Father’s Day: A Racket or a Reminder of God’s Gift of Family?

Reflecting on the roles of fathers and mothers and the blessing of the family can help us understand the incredible future God has in store for His family!

Are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day an invention of Hallmark cards? Every time I walked by the rack of greeting cards, I wondered if this was all just a racket. So I did a Google search and found some of the history of these holidays.

American history

“There are a range of events, which may have inspired the idea of Father’s Day. One of these was the start of the Mother’s Day tradition in the first decade of the 20th century. Another was a memorial service held in 1908 for a large group of men, many of them fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in Monongah, West Virginia, in December 1907.

“A woman called Sonora Smart Dodd was an influential figure in the establishment of Father’s Day. Her father raised six children by himself after the death of their mother. This was uncommon at that time, as many widowers placed their children in the care of others or quickly married again.

“Sonora was inspired by the work of Anna Jarvis, who had pushed for Mother’s Day celebrations. Sonora felt that her father deserved recognition for what he had done. The first time Father’s Day was held in June was in 1910. Father’s Day was officially recognized as a holiday in 1972 by President Nixon” (http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/fathers-day).

The biblical history

The real origin of father and mother and husband and wife is very biblical, and these roles were instituted at creation. God made the first man. From the man’s rib (close to his heart) God created a woman. From this beginning came the family and guaranteed the continual replenishing of the human race.

Later, the Bible reveals that the relationship of marriage pictures Christ and His Church, and calls it a mystery: “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:32-33).

This mystery is exemplified by the ideal love between a husband and wife in the institution we call marriage between a man and a woman. The spiritual insights we glean from this first human relationship point us toward a spiritual relationship with our Creator God.

A family plan

God’s plan is about family. The Bible speaks of God the Father (Malachi 2:10) and calls the Church a bride (Revelation 19:7-8) and the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). Is not the main reason for this amazing design of family a powerful and compelling way of teaching us how God wants us to interact with Him?

In contrast, long ago a glorious archangel—a covering cherub, then called Lucifer—rebelled against his Creator and was expelled from before God’s throne (Ezekiel 28:16). While we know very little of the composition of the angelic world, there is no mention of marriage, children, sex or family roles and relationships.

Part of God’s amazing plan for humanity is to help us realize we can work as a family, loving and supporting each other but realizing each has a role to play. One day God’s human children who accept the sacrifice of their Elder Brother and strive to become like Him will be members of the spiritual God family. Jesus Christ said that then we will no longer marry (Matthew 22:30), but we will be wiser for having learned valuable lessons of respect and harmony by working together while carrying out our own distinctive roles in the physical family.

God wants us to be His children and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16-17). It is thrilling to know that God is creating a family. “Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:13-15, emphasis added).

Thankful for family

I am glad to be a father and that my wife is the mother of our children. As the years go by, I am impacted more and more by God’s wisdom in creating what seems so natural to us now—families that are designed to prepare us for eternity in a relationship with God the Father and His Son, showing us how to work together forever.

Try putting all that in a Father’s Day card!

Larry Greider is a pastor of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, in Florida.