Genesis 3, the serpent, sin, and the Scriptures

Did you ever think that the serpent that tempted Eve in the garden could encourage us to read and know our Bibles better! Well, here you go! The worst event in human history, and how it encourages us to read the Bible.

The serpent in Genesis 3 has always intrigued me. Given there’s been some discussion within our little group around the identity of the serpent in Genesis 3, I thought I’d dig into it a bit more to see what we might learn from this character in the Bible’s origin narrative.

First, tradition recognizes the tempter as a serpent, though not directly Satan. There’s good reason to think that it is not a direct reference to Satan himself, though I don’t think there is any harm in seeing Satan himself in this story line.

One of the descriptions we’re given that introduce us to this tempter/serpent are that He was more crafty, or cunning. This is the Hebrew word ʿārûm. We see this word used again in Proverbs 12:16; 12:23; 13:16; 14:8; 14:15, 18; 22:3; 27:12. In Proverbs, the crafty are contrasted with the “fool” or the “simple.” ʿārûm is also used in Job 5:12; 15:5. All of these uses of ʿārûm lead us to believe that the word crafty is not to be understood as either a negative or positive trait, meaning it becomes negative or positive based on how it is used.

Another description we’re given is that the serpent is an animal in the field. This is clearly a created being that is subject to the sovereign authority of the one Creator God, which eliminates any possibility of a balance in the power struggle between good and evil. Evil is in every way shown to be subservient to God’s divine authority.

In the text the verbal exchange is between the serpent and the woman. But all of the “you” pronouns are plural which shows that both the man and the woman were involved in the exchange, which is later confirmed in verse 6 where it clarifies that the “man was with her.” I find this interesting as I was always taught that the woman was somehow inherently flawed or somehow downgraded because of her part in humanities fall. There is something to be recognized in her being “deceived” as Paul highlights in 1 Timothy 2:14, which in my understanding is Paul putting the feminist women in Ephesus back into equal footing with the rest of the body rather than trying to dominate the men in their church community, as the Greek word translated “authority” in 1 Timothy 2:14 suggests. So, our thinking about Eve in the fall of humanity needs to be tempered with Adam being judged based on his part in listening to her rather than to God’s instructions, and the subsequent cursing of the ground as a result. The point being that both genders have a part in the fall and both share in the consequence.

But to the point of the passage, not so much which gender is to blame, but the subversivness of sin and how sinful choices become “good options” in our minds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “the first conversation about God,” and it is extremely significant! Notice the serpents 1^st question! “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” We see God presented in chapters 1 and 2 as a benevolent creator/provider, who introduces His crown jewels of creation to the wondrous world that He’s created for them and their pleasure, but the serpent turns God into a maniacal oppressor. As if God is holding His creation back from something good!

The woman responds by clarifying that God’s directive was to eat from all the trees excluding the one in the middle, but she overstates God’s claim a bit falling into the pattern of framing God as a bit of a stickler. Now, since there’s a twist in God’s suggested character both presented and accepted by the woman’s words, this provides the serpent with the opportunity he wants. He comes back with a clear assertion that mischaracterizes God as selfish and self-interested. This sets the stage for the first sin to be a “good idea!” The choice to sin, for the man and woman, wasn’t because they got confused and made a “oopsy!” They accepted a mischaracterization of God and His character and chose to liberate themselves from their false image of God. Their sin, in the moment, was justified in their minds because they were believing in a false and oppressive god.

This illustrates very clearly the way sin works in our hearts, and it highlights the importance of having an accurate view of God and His character. Sin becomes a “good idea,” because we begin to view God as keeping us from something good rather than protecting us for the good He’s already given.

I’ve said before that faith is trusting that God is good in all situations. Keeping our eyes fixed on God, as He’s revealed Himself, by faith, keeps us from veering off the path we’re called to walk with Him in the cool of the evening. The place where we are completely exposed and ashamed of nothing, because we’re innocent and have nothing to fear. But when we allow our view of God to be twisted we “suppress the truth” as Paul writes in Romans 1:18. And in suppressing the truth in our twisted view of God we do “not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but become futile in our thinking, and our foolish hearts become darkened.” (Romans 1:21)

This is the benefit of disciplined Scripture reading. When we are discipline in reading and knowing the Scripture, through which God speaks to our hearts through the Holy Spirit in us, are view of God is consistently realigned with how God has revealed Himself. This continues to renew our minds from its fallen state. As our minds are renewed we are filled with awe and wonder at the magnificence of our God and creator who created us to share in His goodness, saves us for His glory, and continues to express His love for us in renewing us and the creation we distorted through our choices.

The is great benefit in reading and knowing the Scriptures! Through it we fill our view, minds, and hearts with God as He’s revealed Himself, which strengthens our faith and further prepares us for our promised future in the fullness of His presence for all eternity. 

The Suffering Servant, Reflections

Isaiah 52:13-15

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[b]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle[c] many nations;
    kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.

The prophet speaks as the mouth piece of God and commands our attention with “Behold, my servant!” As if to say, “Look everyone I want to introduce you to the vehicle of your salvation. Let me introduce to you, here, tonight only, the one, the only savior, messiah, the one who you have been waiting for! The Suffering Servant!”

He knows everything that needs to be done to exact a complete and total salvation for you and for the whole world. He has the foresight to know the impact and the outcome of each of his decisions, and he will do everything that is necessary for completing the mission he has been sent to accomplish. Nothing can stop him because he knows already what and how everything needs to be done, and will do everything perfectly.

He is “high” and “lifted up!” These are titles only ever applied to God himself. This means that the servant  himself is God, He is the sovereign creator, and He is above all things and through whom all things were made and sustained. He is “exulted!” Yes, His very nature is high above everything! He is the highest of the high and mighty. He is God!

As the “many” in verse 14 indicates, everyone will be completely shocked and devastated by what happens to God’s servant, who is God, sent to carry out God’s will and purpose for the “many.” What will cause this level of devastation? Devastation to the extent that to see it, just the visual experience will cause a complete and total emotional overload that the “many” will be unable to react… 

They will only be able to stare in utter disbelief of what has come upon the servant of God. His appearance will be so incredibly disfigured that he will not even be recognizable as human. It’s the stuff of crime scenes that are only discernible through extensive forensic investigation and DNA testing.

In the pure horror of the servants suffering he will sprinkle his blood on the nations, cleansing them of their sin, and kings will stand watching unable to make a sound. 

Kings who understand the burden of sending men into battle

to defend a cherished way of life, kings who know that many of those men will end up leaving behind widows, these kings will be silenced as they see what they never could have imagined, as they comprehend what they never could have been prepared for. God has subjected his servant to complete physical, emotional, and spiritual devastation beyond anyone’s ability to stomach.

Jesus Christ did this as he carried our burdens, our guilt, and our shame to Calvary. How is it that God suffered to this extent for mere mortals? Mortals who have turned away in rejection of His sovereignty and grace. 

This is love, this is mercy, this is the character of our God.

An Easter Sunrise Reflection

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

There is a lot of emotion written into John’s account of resurrection day. In each of the subsequent appearances of Jesus we find His followers deep in the turmoil of overwhelming emotion. All of the pain and frustration of their unrealized dreams and expectations of the coming kingdom of God has them in a tail spin.

It is in just this type of tail spin we find Mary Magdalene as she approaches the now empty tomb in the darkness of predawn. Her eyes and her understanding still dim to the reality of what had occurred. Her mind still reeling from the thought of her dead Messiah. Her eyes puffy from the multiplied tears she had been releasing all throughout the silence of the previous day. Her breathing was labored and strained as the invisible weight on her chest promised no reprieve. Her head and neck ached as it seemed her heart would never settle down from her throat. Coming to the tomb early that morning must have already felt like walking miles as every time she looked up to see the garden tomb drawing closer it only seemed to be that much further away.

This was truly a moment for Mary that reveals the depth of the darkness in our souls apart from the knowledge of the resurrected Christ. And if there was ever a soul crushing darkness, this must have been it. All of the disciples had so many hopes and dreams for what the Lord was going to do. Peter, the headstrong fisherman, imagined he would be Jesus’ Sargent at Arms when Jesus took His earthly thrown and established the new world super-power, James and John, the sons of thunder, were going to rule with Him in that kingdom, one on His right hand and one on His left. But maybe none could have felt as dark as Mary in that very moment.

She had been set free of seven demons, and had given every cell of her being to following Jesus, but what was she going to do now? She had nowhere to go, no earthly idea of what she would do next. She may have struggled inside as the questions kept berating her mind like hail on the hot summer pavement, steam billowing up obscuring her vision, as car alarms are blaring around her from the vehicles being pummeled by mother nature’s onslaught. Was He not the one the prophet Isaiah spoke of? Wasn’t He God’s Servant who would bring restoration to God’s people? Wasn’t He the one we have been waiting for? If He has failed, what of God? Is God still there? Will God still save us? Can God still save us? Is He still sovereign?

I can’t imagine the way Mary must have felt that morning walking through the countryside of Jerusalem. But I do imagine all of us have felt similar, as we’ve watched our hopes and dreams crumble before us like stale bread. The worst part is not so much the initial failure, as it is the powerlessness to breathe new life into those dreams. The despair comes when we are completely out of control, and cannot exact our will on the situation.

There is much that we could say about this typical human experience, but the good news is there need never be a despair as deep as what Mary was feeling that morning in Galilee.  Things are not always going to go our way, and dreams may go unrealized, but Jesus has risen and we have hope that reaches beyond the pain of loss. “For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” (Jer. 31:11, 13, ESV)

Whatever happens in this fleeting life of ours we have hope beyond the struggle, and it’s guaranteed. We have been completely set free from the burden of sin and shame through the cross of Jesus Christ, and we have the promise of life ever after through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And nothing, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, ESV) And that love is proven beyond the shadow of doubt by Jesus willingness to endure the cross and the Father’s willing to put Him there. And now, after the resurrection, we can bask in that loving embrace for all eternity, come hell or high water, the rivers can over top

their banks and the bridges may fail and fall, but we are caught by the love of God in Christ Jesus for ever and ever, Amen.

The Parable of the Talents

As is often the case while preparing for a message I am tempted to be drawn away from the target passage to another that relates in some way. This is often where I find inspiration for a post, although finding the time to write is a whole other situation. But I digress…

While I was preparing to preach on James 3:1-5b I was drawn toward the Parable of the Talents in Matthew chapter 25. This really grabbed my attention as James is talking about the teacher’s temptation to sin with their mouth and Jesus, in the parable, is talking about being faithful to use what our Master has given us to bring an increase back to Him.

But, as James is talking about pastors and teachers Jesus’ parable is more general, describing rather what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. In this case, “it” is like “a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.” (Matt. 25:14, ESV) The parable goes on to describe three servants all given something of the master’s own abundance to manage and increase. The firsts is given the most, the second not as much as the first but more than the third, and finally the third is given the least. After the master returns he calls his servants to give an account of what they have done with the portions entrusted them. The first two are successful in doubling their portions, but the third buried his and although protecting it from being lost did not increase what he had been entrusted with.

There are a couple things that I was struck by when reading this parable. First, in his letter to the early church James very much emphasizes that the things that we do as Christians are the result of and fully connected to the reality of our faith. If our faith is not true, then we will not work in obedience to God and be fruitful. This is the parable of the talents. Those who truly believe, who truly have faith in the sovereign Master, are fruitful and bring an increase, but this too needs explanation or we may find ourselves naming and claiming or declaring financial increase as a birthright.

Am I Ready?

The parable of the talents is an explanation of what the kingdom of God is like. In Matthew 25 the preceding parable warned the listeners to be ready, it seems reasonable that this parable illustrates how to be ready or what “ready” looks like. This brings me to the second thing I see in this parable, and this is where I am convicted. Is the church in America ready? Am I ready? Well, what is ready?

The talents in the parable may not be so much the things we are able to do by way of our gifting and abilities. What if the talents are faith and salvation, the real gift that will continue on even after spiritual gifts pass away? (1 Cor. 13:8-10) What if what we have been given demands growth as a result of truly being present within us? In America we tell those who are gifted in business that they are to increase monetarily and give to the ministry as their part in the ministry, but is that in Scripture as a ministry function? Of course the ministry needs and operates off the generosity of those who support it, but is that all they should do? Throw some money across the pond to Africa and you’re all good; you've fulfilled your duty to the mission. I say no.

Upon This Rock

Many churches these days are like the third servant. Burying what they have and just trying to survive in the face of aggressive atheism and all the intolerance of Christianity’s absolutes in the name of tolerance.  This

is not acceptable. The church has a promise… “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18, ESV) This confession (That Jesus is the Savior and King) requires our faith, and our faith requires our action. The only reasonable action in response to faith in a loving Father who sent His Son to die in our place is to proclaim that truth regardless the reaction of the world around us, because whether they want to hear it or not, they need to. They absolutely need to hear it, and it is our responsibility to tell them of this gift.

If we bury our talent, we cease to be fruitful and thereby cease to be an accurate representation of the Kingdom. In effect, we cease to be the church. No matter what happens in the society we are in and not of we are called to proclaim the Truth and live according to His ways. When the family structure degrades and morality declines in society this especially is the time the church needs to speak truth in love. When the church moves forward working toward the increase we can be assured that we will see it. We can have this assurance because nothing can stop the Kingdom from progressing forward.

So, if “being ready” means working toward an increase, are you ready? He may return at any moment, as no man knows the time or the hour. Will you be found able to present an increase to your master, or will you be found as lazy, missing the point of the gift, and in self-preservation mode? What say you, are you ready?

Mary and Easter

During the Christmas season I spoke on Mary and why we should not venerate (or worship) her but that we should hold her memory in great honor, as that is what the Scripture teaches. (Luke 1:42) One of the reasons that I tried to highlight as grounds for her deserving honor is her example of faith in the word of God. This is evident in how she received the message delivered her by the angel Gabriel. Her response was one of great faith as she submitted to God’s plan, “May it be done unto me as you have said.”(Luke 1:38)

As I began to study in preparation for Easter Sunday I was again reminded of Mary and the honor due her as the faithful mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I was struck by the events involving Mary that played out leading up to the crucifixion, and how these events, and Mary’s experience, provides us with the heart wrenching reality of the price our sin demands.

The first scene we are given to imagine is in Luke 2:22-35 where the priest Simeon blesses the baby

Jesus and prophesies over both the child’s mission and the mother’s experience in relation to it. The child, as we know, is destined for greatness beyond compare, and the mother’s heart will be pierced as a result. But the piercing is not without purpose. There will be those who will stan
d against Jesus’ purpose in providing salvation, and this opposition that reveals the division between those who are looking for God’s saving work and those who do not see the need for it will break Mary’s motherly heart. This effect on Mary I think illustrates God’s own heart in the division. Jesus said in Luke 13:34, in reference to Jerusalem and her resistance to those whom God sends her, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” I believe that Mary experiences this heart break as she stands weeping beside the Apostle John as Jesus breaths His last breath on Good Friday.

But Mary’s experience of her Son’s purpose in saving the world is not all heartache. About 21 years prior to His crucifixion they were in Jerusalem for Passover as a family. You can imagine Joseph and Mary with Jesus and all the brothers and sisters in tow heading up the hill to worship, as they did every year, for this most important of holidays. The service is reverent, the fellowship is uplifting, and the reminder of God’s faithfulness to save His people is inspiring, and as they are heading back home to Galilee, they realize they have forgotten something. Jesus is nowhere to be found. He’s not out playing football with His cousins or wrestling with His brothers, so it’s back to Jerusalem they go to find Jesus. Finally they locate Him in the Temple, and He is amazing. No one can believe the depth of understanding in the twelve year old boy. Luke 2:46 says that He was with the priests asking questions and listening. Often the most impressive intellect is that of one who asks the right questions, and Jesus thinks and digs deep into the Scriptures in this way. Aside from the frustration of losing your Son in the crowds of people while heading back to their lives after the holiday feast Mary must have been filled with pride and wonder. I know when my little girl comes home to show me an award she has earned I am filled with pride over this beautiful, intelligent little angel. At the same time I wonder how I am so blessed, because it isn’t because of me that she is so amazing.

Luke reports, after this story that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52, ESV) And Mary, as His mother, was the recipient of the blessing of the increase in Jesus. This was some of the joy that filled her heart, as Jesus came into His purpose, and nothing can match the joy of His return from the grave and the realization of the extent of salvation He came to provide. He, as it turns out, is the very mediator of peace between God and all men. How do other mothers top that when they are all boasting of their child’s accomplishments around the water cooler!?

And we could go on to talk about Mary pressing Jesus to turn water to wine at

the wedding in Cana (John 2), or how Jesus, even while suffering on the cross for every crime ever committed (that He had no part in), was thinking of His mother and set John up to take His place and responsibilities as the eldest son (John 19:26-27). The point is Mary’s experience illustrates the normal Christian experience in some manner. We all must come to grips, as Mary did, that Jesus had to suffer for our sake, because we cannot save ourselves. We all, as Christians, experience the joy of Jesus increasing in stature and wisdom through us as we mature in the faith. We all, as Mary did, need to come to know the joys of the progression from glory to glory even while holding ever so close to the reality that Christ died for us who were His enemies. We all as Christians must come to the place where we behold the beauty of the cross of Christ even while having an acute awareness to the horror of it. And then, we can truly give our lives as worship, because He bore the burden so that we don’t have to. We are spared from experiencing the hell of the cross ourselves, even though it would be justice for us to do so. We celebrate Easter as we witness the mercy of God in one another as a changed people of God. And we can declare the unsurpassed mercy and love of God in Christ Jesus to a lost world as we move out from our pews this Sunday morning.

Easter morning, and every Sunday morning, is an opportunity to come together to witness the sorrow and the joys of the cross, and to recognize that while Mary’s sorrow in the experience turned to rejoicing so too can ours. It is our sorrow that it is our sin that put Jesus on the cross, but it is our joy too. We rejoice because our Father in Heaven put Him there instead of us. Mary’s heart was pierced by the opposition Jesus faced, and our hearts should be pierced at the realization that we were the ones who opposed Him. And Mary rejoiced at the news of His resurrection, and so too must we as we partake in the benefits of His victory this Easter.

God is with us

One of the things we celebrate during the Christmas season is the fulfillment of the Immanuel prophesy. (You can find the prophesy in Isaiah chapter 7.) Most of us know that Immanuel means “God with us,” but what does that mean? Is the Immanuel prophesy a hope that developed through scripture. These are the kinds of questions that invade my mind while I’m eating, sleeping, and sometimes when I’m playing Go Fish with my daughter while my 6 month old son tries to eat the cards. Don’t you wish you were me? 

The first occurrence of the Father committing to be “with” someone is in Genesis 26. God said to Isaac, stay here in this place, and I will be with you. Don’t go to Egypt looking for help and relief from the famine you are experiencing.  In this promise there is an implied “if.” If, you will trust me and stay, then I will be with you.   

Another time the Father promises to be “with” someone is when he speaks to Moses through the burning bush in Exodus 3. He even provides a sign as confirmation of His promised presence. The proof was that they would worship on that same mountain. But to get to the evidence, trusting the Father’s promise was required. Moses would have to go back to Egypt as a first step toward the people’s deliverance and the evidence of the Father’s being “with them.”

One of the things we see being developed in the thread of God’s statements, that “I will be with you,” is that faith and trust are necessary on our part. It requires faith and trust to come to the realization of the proof of His presence. Just as when Isaiah gives the Immanuel prophesy to Ahaz in Isaiah 7. During this time in Israel’s history the kingdom was split into Israel, to the north, and Judah, to the south. Israel and the Syrians have teamed up and are attacking Judah.   All the people of Judah are frightened, including their king, Ahaz. Isaiah goes to Ahaz and prophesies that Israel and Syria will not prevail and that Judah should not fear. God even offers a sign to Ahaz as proof, and Ahaz could have asked for anything he could have imagined! Unfortunately, Ahaz tries to play Mr. Spiritual and refuses to ask for a sign, because he doesn’t want to test God.  God’s response is shocking.  “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Is. 7:13-14, ESV)

There are two interesting things I want to point out here.  First, Ahaz obviously was showing a lack of faith in God’s ability to deliver them from their oppressors.  He goes and asks for help from their archenemies the Assyrians, who end up attacking Judah anyway.  Second, the promise changes from “I will be with you” to Immanuel, or “God with us.”  The sign itself is a confession of faith in the Father’s character of being a deliverer.   

The initial fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy is debated, but ultimately, it was fulfilled in the incarnation of the Son of God. Matthew recognizes this in his Gospel in chapter 1. In fact, according to the way Matthew presents it, Mary’s virgin birth and Joseph being commanded by an angel to make her his wife was all to fulfill Isaiah’s prophesy. God Himself becoming man to deliver his people from their sin is the full expression of God proclaiming, “I will be with you.” 

We have much to rejoice about during this season and all year round.  God became one of us, because He willed to save us. And so we can stand in complete assurance as we sing and shout together, “Immanuel!” Because God is with us! And we have evidence too, but this requires faith. First we have the account preserved in the inspired scriptures, and second we have the inner confirmation of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Ahaz had made up his mind about what he was going to trust in to save his kingdom, and it wasn’t the Father in heaven. What will you trust in? “If” you believe in Jesus you will be saved, and you will know that He is always with you (no matter what you are dealing with). “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14, ESV)  

 

Not Many Fathers?

This Father's Day my daughter is six and a half, and my son is only one and a half weeks. I'm still amazed by the impact these little people have made on me.  Everyone told me that I would settle down when I got married, but, initially, this was not the immediate cause of the change that occurred in me.  I still did a number of thrill-seeking activities that were, maybe, less than wise.  I still couldn't wait for the next opportunity to get my motorcycle up to 130 MPH.  Ruth loved higher speeds on the motorcycle too.  I remember once, while we were riding the twisty Vermont mountain roads, I yelled back to her to squeeze tight if she was ready for some fun.  As she evacuated all the air from my diaphragm, she whooped and hurrahed as we weaved through the turns and the trees flew by.  She loved every second!  Well, until we stopped and she asked me how fast we were going.  When I told her, her reaction required some recovery time for my arm. 

The point is that marriage didn't change me as much as everyone said it would, but the first time I held my little girl in my arms, I knew nothing would ever be the same again.  The responsibility of fatherhood hit me like a runaway train.  It wasn't long before the motorcycle was for sale, because it had gathered dust in the garage for a year.  I was now responsible for the emotional, spiritual, and physical development of this little girl!  Me, the father of a little girl.

Now, just over a week ago, my Father in heaven blessed me with a little boy.  Once again I feel that similar sensation, the weight of fatherhood.  Not just Daddy to a beautifully sweet and tender little girl who needs the vision of a father to measure other men by, but Daddy to a future man and standard bearer in a fallen world.  This is a weight that I will gladly bear, and My Father in heaven will give all that I need to lead these two to Him.

In many churches this morning we will hear about the need for fathers to rise up, as we should.  The current directional heading of our society demands it.  If we compare ours to other societies in history, everything points to this being a sinking ship.  But even in the climate we find ourselves in, we are not to despair; Jesus promised hope.  In Matt. 11:12 Jesus told us that the established Kingdom would always suffer violence at the hands of evil men.  And in Matt. 16:18 we are told that the positive confession that Jesus is Lord will not be thwarted!  This is our hope, our confidence!

So, how do we proceed in this society, as fathers, with our children?  What distinction was Paul pointing toward when he said, "For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers?" (1 Cor. 4:15 ESV)  What is the role of a father in this passage?

The Hebrew culture, historically, is founded on the necessity of the father’s role to provide the God-inspired, doctrinal understanding of who God is and what that means for their people.  In Deut. 6:6-9, God gives explicit direction to fathers to give precedent to His instruction not only in their lives but in the interactions they have with their children.  In Deut. 32:7 God says to ask the fathers of God ways in days gone by, expecting the fathers to "show" them what God had done.

In addition, the children are all admonished to listen to their fathers in Prov. 3:1, with positive consequences for doing so.  Even the Ten Commandments progress from how we respond to God to how we respond to each other pivoting on the command to children to honor their fathers and mothers, and this is the first commandment with a promise!

In 1 Cor. 4:15 Paul tells us that it is a father’s role, both spiritually in discipling and practically with their children, is to provide this foundational understanding of God (what He has done, Who He is, and what that means for us as the people of God).  Many people can teach God's principals, but, as with the Corinthians, what is absolutely necessary are fathers who toe the line of foundational truth.  The Corinthians were experiencing mixture in their doctrine, and it was causing division and problems in their worship.  It could be considered a similar situation in our society and church here in America.  We need fathers in the home, and in the church, to teach their children the truth of God so they can discern the truth from a lie.  In our present society, and if Jesus tarries, this is all the more necessary. 

Matt. 24:11-13 says, "And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness (opposition toward God and His people) will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."  Fathers, give your children a foundation that will enable them to endure.  Charge them to keep the words of the scriptures even in the midst of opposition.  Teach them to pursue the Word of God found in the scriptures so they can know the difference between what is false and what is the truth.

I thank my father, Jack Eaton, and mother, Renate Laprade, for giving me a good foundation, and I thank my in-laws, John and Kelly Kuvakas, for working to build on that foundation.  It is my resolute commitment that my kids won't have to choke on their words to, “Say thank you Dad for a good foundation.”  Won't you make it yours this Father's Day?  Their future depends on it.