Father's Day: Adam Series

Father’s Day: Adam

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 6/18/2017

Happy Father Day. Father’s Day is easily my favorite day of the year because my wife and kids all go out of their way to be nice and tell me what a great husband and father I’ve been. I think most dads need a day like that at least once a year.

It’s not easy being a dad. It seems like dads spend the first couple years of their children’s life encouraging them to walk and talk, and rest of their life telling them to sit down and be quiet. It’s no wonder in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary father comes right before fatigued. Of course, it also comes right after fatheaded, but I don’t know if that means anything.

Unfortunately, we do live in a culture that has really marginalized the role of fathers in the family. If you watch television, especially Disney shows, the father character is always portrayed as a fatheaded bumbling buffoon. There is even a name for it; media analysts refer to it as Homer Simpson Syndrome. Shows like the Simpsons have turned fathers and fatherhood in general into laughing stocks. We’ve come a long way from Father Knows Best and the Andy Griffith Show. But these portrayals couldn’t be further from the truth. You may not see it, especially when they’re young, but a father is more influential in the development of child’s life than any other factor. And the older your kids get the more they’ll appreciate you, dads.

ILL. Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years.”

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the huge contribution made to family life by our nation’s dads. A special moment of the year to say thanks for all the sacrifices made, for the hard work, for the long hours of parenthood freely given but rarely acknowledged. An opportunity to salute the simple, quiet nobility of being a father. To run the dad-flag up the dad-pole in the kingdom of dad-dom.

Five weeks ago, on Mother’s Day, I talked about Eve. Eve wasn’t just a mother, she was the mother. She’s your mother and my mother. She’s the mother of us all. In fact, her name means mother. Today, I’d like to talk about Eve’s counterpart and parenting partner—Adam.

When we examine the story of Adam in the first few pages of Genesis, I think we learn something about God’s intended design for fatherhood and it’s a far cry from what we see in many movies and television today. If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, open it to Genesis 2. We’ll be looking at verses from chapter two, three, and four. I’d like to highlight three roles God intended for husbands and fathers to fulfill as illustrated by Adam. First, a father is made to be a watchman!

• A WATCHMAN

Adam’s job was to protect the Garden of Eden. The Bible says, “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it” (Genesis 2:15 NLT). The word translated watch over is the same word the Hebrews used for watchman; it meant to be vigil and alert, to be on the lookout for trouble like a sentinel on guard duty. And today, Dads are still called to be watchmen.

Fathers protect their families. They are the first line of defense, guarding their wives and children from unsavory lures and dangerous predators. I’m reminded of a story Ken Davis once shared that a lot of guys can probably relate to. He writes:

ILL. My sweet wife… wakes me in the middle of the night. “Listen!” Now, I’m in a sound sleep. I said, “What?” She said, “Shhh, shhh. There it is again.” Suddenly all the hairs on the back of my neck are standing straight up. I’m waiting for the axe to fall or a bullet to come. I know someone’s going to kill us right now. She says, “It’s in the garage. Oh, no, what if he’s escaped from somewhere? What if he has a chain saw?” Then she grabs me and says, “Go see.” I tell her, “If there’s a guy in my garage who has escaped from somewhere with a chainsaw, I am not going to confront him in a pair of Fruit of the Looms!” My wife said, “I’ve seen your shorts. It will probably scare him away.”

This is what Dads do, isn’t it? We watch over our family. Unfortunately, Adam fell down on the job.

Remember from Mother’s Day that Satan, either posing as or possessing a serpent, tempted Eve into eating the fruit God had forbidden. And yet, all throughout Scripture it’s Adam who is blamed for sin and corruption entering the world. Why? Because he failed to be the watchman God made him to be and instead did nothing. When Eve ate the forbidden fruit, she didn’t have to frolicking through the garden calling Adam’s name to get his thoughts on the matter. No, the Bible says, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6 NIV).