Greeks and Romans and many other nations had male and female gods, but Israel had only one God who called Himself by masculine pronouns. In an age where everyone is so concerned about using proper pronouns, how about not misgendering the God of the Bible, eh?
When Christ entered the world around 2,000 years ago, He also was obviously male (the Son) and called God His Father. He taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven,” and He said we have one Father who is God (Matthew 23.9).
God does not present Himself to us as a mother in the old or new testaments. He is not a mother; He is the Father. He is the Patriarch of all patriarchs. (Patriarch, for the uninitiated, simply means father.)
Not only is He the great Patriarch, but He created the patriarchy by placing man as head of the woman in the family arrangement (1 Cor. 11.3; Eph. 5.23–24). Of course, feminists have striven and struggled against this family order for years and seem to have successfully blurred the lines of authority in our day, but they have only succeeded in creating a royal dumpster fire as family systems break down across our land, depression and anxiety are through the roof, and suicidal tendencies have shot up. America is doing badly in this area because we have abandoned the good and right family structure set up by our great Patriarch.
What good is a father?
Boys need fathers to push them, lead them, show them how to be men. Otherwise, they learn manhood from the boys around them who are in the same boat of ignorance—the blind lead the blind and they both fall into the juvenile delinquency ditch. Boys without fathers are much more likely to act out in society, drop out of school, and go to jail. You can look up the statistics.
Daughters need fathers to protect them and show them what kind of a man they ought to look for in a husband. Fathers should be showing their daughters how men respect women—mainly by how he crowns his own wife with glory and honor in the home, how he speaks respectfully to her, and how he leads her with a strong spiritual hand.
What responsibilities does a father have?
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6.4).
The hearts of fathers should be to their children (Luke 1.17). This is God’s way.
Fathers stand for the whole family. His voice is their voice. His decisions and actions affect them all. God spoke to the fathers in times past (Hebrews 1.1), and He gave special promises to the fathers (Acts 14.32). That doesn’t mean what God spoke was only for the fathers or the promises were only for them; rather, God spoke to everyone through the fathers, and He gave promises to everyone through the fathers.
In other words, dad is point man.
So my fellow dads, embrace the patriarchy! God set you as head of the household, so stand there!
Wives, support your husbands as they stand as the man of the family.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother (Ephesians 6.1–3).
In this way, we honor the great Patriarch who created the family structure—one patriarch with one wife and as many children as they together add to the home.