Greetings,
I have been writing in regard to a father led culture. We live in a world were the identity of fathers has been marred and eroded to become something less than what God has in mind. God is our Father, and as Father He is the one who gives identity and inheritance to sons. When we receive a proper view God as our Father we view the world though a concept of what is, what was, and what will be. We no longer live for our generation alone, but for the joining of generations in our lives. Our vision becomes one that looks to what is, what was, and what is to come. This is not only a New Covenant reality; it is a testimony of generationally minded people. In Christ we are all joined to a family destiny that is both ancient and new. It is true for all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues of men.
Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
In order to live to the fullest potential of the kingdom of God we must stay connected to the authority of God’s kingdom. Our destiny has been established upon the foundation of all that was in the Old Covenant (the Old Testament prophets), and all the foundation of what was established in the firstfruits of the New Covenant (the New Testament apostles).
A father-led culture is one that knows that the authority, inheritance, and destiny of the fathers of the past are to be expanded upon through the fathers of our own generation. It is God’s intention that we stay connected to increasing authority, connected to increasing inheritance, and connected to unfolding destiny. We must know who sent us for such a time as this. What letter endorses who we are? What commission has been given to us? We are part of a culture that is both new and ancient in its purpose and plane.
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
As I have previously written, a scribe in the kingdom is someone who accepts responsibility for life in a generational way and allows God to write upon his or her own heart and mind in a multigenerational way. Embracing this understanding and focus in life will further the purposes of God in the earth. The purposes of God were given for God as a Father to an earthly father – Abraham, meaning father of many nations.
Genesis 22:17 …blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
The good news preached to Abraham was that in blessing God would bless him, in multiplying God would multiply him, his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies, and through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. It was a Father’s blessing to a father’s destiny. It was multigenerational in its intent. God was to be the Father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel.
This commission was also seen in the foundation set by the apostles in the first century church. The apostles were fathers in the faith, not mere mentors of Christian principles and activity.
Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The objective was to advance the testimony of the kingdom of God to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. God’s culture is an advancing culture of life to the nations. His heart in the now is always a furtherance of what was and a testimony of what will be. God’s house is built with wisdom and wisdom always implies a way to the future.
How do we attach to the things of the past with the revelation of the present? We cannot be bound to the past; we must be thrust forward because of it. It is wisdom that will keep us in the path of destiny, but where do we find wisdom?
I wrote in regard to these things in a past blog.
Proverbs 1:20, 21 Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. 21 She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words…
The New American Standard Bible uses the word street for outside. In these verses we see that wisdom is found in the street, in the open squares, in the chief concourses, and in the gates of the city. To understand these four things we must compare them to four small creatures described by Solomon in Proverbs chapter 30.
Proverbs 30:24-28 There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks; The spider (or lizard) skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.
Wisdom is in the street; it is like an ant. The ant knows what season it is; it knows where it is in life by where it is in the journey of life. Is it winter? Is it summer? It doesn’t need to be told by a commander, it knows where it is in the journey of life. What time is it? What is necessary today? There will be more to do tomorrow, but what is the present season of life? The things that are necessary today are connected to the things that have led to this moment from the past. The things that are necessary today are also connected to the things that will be for the sake of others tomorrow.
Wisdom raises here voice in the open squares; it is like a rock badger in its quest to live. Though the rock badger is small and not considerably strong, it uses its natural environment to get its foods. It builds its home in the crags of the rocks and uses its house as a place of protection and a way of surprising its prey to sustain itself in life. What in the open squares of my life leads to the destiny of God’s glory? What is obviously around me and can serve me in my role in the destiny of life? Some of the obvious things are the things that have been established in our surroundings by the work of others.
Wisdom cries out in the chief concourses; it is like the locust. The locust realizes that if it lives in close relationship with other locusts it can do impossible things. What relationships are in my life? How do those relationships serve the purpose of who I am. Who am I joined to? My direction forward is connected to the relationships given to me in life. My relationships in life are part of my inheritance in life. Those relationships are meant to lead to others even as Paul told Timothy to find faithful men who would be able to teach others also.” – (from July 22, 2015 blog)
What are the things that we inherit? What is it that we must advance in the generations of men? The instructions of our fathers and the principals, patterns, and values are the substance of inheritance to the future. Cultures and societies of the world reject the instructions of their fathers and the substance given them by their mothers. They think themselves to be wiser than the past. Wisdom is not found in the past, it is found in the things that are being given to us by God in heaven. Wisdom is not found in the past, but the instructions, principles, patterns, and values of the past set a foundation for our hearing wisdom today.
Proverbs 1: 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck.
Proverbs 6: 20 My son, keep your father’s command, and do not forsake the law of your mother. 21 Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck.
A key to moving forward as a multigenerational society is to value the teachings of our fathers in our hearts. What is in our hearts will be seen though the influence and vision of our lives. God said that the Holy Spirit would cause young men to have vision and old men to dream dreams (Acts 2:7). This is the opposite of the cultures of the world. In the world young people dream and old people have vision. God wants the young to have vision and the the old to dream dreams. It is only when the values of the past become the fuel for vision of the present that the dreams of the past can become the vision of today. There must be a joining of the generations. When this happens old must embrace the vision of the young and the young must embrace the dream of the old. It is the testimony of a father led culture that leads to increasing life.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
