Dad's Divine Duty

DAD’S DIVINE DUTY

Text: Ps.128: 1-6

Intro: When we think of the word “duty” we think of “responsibility” or “obligation;” something that is a requirement, not merely an option. That which is our duty to do is usually taken very seriously; that is if one is mature enough to realize the value and honor of fulfilling one’s duty. But therein lies the problem with many of today’s generation who make the boast of being men.

Many males of our day seem to compute all the wrong stuff with manliness. For instance, a lot of guys these days think that being a man is being able to curse like a sailor, display a rebellious and smart aleck attitude, treat women like toys, by fathering illegitimate children, live dangerously and taking unnecessary risk, drink alcohol like there’s no tomorrow, and thumbing their noses at the police. The fact of the matter is that not every male is a real man. “You can be born a male, but it takes maturity to be a man” (Ed Wood, “God’s Plan For The Man,” pg. 1).

Just as manhood requires maturity and responsibility, so does being a daddy. Just because someone fathers a child, doesn’t automatically make them a daddy. From God’s point of view, being a daddy involves much more. Being a good and godly daddy requires being a real man according to the standard found in God’s Word.

Today I want to show you what God says makes a man a real daddy.

Theme: A man who is a real daddy will have a:

I. A FAITHFUL WALK

Ps.128: 1 “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.”

A. Men Are To Set Forth A Godly Pattern In The Home.

Ps.128: 1b “…walketh in his (God’s) ways.”

Prov.23: 26 “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”

NOTE: [1] Dad, whether you see yourself as a pacesetter or pattern in the home or not, that’s exactly what you are supposed to be. Daddy ought to be the one who sets the spiritual tone in the home. Your wife and kids ought to see in you a man who patterns his life after the ways of God. We’re not talking about perfection here, but the overall direction and determination of your life.

[2] We see a lot of fatherless homes these days; and the effects are disastrous. Quoting from a Time Magazine article, Dr. Harold L. White notes the following:

Studies of young criminals have found that more than 70% of all juveniles in state reform institutions come from fatherless homes. Children from broken families are nearly twice as likely as those in two-parent families to drop out of high school.

Dr. Harold L. White, Fatherhood

[3] Some of you women are going to think that I’m making this next one up, but it’s true nonetheless.

According to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a father’s involvement with a child increases the child’s IQ, the child’s motivation to learn, and the child’s self-confidence. In addition, children with involved dads are more likely to

develop a sense of humor as well as an “inner excitement.”

Victor Parachin, “The Fine Art of Good Fathering,” Herald of Holiness, February 1995, pp. 32-33.

B. Men Are To Set Forth A Godly Picture In The Home.

I Cor.11: 3 “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

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7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God (Gen.1: 26-27): but the woman is the glory of the man.

8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.”

NOTE: [1] According to Genesis 1: 26-27, man was made in God’s image. Woman was taken out of man; made from one of his ribs, according to Genesis 2: 21-22. Paul’s purpose in referring back to Genesis is to establish the principle of headship in the home.

[2] God’s order is as follows: (1) God the Father is the Head of Christ, (2) Christ is the Head of man, and (3) Man is the head of woman. The head of any organization always bears the most weight of responsibility. The same is true in the home.

[3] Please keep in mind that God’s principle of headship does not imply inferiority or lack of equality. Headship does not refer to superiority or subjugation, but to subordination in the home. Just as God the Father and God the Son are co-equal and co-eternal, so are man and woman of equal value. They are not the same; but they are equal.

[4] When one compares Paul’s statements in Ephesians 5: 22-32 concerning the relationship of a man and his wife being a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church with his statements in First Corinthians, his point becomes clear. The husband and father is to be a picture of Christ in the home. The wife and mother is to be a picture of the Church, the Bride of Christ, in submission to her head.