TITLE: Who is your Spiritual Father? By Frank P. Martinez Jr. 09/26/05 |
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There are many today that make the mistake of calling a mentor their spiritual father when in reality Abraham is the one who should be credited with that title. Everywhere you hear the gospel preached you are being bombarded with this and it is not scriptural. Do not get me wrong I agree that it is right to acknowledge those who have guided us down the path that leads to Christ but God had promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations even though he had no offspring. Now although the nation of Israel are the direct descendants of Abraham, we who have come to Christ are the spiritual descendants and are heirs together with Christ of the promise. However, what exactly is this promise? For God had said that through your offspring all nations upon the earth will be blessed and who exactly is this offspring through which we would be blessed but Jesus Christ. If this is true then how can another man who is not Abraham be the spiritual father of you and I? On the other hand, Paul stated to Timothy that he was his son in the faith, in other words Paul is saying to Timothy that he has raised him in the faith according to Gods direction for his life in no way does he claim to be his spiritual father. A spiritual father is someone who is responsible for your birth into the family of God and therefore on account of Abraham’s descendant Jesus Christ who bore our infirmities. We are all the seed of Abraham and therefore heirs to the promise. The truth is that God works through the mentor in your life because this person has something relevant that you and I must learn in order to grow in the faith.
In the bible it states, “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude-innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore (Hebrews 11:12).” If you and I examine this scripture we know that a mentor can never be our spiritual father. Let me tell you what a mentor exactly is, he is the person that God has chosen to guide you. It is the Holy Spirit within you and him that has drawn you one to another because God has placed you together for the purpose of nurturing you through that person. I agree that the mentor will have qualities and attributes that will rub off on you but there is nothing there in that individual that Christ did not place there to begin with. Remember the promise that God made to Abraham that through your offspring all nations would be blessed and remember what has been said that there are few fathers in Christ. Is this because there is a lack of men willing to guide a young man or woman to the destiny that God has predestined for them? No, but that it would be attributed to one man that he would be the spiritual father of many nations upon the earth. This same man because of his willingness to obey God offered his son as a burnt offering to the one and true God and because of this God had found the human descendant by which He would bring the promised Messiah as predicted by the prophets of the old testament.
See God had already decided who he was going to bring the Messiah through long Before he ever said let there be light but He would not force mankind to accept His plan but gives each us the freedom to choose. I thank God that Abraham had chosen to obey God rather than disregarding His commandment to sacrifice his son. If this very important event had not taken place you and I would not be restored and reconciled to God and the world would be a much darker place than it is now. So my question for you is; do you realize who your spiritual father is and if so are you grateful to God that he is?
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