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The Existence of God and Fathers 

If God does not exist, how do we explain the existence of fathers?

Genesis 1.26–28

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • June 16, In the year of our Lord, 2013

Prelude: 

  1. I know that God exists, because fathers exist. 
    1. Men do not become fathers by accident, but
    2. through a very intentional act, they become fathers.
      1. If becoming a father does not happen by accident,
      2. then having the capacity to become a father,
        1. did not happen by accident.
        2. Something or Someone made men with the ability to father,
          1. while simultaneously making women
          2. with the ability to become mothers.
  2. How a man becomes a father, 
    1. how he cherishes his children, and
    2. the mysteries and wonders of fatherhood
      1. point to a Creator,
      2. who is Himself a loving and compassionate Father.
  3. We are so familiar, though, with fatherhood 
    1. that we forget to stand back and
    2. see the wonder of it all.
  4. Consider an adaptation of Revelation 4.11 for fathers, because 
    1. the text records the twenty-four elders worshiping God
    2. for creating all things,
      1. which would include men
      2. with the ability to father,“You are worthy, O Lord,
        To receive glory and honor and power;
        For You created all [fathers],
        And by Your will they exist and were created.”
        (Rev 4.11, adaptation)

Persuasion: 

  1. Becoming a Father Points to a Creator 
    1. Genesis 1 reveals why or how man came to be on the Earth, and
      1. what He is supposed to do here,
      2. things that could only happen by means of creation,26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen 1.26–28).
    2. To be fruitful and multiply, to fill the Earth and subdue it,
      1. Adam and Eve had to come together to begin a new life,
      2. which cannot be explained by evolution, for
        1. the reproductive systems of their bodies
        2. had to be developed fully
          1. for it to work from the beginning.
          2. The fact that we are all here
            1. demonstrates that the entire reproductive process
            2. was in place from the beginning and worked perfectly.
    3. If there had been a fully formed, and fully functional woman,
      1. who could have served as the first human mother, but
      2. if there had been no fully formed, and fully functional man,
        1. who could have served as the first human father,
        2. the human race would have failed in the first generation.
    4. The existence of the male gender,
      1. with the capacity for fatherhood,
      2. demonstrates the existence of God.
        1. The ability of the male and the female to come together
        2. to beget and conceive a child,
          1. could not have happened by evolution, for
          2. both genders would have had to evolve
            1. perfectly
            2. together 
            3. from the start.
    5. Therefore, God exists because fathers exist.
      1. God exists because the manliness of fatherhood exists.
      2. God exists because fathers beget life as God begets life.
    6. Genesis 2 declares what makes sense,7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Gen 2.7).
      1. We observe the micro-world of a man and
      2. discover that the ingredients of this Earth form his body, but
        1. even as the dust of the ground does not form itself into a man,
        2. we definitely know that the breath of life did not
          1. enter into his nostrils automatically in the beginning,
          2. rather another life form gave him the breath of life.
            1. This greater life form created in the male gender of humanity
            2. the parts to become a father.
    7. While the process to become a father
      1. shows the hand of a super-intelligent Designer,
      2. how a man acts after the birth of his child also shows God’s handiwork.
  2. Fathering Points to a Creator 
    1. In Romans 1, starting at verse 28,
      1. Paul showed the consequences for humanity
      2. refusing to retain a knowledge of God, and
        1. the apostle noted some of those consequences in verse 31,31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving (Rom 1.31).
        2. The translations provide a variety of words,
          1. NKJV & NASV – unloving
          2. NIV & ESV – heartless
          3. ASV & KJV – without natural affection
            1. In my opinion, the ASV & KJV are the best in this case, but
            2. even they did not go far enough.
      3. The scholars of these translations were dealing with the Greek word,
        1. aÓsto/rgouß from a‡storgoß,
        2. meaning without “natural family affection.”
          1. I bring this up because it speaks of what should be;
          2. we should have affection for our family, it is natural, because
            1. it has been built into us.
            2. We come prepackaged with it.
    2. Watch a father and you will see natural family affection.
      1. Where did he get it?
      2. His Creator made him with it.
        1. That is why even fathers who do not believe in God,
          1. who do not follow the teachings of the Scriptures,
          2. who have no interest in being disciples of Christ
        2. have natural family affection.
          1. Yes, he needs to learn many things about fatherhood, but
          2. the affection that he has for his children comes naturally.
            1. How do you teach a father to look with delight
            2. upon his children?
              1. I think about my three daughters everyday,
              2. several times a day.
                1. How do you teach a father to think of his children.
                2. It just happens naturally.
      3. Yet, Paul’s point is that rejecting a knowledge of God
        1. eventually leads people to turn against natural family affection.
        2. Watch society and you will see it happen.
    3. Fathering requires a great deal of work, and
      1. so fathers cherish down time or away time, but then
      2. they miss their children,
        1. yearning for them in the deepest way, because
        2. fathers wrap their lives up in their children.
          1. Who taught fathers to be that way?
          2. I do not know that such can be taught.
      3. God the Creator put yearning for children into the hearts of fathers,13 As a father pities his children,
        So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
        (Psa 103.13)17 “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts,
        “On the day that I make them My jewels.
        And I will spare them
        As a man spares his own son who serves him.”
        (Mal 3.17)
      4. The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 illustrates my point.
        1. You can see the yearning of the father in the parable
        2. at the point when he saw his son returning,20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15.20).
          1. How many times had the father been looking for his son?
          2. Did he ever not think of his son?
            1. The father’s heart leapt when he saw his son in the distance!
            2. How often did the father dream of his response?
              1. How do you teach that to a man?
              2. How could that evolve?
      5. Have you read Second Samuel 18 of David’s yearning for Absalom?
        1. David had just received a report that Absalom had been killed.
        2. Absalom deserved to die.
          1. He had killed one of his own brothers.
          2. He had rebelled against his father’s kingdom,
            1. seeking to establish himself as king,
            2. which meant killing David.
        3. Nevertheless, when David heard the report of his dead son,
          1. he could not restrain himself,
          2. even as I would not,33 Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: “O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!” (2Sa 18.33).
            1. What father would not have
              1. felt the same way and
              2. said the same things?
            2. Therefore, even as fathering shows a man to be a creation, so
              1. his emotional outpouring for his children, and
              2. his spiritual concerns for his children
                1. show him to be a creation and
                2. show him to be like his Creator.
  3. The Mystery and Wonder of Fatherhood Points to a Creator 
    1. Once the seed has been planted,
      1. the man is passive
      2. as the baby grows within his wife.
        1. He does not have to water it,
        2. as you would a plant.
          1. He cannot weed, nor
          2. can he do anything else, but
            1. he goes about his daily chores and
            2. the child grows within his wife automatically.
              1. Could something as mysterious and wonderful as this
              2. have evolved on its own?
    2. The greatest mystery and wonder of fatherhood,
      1. something that shows just how special fathers are,
      2. is that God calls Himself a Father.
    3. Or perhaps He calls us fathers,
      1. even as He is a Father.
      2. As I am a father to my three daughters,
        1. so God is Father to every human,[He is] “the Father of spirits” (Heb 12.9), and“the God of the spirits of all flesh” (Num 27.16).
        2. When we honor our fathers,
          1. we honor Him who made them capable of being fathers.
          2. May every father know Him who is the Father, for
            1. what does your fatherhood mean,
            2. if you do not know the Father?

Exhortation: 

  1. If God is not your father, 
    1. you will not enter the kingdom of God.
    2. If you have not been born of water and of the Spirit,
      1. you will not enter the kingdom of God.
      2. This is a mystery, but remember
        1. that even with our advancement in seeing a baby develop in the womb,
        2. there is still mystery and wonder about it, yet,
          1. we benefit from it,
          2. so it is with being born again.
  2. We cannot see God forgiving our sins. 
    1. We cannot see God washing us in the blood of Jesus.
    2. However, it happens; so
      1. go through the process and
      2. the Lord shall take care of it for you.
  3. We cannot remember what our fathers did after we were born, and 
    1. we certainly could not have witnessed the conception, but
    2. it happened.
  4. Likewise, when we are born again, 
    1. we can see the church phase of the kingdom of God, but
    2. before being born again,
      1. we could not see all the wonders of being a member of the church, and
      2. now we think we are perfectly happy and content
        1. to stay here on the Earth as members of the church.
        2. However, if we have been born again,
          1. once we reach the heavenly phase of the kingdom of God,
          2. we will be glad that we went through
            1. being born again now, and
            2. that we died that we might be with God.
  5. I could see how a baby would be frightened to leave the womb, but 
    1. once a child comes into this world,
    2. look at what a good time he has.
      1. We fear going through death, but
      2. what is on the other side,
        1. provided we are born again,
        2. must far exceed the wonders of this life
          1. even as the Earth
          2. far exceeds the wonders of the love of our fathers.
  6. Do not delay being born again anymore, but 
    1. let us assist you in that process,
    2. knowing that God will do something wonderful in you.
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