Issue 782 – Fathers and Sons – June 21, 2022
Two of my granddaughters gave their father and me a tropical-themed Father’s Day party. It was a lot of fun. The one thing that kept it from being perfect is that my other son and his family (who live halfway across Canada) couldn’t be here. I am blessed to have the family God has given me.
Relationships between fathers and sons (or mothers and daughters) can be complicated. We see plenty of examples of that in the Scripture.
God designed the parent-child relationship to be a blessing. Adam and Eve were commanded to go and procreate.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28
God gave those instructions while things were still very good. The family was created before sin entered the world.
We see an example of how those relationships can be when the Lord speaks of Christ.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” John 3:16-17
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5
While Jesus is not the physical son of God, there are direct correlations between the father-son relationship within our perfect triune God.
The Father glorifies the son. The son obeys and glorifies the Father.
In Ephesians, we see instructions for relationships between parents and children.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4
No earthly father and son (or mother and daughter) have ever managed to do this completely, other than Christ when he walked the earth.
The relationship with our children is the third most important relationship we have. The first and foremost is with our Heavenly Father. Secondly, our spouse and thirdly, our children (too often, we reverse the order of those two).
The relationship between parents and children requires grace, patience and forgiveness. We will stumble in those relationships, so we ought to be slow to think the worst in terms of motives and quick to offer forgiveness.
There are two things I regularly pray for my sons.
Every day I pray they would love and know the Lord more deeply and learn from my parenting mistakes and not repeat them.
I prayed for my sons and their wives long before they ever met. I prayed for my grandchildren before they were born. I pray for every generation that will follow in our line until the Lord returns.
Even if we are estranged from our parents or children, we can bless and honour them by regularly taking them before the Lord in prayer.
May you be a blessing to the generations that follow you through leading in a love for God and praying on their behalf.
May your children love the Lord, and may they be better parents than we were.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed
Kevin.
Gleanings From The Word.
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV). Spelling modified to Canadian English as required.
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