Like father, like son?

Last time, I shared a voice from the past with you.  Even though it was a sermon from 1997, Pastor Rick Ferguson had some timely truth for us.  Today, I want to dovetail off of one point that was made.  He mentioned that men are impacted by the godliness –or lack thereof – of their father.  It’s true. I thank God for the godly influence of my own parents; this is an incredible gift from Him that I don’t take for granted.  But, the truth is, there comes a point when the child must choose whether or not they want the faith of their parents for himself (or herself).  For instance, I think of how my dad, at a young age, chose to make Jesus his Lord and Savior rather than banking on the faith of his Christian parents.
 

I don’t know why this notion has been laid so heavily on my heart of late, but it has been, so let me just say this definitively: if you want to go to Heaven in your after-life, you cannot do so by relying on the righteousness of a godly parent, grandparent, Aunt/Uncle, and so on; you have to choose to put your faith in Jesus and His shed blood for your sin on the cross of Calvary.  You don’t enter Heaven’s gates by grabbing on to the coat tail of your devout father.  It simply doesn’t work that way. 

Conversely, if the influence and example of your parents has been anything but holy, understand that God may be asking you to be the trailblazer in your family.  He wants you to choose to follow, love, serve, and accept Him, no matter what your family has previously done.  The Bible says, “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.  The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20; ESV).  Amen belongs here!

If we are truly honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we are a sinner in need of a Savior.  The Bible says, “There is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46; NKJV).  Proverbs 20:9 asks, “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?”  Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God.”  But God, in His great love, decided to bridge that separation or gap.  Isaiah 53:6 reads, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray…and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  Jesus Christ, the One who is fully God and fully man, paid the price of your sin – and mine – on the cross. 

Adrian Rogers once said, “At the cross, sin was not overlooked.  Sin was atoned and paid for.  God’s greatest righteousness confronted man’s greatest wickedness, and righteousness won!”  Acts 10:43 states, “Everyone who believes in Him [Jesus] receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”  You can have a right relationship with God, through Jesus Christ; I pray that, if you’ve never commenced your relationship with the Lord that today would be your day.

Kevin