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The Father and Issues of Life and Death: Questions
When one considers end-of-life concerns it is not uncommon to find sons, who are often now fathers of their own children, relegating end-of-life concerns for elderly or disabled relatives to wives or sisters. Regardless of the law or even the cultural practices in society, we seek here to understand the Lord's expectations of fathers.When abortion is marketed to the general public its advocates emphasize the autonomous right of the woman to make this decision. Society has so bought into that notion that in 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the father of the child has virtually no say about a woman's decision to kill that child through abortion.
Genesis 2:23-24 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
What does this passage say about the initial step in the process of becoming a father?
Genesis 9:20-27 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave."
Luke 21:34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.
Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
What does this passage say about drunkeness?
What does the passage say about respect that are entitled to fathers?
Exodus 20:5-6 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
2 Kings 17:41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.
Why is it fair that children are punished for the sins of their father?
What does this passage say about the responsibility fathers have for the spiritual well-being of their children?
Psalm 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
Jeremiah 47:2-3 This is what the LORD says: "See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Fathers will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp.
What does this passage say about the father's role in caring for children?
Proverbs 4:1-5 Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.
Isaiah 38:19 The living, the living--they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
What role is a father to have in the spiritual training of his children?
Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
What is God's will for the relationship between children and their fathers?
When this desired relationship does not exist between fathers and their children, what are the consequences?
Application
1. These passages illustrate that fathers are responsible for their children. That responsibility is to extend to their physical and spiritual concerns. When and how should a man begin to show this responsibility for his children?
2. How do fatherly responsibilities figure into to the abortion issue?
3. What can a father do when a mother decides to abort a child against the father's wishes?
4. What kind of responsibility does a son, who most likely becomes a father in adult years, have in caring for his elderly or disabled relatives?
http://www.christianliferesources.com/index.php?/library/view.php&articleid=719
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