a child and needed
wisdom in order to rule and govern. Fathers
need that same attitude. You
must be
children
of
God, fathers. You must have God as your
Father. You must be born again.
B
Fathers must know Jesus Christ. You can
only be children
of
God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, "No one knows the Father except
the son and anyone to whom the Son wills to
reveal Him." We can only know the Father
through the Son. And to know the Father you
must know Christ, Jesus Christ Has there been
a revelation
of
Christ to the heart? You need to
be a Christian
in
order to be a father.
John Angell James, in
A
Help
to
omestic
Happiness, writes, How can they bring up
children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord if they do not know the Lord for them
selves?" (Pg.
11
0)
B. Fathers must grow to maturity. In one
sense we are always babes, but in another
sense we are to grow to maturity. 1 Corinthians
14:20 says, "Brethren, do
not
be children in your
thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your
thinking be mature."
The author
of
Hebrews exhorts the Hebrew
Christians, "Concerning him
we
have much to
say, and it is hard to explain, since
you
have
become dull of hearing. For though by this time
you ought to be teachers, you have need again
for someone to teach
you
the elementary prin
ciples of the oracles
of
God, and
you
have come
to need milk and not solid food. For everyone
who partakes only
of milk
is
not
accustomed to
the word
of
righteousness, for he is an infant,
but
solid food is for the mature,
who
because
of
practice have their senses trained to discern
good and evil," 5:11-14. The preacher admon
ishes them for still being infants in this sense.
So we are to go on to maturity.
As children
of
God, we must always be
babes in the sense of being dependent, humble,
teachable, obedient, submissive,
and
innocent in
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the
&en&e
of experience
of
evil.
But
in another
sense we are to grow to maturity. Jesus said
"Take my yoke and learn ofme."
But
we must
learn
of
Him, learn of Christ, who is the one
who reveals the Father.
1.
You must take His yoke . A yoke was
put
on animals for pulling heavy loads. Taking a
yoke is a
metaphor
for the discipline
of
disciple
ship.
2. You must learn
of
Him. This is what i t
means
to
be
a disciple; a disciple is a learner.
Jesus said "I have come to do thy will." You
must know and do God's will. You must feed
upon, the Word
of
God. Matthew 4:4,
But
He
answered and said,
It
is written, 'MAN SHALL
N
OT
LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD
THAT PROCEEDS OUT, OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.' "
Psalm
1 says
How
blessed is the man ... who
meditates in the law
of
God day andnight."
Deuteronomy 32:46-47 reads "Take to your
heart
all the words with which I am warning you
today, which you shal l command your sons to
observe carefully, even all the words
of
his
law. For it is not an idle word for you;
indeed it
is
y ur
life And
by this word you will prolong
your days in the land, which you are about to
cross the
J
oidan
to possess." .
To
use a military or political analogy, you
need
a
morn
ing briefing and an evening debrief
ing. Daily reading the Bible: I . Reminds us that
there is a God wbo is ruling the affairs
of
our
lives. 2. Instructs and reminds us
of
that which
is true, lovely, and of good report. 3.
I t
rein
forces our convictions.
3. You must pray. Jesus prayed to His,
Father, Mat. 11 :25, "1 praise you 0 Father, Lord
of
Heaven and Earth." Fathers, you must pray
to your heavenly Father. Jesus taught His
disciples to pray Our Father who art in
Heaven
,:
B.M. Palmer; in his book on prayer, defines
p r a y ~ r as the' iknguage ofwor,ship, confession,
and
d e p e n d e ~ c .
1 M e n mus.
sMakto God,
worship
G o d ~
n f e s s thelT, sins, and depend
- \
' ;
upon
God..
. .
