Jesus has said, “Call no man father.” Some time later the Apostle Paul bowed his knee to the “… Father from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives it’s name.” Apparently there are some legitimate fatherhoods, both in heaven and on earth. If we cannot call them fathers, then what are we to make of them?
First of all we need to note that they derive their names from one Father, even The Heavenly Father. They are hoods of the Heavenly Father. They are not fathers, but they are hoods.
A father in the first instance is a seed planter. Fathers plant their own seeds. Fatherhoods may or may not plant the Seed of another Father, even the Seed of Christ. Beyond being seed planters, fathers are first of all validators. They provide or confirm validation that is if they are functional. They also provide discipline, guidance, love, wisdom, and a host of other supplies for the living of a fruitful life.
Where planting there own seed is concerned, all that ends at the border of the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God we are to call no man father, because here we have only one Father, and it is the DNA of this one Father that we now have in Christ. All other fathers have been done away for us in Him. It is in Him that our new identity derives!
That said, there are those who are fatherhoods to us, and they function as fatherly ambassadors – authoritative messengers of God the Father. They serve in their “hood“ capacity at God’s pleasure, and for the duration of our need. They are ours forever including how much they ever meant to us.
Finally, when Paul wrote of his relationship with Timothy, “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel,“ (Philippians 2:22 KJV) he was well aware that the authentic original was/is God the Father, and His Son Jesus. Paul and Timothy were the hooded proof of that first begotten Father Son relationship. They were the confirming witness!
Love!
Loving Like God 