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The Father Connection by Josh McDowell is a book recently recommended to me. It
describes the huge difference a present father can make on his children
in this society full of those literally or emotionally orphaned. I have
yet to read this book, but I find it interesting how the Lord has been
highlighting the importance of fatherhood to me in the past couple of days.
Romans 5:12-21 describes how death came through the disobedience of one man, Adam, while the gift of eternal life came through another man, Jesus Christ. Upon reading this, I felt the Lord linking it to fatherhood in my own life. It seems that small actions over time lead to profound change. My actions, as small as they may seem in my own estimation, will greatly affect my children down the road. Adam performed one small deed that resulted in the Curse of sin and death spreading to his descendants after him, that is all of mankind. With one bite out of the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he did more damage than he ever thought possible.
Conversely, we see Jesus. What enabled Jesus to be the Messiah was not Him walking on water, multiplying food, or turning water into wine. These things merely pointed to the fact that He was more than just a man. What enabled Jesus to be the Messiah is the fact that He NEVER sinned. His immaculate life made Him the only candidate for saving the human race from complete annihilation, and He did so by being nailed to the cross. He gave us His righteousness and took the guilt off of us who believe. Him being absolutely sinless means that Jesus got up every morning, walked out the door, and said, "No," to sins big and small. He turned His back on every temptation and did only what the Father wanted Him to do. Because of His perfection, the gift of eternal life can be given to me.
Do you see the comparison? The small and great acts of these two characters have affected all of mankind. This was the first lesson: I as a father will have an affect on my children, and that affect will probably be more profound than I give it credit.
The second lesson is this: Notice that in the story of the Fall of Mankind (Genesis 3), Eve ate of the tree first, then Adam. I guess you could say that they were both equally guilty, but look at the passage in Romans once again. It's Adam who is pegged with the guilt of bringing the curse on mankind; Eve isn't mentioned. It seems that it all goes back to the father of the family. His position of authority over his home puts him in the place of responsibility. What he does will impact his children and his legacy will be remembered.
This does two things for me: First, it empowers me to love and serve and lead my family in the small ways. Running the marathon of life well means learning how to consistently do the small acts of integrity that speak life and honor into my family, knowing that the legacy of a godly father looks like simple, small, ho-hum acts of righteousness in daily life. A godly man is best known by his faithfulness to godliness over time. Secondly, it empowers me to guard against sins even more, knowing that even when I think no one is looking, someone usually is, and even if no one is looking, spiritual things tend to pass down to our children regardless.
Romans 5:12-21 describes how death came through the disobedience of one man, Adam, while the gift of eternal life came through another man, Jesus Christ. Upon reading this, I felt the Lord linking it to fatherhood in my own life. It seems that small actions over time lead to profound change. My actions, as small as they may seem in my own estimation, will greatly affect my children down the road. Adam performed one small deed that resulted in the Curse of sin and death spreading to his descendants after him, that is all of mankind. With one bite out of the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he did more damage than he ever thought possible.
Conversely, we see Jesus. What enabled Jesus to be the Messiah was not Him walking on water, multiplying food, or turning water into wine. These things merely pointed to the fact that He was more than just a man. What enabled Jesus to be the Messiah is the fact that He NEVER sinned. His immaculate life made Him the only candidate for saving the human race from complete annihilation, and He did so by being nailed to the cross. He gave us His righteousness and took the guilt off of us who believe. Him being absolutely sinless means that Jesus got up every morning, walked out the door, and said, "No," to sins big and small. He turned His back on every temptation and did only what the Father wanted Him to do. Because of His perfection, the gift of eternal life can be given to me.
Do you see the comparison? The small and great acts of these two characters have affected all of mankind. This was the first lesson: I as a father will have an affect on my children, and that affect will probably be more profound than I give it credit.
The second lesson is this: Notice that in the story of the Fall of Mankind (Genesis 3), Eve ate of the tree first, then Adam. I guess you could say that they were both equally guilty, but look at the passage in Romans once again. It's Adam who is pegged with the guilt of bringing the curse on mankind; Eve isn't mentioned. It seems that it all goes back to the father of the family. His position of authority over his home puts him in the place of responsibility. What he does will impact his children and his legacy will be remembered.
This does two things for me: First, it empowers me to love and serve and lead my family in the small ways. Running the marathon of life well means learning how to consistently do the small acts of integrity that speak life and honor into my family, knowing that the legacy of a godly father looks like simple, small, ho-hum acts of righteousness in daily life. A godly man is best known by his faithfulness to godliness over time. Secondly, it empowers me to guard against sins even more, knowing that even when I think no one is looking, someone usually is, and even if no one is looking, spiritual things tend to pass down to our children regardless.
