1. GOD'S ORIGINAL MANDATE
I believe that one of the greatest needs of this world is true biblical fatherhood. There are good fathers throughout the different nations of this world who love their children and work hard to provide for their needs as much as possible. For such men, the world is indebted. They reveal fatherhood because God has put this instinct in every man. Yet fatherhood without understanding a true biblical base falls far short of what the world really needs for fatherhood.
It would be wise for us to remember that God is a Father, the originator and prototype of all true fatherhood. Therefore for men to be the best fathers possible, we must above all else, turn to the Father of all fathers and learn from Him--for our children's sake and for the sake of the generations to come.
A true biblical father is a man who seeks to have a vision for God's original mandate. The original mandate was given by God to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall.
Genesis 1:26-28 says: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion . . .
a) GOD'S IMAGE AND LIKENESS IS SACRED
The first thing we notice In this original mandate is that man was created for the express purpose of the manifestation of the likeness and image of God. It is important to note that God's likeness and image was not mentioned for the purpose of creating any other species in all the myriad of creations in heaven or in earth. This to me is amazing and it makes man's creation very special, and in a very real sense, sacred.
God, in His sovereignty, has honored and blessed mankind with the privilege of bearing and multiplying His likeness and image. This means that man in His creative potential is designed to reveal all of who God is--His love, His peace, His holiness, His mercy, His faithfulness, His power and the list is never ending. It is no wonder that the devil's mindset is to destroy man from the face of the earth for in doing so he potentially destroys God's likeness and image.
I will keep posting on this subject.
Be encouraged.
Colin