Month: June 2022 (Page 3 of 3)

Recently, I was struck by a blog from Glenn Stanton at Focus on the Family titled “Fatherhood: The Core of the Universe.”  “Fatherhood is a deeply precious and sacred thing for the Christian,” writes Stanton. “‘Father’ is not just a role that God took on in order to tell His story.  It is who He is.  Fatherhood is the very core of the universe, because it is the very center and fount of all reality.  Fatherhood is the original and most fundamental nature of God.”

Stanton goes on to make an observation that I believe men need to hear:  “And this…is why human fatherhood is under such vicious attack today in our culture.  Why the father wound is so real and devastating.  Satan knows all too well what fatherhood represents, and he hates it.”

I embrace the eternal truth of God as Father being the core of the universe.  In my early forties I had to come to terms with God as my father.  I had a broken image of my heavenly Father because my relationship with my own dad was broken and distorted.  Through a spiritual, emotional, and mental struggle I eventually came to embrace the truth that I have a Father in heaven who delights in me.  That was revolutionary for me.

I have marveled at the truth that God is the core of ultimate reality.  While Genesis declares, “In the beginning,” there already was from eternity a Father who was love, a Son begotten in love and the Holy Spirit, the manifestation of love.  Stanton adds that “ultimate reality is not dark, void and impersonal, but intensely personal, inherently, and passionately intimate.” 

God is relational – and he desires deeper relationship with each of us.  Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven…” Matt. 6:9).  I rejoice in Jesus words: “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well” (John 14:7).  Put simply, “God is love” (I John 4:8).  John goes on to say, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (I John 4:10).  

So, I challenge you to be countercultural in affirming with Stanton that God is the ultimate core of reality.  Make this the basis of your life.  

First, picture God as your Father.  See yourself as a dependent child before your heavenly Father.  “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3).

Second, embrace deeper relationship with your heavenly Father.  Here is a suggestion: visualize your heavenly Father “running” to you – like the father in Luke 15:20.  He is waiting for you.    

Third, be a loving earthly father, even as you discipline your own children and try to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Don’t exasperate them – and seek their forgiveness when you fail (Heb.12:5-6; Eph. 6:4; James 5:16).

Fourth, be open to being a father figure to others who have deep father wounds.  In my opinion, the greatest need in your nation is for godly fathers.   Allow Paul to be your exemplar. “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children…” (I Thess. 2:11). 

Let the words of the Psalmist encourage you: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: ‘The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death'”  (Ps. 102:18-20).