"I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Ephesians 3:14-17)
These verses come from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, who lived in what is modern-day Turkey, according to the website Bible Study Tools.
They share an important lesson to remember for Father's Day, Rev. Hans Fiene, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Crestwood, Missouri, told Fox News Digital.
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"Every so often, I see online atheists assert some form of the same argument: ‘The universe is very big and you are very small by comparison, so it is supremely arrogant to believe that God created something incomprehensibly vast just to love someone as insignificant as you,'" said Fiene.
This argument is "unconvincing," he said — and is as "illogical an argument as ‘kidney stones shouldn’t hurt because they're tiny.'"
"But even more than I find this argument weak, I find it sad," he said.
"Whenever I hear it, I think to myself, ‘This is a rather awkward way for these particular atheists to tell people they didn’t have loving fathers.’"
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In the verses from Ephesians, St. Paul states, "From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named" — something that may be confusing for people to understand, said Fiene.
"Quite simply, I believe Paul is asserting that God has established earthly fathers to reflect the love of our Father in heaven," said Fiene, who is himself a father of five children.
A father who protects, loves and sacrifices for his child "primes the hearts of their children to understand how God the Father protects them, loves them, and how He gave them the greatest sacrifice of all, the life of His Son Jesus Christ to save them from their sins," he said.
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"But, of course, when fathers fail to love their children, when they’re harsh and selfish and distant, the end result is often that those children lose the ability to understand the concept of a loving God," he said.
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If a person's earthly father did not care for him or her, said Fiene, then "how could your Father in Heaven be any different?"
He went on, "If you didn’t matter to the father who brought you into this world, how could you possibly believe that you matter to the Father who created the world itself?"
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When those who have been wounded or mistreated by their fathers assert it is "arrogant" to say that a God who created the universe also loves individual people, "they’re not demonstrating their humility to the world," he said.
"They’re demonstrating their despair."
Fiene also said, "It’s not difficult for me to believe that God would create the universe and give up what was most precious to Him to make me His own."
This is not an "absurd concept" to understand, he said.
"Growing up, I saw that every day in the words and deeds of my father."
He added, "This Father's Day, I pray my children may see that same love in me. I pray that God would grant faithfulness to all men who have been blessed to share the name of the Father in heaven."
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He also said, "I pray that God may give peace to all those whose fathers failed to love them, that He may heal their hearts by showing them the infinite love He has given all of us in the heart of His Son Jesus Christ."
