Jentezen Franklin - Fathers, Where Are You?
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On this Father's Day, drawing from Genesis 2 and 3, the preacher emphasizes that even the perfect marriage of Adam and Eve faced immediate attack from the serpent, revealing Satan's targeting of families; yet God holds fathers responsible to lead spiritually, speak up against evil, and take ownership—not because everything is their fault, but because it's their God-given duty to protect and restore their homes.
Honoring Our Fathers Today
What a blessing to have all of you here today. We appreciate you on this special day worshipping God with us. And I think it would absolutely be in order if we took a moment and said to every father in the house, stand to your feet, and let us give you a handclap of great adoration and appreciation. We love you. You’re amazing.
All of you. Come on, keep standing, we’re not done. We’re pretty rough on ourselves, but sometimes we need to know. Look at the men of God in God’s house this morning; it’s powerful. God bless you. If you have your Bibles, I’ll invite you to open them with me this morning to the book of Genesis.
God's Perfect Plan for Marriage
I want to go to Genesis 2, and then quickly into Genesis 3. But I want to share today a message that I think will hit everybody in your life, but I am going to preach to our fathers today. I believe what I’m going to share will also prepare future fathers, future husbands, future wives. Whatever situation you’re in, I believe God’s word will speak to you and find you today.
I want you to see in Genesis 2, let’s go with verse 22. “Then He took the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, and He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Now this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
The First Wedding Ordained by God
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and be joined unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” So, this was literally God finding the right mate, bringing her to a matchmaking place where they fell in love and are married because He called her his wife. God married them. This is the first setting of family and marriage.
And then the first verse of the next chapter, the next verse after the marriage: “Now the serpent.” Now the serpent. And then I want to read one other quick verse, and this is my main key verse this morning, verse 9: “Then the Lord called to Adam, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’”
Adam: The Only Man with God as Father
It’s pretty interesting that the only two human beings on this planet who could literally say—not spiritually speaking, but literally—“God was my Father.” We think of only Jesus as the Father’s Son, but the truth is, Adam could say, “God was my Father. I had no earthly father. I had no biological father but God.”
So, there are only two: Adam and Jesus. And they both made decisions for all of us that would affect us in remarkable ways. We are all the sons of Adam. In Genesis 3, and this is something I want you to get in your head for a moment, because this is really, I believe, an insight, a revelation, or whatever you want to call it.
The Unbreakable Pattern Every Family Faces
In Genesis 3, it’s not just what happened, but it’s what always happens. There’s a pattern that is established that is unbreakable and guaranteed concerning your family, your future, your marriage, your children. Here it is: They get married, they have the blessing of God on their marriage.
As far as a perfect marriage, this is as perfect a marriage as possible on planet Earth. She was the perfect bride, he was the perfect husband, they had no problems, no troubles, no in-laws, no one else but them to deal with. It was the perfect marriage, literally.
The Serpent Attacks Right After the Wedding
And even in the perfect marriage, as soon as they’re married, the next verse: “Now the serpent.” What a revelation! The serpent immediately shows up when Adam and Eve are married. There is a wedding and then there is about to be warfare. There is a bride and a husband, and there is a battle. “Now the serpent.”
That’s an amazing insight because you need to know, you must understand this principle. It is not just Genesis 3; it is now, it is present. There is a serpent, the devil. He is real. The first point is: you have an enemy against your home, against your marriage, against your family.
No Family Is Immune to the Enemy's Attack
I don’t care how good parents you are, how perfect your family, how amazing the heritage of faith, how great the grandparents or parents. There will come a time when now... Notice the timing: once they’re married. He never bothered; he was around during creation, he was around when Adam was by himself.
As soon as they get married, now the serpent was crafty and he makes his move. It’s not just you and God, not just you and your wife or husband, not just you and your kids, but there is also Satan and demons at work to destroy every family that wants to honor Jesus Christ.
Why Did the Serpent Target Eve First?
At some point, Satan will show up and he’ll try to destroy those that you love. He did it in a perfect environment then, and he can do it even now. He will come, but he doesn’t have to win. When Satan shows up, who does he speak to? Who does he show?
God made Adam first. He was the head of that home, he was there first, she came from him, she was taken from a rib and made by God and given life by God, but he was first. But notice how it worked then, and it still works now.
The Enemy Ignores God's Divine Order
The enemy does not recognize divine order in a home. The head is the dad, the husband, the father. Satan did not come to Adam; the snake showed up and he was talking to Eve. The enemy bypasses Adam, goes to his wife, gets an inroad on someone that Adam loved, and begins to whisper to her, “The Bible’s a lie, God’s not telling you the truth. You can’t base your life on the word of God. This is not good.”
And where is Adam? He was either there and he was silent, or he was not there—he was distracted, uninvolved, had just taken a back seat. But the truth is, the Bible says, “And she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave...” So, this is what I’d never seen. I don’t know how I missed this, but when I read this story again this week: “And she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.”
Adam's Deadly Sin: Silence
So, he was there, but he was silent. He was there, but he did not speak up, he did not protect his family, he did not stand in the place he was called to do. There are two sins that take place. There’s the sin of commission—when you do what you know you’re not supposed to do. She took the fruit, and she knew she was not supposed to do it.
But Adam committed the sin of omission, which is he did not do what he should have done. And this is the challenge now: that men be the spiritual voice that speaks up in our homes.
Fathers Must Speak God's Truth in Love
This is God’s absolute requirement for fathers if you’re going to honor the Lord and have God honor your family: you must speak up and speak the truth in love, with compassion, “The word of God is right,” and we stand on the word of God.
If we’re not praying, if we’re not bringing our kids to church, if we’re just doing the sin of omission, it’s just as bad as doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened after they ate it, and they were ashamed.”
When Men Hide, Families Suffer
Notice, it happened then and it happens now. What happened then? God puts a couple together, and when He puts them together, immediately they become a target for the snake. The snake begins to mess with divine order, the man says nothing—he’s silent and disconnected spiritually and even emotionally—and the Bible says, “They hid themselves from God.”
That’s exactly what happens now when men begin to lose their walk with God. Because in the cool of the day, God came down and said, “Adam, where are you? You used to walk with me, we used to walk every day, hand in hand, and we would talk to one another.”
God Is Asking Men Today: Where Are You?
We would spend this special time. It’s a beautiful picture of a man listening to God and God listening to him. Prayer is you talking to God; Bible reading is God talking to you. When you read the Bible and pray on a regular basis, you’re walking with God.
If you don’t talk and walk with God, read His word so He talks to you, and pray so you talk to Him, you are not walking with God like you’re supposed to. That’s why God is asking men today in our generation, “Where are you?”
It’s time for men to come out of hiding, to say, “God, I want to be that man that You don’t ever have to ask, ‘Where are you?’” Where are you spiritually? Where are you in prayer, in devotion to My word? Where are you for your children when the enemy’s coming after them?
The Blame Game Men Still Play
It’s amazing—Adam is there and he’s not. The question can be asked, “Where are you?” when the serpent’s talking to his wife. “Why are you not speaking up? Where are you?” And that’s what went for his wife—he’s not there.
But then God asks him, “Where are you? We don’t have a relationship; I don’t hear from you all week long. Adam, I’m searching for you and you’re hiding from Me.” You’re hiding from church attendance, from emails and texts from your Christian buddies.
Because when you fall into sin, as it was then, you start withdrawing from Christian influences, from people who hold you accountable, from church services and sermons like this. This is the pattern then, and it’s exactly the pattern now.
Are You Hiding in Work, Sports, or Hobbies?
If you know you’re hiding—in work, in sports, in entertainment, in a hobby, working on this, playing golf—all those things are fine, but God is crying out, “It can’t come before Me. Where are you?”
When God said, “Where are you?” he came out of the bushes and said, “God, I need to talk to You. We have a problem and I want to tell You what the problem is.” God said, “Why are you hiding?” And he said, “That woman You gave me.”
That’s how it was then, and that’s the go-to for all us men. The go-to is, “God, that woman You gave to me.” I could almost hear Adam say, “She’s the wrong one; I married the wrong one.” God said, “She’s the only one for you. There’s nobody to choose from. She’s the right one.”
She's the Right One—Own It!
Come on, say that out loud: “She’s the right one.” Because that’s what the enemy did then, and he’ll say now, “You married the wrong one.” Well, how do you know it’s the right one? If you’re married to her, she’s the right one.
Ephesians 5 says the head of the church is Christ, and the husband is the head of the wife. Christ is the head of the man, and the man is the head of the wife. But we have veered so far that the question in our culture today is, “Who will be the head of the home? Will the husband or the wife?”
The Real Question: Husband or the Serpent?
But the question of the Bible in Genesis 3 is, “Who will be the head of the home? Will the husband, or will the snake?” Because if you don’t come in divine order, that does not mean she is inferior or less than. It means you are firstly accountable for everything—from finances to trouble with the children, from housing to insurance, a million other things, and raising those kids.
God, when He came to the garden, did not say, “Eve, where are you? You’re the one that started all this.” No, she was the one who did it, but God said, “I’m not looking for her; I’m looking for you because it’s not your fault, but it’s your responsibility to deal with it.”
It's Not Always Your Fault—But It's Your Responsibility
This is the thing we’ve got to get and understand as men. Not everything is our fault. We’ve tried our best, some of us, to model to our children, wife, and families the best we can—that we love God, live this way, teach them. Sometimes they do whatever they’re going to do, just like I did under my great parents. I ended up doing what I wanted.
It’s not their fault. Sometimes it’s not our fault. But here’s the point: it’s always your responsibility. That’s why God called Adam. Even though he didn’t initiate the curse, disaster, and dysfunction that came on that family, he was responsible. God trusted that family to him; it was his seed.
The Burden Every Godly Father Carries
He still had to engage. He had the responsibility to be there spiritually, financially, to feel the burden. Your wife may make more than you—all of that—but it should be your overall responsibility and weightiness, firstly accountable for everything in that home. The burden is on me.
This is what a man is in God’s eyes, the role a father takes in God’s eyes, how you’ll be judged when we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. He will look at you as a father and man.
We Need Mighty Men to Stand Up Now
I’m not preaching down to you; I’m preaching to myself. I’m with you. I’m a man just like you’re a man. One day we’ll realize a man who walks up and preaches the Bible doesn’t mean he’s unearthly. He’s earthly, and in many cases targeted by the enemy in ways you cannot imagine.
The point I’m trying to make is we have too many weak men. We need to be men, wake up the mighty men who will stand up when the serpent is talking to the wife, when the enemy is messing with the children, when all hell is breaking loose.
It may not be your fault, but it is your responsibility to handle it all. If you’ll stand up, God will stand up with you. God will say, “Now I got you praying again, now you’re walking in the cool of the day. I know where you are; I finally located you. Now we can fix it. Now divine authority has come.”
Divine Order Defeats the Serpent Every Time
The Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church,” and “wives, honor and submit to your husbands.” When you do that and get divine order, the serpent’s power—he will form the weapon, but ultimately it will not prosper.
I tell you, our children and our children’s children are blessed for a thousand generations, the book of Deuteronomy decrees, if we stand in the promises of God. Clap your hands and say, “Amen.” Hallelujah.
Jesus: The Father Who Took Responsibility for Us
I want to say it like I want to say it. When the Lord found me, I was a sinner. It wasn’t His fault; it was my fault. I did it; I was guilty. But my Father took responsibility and said, “I’ll come down to earth, and I’ll carry a cross. It’s your fault, but it’s My responsibility to redeem you, forgive you, love you, raise you.”
After the fall, believe in you, encourage you after you’ve been through your own fall. It’s not My fault you fell; I did My best to tell you in the law what to do and not to do. But since you did fall, I don’t quit on you. I have covenant love for you.
Marriage Isn't a Contract—It's a Covenant
Not a contract, a covenant. A contract is one person with another person, and they think that’s what marriage is: “As long as you do, I do. I do my part, you do your part.” Covenant says it’s not two people; it’s three—husband, wife, and God.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God, therefore I love you. The more I love God, the more I love you; the more I serve God, the more I serve you.