Father’s Day: Children of The Gospel

Why Christians honor their fathers

Ephesians 6:1-4 (NIV) 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—3“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

• You honor your father as an act of faith knowing God has good reasons for his instructions.

• You can outgrow the command to obey your father.

• You cannot outgrow the command to honor your father.

Exodus 20:12 (NIV) Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Proverbs 30:17 (NIV) The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.

Why would God command me to honor my father?

To honor your father is to live The Gospel.

1. Your heavenly Father loved you in your imperfection.

Isaiah 64:6, 8 (ESV) 6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away…8But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Romans 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2. Your heavenly Father valued you when you didn’t measure up.

1 Peter 1:17-18 (ESV) 17And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

3. Your heavenly Father saved you through the blood of His son.

John 3:16-17 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

4. Your heavenly Father called you to become more than you are.

Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT) 43“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.