By Michael C. Mack
Today is Father’s Day, a day we set aside to love and honor our dads. And it’s good that we do so! The fifth commandment instructs God’s people to “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:16). The commandment is repeated several times through Scripture. Jesus discussed it in his teachings, and the apostle Paul referred to it as he taught Christ followers how to live together in Christian households.
So, it is right and proper to give honor to our dads.
But we must remember that we gather as the church today to give honor to our heavenly Father. We focus our attention and our praise on him. He is our creator. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing Lord. He is our King, the only one worthy of our worship and praise. His Son, Jesus, is the Messiah, the anointed one sent by the Father to deliver us from bondage and restore us to God. He is our Savior. No one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
We come to this time in our worship when we focus on what the heavenly Father sent his Son to do on our behalf. Jesus was crucified, buried, and on the third day was resurrected.
For this reason, earthly fathers and mothers and grandparents and children all bow to Jesus and to our heavenly Father. The Bible tells us,
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11).
As we eat the bread together as a family, let us remember what it represents: Jesus’ body sacrificed for us. And as we drink from the cup, let’s remember the blood Jesus shed to forgive us and reconcile us with the Father.
And let us bow in reverence to Jesus, to the glory of God the Father!
Michael C. Mack is editor of Christian Standard.
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