Central Christian Church Lampasas

In honor of Father's Day, we will be looking at fathers in the Bible for the next several weeks.

In Genesis alone the word "father" appears 254 times. Many of these references are genealogical:
Adam, was the father of Seth,
Seth was the father of Enosh,
Enosh was the father of Kenan,

Occasionally a description was attached to the name as in the case of Jabal who was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock or his brother Jubal who was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

Neither of these descriptions tell about their parenting skills. Today, I want to look at Adam who is described as the father of human kind.

Why did she say that?

We need to remember that Adam and Eve didn’t have anyone to help them. There were no midwives or nurses standing by. There were no books on parenting. They didn’t have internet access. They had been kicked out of the Garden. Eve needed God’s help to give birth. See Gen 3:16

Does that sound like an after thought to you?
I have heard parents who have more than one child say they have tons of pictures of their first born, less pictures of their second born, and even fewer pictures of the third and following.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
Please don’t miss the significance of those words.
Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.
Which of those 2 jobs do you think was easier?

Day in and day out Adam & Cain are laboring in the fields together. They didn’t have servants. And the only other person who could have helped them, little brother was tending the flocks.

You know what happens next. Both boys bring an offering to God. Abel’s offering is accepted and Cain’s is rejected

Cain was angry. Where did Cain learn anger from? Do you think maybe his father had modeled anger and resentment to his son toiling by the sweat of his brow to eek out food for the family? Just a thought…

Where did Cain learn how to lie?
Didn’t his father hide from God after eating the forbidden fruit? And then blame the whole thing on Eve?

In the same way Adam & Eve are banished from the garden, Cain must bear the consequences of his sin.

St. Augustine mentioned that sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and completely in him.

If Adam and Cain had trusted in God and acted with humility and self discipline, none of these consequences would have ever happened.

In other words Lamech had killed someone in self-defense. He told his wives that they need not fear any harm coming to them for the killing because if anyone tried to retaliate, he would retaliate and kill them. There’s that Cain heritage of murder 6 generations later.

Lamech thought that if God promised 7-fold vengeance on anyone killing Cain, He would have to give 77-fold vengeance on anyone attacking Lamech, since the murder was justified.

Cain and Lamech should have released the dangers of uncontrolled anger and violence.

Few college football coaches have made a point against drugs as effectively as Erk Russell of Georgia Southern College. He arranged for a couple of good ol' country boys to burst into a routine team meeting and throw a writhing, hissing, six-foot-long rattlesnake onto a table in front of the squad. "Everyone screamed and scattered," Russell recalls. "I told them, 'When cocaine comes into a roon, you're not nearly as apt to leave as when that rattlesnake comes in. But they'll both kill you!" Unresolved anger and resentment can be as dangerous as a rattlesnake.

What about Adam’s other children?

Adam's Accomplishments

God chose Adam to name the animals, making him the first zoologist. He was also the first landscaper and horticulturist, responsible to work the garden and care for the plants. He was the first man, the father of humankind. He was the only man without a mother and a father. He also brought up a son, Abel, who was righteous in God’s eyes. Finally, Adam gave birth to Seth who was in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Adam's Strengths

Adam was made in the image of God and shared a close relationship with his Creator.

Adam's Weaknesses

We see that Adam avoided his God-given responsibility. He blamed Eve and made excuses for himself when he committed a sin. He hid from God in shame, rather than facing his error and admitting the truth.

Lessons Learned from Adam

We also see Adam compared to Christ. One son brought death to the world and Christ as the second Adam brought everlasting life to everyone who believes him.

We see from Adam's life that God wants us to freely choose to follow and obey him out of love. We also learn that nothing we do is hidden from God. Likewise, it does not benefit us to blame others for our own failings. We must accept personal responsibility.

Cain must all accept responsibility for his actions. A rebellious son who kills is brother is to blame for his own sin. Cain disrespected both God and his father by slaughtering his brother.

We see that different children from the same families and with the same parenting can grow into vastly different adults. Abel and Seth chose one path and Cain chose another.

We also see the importance of God’s grace in parenting. No father, mother, or grandparent is perfect. We all fall short of the glory of God, but we have a perfect Father who loves and cares for us. Even if few didn’t grow up with a father, we can still look to God and positive male role models to help us find our way.

God's Grace Applied

n his grace and mercy, God provided a second Adam who could be the perfect sacrifice. God himself came to Earth as a man. Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity, was born of a woman to become a man so that the perfect sacrifice could be made. Jesus was God, but He was also man as God intended man to be—sinless. He was crucified on the cross of Calvary. He shed His blood and paid the penalty for our sins, and was raised from the dead, conquering death, the judgment which God had brought upon man because of sin.

Our Response

All people need to repent from their sin and embrace the free gift of salvation in Christ.