“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:7 ESV
With all due respect to Matt Walsh and his excellent documentary (What is a Woman?) we ask today what is a father? Lest Father’s Day be claimed by the world and the principles of humanism, and its prideful presumption of autonomy, we should consider the subject according to Scripture. And to this end we say that unless a man be a man of God, ultimately he’s no man at all. A man who would run from a battle and leave his children to die would rightly be deemed the worst of cowards. But what of the man who leaves his children (and his wife) to the arrows of our greatest enemy, Satan? What of that? Does it matter how much money a man has made, or how handy he was, or how great a warrior he might have been, if sin dominates his home? And sin certainly will if the father lays down his arms. We must see this and know that a father’s greatest battle is against sin. And sin is only contained and ultimately defeated at the cross of Christ.
A father, therefore, according to Scripture, is to be the Lord’s man in the home. And how can he do this if he doesn’t know Scripture? How can a man show Christ to others who isn’t completely in love with the Lord himself?
The door to the hearts of children, through which either Christ or Satan may enter, is the heart of a man. If that man’s heart is the Lord’s, and sin is progressively conquered there at the cross – personally – then faith, love and grace will shelter the home. This is every father’s great calling. Is your heart broken to pieces in repentance and knit back together in grace? If not, if sin dominates you, if your faith is feeble and stagnant, then no wall you build to protect your family will hold. The Devil, unless we stand strong in faith, will inevitably sift us like wheat. Good intentions aren’t enough. Only faith in Christ, lived out according to Scripture, is sufficient to defeat sin and produce righteousness in love.
Life’s great question that must and will be decided by one and all is Christ or sin. On that last Day, when all has been heard, and the end of matters has arrived, have your children clearly heard it from your heart? Christ or sin. Choose this day whom you will serve. You are a father in the Biblical sense only when you seek to be a whole Bible man. Do our children learn about and see Christ in us or do we seek to honor ourselves or something else? Do we show them the glory of the world or the glory of our Lord? Do we yearn more for their comfort and worldly success than for their salvation? If so, we aren’t true fathers but allies of him who destroys souls.
Oh, you who say, “I’d fight to the death for my family,” do you see the futility of leaving it there? Your Glock and your fists won’t fight sin. Do you think such an enemy as sin is defeated by your bullets, by your bravado? The enemy certainly wants you to believe this in the same way any invader wants you unaware. All the armies of history can’t defeat sin and every father must know this. It is Christ who fought to the death for us – dying for our sin so that we would be free at last. The real man is the man that knows this and shows it every day to his family. What is our highest treasure in our homes? Our children will see it. Is it Christ and His word? Or is it money…or our pride?
“Our goal must be not just to carve out success for ourselves, but to leave a blessed imprint on the lives of those who are under our care…There is therefore an urgent need in our world for men who are leaders in the truest sense of the word. Scripture provides examples to inspire us and precepts to guide us as we seek to become lords under God’s higher lordship, leaders who are servants of God and of His cherished people. God gives such leadership as a way for His blessing to come to earth. He is faithful to provide such servant leaders for His people, and He calls Christian men to exercise lordship on His behalf (Eph 4:11:13; 1 Peter 5:1-5). Will we answer that call? As David sang at the end of his life: ‘When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth’ (2 Samuel 23:3-4). (From Rick Phillips Masculine Mandate).
This is what we need. We don’t need to be told “be a good dad” and leave it at that. Men already know that. But because of sin no man can be a true father. Only in Christ can we be who we need to be. We need, rather, to hear the Bible’s call for men: to repent of their sin, have faith in Christ, knowledge of God in Scripture, to be faithful in marriage, strong in leadership, to raise Godly children, and to contend for the faith. We need strong men who lead! The Bible knows nothing of men who shrink away into pornography, video games, and who hide from responsibility. It knows nothing of men who are driven by lust, conquered by their vices, and whipped around by the winds of secular doctrines.
The Bible tells men to ask for the hearts of their wives and children by first giving them their own heart. It shows the danger of being a Rueben – a feckless and half-hearted leader who’s afraid to confront sin. No. The Biblical man, the whole Bible man, is strong in doctrine. He holds fast to what is good and opposes evil with the strength of faith. His sword and shield are forever in front of his family – protecting them from his own sin and from the lies of the Enemy. He yearns desperately before God to be His man before them, to show His stamp of grace and love upon his heart.
The whole Bible man is the father who isn’t AWOL in the spiritual battles of life. His children are not emotionally abandoned to be raised by lonesome mothers. He feeds her on the strength he derives from the Lord and His law-word. Upon this rock, the Lord Jesus Christ and faith, the father is to stand. A Father’s Day without men of God is no such thing because a father can only be such if he’s a man and he’s only a true man when he’s God’s man. Lest we stand upon the Rock we will be shattered and our family will be exposed to the greatest danger of all.
Make no mistake, faith is only our shield against sin and it is sin that kills. Only in faith do we become men again…like Christ. Outside of faith we are in Adam, blaming our wives for our failures, hiding in the bushes when the home-battles rage, and oblivious as sin’s fires burn through the hearts of our children. Oh, but upon that Rock, carried by the strong arms of our Savior, our undefeated Champion, we find honor and joy.
So, yes, let Father’s Day be the day when earthly fathers fall on their knees before Him so that they may rise up in faith. Strong. Loving. Wise. And ready for life’s real battles…against sin. If we give our children all things but not Christ then we’ve failed in the most monstrous way. Yes, they must come to Him themselves. That is true. But don’t be confused by the culture. Christ calls men to be Christian Spartans, men of the Word, who will stand against the world and its lies and to literally pour out their hearts to them and for Him. This is your hill to die on. This is the race to run and in faith you have the strength to win it (Philippians 4:8).
Read Scripture to your children, fathers. Pray with them. Praise the Lord before them. Oh…and ask His loving forgiveness before them when you fail because you know you have an Advocate before the Father. Show them. Show them the gospel and your home will be blessed. Make it the central thing in your life and your family will rejoice. Don’t seek riches or power and banish worry if these things are as far as east is from west from you. Your family needs Christ and so do you. So, don’t despair. Look to Him and He will make straight your paths today and make you a father of honor.
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