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Today is Father's Day and let me begin with saying that it is a privilege to stand before you for the first time with a child of my own in the world. The cycle of life that many of you have already advanced through has now begun in my world. Fatherhood is an humbling and enormous responsibility.

Despite the verse that we read earlier, it is proper that we should take a day for the special honoring of Father's Day. Paul wrote that we should:

And so it is fitting and right to say, "happy father's day" to our earthly fathers and father-like figures in our life. God has no problem with what we are doing today.

But what of our strange text? Perhaps this passage in Matthew is one of the least understood scriptures in the Bible and many people have ripped it out of context and forced strange beliefs on others from this verse. Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees, said:

What exactly did He mean? I have grown up calling my dad, "father," and I will use a similar term when I speak with him on the phone later today. Have I sinned in doing so? Is it wrong to address the father-figure in our life with a term of endearment? The obvious answer is "no, because we are commanded in scripture to honor our fathers as such," but I have heard all sorts of strange things such as that from this verse.

In context, though, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and Jewish religious leaders and He is speaking not about what children call their daddy at home, but titles that religious leaders place upon themselves. To understand the verse, you have to know that "Father" and especially in its Aramaic form, "Abba," was the highest possible title in the ancient Jewish culture. To be called a father was a great honor and a coveted role in Israel. And so the Jewish religious leaders had placed upon themselves the title of "father" and referred to their disciples as "children." The Jewish religious leaders and rabbis that had died before but left writings were collectively known as "the fathers" and the Jewish religious system was so corrupt that to refer to the writings of "the fathers" was supposed to be equal with scripture in importance and in truth. So by placing the title "father" upon themselves and their spiritual past, the Pharisees were emphasizing that people should follow them with great honor, authority, superiority, and an unquestioned obedience.

Jesus' statement, then, was that no religious leader or religious system deserves such respect and unquestioned obedience except the one, true God of Israel. And so He forbade once and for all religious leaders calling themselves or being called "father" in a spiritual, all-knowing, unquestioned obedience sort of way. This is why we do not refer to ministers by the title "father" but rather as "brother" or "pastor." Some religious systems today might need to refer back to this verse!

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The great truth here is that, as a spiritual role model, only God is worthy to claim such a title! Only God and His Word should be unquestionably obeyed. Only the one, true living God of Israel and His written Word has all authority and is all knowing. Only God is worthy of the highest honor. Only God is to have the role of spiritual father in our lives!

Now you know why God loves to be called "Father" and why that is the most common title of God, because in Biblical times, it was the highest possible title to be given. We know the highest name of God because the Bible tells us in Acts 4 and Philippians 2 that Jesus is the name above all others. The greatest name of God is Jesus, but the greatest title of God is Father. Because of the deep meaning behind the word, God longs for us to serve Him in a father - child relationship. And so we come to a great truth here from the words of Jesus: only God truly lives completely up to the full meaning of what a "father" is to be.

In our other text, we read of the awesome privilege that a child of God has been given. Paul wrote in the book of Romans that:

When you received the Spirit of God, you received the "Spirit of adoption as sons." The Spirit of God and being "born again" of the water and the Spirit is what makes us a child of God. There is a common belief that because God created us all, that all human beings are born automatically called a son or daughter of God. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, then that would have been true, but when they believed the lie of the deceiver, they succumbed to another authority figure in their life, sin. Think of it: if it takes the Spirit to adopt us into the family of God, then we are not automatically born into this world as true children of God. If we were born children of God, then we would have not need to be adopted into His heritage. There would be no need to be born again.

Furthermore, it is possible to study the scriptures, be religious, and generally a good person and not be a child of God. The Pharisees were by most human standards good people. They fasted and prayed often and gave generously in the offering. They kept themselves from the sins of the flesh and studied the scriptures regularly. But Jesus told them:

Tough words indeed! They were of another father, the devil, because they did not do the will of God in their life and obey God's word completely. And they regularly gave in to sinful desires! And they held to man-made tradition instead of the truth of the Living Word of Jesus Christ. And so we can easily do a litmus test to see who our spiritual father really is:

And the startlingly truth is that all of us -- before we had a miraculous conversion through the blood, mercy, and Spirit of Jesus Christ -- were living with the devil as our spiritual father. It was natural within us to do against the Word of God and against the will of God. And so what Paul wrote in our text in Romans is a miracle indeed, and I read it once more:

How amazing that God could take such vile, sin-sick creatures and bring them into His family! And even more amazing that He would give us such a privileged position within His kingdom! Paul said that "you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" In a Jewish household, the slaves and close friends could call the man of the house "father," but only the true offspring, the blood children of the man of the house, could call him "Abba!" No slave or servant or outsider, but only the heirs were given such a privilege. And it meant that they were the closest to the heart of the father and had the ear of the father like nobody else. And when we become sons of God, we are given the awesome privilege to call Him -- the only One in the universe that fully lives up to the prestige of the title -- "Abba! Father!"

And so when we refer to God as "Father" we tend to use it haphazardly not realizing exactly what we are saying. When we cry out "Father" we are saying that He is the ultimate authority that we yield ourselves to. That He is the One who deserves unquestioned obedience in our life. That He is the One whom we love the most. The title Father is the highest title of all and we have the greatest father as our spiritual head.

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What this truly means to us, men, is that the role of fatherhood bears a tremendous responsibility. The story is told of an elementary grade class that was given crayons and paper and instructed by their teacher to "draw God." Some drew churches and steeples. Some drew clouds and lightening. Some drew sunshine or crosses. As the teacher walked around looking with amusement at the children's sketches, she came to one particular young girl who had drawn -- very vividly and distinctly -- a stick figure man with hair and a tie and briefcase. The teachers asked, "who is that, honey?" To which the child replied, "I don't know what God looks like, so I just drew my daddy."

There is a tremendous truth to that. Our society has downplayed the role of the father, but when someone calls you father, it is an awesome, awesome privilege. A child will know that they have an earthly father long before they become cognizant of a God. And their relationship with God will one day be shaped by the relationship that they had with you. When they call you "daddy" -- the English form of Abba -- they are placing upon your shoulders a high calling to live up to. And "Father" -- not employee, not husband, not friend, not buddy -- but "Father" should be the most important title in your life. As the role and involvement of fathers in their children's' lives has decreased in the last few decades so has America's devotion to God. That is not a coincidence.

As many of you know, I was adopted by birth and the man that you and I know as my "dad" is not really my biological father. Not to say that he isn't and will always be my father, because he took a child that was not genetically related to him and yet never treated me any different than my brother. He loved and disciplined and treated me as the son that I am to him -- and therefore he is and will forever be my dad. My wife and mother say that I act just like him. My father is a Godly man who loved prayer and the Word of God and this Apostolic truth. On the other hand, the man that caused my conception was apparently the exact opposite. My daddy -- the man who raised me -- was a gift from God to me.

For the remainder of this message, I would like to point out the traits of God that makes God the only truly perfect Father. The Word of God is a three-edged sword today. First, to those who perhaps had a dad who was non-existent or who have not been born again and come to a close relationship with Him, God wants to be your Father, and I want you to realize that He is the best Father any one could ever ask for. Second, to those whose fathers may have not been the best role model or example, realize today that their weaknesses and faults do not make God any less powerful or less perfect. He is the only full-embodiment and perfect fulfillment of what it means to be a "Father" so it would behoove us to love Him despite our natural parent's traditional inclinations. And thirdly, for those of us who are fathers in the earthly sense, as we study God's Fatherly traits, we find a challenge to be more like Him and thus become better dads! The closer we become to being like Him, then closer we come to fully living up to the tremendous role that has been thrust upon us with the title of "father." And I can testify to the importance of this because one of the greatest reasons that I am living for God is because I had a praying, worshipful mother and a dad who showed God to me by his lifestyle and actions.

I've come to preach to you that God is the greatest father because:

That great verse, John 3:16, says "for God so loved the world that." A great father's biggest motivator is love. The Psalmist wrote:

Even when we reap judgment because of our sins and shortcomings, it is never to the level that we fully deserved. God's mercy kicks in when we turn to Him and always keeps us from reaping fully in what we have done. He loves us even when He does not approve of our actions. He loves us when we are unloveable in our attitudes toward Him. He loved many of us when we did not even realize that He cared. "For God so loved the world" and He loved the world despite the world having repeatedly turned their back on His love and word. And to a world that was largely hostile He still came and visited. Why? To reveal to them His love! He took many of us who had spent the majority of our lives going completely against His character and will and yet like the father of the prodigal coming back home, warmly embraced us and returned us to a place of honor in His kingdom where we can cry to Him, "Abba! Father!" What love we have in God! What a great Father He truly is!

A great father does not demand something of his children and family that he, himself does not do. A great father does not give words and expect everyone to jump to them. A great father does not expect someone else to shoulder the load of being a good example for his offspring. Rather, a great father gets up off his throne and with actions shows his children what to do.

This is exactly what God did. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." But remember the prophesy of this event by the prophet Isaiah:

This son would be the "everlasting Father;" the Father that always has been and always will be! Perhaps now you can understand why Jesus told Phillip:

The Son born to Mary was not another sent by God to do His work, but rather the God Almighty, Himself, humbling Himself and coming to earth! His name would be Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus is not just the name of the Son, but of the Father also because He was the Father revealed in flesh. That's why Jesus told His disciples:

Jesus would be their father! He is truly the everlasting Father! Need I remind you of the very good and accurate translation of the NLTse in John 1:18?

Remember the command of scripture in Acts:

It is important for us to realize that "For God loves the world that He gave His one and only Son" is not child abuse and is not the Father shirking responsibility to another, but rather is the Spirit of God that fills the universe coming to earth, taking the form of flesh, and dwelling among us. When you see Jesus, Phillip, you have seen the Father, and that's important because it means that our Father in heaven did not just tell us how to live with words, but rather came and showed us how to live in action. He was tempted in all manner like we are yet without sin! He is great Father because He, Himself, provided the example of the right way to be human!

This leads us to an important principle of fatherhood that many fathers don't grasp. I have yet to meet a father who says that he does not love his children. Most fathers love their offspring, but too many fathers love their children and yet fail to express it outwardly. What good would it have been for God to love us if He had not shown or revealed it to us? What good would it have been for us to have a Heavenly Father that loved us in heaven and yet never told us. Clearly, a love that is not expressed outwardly is not truly a love at all. Thank God that He came all the way to glory and humbled Himself in a manger in Bethlehem. Why? To show you how much He loved you! It was true Fatherly love because it was manifest outwardly!

Our world needs more fathers to be Godly in that they live by example the right way to live. We need less fathers "telling" and more fathers "showing." You ought to show your kids the importance of coming to church. You ought to show your family how to worship. You ought to teach your children how to walk with God each day in prayer and Bible reading and responding the right way to adversity. God is a great Father because He didn't just tell us but He backed up His word with personal action!

And this leads us to our next point:

Not only did our Heavenly Father come to show us His love but He became flesh so that the flesh could die on the cross for our sins. Talk about sacrifice! Talk about giving everything for us! But that's the sort of Father that Jesus Christ is to us. As we read in Acts 20:28 God purchased the church with His own blood.

The story is told of the young man who unexpectedly became a father and as friends and family gathered around at the hospital window he pointed with disdain at the newborn through the window and said, "there goes my chance at having a new boat. By the time I get him paid for here, he will be needing school clothes, and then braces, and then college. I'll be old and gray before I can have the new boat that I've been dreaming of -- this baby has messed my life up!"

I thank God that He is not like that to us and God forbid that we would ever be that way to our own children! But He provides for us everything that we need and far more than we deserve. Not one time in scripture is found that God resented coming to earth to die on the cross. But what is found in our lives is that He blesses us and provides for us and repeatedly sacrifices for us! James wrote:

He has given everything that we might live with Him for forever! Such is the trademark of a great father!

I have heard even good fathers lament "I wish I would have spent more time with my children." Fathers are typically good at providing monetarily for their kids, because they know the scripture says that "he who does not provide for his own is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8), but we forget that providing for our children means more than just bringing home a paycheck. The most valuable investment you can make in your kids is time.

A study done a few years back found that in the average American home, the amount of time daily that dad spent with his kids was 37 seconds, and average of 2.7 daily encounters of 10 to 15 seconds each. Consider this:

Once lost, you can never regain time with your children. If you have a 12 year old, then two-thirds of your time with them is gone, never to return. If you figure in that after the age of twelve, they would rather hang out with their friends anyway, then really 90% of your time with your kids is gone by the age 12. If you are a father, I would ask yourself how much quality time in conversation and having fun together, you spend with your children. They need most from you, your time.

The story goes that a hard-working father came home late from work again tired and irritated and his five year old son was waiting for him at the door. He looked up and said, "Daddy, can I ask you a question" and the dad replied, "yeah, sure what is it?" "Daddy how much money do you make an hour?" The dad got irate and said "that's none of your business. Why do you want to know?" The little boy replied, "I just want to know, please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" The dad, finally exasperated and wanting the conversation to end said, "If you've just got to know, I make $20 an hour." The little boy sighed and looked real sad and then asked, "dad, can I borrow $10 please?" At this the father flew into a rage and said "the only reason that you want to know how much I make is so that you can ask for money? Get upstairs and into your room." The boy meekly retreated.

After a while, the man began to feel maybe he had been a bit hard, so he walked up the stairs and opened the door and went in and sat on the bed where the boy was still crying. He said, "look, it's been a long day and here's the ten bucks that you asked for." The boy beamed and grabbed the money and said "thank you daddy!" And then proceeded to pull a bunch of ones out from under his pillow and began to count. Dad -- realizing that the boy already had money -- started getting upset again: "why do you need more money if you already have some?" The little boy replied "because I didn't have enough, but now I do. Daddy, I now have $20 and I'd like to buy an hour of your time!"

Dads, do we willingly spend our time on our kids or do they have to buy it or earn it? Our heavenly Father example is that He longs for us to spend more time with Him! And not matter what the issue, He always has time for us! He provides blessings, but most important to Him is the relationship with us that He longs to have! He truly is the greatest Father of all and we must strive to be more like Him!

The scripture says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes on Him . . . " A great father not only loves, but requires something from his children. A father who does not require responsibility and obedience from his children is a miserable failure at preparing his children for life. That's why God -- who is the only one who fully measures up to such a lofty title as "father" -- requires some things from His children. He disciplines and lovingly corrects us to keep us on the right path.

Remember the story of Eli in the Old Testament? He required nothing of his sons and they made a mockery out of the temple and the things of God. He did not correct them or refrain them from anything and as a result God killed them all and removed their lineage from the priesthood. He didn't require his sons to behave in a Godly manner when they were younger, and as a result when they were older God judged them and their father. A father who doesn't discipline and require some Godly fruit in his children's life is not really a father. God loved therefore He required some things. Only those fathers who care enough to require from their children truly love them with a Godly love!

And so I close with the final point:

A great father knows that the day will come and tomorrow will begin and so everything today is focused on getting his children ready to live Godly and right in the future. Is this not how God does with us? Everything in the now is focused on getting us a place in the kingdom of God and ready to spend forever with Him in glory! He cares most about our future!

Dads, you have the greatest influence in helping your children be prepared to choose the right friends, right path to walk, and the right mate. You have the greatest influence in helping your children be prepared to choose the right path in life and most importantly their spiritual direction.

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I close with this:

To those of you without fathers today, there is one who will gladly take you in and adopt you into His family! You can be born again today of the water and the Spirit and receive that Spirit that enables you to cry "Abba! Father!" to the greatest daddy that it is possible to have!

To those of you who haven't had the greatest role models in your earthly fathers, I would urge you to look to the best. His name is Jesus Christ and He will never let you down!

To those of you who will leave this place and have someone call you "daddy" I hope that the responsibility of what that word carries hits you when you hear it! It's a tall order and one that all of us have yet to perfect. But if you will draw closer to the only One who fulfills the title of "Father," then you will become more of the father that you should be. By following His example, we cannot go wrong!

And all of us, on this Father's Day -- male, female, young, and old -- let us give praise and honor and respect to the God who is the only one for whom really fulfills and perfectly represents what a Father should be. Truly it is the greatest title of all! Truly He is the Greatest Father of all!