Biblical Manhood

FBC Adult Christian Education

Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 1 – 6 March 2011

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege of time to reflect upon the truth of your Word, and the truth of your Word especially
that is offensive to our world, and a truth which is under assault from the thought forces which are so readily apparent in our world.
Help us to have a Christian mind that is a mind informed by Your Word. Give us wisdom and discernment as we see the obstacles
to the acceptance of the truth, not simply by those who are in the world now who come to faith in Christ through the witness of the
Gospel but those who are in the church and who are influenced by the thinking of the world. We ask, O Lord, that You would glorify
Yourself in this. Help us to be discerning followers of the Lord Jesus Christ because we ask this in His name. Amen.

I. INTRODUCTION

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It follows Tom
Hanks as Captain John H. Miller (who in civilian life is an English teacher) and 8 men as they search for paratrooper
Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last surviving brother of three fallen servicemen.

After surviving the landing at the beach of Normandy, all 8 men die in their pursuit of Private Ryan in a desire to not
allow the grieving family to lose all of their sons. In the last scene of the film, Ryan is finally found and helps the
remaining survivors of Captain Miller’s team to stop a German tank squadron from crossing a bridge.

Play video clip

Ryan is with Miller as he dies and says his last words, "James... earn this. Earn it."

Back in the present, the elderly veteran is revealed to be Ryan at Miller's grave. He asks
his wife to confirm that he has led a good life and that he is a "good man," and thus
worthy of the sacrifice of Miller and the others. He then salutes Miller's grave as the
camera pans down the gravestones to a placid American flag.

The question that Private Ryan had to wrestle with was this: did he live a life worthy of the sacrifice given for his?

Last week I traveled to Hackettstown, NJ to attend the funeral of a dear friend and sister in Christ. When I walked into
the crowded funeral home, I was not surprised by the number of people or the vast array of funeral flowers which filled
the viewing area. Barbara Stuber was a woman who loved Christ and His people in a way that was tangible, palpable.
There was no question as to whether or not she lived her life as God had designed it. She lived in such a way that
reflected that she was bought with a price and that she was not just living her life, but she lived it as God designed it.

Today we begin with a similar question: How did God design men and how should they live to reflect His design and His
purposes?

In this series, we are going to be addressing the issue of Biblical Manhood. It will be beneficial to men, or women who
attend.

QUESTION – Why is discussing this topic appropriate for either gender?

A. The Attack On The Concept Of Biblical Manhood

QUESTION – Why has the concept of biblical manhood been eroded?

• Rejection of God • Sexual Revolution

• Rejection of God’s Truth • Rise In Adultery
• Post Modernism • Rise In Divorce
• Affluence • Feminist Agendas
• Self Centeredness • Homosexual Agendas
• Entertainment / Pleasure Focus • Erosion Of Marriage
• Failure Of Church Leadership • Abrogation Of Personal Responsibility
• Undermining Of Authority
 Rejection Of God - The major area of dispute between Christianity, between Christian theism, and pagans, or
panenthiestic monism, is in the arena of the Christian doctrine to the transcendental Creator. The biblical view that
there is a personal, omnipotent and transcendent Creator-God who brought all else into being and is sovereign over it
and distinct from it. That's where the fundamental disagreement comes between Christianity and monism. You know,
the trees are my brother. Now listen to what's-her-name singing, and she's just singing monism in that famous song
from Pocahontas, "Colors of the Wind."

And, of course, again every day in our culture, every week, we're reading something about, for instance, new adoption
laws. "Why shouldn't gay couples be able to adopt?" our culture asks. The family's being redefined. There's our
traditional view of sexuality: that heterosexuality within the context of marriage is the only legitimate expression of
human sexuality. And again in our culture, more and more, anything goes.

Feminism - There's the battle over the traditional view of male/female role relationships: the husband as spiritual
leader, the man in the role of protector, all male elders and ministers. And over against this we find the women's
movement, the feminist movement. We see things like issues regarding women in combat and women's ordination in
the churches challenging these traditional views of male/female role relationships.

The feminist/politically-correct agenda with regard to male/female role relationships, the egalitarian position on the
role of women in the home and in Christian ministry. The feminist/politically-correct agenda is an expression of this
larger agenda, whether they realize it or not. This is the second and most obvious ideological stumbling block for
people in our culture when it comes to male/female role relationships in our church and culture. Broadly the egalitarian
view says "that a man and woman, male and female are created as equal in all respects."

The fact that the concept of biblical manhood has been challenged in no small way has had significant impact upon
society.

B. The Results Of The Attack On Biblical Manhood - The Atlantic "The End of Men" Hanna July/August 2010

Men are simply falling behind women in almost every sector of cultural influence and economic power. This shift, she
understands, is nothing less than unprecedented in the span of human history.

Rosin begins her article with the fact that sex-selection technologies in the West are now more often used to select a
preference for girls than for boys, reversing the historical trend. Why? She explains, "Man has been the dominant sex
since,well, the dawn of mankind. But for the first time in human history, that is changing-and with shocking speed.
Cultural and economic changes always reinforce each other. And the global economy is evolving in a way that is
eroding the historical preference for male children, worldwide."

The trend and trajectory of the global economy have for some time now been headed toward female skills and talents.
This means a shift from

• Physical Strength To Intellectual Energies And Education

• Leadership Models Associated With Males Toward Nurturing Leadership Models Associated With Women.

Nothing has brought this into clearer sight than the current global recession. In the united States, the recession has
been dubbed a "he-cession," due to the fact that three-quarters of the 10 million jobs lost were lost by men. Even
more devastating to men, most of these jobs will not return ,given the vast changes the recession has brought about.

"The worst-hit industries were overwhelmingly male and deeply identified with macho:
construction, manufacturing, high finance. Some of these jobs will come back," Rosin
predicts, "but the overall pattern of dislocation is neither temporary nor random."

It's not just the United States, either. In Iceland, Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir (the first openly-lesbian head
of state) ran her campaign for office with a pledge to end the "age of testosterone."

For the first time in US history, women now outnumber men in the workforce. The working class, "which has long
defined our notions of masculinity, "Rosin argues, is "slowly turning into a matriarchy, with men increasingly absent
from the home and women making all the decisions."

Why? "The postindustrial economy is indifferent to men's size and strength. The attributes that are most valuable
today-social intelligence, open communication, the ability to sit still and focus-are, at a minimum, not predominately
male."
Rosin actually makes two main points, and both demand attention. The first has to do with what is taking place in
working class families. The matriarchy Rosin describes is now coming more fully into view. In many cases, it is
husbands and fathers who are unemployed and wives and mothers who have paying jobs. This means a huge shift in
male function, and many men just exit the family process or forfeit decision making. Rosin refers to these men as
"casualties of the end of the manufacturing era." Across the nation, older men are increasingly unemployed and
younger men face little hope of a job in this sector-the virtual birthright of previous generations.

Of the fifteen job classifications marked for future growth, men dominate only two: janitorial services and computer
engineering. The same pattern is now extending to managerial and professional roles, where women currently hold
51.4 percent of jobs. Why are women gaining and men falling behind? Rosin explains,

• 54 % All Accountants Are Women

• 50% Of All Banking And Insurance Jobs Are Held By Women
• 33% Of America's Physicians Are Women
• 45 % Of Law Firms Associates Are Women

A white-collar economy values raw intellectual horsepower, which men and women have in equal amounts. It also
requires communication skills and social intelligence, areas in which women, according to many studies, have a slight
edge. Perhaps most important-for better or worse-it increasingly requires formal education credentials, which women
are
more prone to acquire, particularly early in adulthood.

Office environments and corporate cultures are adapting to women, reshaped by the gender transformation of the last
twenty-five years.

Rosin says "We can see with absolute clarity that in the coming decades the middle class will be dominated by
women."

We've all heard about the collegiate gender gap:

• 60% Of Master's Degrees

• 50% Of All Law And Medical Degrees
• 42% Percent Of All M.B.A.S
• 60% Percent Of All Bachelor's Degrees

In a stark reversal since the 1970s, men are now more likely than women to hold only a high-school diploma.

While many theories to explain this pattern have been offered, no one can argue with the numbers. Boys are clearly
falling behind girls in both educational achievement and aspiration. The long-term consequences of this shift are
momentous and virtually impossible to reverse in a single generation.

This pattern has vast implications for marital prospects, since women express a strong preference to marry a man of
equal or greater educational and professional potential. The collapse of the marriage culture within the working class,
Rosin argues, is due to the fact that women are in control and have set expectations "too high for the men around
them to meet."

Today’s men are often insecure about their own identity. The reasons can be many. But one of the main reasons is
undoubtedly the fact that so many boys grow up alone with their mother, or experience difficult situations when a new
partner moves in with her. The absence of a good man is a fundamental problem for all too many young boys. The
fact that so many boys today grow up without a faithful and good father at their side is, according to the Norwegian
social anthropologist Jan Brøgger "without historic parallels". The results of this are among other things an increase in
violence, because male energy isn’t being channeled in a healthy way. The police inspector Arne Danne in Stockholm
said therefore in an interview several years ago, "The reason for the violence is that men no longer bring up men. In
the whole of the western world the need is the same: positive manliness".

Since 1963:

• Violent Crime Has Increased Over 500%

• Illegitimate Births Have Increased 400%
• Divorces Increased 400%
• Children Living In Single-Parent Homes Have Increased 300%
• Teenage Suicide Increased 200%
 • S.A.T. Scores Have Dropped Almost 80 Points, Despite Huge Education Spending Increases
• Crime Among The Very Young (7-12 Year Olds) Has Increased 60% In The Last Few Years.

For Christians, the importance of this article is even greater. God intended for men to have a role as workers,
reflecting God's own image in their vocation. The most important issue here is not the gains made by women, but the
displacement of men. This has undeniable consequences for these men and for everyone who loves and depends on
them.

The failure of boys to strive for educational attainment is a sign of looming disaster. Almost anyone who works with
youth and young adults will tell you that, as a rule, boys are simply not growing up as fast as girls. This means that
their transition to manhood is stunted, delayed, and often incomplete. Meanwhile, the women are moving on.

What does it mean for large sectors of our society to become virtual matriarchies? How do we prepare the church to
deal with such a world while maintaining biblical models of manhood and womanhood?

The elites are awakening to the fact that these vast changes point to a very different future. Christians had better
know that matters far more important than economics are at stake. These trends represent nothing less than a
collapse of male responsibility, leadership, and expectations. The real issue here is not the end of men, but the
disappearance of manhood.

That’s just one article on the topic from someone who does NOT come to the question with a biblical worldview.

QUESTION – What would YOU say are the effects of an erosion of the biblical view of manhood?

So, let’s ask the following questions:

What does a man look like? In the midst of all of the foolish, and contradictory messages that we are bombarded with
today, how are we to keep ourselves from being squeezed into some sub-biblical concept? How does the church of
the living God equip our young men, sons, fathers and the women in our midst with a proper understanding that
glorifies God and empowers men to become conformed to the proper image?

C. Overview To Biblical Manhood - The Distinguishing And Biblical Marks Of A Man

This list is taken from The Marks Of Manhood by Dr. Albert Mohler

When does a boy become a man? The answer to this must go far beyond biology and chronological age. As defined
in the Bible, manhood is a functional reality, demonstrated in a man's fulfillment of responsibility and leadership.

With this in mind, let me suggest thirteen marks of biblical manhood. The achievement of these vital qualities marks
the emergence of a man who will demonstrate true biblical masculinity.

1. Spiritual Maturity Sufficient To Lead A Wife And Children

The Bible is clear about a man's responsibility to exercise spiritual maturity and spiritual leadership. Of course, this
spiritual maturity takes time to develop, and it is a gift of the Holy Spirit working within the life of the believer. The
disciplines of the Christian life, including prayer and serious Bible study, are among the means God uses to mold a
boy into a man and to bring spiritual maturity into the life of one who is charged to lead a wife and family.

This spiritual leadership is central to the Christian vision of marriage and family life. A man's spiritual leadership is
not a matter of dictatorial power, but of firm and credible spiritual leadership and influence. A man must be ready to
lead his wife and his children in a way that will honor God, demonstrate godliness, inculcate Christian character and
lead his family to desire Christ and to seek God's glory.

Spiritual maturity is a mark of true Christian manhood, and a spiritually immature man is, in at least this crucial
sense, spiritually just a boy.

2. Personal Maturity Sufficient To Be A Responsible Husband And Father

True masculinity is not a matter of exhibiting supposedly masculine characteristics devoid of the context of
responsibility. In the Bible, a man is called to fulfill his role as husband and father. Unless granted the gift of celibacy
for gospel service, the Christian boy is to aim for marriage and fatherhood. This is assuredly a counter-cultural
assertion, but the role of husband and father is central to manhood.
 Marriage is unparalleled in its effect on men, as it channels their energies and directs their responsibilities to the
devoted covenant of marriage and the grace-filled civilization of the family. They must aspire to be the kind of man a
Christian woman would gladly marry and children will trust, respect, and obey.

3. Economic Maturity Sufficient To Hold An Adult Job And Handle Money

Advertisers and marketers know where to aim their messages — directly at adolescent boys and young men. This
particular segment of the population is inordinately attracted to material goods, popular entertainment, sporting
events and other consumer options. The portrait of young manhood made popular in the media and presented as
normal through entertainment is characterized by economic carelessness, self-centeredness and laziness.
A real man knows how to hold a job, handle money with responsibility and take care of the needs of his wife and
family. A failure to develop economic maturity means that these young men often float from job to job, and take
years to "find themselves" in terms of career and vocation.

Once again, an extended adolescence marks a huge segment of today's young male population. Slothfulness,
laziness and economic carelessness are marks of immaturity. A real man knows how to earn, manage and respect
money. A Christian man understands the danger that comes from the love of money, and fulfills his responsibility as
a Christian steward.

4. Physical Maturity Sufficient To Work And Protect A Family

Unless afflicted by injury or illness, a boy should develop the physical maturity that, by stature and strength, marks
recognizable manhood. Of course, men come in many sizes and demonstrate different levels of physical strength,
but common to all men is a maturity, through which a man demonstrates his masculinity by movement, confidence
and strength.

A man must be ready to put his physical strength on the line to protect his wife and children and to fulfill his God-
assigned tasks. A boy must be taught to channel his developing strength and emerging size into a self-
consciousness of responsibility, recognizing that adult strength is to be combined with adult responsibility and true
maturity.

5. Sexual Maturity Sufficient To Marry And Fulfill God's Purposes

Even as the society celebrates sex in every form and at every age, the true Christian man practices sexual integrity,
avoiding pornography, fornication, all forms of sexual promiscuity and corruption. He understands the danger of
lust, but rejoices in the sexual capacity and reproductive power God has put within him, committing himself to find a
wife, and to earn her love, trust and admiration — and eventually to win her hand in marriage.

It's critical that men respect this incredible gift, and to protect this gift until, within the context of holy marriage, they
are able to fulfill this gift, love their wives, and look to God's gift of children. Male sexuality separated from the
context and integrity of marriage is an explosive and dangerous reality. The boy must understand, even as he
travels through the road of puberty and an awakened sexuality, that he is accountable to God for his stewardship of
this great gift.

6. Moral Maturity Sufficient To Lead As Example Of Righteousness

Stereotypical behavior on the part of young males is, in the main, marked by recklessness, irresponsibility and
worse. As a boy grows into manhood, he must develop moral maturity as he aspires to righteousness, learning to
think like a Christian, act like a Christian and show others how to do the same. The Christian man is to be an
example to others, teaching by both precept and example.

Of course, this requires the exercise of responsible moral reasoning. True moral education begins with a clear
understanding of moral standards, but must move to the higher level of moral reasoning by which a young man
learns how biblical principles are translated into godly living and how the moral challenges of his day must be met
with the truths revealed in God's inerrant and infallible word.

7. Ethical Maturity Sufficient To Make Responsible Decisions

To be a man is to make decisions. One of the most fundamental tasks of leadership is decision-making. The
indecisiveness of so many contemporary males is evidence of a stunted manhood.
Of course, a man does not rush to a decision without thought, consideration or care, but a man does put himself on
the line in making a decision — and making it stick. This requires an extension of moral responsibility into mature
 ethical decision-making that brings glory to God, is faithful to God's word and is open to moral scrutiny. A real man
knows how to make a decision and live with its consequences — even if that means that he must later acknowledge
that he has learned by making a bad decision, and then by making the appropriate correction.

8. Worldview Maturity Sufficient To Understand What Is Really Important

An inversion of values marks our postmodern age, and the predicament of modern manhood is made all the more
perplexing by the fact that many men lack the capacity of consistent worldview thinking. For the Christian, this is
doubly tragic, for our Christian discipleship must be demonstrated in the development of a Christian mind.

The Christian man must understand how to interpret and evaluate issues across the spectrum of politics,
economics, morality, entertainment, education and a seemingly endless list of other fields. The absence of
consistent biblical worldview thinking is a key mark of spiritual immaturity.

A boy must learn how to translate Christian truth into genuine Christian thinking. He must learn how to defend
biblical truth before his peers and in the public square, and he must acquire the ability to extend Christian thinking,
based on biblical principles, to every arena of life.

9. Relational Maturity Sufficient To Understand And Respect Others

Psychologists now talk of "emotional intelligence," or EQ, as a major factor in personal development. While the
world has given much attention to IQ, EQ is just as important. Individuals who lack the ability to relate to others are
destined to fail at some of life's most significant challenges and will not fulfill some of their most important
responsibilities and roles.

By nature, many boys are inwardly directed. While girls learn how to read emotional signals and connect, many
boys lack the capacity to do so, and seemingly fail to understand the absence of these skills. While a man is to
demonstrate emotional strength, constancy and steadfastness, he must be able to relate to his wife, his children, his
peers, his colleagues and a host of others in a way that demonstrates respect, understanding and appropriate
empathy. This will not be learned by playing video games and by entering into the privatized world experienced by
many male adolescents.

10. Social Maturity Sufficient To Make A Contribution To Society

While the arena of the home is an essential and inescapable focus of a man's responsibility, he is also called out of
the home into the workplace and the larger world as a witness, and as one who will make a contribution to the
common good.

God has created human beings as social creatures, and even though our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, we must
also fulfill our citizenship on earth. A boy must learn to fulfill a political responsibility as a citizen, and a moral
responsibility as a member of a human community. The Christian man bears a civilizational responsibility, and boys
must be taught to see themselves as shapers of the society even as the church is identified by our Lord as both salt
and light.

Similarly, a Christian man must learn how to relate to unbelievers, both as witness and as fellow citizens of an
earthly kingdom.

11. Verbal Maturity Sufficient To Communicate And Articulate As A Man

A man must be able to speak, to be understood and to communicate in a way that will honor God and convey God's
truth to others. Beyond the context of conversation, a boy must learn how to speak before larger groups,
overcoming the natural intimidation and fear that comes from looking at a crowd, opening one's mouth, and
projecting words.

Though not all men will become public speakers, every man should have the ability to take his ground, frame his
words, and make his case when truth is under fire and when belief and conviction must be translated into argument.

12. Character Maturity Sufficient To Demonstrate Courage Under Fire

The literature of manhood is replete with stories of courage, bravery and audacity. At least, that's the way it used to
be. Now, with manhood both minimalized and marginalized by cultural elites, ideological subversion and media
 confusion, we must recapture a commitment to courage that is translated into the real-life challenges faced by the
Christian man.

At times, this quality of courage is demonstrated when a man risks his own life in defense of others, especially his
wife and children, but also anyone who is in need of rescue. More often, this courage is demonstrated in taking a
stand under hostile fire, refusing to succumb to the temptation of silence and standing as a model and example to
others, who will then be encouraged to stand their own ground.

In these days, biblical manhood requires great courage. The prevailing ideologies and worldviews of this age are
inherently hostile to Christian truth and are corrosive to Christian faithfulness.

It takes great courage for a boy to commit himself to sexual purity and for a man to devote himself unreservedly to
his wife. It takes great courage to say no to what this culture insists are the rightful pleasures and delights of the
flesh. It takes courage to serve as a godly husband and father, to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. It takes courage to maintain personal integrity in a world that devalues the truth, disparages God's word, and
promises self-fulfillment and happiness only through the assertion of undiluted personal autonomy.

A man's true confidence is rooted in the wells of courage, and courage is evidence of character. In the end, a man's
character is revealed in the crucible of everyday challenges. For most men, life will also bring moments when
extraordinary courage will be required, if he is to remain faithful and true.

13. Biblical Maturity Sufficient To Lead At Some Level In The Church

A close look at many churches will reveal that a central problem is the lack of biblical maturity among the men of the
congregation and a lack of biblical knowledge that leaves men ill equipped and completely unprepared to exercise
spiritual leadership.

Boys must know their way around the biblical text, and feel at home in the study of God's Word. They must stand
ready to take their place as leaders in the local church.

While God has appointed specific officers for his church — men who are specially gifted and publicly called — every
man should fulfill some leadership responsibility within the life of the congregation. For some men, this may mean a
less public role of leadership than is the case with others. In any event, a man should be able to teach someone,
and to lead in some ministry, translating his personal discipleship into the fulfillment of a godly call.

There is a role of leadership for every man in every church, whether that role is public or private, large or small,
official or unofficial. A man should know how to pray before others, to present the Gospel, and to stand in the gap
where a leadership need is apparent.

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

Genesis 1: 26 - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue
it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life , I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day.

Genesis 2: 7- And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is Euphrates.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought
them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam
there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

QUESTION – Why are men forbidden to make images that represent God?

ANSWER– Because man has commanded man NOT to make an image of God, but to BE the image of God!

QUESTION – What does it mean to bear God’s image?

A. God, His existence and attributes, are known through His creation:

Psalm 19 - For the choir director; a Psalm of David.

1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world

Romans 1: 18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their
speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and
four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored
among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,
who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for
that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire
toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of
their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do
those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they
are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they
not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

B. Retaining God’s Image

Even fallen man today, still retains the image of God:

James 3: 8 – no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

C. Bearing God’s Image

Christians carry God’s image in greater measure since we are being conformed to the One who redeemed us with His
blood for the very purpose of glorifying God with our lives and enjoying Him forever!

Matthew 5:16 - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father who is in heaven.

Men who have been purchased from sin through Jesus Christ have been freed from the bondage of self to live for the
glory of God in all things. Through the way we live, we want others – friends, family members, co-workers – to see
something of the truth and grace of God in Christ, with the aim that they will be encouraged to seek Him for their own
salvation.

1. Rational & Spiritual

Man alone is able to worship God and has reasoning ability that exceeds that of other species.

2. Dominion

Man is to be a sub-ruler ruling over the earth to make it beautiful and exercise authority over all living things.

3. Original Righteousness

Adam is the “son of God” Luke 3:38 and was to bear God’s image in righteousness.

4. Revealing God In What We Do

Colossians 3: 9 - Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the
One who created him--
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord
forgave you, so also should you.

The great issues of our lives are not the amassing of personal fortunes (which others will
receive after we die), not the enjoyment of maximum pleasure and recreation while we
can (which substitutes the worship of self for the worship of God), and not the
accumulation of earthly power (which we must lose in the end). The single greatest issue
fo our lives is this: revealing the glory of God to a sin-darkened world so that He will be
praised and that lost sinners will be saved by coming to know the Lord. The great
purpose of our lives is to reveal the glory and grace of God both by what we do and why
who we are.

The Masculine Mandate – Richard D. Phillips

What a difference it makes when a Christian man realizes that he does not have to be a fighter pilot, a movie star,
or a pro athlete to have a life of significance and value.
 It means that we need to get into the game – not a sports game on television, but the true and real contest for
souls that is going on all around us. It means we should devote ourselves to strengthening our own faith and
drawing need to God so we can be used to strengthen others.

QUESTION – How can we practically reveal God to others?

• Encouraging someone who is down • New neighbors

• Encourage someone with the Word of God • Older neighbors
• Provide counsel to those confused and • Friends making bad decisions
battered by life

God called Adam to enter into His labor, making the original garden more fruitful and spreading its bounty across
the world.

5. Revealing God In Who We Are

2 Corinthians 3: 17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

D. Keys To The Transformation

1. God’s Word

Romans 12: 2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Psalm 1: 3 - He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its
leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

2. Prayer

What do you do when you have an issue that you can’t bear? Anger, envy, pride, laziness, or lust and
pornography? Can we just will ourselves to Christ-likeness? No! We are simply too weak and sin is too strong.
We lack the power to rise above our flesh on our own.

1 John 5: 14 - This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He
hears us.

James 4: 2 – You do not have, because you do not ask.

3. Baptism & The Lord’s Table

Closing Illustration

When George Jaeger took his three sons and an elderly grandfather out on the Atlantic
Ocean for a fishing trip, he had no premonition of the horror that he would face in a matter of
hours. Before he would step on shore again, Jaeger would watch each son and then his
father die, victims of exhaustion and lungs filled with water.

The boat's engine had stalled in the late afternoon. While increasing winds whipped the sea
into great waves, the boat rolled helplessly in the water and then began to list dangerously.
When it became apparent that they were sinking, the five Jaeger men put on their life vests,
tied themselves together with a rope, and slipped into the water. It was 6:30 p.m. when the
sinking craft disappeared and the swimmers set out to work their way toward shore.

Six-foot waves and a strong current made the swimming almost impossible. First one boy,
and then another -- and another . . . swallowed too much water. Helpless, George Jaeger
watched his sons and then his father die. Eight hours later, he staggered onto the shore, still
pulling the rope that bound the bodies of the other four to him.

'I realized they were all dead -- my three boys and my father -- but I guess I didn't want to
accept it, so I kept swimming all night long,' he said to reporters. 'My youngest boy, Clifford,
was the first to go. I had always taught our children not to fear death because it was being
with Jesus Christ. Before he died I heard him say, 'I'd rather be with Jesus than go on
fighting.' "

Performance under stress is one test of effective leadership. It may also be the proof of
accomplishment when it comes to evaluating the quality of a father. In that awful Atlantic
night, George Jaeger had a chance to see his three sons summon every ounce of the
courage and self-control he had tried to build into them. The beautiful way they died said
something about the kind of father George Jaeger had been for fifteen years.

The Effective Father – Gordon MacDonald

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”

I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 1 – Man In The Garden

Read Genesis 1 - 3 – Discover what God created Adam to do.

 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 2 – 13 March 2011

INTRODUCTION

Images Of Men & Fathers For The Television Generation

TV dads of the 1950s and early '60s were the fathers we hoped for with the family lives we dreamed of. Dad worked a
boring but steady 9-to-5 while mom was at home to manage the kids in a middle-class suburban bubble.

Jim Anderson (“Father Knows Best”) - Iconic Jim Anderson from “Father Knows Best” returned from his insurance job
every evening, removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves to solve the problems of the family — crises that ranged from
prom dates to homework to burnt pot roast.

"In early depictions of the father, particularly on ‘Leave It To Beaver’ and ‘Father Knows Best,’ dads are these guiding and
almost godlike figures in the family," says pop culture expert Al Martin. "The classic archetype of a 1950s dad was to bring
home the bacon, get involved in the children's lives and be the wise disciplinarian."

Ward Cleaver (“Leave It To Beaver”) - Family life was simple, often spent around the dinner table talking about the
day's events. Dad was the patriarch and moral compass of the family. “Leave It To Beaver's” Ward Cleaver ended every
show with wise words and a life lesson for his sons. And Cleaver, unlike his on-screen successors with smart-aleck kids,
always had the last word.

Ben Cartwright - Bonanza

Andy Taylor – The Andy Griffith Show

My Three Sons

Jed Clampett & The Beverly Hillbillies

Mr. Bill & A Family Affair

Mr. Eddie’s Father

"We really began to see the splintered dad in the late 1960s and the 1970s," says Dwight DeWerth-Pallmeyer, director of
communication studies at Widener University in Pennsylvania. After the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal, American
idealism was breaking down and so were our father figures.

Archie Bunker of “All In The Family,” as an example, was flawed and harbored bitter prejudices, which reflected a "very
different image of the father and a greater societal disenchantment," says DeWerth-Pallmeyer.

Changes in broader society and family dynamics were increasingly showcased on camera in the next few decades.

“Brady Bunch” dad Mike Brady was one of TV's first stepfathers, and his blended family of six kids was a far cry from
mom, dad, 2.5 kids and a dog (although they did have a dog, Tiger, for two seasons).

Charles Ingalls – Little House On The Praire

The Waltons

Steven Keaton from “Family Ties” together with wife Elyse both worked full-time

Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show.” – both worked full time. “The Cosby Show” offered an updated
version of “Father Knows Best.” The Huxtables shared economic and parenting responsibilities, while the character co-
created and played by Bill Cosby maintained the role of the wise and loving father. Yet, he wasn't perfect. And unlike
previous television moms, Clair was strong, independent and an equal counterweight on the show.
Suddenly dad was no longer the sole provider. "Roles of dads started to shift with the rise of first and second wave
feminism," says Martin. "We began seeing women working outside of the home and as strong female heads of
household."

The late '80s and into the '90s featured the rise of the idiot dad. Martin says that in an attempt to counteract and ridicule
authority and patriarchy, TV moms became overly strong and TV dads turned into buffoons.

Al Bundy on “Married With Children” an anti-dad who would rather be anywhere else than with his family.

Carl Winslow Family Matters

Danny Tanner – Full House

Howard Cunningham – Happy Days

Homer Simpson - “The Simpsons” started a wave of deplorable, idiot dads who need more mothering by their wives
than their kids. Homer Simpson (D’oh!) was more often seen drinking, belching and tripping up rather than doing any real
parenting.

Tom Bradford – Eight Is Enough

Dan Connor - Roseanne

Hal – Malcolm In The Middle

Tony Soprano – The Sopranos

Ray Barone - Everybody Loves Raymond - Roush describes the family on “Everybody Loves Raymond” as "suffering"
the dad character, Ray Barone. The mom, Debra, is the one who keeps the family together. "She thinks he's an idiot and
tells him so," Roush says. "Dads used to rule the roost, but now they come home and are like, 'Oh God, what have I come
home to?'"

Peter Griffin “Family Guy”

ABC's “Modern Family” more accurately represents the range of family structures acceptable today. The show breaks
ground by portraying a same-sex couple that struggles through adoption and fatherhood and an older father with a start-
over family. "It used to be that father knew best, and then we started to wonder if he knew anything at all," says Matt
Roush, senior television critic at TV Guide Magazine. "Dads became bumbling fools and the butts of jokes."

But after moving from wise dads to clueless dads, today's TV fathers are beginning to find a balance. "With cutting edge
shows and reality television, we're starting to get a more realistic view of fatherhood," says celebrity dad Dean McDermott,
who stars in Oxygen network's reality show “Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood” with his wife, Tori Spelling, and their
three kids.

McDermott recently hosted a TV Guide Network special called Modern TV Dads, which examined the latest crop of
television fathers.

Modern Family - He points to shows like ABC's “Modern Family” as more accurately representing the range of family
structures acceptable today. The show breaks ground by portraying a same-sex couple that struggles through adoption
and fatherhood and an older father with a start-over family.

While past shows delved into dual-earning parenthood, modern series are portraying moms as sole breadwinners. "With
more women in the workforce, dads are also stepping up to the plate to be stay-at-home dads and the main parent,"
McDermott says.

Joel and Julia of “Parenthood,” – Joel is a nurturing stay-at-home dad and Julia is a high powered lawyer. The show
also follows several different types of paternal characters — a grandfather, a breadwinner and an accidental dad — and
all are portrayed as capable, loving fathers who may not know what they're doing but are trying their best.

"We're getting a real insight into dads now," says McDermott. "Parenthood doesn't come with a manual, and we're seeing
dads make mistakes and in different situations. It's about time. It takes the pressure off us."
Images Of Men & Fathers For God’s People

Psalm 101: 1 - I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O LORD, I will sing praises.
2 - I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity
of my heart.
3 - I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not fasten its grip
on me.
4 - A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.
5 - Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; no one who has a haughty look and an arrogant
heart will I endure.
6 - My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a
blameless way is the one who will minister to me.
7 - He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who speaks falsehood shall not maintain
his position before me.
8 - Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, so as to cut off from the city of the LORD all those who
do iniquity.

PRAY FOR US TO HAVE A GOD HONORING VISION

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

Genesis 1: 26 - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.

N.B. Man is to serve by maintaining God’s creation and to be a sub-reagent.

Read page 96 of Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood

Genesis 1: 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of
all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth,
wherein there is life , I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day.

Now, in chapter 2, God moves in for a close up view of what is happening.

Genesis 2: 7- And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.

We are immediately struck here by the difference between man and the remainder of creation. What is it? It is the fact that
there is a deeply personal and intimate forming of man. MUCH more than just a gathering of particles.

Ezekiel 37: 7 - So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a
shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came
up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me,
Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me,
and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

N.B. God in His sovereign design creates individuals for His purposes and breathes into them life through the power of
His Spirit and His Word

Genesis 2: 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had
formed.
 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is Euphrates.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

N.B. Man is placed into the garden. A special place to meet with God and to fulfill his role as image bearer, covenant
relationship with God and with women. This is diametrically opposed to the idea of Elldredge’s “Wild At Heart” which
insists that men are boys running from one wilderness adventure to another. God is the one who placed Adam in the
garden and pronounced it good.

Genesis 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought
them unto Adam to see what he (Adam) would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam
there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

QUESTION – Why are men forbidden to make images that represent God?

ANSWER– Because God created man NOT to make an image of God, but to BE the image of God!

QUESTION – What does it mean to bear God’s image?

A. God, His existence and attributes, are known through His creation:

Psalm 19 - For the choir director; a Psalm of David.

1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world

Romans 1: 18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in
their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of
birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored
among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for
that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire
toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of
their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved
mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they
are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of
death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

B. Retaining God’s Image

Even fallen man today, still retains the image of God:

James 3: 8 – no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

C. Bearing God’s Image

Christians carry God’s image in greater measure since we are being conformed to the One who redeemed us with His
blood for the very purpose of glorifying God with our lives and enjoying Him forever!

Matthew 5:16 - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father who is in heaven.

Men who have been purchased from sin through Jesus Christ have been freed from the bondage of self to live for the
glory of God in all things. Through the way we live, we want others – friends, family members, co-workers – to see
something of the truth and grace of God in Christ, with the aim that they will be encouraged to seek Him for their own
salvation.

1. Rational & Spiritual

Man alone is able to worship God and has reasoning ability that exceeds that of other species. See how He
communicates with Man:

Genesis 1: 28 – And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Genesis 3: 8 - And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

You and I are to have rational relationships with God who is a communicator and seeks out relationships with
others. If we bear His image, we are to worship God and engage in relationships with others in our world.

2. Dominion

Man is to be a sub-ruler ruling over the earth to make it beautiful and exercise authority over all living things.
These verses indicate that they are to make the earth even more fruitful! Man represents God by exercising His
authority over all living things.

Genesis 1: 26 - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Your world may NOT be very big, but it is your and my world! God’s expectation is that we are to be fruitful,
replenish the earth, and to master the task God gives us to do. It’s not passive, but active, engaged involvement.

3. Original Righteousness

Adam is the “son of God” Luke 3: 38 and was to bear God’s image in righteousness. Look at the very root of the
lineage of Christ through Joseph:

Luke 3: 38 - Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the
son of God

4. Revealing God In What We Do

Colossians 3: 9 - Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the
One who created him--
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord
forgave you, so also should you.

The great issues of our lives are not the amassing of personal fortunes (which others will
receive after we die), not the enjoyment of maximum pleasure and recreation while we
can (which substitutes the worship of self for the worship of God), and not the
accumulation of earthly power (which we must lose in the end). The single greatest issue
fo our lives is this: revealing the glory of God to a sin-darkened world so that He will be
praised and that lost sinners will be saved by coming to know the Lord. The great
purpose of our lives is to reveal the glory and grace of God both by what we do and why
who we are.

The Masculine Mandate – Richard D. Phillips

What a difference it makes when a Christian man realizes that he does not have to be a fighter pilot, a movie star,
or a pro athlete to have a life of significance and value.

It means that we need to get into the game – not a sports game on television, but the true and real contest for
souls that is going on all around us. It means we should devote ourselves to strengthening our own faith and
drawing need to God so we can be used to strengthen others.

QUESTION – How can we practically reveal God to others?

• Encouraging someone who is down • Protective

• Encourage someone with the Word of God • Generous
• Provide counsel to those confused and • Tender
battered by life • Benevolent
• New neighbors • Patient
• Older neighbors • Redemptive
• Friends making bad decisions • Accountable
• Productive

God called Adam to enter into His labor, making the original garden more fruitful and spreading its bounty across
the world.
 5. Revealing God In Who We Are

2 Corinthians 3: 17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

D. Keys To The Transformation & Restoration

1. God’s Word

Romans 12: 2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Psalm 1: 3 - He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its
leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Joshua 1: 7 – 9 - Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the
law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest
prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and
of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou
goest.

James 1: 21 - Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Ephesians 5: 25 – 27 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.

John 8: 31 – 32 - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye
my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

2. Prayer

What do you do when you have an issue that you can’t bear? Anger, envy, pride, laziness, or lust and
pornography? Can we just will ourselves to Christ-likeness? No! We are simply too weak and sin is too strong.
We lack the power to rise above our flesh on our own.

1 John 5: 14 - This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He
hears us.

James 4: 2 – You do not have, because you do not ask.

3. Baptism & The Lord’s Table

1 Corinthians 10: 16 - The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The
bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”
I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 2 – The Masculine Mandate & Chapter 3 – Man’s Sacred Calling To Work

Read Psalm 104 – Discover what God’s work is and identify how you are part of what He does.
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 3 – 20 March 2011

INTRODUCTION & Review

Images Of Men & Fathers For God’s People – Psalm 101

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

A. God’s Existence And Attributes Are Known Through Creation

B. Retaining God’s Image

C. Bearing God’s Image

1. Rational & Spiritual

2. Dominion

3. Original Righteousness

4. Revealing God In What We Do

QUESTION – How can we practically reveal God to others?

• Encouraging someone who is down • Protective

• Encourage someone with the Word of God • Generous
• Provide counsel to those confused and • Tender
battered by life • Benevolent
• New neighbors • Patient
• Older neighbors • Redemptive
• Friends making bad decisions • Accountable
• Productive

God called Adam to enter into His labor, making the original garden more fruitful and spreading its bounty across
the world.

5. Revealing God In Who We Are

2 Corinthians 3: 17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

D. Keys To The Transformation & Restoration

1. God’s Word

Romans 12: 2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Psalm 1: 3 -He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf
does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Joshua 1: 7 – 9 - Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the
law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest
prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt
make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and
 of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou
goest.

James 1: 21 - Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

Ephesians 5: 25 – 27 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 27
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.

John 8: 31 – 32 - Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye
32
my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

2. Prayer

What do you do when you have an issue that you can’t bear? Anger, envy, pride, laziness, or lust and
pornography? Can we just will ourselves to Christ-likeness? No! We are simply too weak and sin is too strong.
We lack the power to rise above our flesh on our own.

1 John 5: 14 - This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He
hears us.

James 4: 2 – You do not have, because you do not ask.

3. Baptism & The Lord’s Table – The Ordinances

1 Corinthians 10: 16 - The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The
bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

III. Working And Keeping

A. Work – abad - Hebrew

Genesis 1: 28 - Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth

Genesis 2: 5 – Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the
LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate (work) the ground

Genesis 2: 15 - Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate (work) it and
keep it

Genesis 3: 23 - The LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate (work) the ground from which
he was taken

A man’s working life is to be spent accomplishing things, usually as part of a company or other grouping of people.
We are to invest our time, our en3ergies, our ideas, and our passions in bringing good things into being. A faithful
man, then, is one who has devoted himself to cultivatihng, building and growing.

Christian men should also desire to more than money for themselves, their families and to be able to share; Christian
men should also desire to cultivate something worthwhile for the glory of God and the well-being of their fellow men.
This may include an emphasis on tending the hearts of those given into our charge. We need to plow up and nurturer
to hearts of children; sons and daughters. We need to tend to the care of our wives as well.

B. Keep- Hebrew - shmar

The basic meaning is to “guard” or “protect”. Hebrew watch, guard, prtect, take under custody, or exercise care.

God is shamar – the guardian and keeper; He is our strong fortress.

Psalm 121: 1 - I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?
2 - My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
 3 - He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 - Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 - The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 - The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 - The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
8 - The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.

We are called, not only to cultivate, (work) but to keep and protect. We are to cultivate, build grow, and guard; not
standing idly by and allowing harm or permitting wickedness. We are to keep others safe within the covenant
relationships we enter.

How do we “keep” (guard, protect) in the following environs:

• In families: _______________________________________________________________

• In work: _______________________________________________________________

• In society: _______________________________________________________________

Is your place a small place? Tend it with care. He set you there.

Is your place a large place? Guard it with care! He set you there.

Whate’er your place, it is not yours alone, but His who set you there.

John Oxenham

C. The Sacred Call To Work

Nobody respects a man who doesn’t work. It’s just as simple as that. It’s OK for a man to
be dumb, or ugly or even a little unpleasant, so long as he works hard. But nothing is
worse than a guy who won’t work.
The Masculine Mandate - Randy Phillips

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary
Anonymous

Some of us are like wheelbarrows - only useful when pushed, and very easily upset

Jack Herbert

Work has problems in a fallen world and still, every man has at some time the deep satisfaction of a job well done.

QUESTION - Why does labor have this built in reward?

ANSWER – We were made for work!

1. God Is A Workman!

Psalm 104: 1 - Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor
and majesty,
2 - Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
3 - He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the
wings of the wind;
4 - He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.
5 - He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.
6 - You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 - At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 - The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them.
9 - You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 - He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains;
11 - They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
 12 - Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.
13 - He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 - He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth
food from the earth,
15 - And wine which makes man's heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which
sustains man's heart.
16 - The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 - Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.
18 - The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim.
19 - He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.
20 - You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.
21 - The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God.
22 - When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens.
23 - Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.
24 - O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your
possessions.
25 - There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great.
26 - There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.
27 - They all wait for You To give them their food in due season.
28 - You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 - You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust.
30 - You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.
31 - Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works;
32 - He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 - I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 - Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.
35 - Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more Bless the LORD, O my soul, praise
the LORD!

2. God Rewards Work!

QUESTION – What is the reward of work?

Proverbs 14: 23 - In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty

Profit - _____________________________________________________

Psalms 128: 2 - When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you

Happiness - ____________________________________________________________

Acts 20: 35 - In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Ephesians 4: 28 - Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful
with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Supply of other’s needs - __________________________________________________________

Ecclesiastes 5: 12 - The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their
abundance permits them no sleep.

Restful sleep - _______________________________________________________________

1Timothy 5: 17 - The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those
whose work is preaching and teaching.

Double honor - _______________________________________________________________

1 Corinthians 15: 58 – Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
 Philippians 2: 16 - as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I
did not run or labor in vain.

Not in vain - _____________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 25: 21 - His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I
will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

Reward is a promotion AND the pleasure of God for EVER! ____________________________________

Work is a gift of God, not a punishment for sin. Even before the fall humanity had duties
to perform.
Genesis: A Commentary - Bruce Waltke

3. God Prescribes How Work Is To Be Done

Exodus 20: 9 – Six days you shall labor and do all your work

One of the commandments - ______________________________________________

Psalm 104: 23 – Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.

From morning until night - _________________________________________________

1 Thessalonians 4: 11 - that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with
your own hands, as we commanded you

With the hands - _________________________________________________________

2 Thess 3:10 - For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall
he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but
are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they
work in quietness and eat their own bread.

Shrinking from work is denounced - ____________________________________________

Psalm 90: 10 - As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their
pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.

To life’s end - ______________________________________________________________

Ecclesiastes 2: 11 - Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had
exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

With Him because without Him it is vanity! - ________________________________________

Exodus 28: 2 – You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
3 "You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make
Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

Exodus 31: 6 - And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan;
and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you

Exodus 35: 10 - Let every skillful man among you come, and make all that the LORD has commanded

Exodus 36: 1 - Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the LORD has put skill and
understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in
accordance with all that the LORD has commanded." 2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful
person in whom the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it.!!
!
1 Chronicles 15: 22 - Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing
because he was skillful
 We are to use the gifts He gives us! - __________________________________________

Some of the richest materials were to be provided and the best artists employed in the
making of them, whose skill God, by a special gift for this purpose, would improve to a
very high degree. Eminence, even in common arts, is a gift of God, it comes from him,
and, as there is occasion, it ought to be used for him. He that teaches the husbandman
discretion teaches the tradesman also; both therefore ought to honour God with their
gain. Human learning ought particularly to be consecrated to the service of the
priesthood, and employed for the adorning of those that minister about holy things

Commentary On Exodus - Matthew Henry

Colossians 3: 22 - Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as
men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not
to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you
serve

With the right heart attitude and perspective! - ________________________________________

Of ourselves we may have but little weight, no particular talents or position or anything
else to put into the scale, but let us remember that again and again God has shown that
the influence of a very average life, when once really consecrated to Him, may outweigh
that of almost any number of merely professing Christians. Such lives are like Gideon’s
three hundred, carrying not even the ordinary weapons of war, but only trumpets and
lamps and empty pitchers, by whom the Lord wrought great deliverance, while He did not
use the others at all. For He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things that are mighty.
Kept for the Master’s Use - Frances Ridley Havergal

In chapter one, devoted to “Diligence,” Watchman Nee notes that our Lord criticized the man in his parable in
Matthew 25:24–30 as being both “wicked” and “slothful,” Nee warns his readers about laziness, saying:

Look at the apostles. How diligent they were! Think of the colossal amount of work Paul
accomplished in a life-time. See him traveling from place to place, preaching the gospel
wherever he goes, or reasoning intently with individuals; even when he is put in prison he
is still buying up opportunities—preaching to all who come in contact with him and writing
to those from whom he has been cut off. Read what he writes to Timothy from prison:
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season.” Imprisonment might restrict Paul’s
outward movements, but it could not limit the effectiveness of his ministry. What spiritual
wealth he ministered through his prison epistles! There was not a shred of laziness about
Paul; he was always taking time by the forelock.

The Normal Christian Worker - Watchman Nee

Closing Illustration

Most everything I needed to know in life I learned in high school football. My team was a
melting pot of ethnic flavors, coached by a similarly broad mix of committed men. My
mentor was a 6’5", 260-pound persuader named Manny Penaflor.

As the giant on the defensive line (I weighed in at 172 pounds, minus gear), Manny would
often start with me when demonstrating a point. One day as we lined up for scrimmage,
Manny decided to capture a teaching opportunity. He had a peculiar way of seizing our
attention—he grabbed your face mask and pulled you up real close, so you wouldn’t miss
a single word.

On this particular day, he grabbed my face mask and yelled in his distinctive accent,
“Chank, you’re a defensive tackle, not the whole team. I don’t want you playing the whole
field. Here’s your job.”
 He let me go and used his foot to scratch a ten-foot by ten-foot square around my spot on
the line. “Chank, you see this square?” I couldn’t miss it. “This square is yours. Anybody
from the other team who comes into this square, it’s you job to put them on their butt. You
got that?”

When he was convinced I understood my assignment, he moved to the middle guard,

Ernie Norton, and went through the same theatrics. Property rights were assigned in 100-
square-foot increments to five linemen and two linebackers. None of us could ever say
we didn’t know what was expected of us. We knew our personal responsibilities.

I think of Manny often when I tense up over what needs to be done on a global scale. I
have a tendency to become frustrated, then fatalistic, because I can’t get my arms
around all there is to do. It’s at those moments that I need to remember I’m not assigned
the whole planet. I’ve only been entrusted with a particular slice of it. This is the portion of
the world for which God will one day hold me accountable.

Total Life Management - Bob Shank

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”

I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 5 – Man As Shepherd Lord

What the leadership of Biblical Men looks like according to:

Genesis 2: 19 – 20 - _______________________________________________________________________

Ephesians 4: 11 – 16 – _________________________________________________________________

1 Peter 5: 1 – 5 - _________________________________________________________________

Nehemiah 2 - _________________________________________________________________

1 Samuel 17 - _________________________________________________________________

Deuteronomy 11 - _________________________________________________________________
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 4 – 27 March 2011

INTRODUCTION & Review

Images Of Men & Fathers For God’s People – Psalm 101

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

A. God’s Existence And Attributes Are Known Through Creation

B. Retaining God’s Image

C. Bearing God’s Image

D. Keys To The Transformation & Restoration

1. The Word

2. Prayer

3. Baptism & The Lord’s Table – The Ordinances

III. Working And Keeping

A. Work – abad - Hebrew

B. Keep- Hebrew - shmar

C. The Sacred Call To Work

Nobody respects a man who doesn’t work. It’s just as simple as that. It’s OK for a man to
be dumb, or ugly or even a little unpleasant, so long as he works hard. But nothing is
worse than a guy who won’t work.
The Masculine Mandate - Randy Phillips

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary
Anonymous

Some of us are like wheelbarrows - only useful when pushed, and very easily upset

Jack Herbert

Work has problems in a fallen world and still, every man has at some time the deep satisfaction of a job well done.

QUESTION - Why does labor have this built in reward?

ANSWER – We were made for work!

1. God Is A Workman!

2. God Rewards Work!

QUESTION – What is the reward of work?

Proverbs 14: 23 - In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty

Profit - _____________________________________________________
 Psalms 128: 2 - When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you

Happiness - ____________________________________________________________

Acts 20: 35 - In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Ephesians 4: 28 - Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful
with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Supply of other’s needs - __________________________________________________________

Ecclesiastes 5: 12 - The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their
abundance permits them no sleep.

Restful sleep - _______________________________________________________________

1Timothy 5: 17 - The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those
whose work is preaching and teaching.

Double honor - _______________________________________________________________

1 Corinthians 15: 58 – Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Philippians 2: 16 - as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I
did not run or labor in vain.

Not in vain - _____________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 25: 21 - His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I
will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

Reward is a promotion AND the pleasure of God for EVER! ____________________________________

Work is a gift of God, not a punishment for sin. Even before the fall humanity had duties
to perform.
Genesis: A Commentary - Bruce Waltke

3. God Prescribes How Work Is To Be Done

Exodus 20: 9 – Six days you shall labor and do all your work

One of the commandments - ______________________________________________

Psalm 104: 23 – Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.

From morning until night - _________________________________________________

1 Thessalonians 4: 11 - that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with
your own hands, as we commanded you

With the hands - _________________________________________________________

2 Thess 3:10 - For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall
he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but
are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they
work in quietness and eat their own bread.

Shrinking from work is denounced - ____________________________________________

Psalm 90: 10 - As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their
pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.

To life’s end - ______________________________________________________________

Ecclesiastes 2: 11 - Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had
exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

With Him because without Him it is vanity! - ________________________________________

Exodus 28: 2 – You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
3 "You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make
Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

Exodus 31: 6 - And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan;
and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you

Exodus 35: 10 - Let every skillful man among you come, and make all that the LORD has commanded

Exodus 36: 1 - Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the LORD has put skill and
understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in
accordance with all that the LORD has commanded." 2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful
person in whom the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it.!!
!
1 Chronicles 15: 22 - Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing
because he was skillful

We are to use the gifts He gives us! - __________________________________________

Some of the richest materials were to be provided and the best artists employed in the
making of them, whose skill God, by a special gift for this purpose, would improve to a
very high degree. Eminence, even in common arts, is a gift of God, it comes from him,
and, as there is occasion, it ought to be used for him. He that teaches the husbandman
discretion teaches the tradesman also; both therefore ought to honour God with their
gain. Human learning ought particularly to be consecrated to the service of the
priesthood, and employed for the adorning of those that minister about holy things

Commentary On Exodus - Matthew Henry

Colossians 3: 22 - Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as
men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not
to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you
serve

With the right heart attitude and perspective! - ________________________________________

Of ourselves we may have but little weight, no particular talents or position or anything
else to put into the scale, but let us remember that again and again God has shown that
the influence of a very average life, when once really consecrated to Him, may outweigh
that of almost any number of merely professing Christians. Such lives are like Gideon’s
three hundred, carrying not even the ordinary weapons of war, but only trumpets and
lamps and empty pitchers, by whom the Lord wrought great deliverance, while He did not
use the others at all. For He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things that are mighty.
Kept for the Master’s Use - Frances Ridley Havergal
 In chapter one, devoted to “Diligence,” Watchman Nee notes that our Lord criticized the man in his parable in
Matthew 25:24–30 as being both “wicked” and “slothful,” Nee warns his readers about laziness, saying:

Look at the apostles. How diligent they were! Think of the colossal amount of work Paul
accomplished in a life-time. See him traveling from place to place, preaching the gospel
wherever he goes, or reasoning intently with individuals; even when he is put in prison he
is still buying up opportunities—preaching to all who come in contact with him and writing
to those from whom he has been cut off. Read what he writes to Timothy from prison:
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season.” Imprisonment might restrict Paul’s
outward movements, but it could not limit the effectiveness of his ministry. What spiritual
wealth he ministered through his prison epistles! There was not a shred of laziness about
Paul; he was always taking time by the forelock.

The Normal Christian Worker - Watchman Nee

D. The Sacred Call To Keep

It was distinctively the man’s role to exercise lordship in God’s garden-world. God was the King and Adam was the
sub-regent.

QUESTION - What does the leadership of Adam looks like according to:

Genesis 2: 19 - Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and
brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was
its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam
there was not found a helper suitable for him.

Genesis 2: 19 – 20 - ______________________________________________________________

Adam was God’s ordained servant as lord of the garden just as men today are to be God’s servants inour exercise of
authority. Leadership is intrinsic to the male calling in the world.

QUESTION – Why is leadership in America eroded and subject to skepticism and disdain?

1. We all have a resistance to being led especially here where independence is prized, rewarded and extolled.
(Think about children who are being told they cannot OR must not OR should not do something.)

2. We are all too familiar with leaders who used their power to get rich, abuse others and not be a blessing in their
leadership.

4. In our post-modern world, there is a general disdain and distrust of authority of ANY type!

____________________________________________________________________________

QUESTION - What does biblical leadership looks like according to:

Ephesians 4: 11 – And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some
as pastors and teachers,
12
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the
measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper
working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Ephesians 4: 11 – 16 – ___________________________________________________________
Nehemiah 2: 1 - And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was
before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.
2
So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart."
Then I was very much afraid.
3
I said to the king, "Let the king live forever Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers'
tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?"
4
Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5
I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the
city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it."
6
Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you
return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.
7
And I said to the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the
River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah,
8
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of
the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go " And the king
granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.
9
Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters Now the king
had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
10
When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them
that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.
11
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
12
And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind
to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding.
13
So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate,
inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire.
14
Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.
15
So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.
16
The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the
nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.
17
Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by
fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach."
18
I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had
spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work.
19
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked
us and despised us and said, "What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"
20
So I answered them and said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will
arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem."

Nehemiah 2 - ___________________________________________________________________

1 Samuel 17: 1 - Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which
belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
2
Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to
encounter the Philistines.
3
The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the
valley between them.
4
Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six
cubits and a span.
5
He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels
of bronze.
6
He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
7
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron;
his shield-carrier also walked before him.
8
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array?
Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
9
"If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill
him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."
10
Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together."
11
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12
Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight
sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.
13
The three older sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to
the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14
David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,
15
but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.
16
The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.
17
Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten
loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.
18
"Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your
brothers, and bring back news of them.
19
"For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines."
20
So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse
had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting
the war cry.
21
Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.
22
Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to
greet his brothers.
23
As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up
from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.
24
When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
25
The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And
it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make
his father's house free in Israel."
26
Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this
Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt
the armies of the living God?"
27
The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done for the man who kills him."
28
Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David and he
said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your
insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle."
29
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"
30
Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as
before.
31
When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.
32
David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
33
Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth
while he has been a warrior from his youth."
34
But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a
lamb from the flock,
35
I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized
him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
36
"Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them,
since he has taunted the armies of the living God."
37
And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine " And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."
38
Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with
armor.
39
David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I
cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David took them off.
40
He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the
shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.
41
Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
42
When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a
handsome appearance.
43
The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by
his gods.
44
The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts
of the field."
45
Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the
name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
46
"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from
you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild
beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
47
and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the
LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."
48
Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly
toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49
And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his
forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.
50
Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but
there was no sword in David's hand.
51
Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him,
and cut off his head with it When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52
The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the
gates of Ekron And the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.
53
The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.
54
Then David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.
55
Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army,
"Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner said, "By your life, O king, I do not know."
56
The king said, "You inquire whose son the youth is."
57
So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the
Philistine's head in his hand.
58
Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse
the Bethlehemite."

1 Samuel 17 - ___________________________________________________________________

Deuteronomy 11: 1 - You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His
ordinances, and His commandments.
2
"Know this day that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline
of the LORD your God--His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm,
3
and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land;
4
and what He did to Egypt's army, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea to
engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the LORD completely destroyed them;
5
and what He did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place;
6
and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth
and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, among all Israel--
7
but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD which He did.
8
"You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong
and go in and possess the land into which you are about to cross to possess it;
9
so that you may prolong your days on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to
their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10
"For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came,
where you used to sow your seed and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden.
11
"But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the
rain of heaven,
12
a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the
beginning even to the end of the year.
13
"It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love
the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
14
that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain
and your new wine and your oil.
15
"He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16
"Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship
them.
17
"Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no
rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving
you.
18
"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a
sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
19
"You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the
road and when you lie down and when you rise up.
20
"You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
21
so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your
fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.
 22
"For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your
God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him,
23
then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and
mightier than you.
24
"Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to
Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea.
25
"No man will be able to stand before you; the LORD your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all
the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you.
26
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27
the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today;
28
and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way
which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
29
"It shall come about, when the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it,
that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30
"Are they not across the Jordan, west of the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in
the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
31
"For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you,
and you shall possess it and live in it,
32
and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you today.

Deuteronomy 11 - ________________________________________________________________

QUESTION - What is the promise of good leadership?

2 Samuel 23: 3 - The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously,
Who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.'

____________________________________________________________________________

Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds
against them.
Robert Jarvik

You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a
solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy.

Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn - Dave Barry

QUESTION – Why is leadership like shepherding?

____________________________________________________________________________

A true leader is focused on:

• The flock
• Their needs
• Their security
• Their well-being
• Their health

The shepherd-leader has the sheep as his preoccupation, his burden, and his joy. He wearies himself in labor for the
sake of his sheep. The shepherd is the servant of the sheep; it is their growth and nurture that se the agenda for his
success. The way for Christian men to leave a lasting legacy is for us to embrace the Bbile’s model of shepherd-
leadership.
Numbers 27: 16 - May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the
congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.

____________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 78: 70 – He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His
inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands.

____________________________________________________________________________

John 10: 11 - I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

____________________________________________________________________________

3 John 4 - I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

____________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 23: 1 – The LORD is my shepherd (knowledge of the leader), I shall not want. (confidence & provision)
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; (safety and provision indicating planning and forethought – leaders
must have knowledge and the ability and willingness to learn and to put in the time and effort) He leads me beside
quiet waters. (again provision but more than just that, specific to the needs of the sheep)
3 He restores my soul; (there is an awareness of weakness and strength and the leader knows his flock well
enough to read and even anticipate) He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. (this is not
allowing them to wander wherever, but a purposeful planning for an outcome, not just drifting through life but to
have a purpose)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; (Protection is
there. Confidence is there because of danger OR even the “shadow” of danger. Everyone has had times of
apprehension and terror that were unfounded. If you have ever hunted, you know how the prey can be skittish at
times; bucks are especially prone to being cautious.) Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (These are the
tools of the shepherd’s trade. The staff was to gather the strays and be an extension of his arm. (Your leadership
and ownership may be known throughout your town / church / community and respected by others. The rod is a
short, blunt weapon to fend off aggressive predators.)
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; (Two things: a. no one can eat when they are
nervous, if someone is an adversary and present, you are NOT comfortable. Our leadership must be so pervasive
that the ones entrusted to our charge feel safe because of us and our presence. Your leadership must also
permeate so much so that your table is a place of safety and joy.) You have anointed my head with oil; My cup
overflows. (Do you feel blessed in the presence of the one who lead you? Are you someone who has received
cold, distant leadership, or is there tenderness in the care for you? We are to lead in such a way that people say
that their cup overflows.)
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD forever. (Belonging, security, eternity is mine because of the loving leadership of my Heavenly Father.)

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

1 Peter 5: 1 - I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a
partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,
2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to
the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

____________________________________________________________________________
 There IS a reward to this labor of being a leader and keeping!

Closing Illustration

Most everything I needed to know in life I learned in high school football. My team was a
melting pot of ethnic flavors, coached by a similarly broad mix of committed men. My
mentor was a 6’5", 260-pound persuader named Manny Penaflor.

As the giant on the defensive line (I weighed in at 172 pounds, minus gear), Manny would
often start with me when demonstrating a point. One day as we lined up for scrimmage,
Manny decided to capture a teaching opportunity. He had a peculiar way of seizing our
attention—he grabbed your face mask and pulled you up real close, so you wouldn’t miss
a single word.

On this particular day, he grabbed my face mask and yelled in his distinctive accent,
“Chank, you’re a defensive tackle, not the whole team. I don’t want you playing the whole
field. Here’s your job.”

He let me go and used his foot to scratch a ten-foot by ten-foot square around my spot on
the line. “Chank, you see this square?” I couldn’t miss it. “This square is yours. Anybody
from the other team who comes into this square, it’s you job to put them on their butt. You
got that?”

When he was convinced I understood my assignment, he moved to the middle guard,

Ernie Norton, and went through the same theatrics. Property rights were assigned in 100-
square-foot increments to five linemen and two linebackers. None of us could ever say
we didn’t know what was expected of us. We knew our personal responsibilities.

I think of Manny often when I tense up over what needs to be done on a global scale. I
have a tendency to become frustrated, then fatalistic, because I can’t get my arms
around all there is to do. It’s at those moments that I need to remember I’m not assigned
the whole planet. I’ve only been entrusted with a particular slice of it. This is the portion of
the world for which God will one day hold me accountable.

Total Life Management - Bob Shank

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”

I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.
PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 6 – God’s Astonishing Design For Marriage

Read and discover what these God reveals about men with relationship to women:
Genesis 2 - __________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

I Corinthians 7 – _____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 5 – 3 April 2011

I’m going to describe a community and I’d like you to tell me where it’s located:

• Adult males refuse to take initiative, responsibility and positions requiring accountability - Isaiah 3: 7
• Adult males are murdered at a very high rate causing poverty and disruption in the community and in the homes -
Isaiah 3: 25
• Everyone continually breaks God’s commandments with impunity and mock at the idea of sin - Isaiah 3: 8
• Even the women actively practice immorality shamelessly - Isaiah 3: 16
• Children rebel against authority - Isaiah 3: 5
• The actions of young people are violent, uncontrolled and rampant - Isaiah 3: 12
• Women, in the absence of male leadership, are at the heads of households, civic organizations and even those
little gatherings of believers - Isaiah 3: 12
• God begins to display evidences of his judgment and wrath against the land - Isaiah 3: 14

Review

I. Introduction - Images Of Men & Fathers For God’s People – Psalm 101

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

III. Working And Keeping

A. Work – abad - Hebrew

B. Keep- Hebrew - shmar

C. The Sacred Call To Work

D. The Sacred Call To Keep

Ephesians 4: 11 – 16 – we saw the wisdom of God in delegating and distributing gifts to others to carry on the
work and especially calling them to areas where they were equipped. There was a purpose, a goal: maturation,
growth, NOT being easily taken off target, COMMUNICATIONS were characterized NOT by a shrinking back, but
by truth in LOVE (not unnecessarily brusk and brutal). God’s leadership designed that EVERYONE contribute

Nehemiah 2: - We saw that, while not driven by emotion, Nehemiah, the “keeper” demonstrated godly leadership
in that the condition of OTHERS bore heavily on his heart. We also saw that, as a man, Nehemiah did his best to
keep his emotions in check and respected protocol and customs. When he had reason to be afraid, he was and
wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He was not defensive, but straightforward. We also saw that his godly maturity had a
healthy reliance upon God and was based on a solid relationship where he could enter God’s presence by prayer
at a moment’s notice. He had a plan, including financial arrangements, and he was very capable of
communicating it with economy. Nehemiah was wise in speaking and NOT speaking to others, methodical and
thorough in his work and research. He did his homework. He was NOT a cowboy, but realized that he needed
(and WANTED) the help of God’s people and he wasn’t shy about presenting the CHALLENGE, giving the
GLORY to God and to OTHERS who had contributed. When he faced opposition, he did NOT back down NOR
did he take the bait of false accusations .

Side Bar: On Emotions / Tears

Al Mohler talked about emotional quotient, EQ, which some say is just as important as IQ. . Individuals who lack
the ability to relate to others are supposed to be destined to fail at some of life's most significant challenges and
will not fulfill some of their most important responsibilities and roles. Mohler goes on to explain how these authors
describe how, by design, many boys are slower to pick up on the emotional status of others. While girls learn how
to read emotional signals and connect, many boys lack the capacity to do so, and seemingly fail to understand the
absence of these skills. While a man is to demonstrate emotional strength, constancy and steadfastness, he must
be able to relate to his wife, his children, his peers, his colleagues and a host of others in a way that demonstrates
respect, understanding and appropriate empathy. This will not be learned by playing video games and by entering
into the privatized world experienced by many male adolescents.

We don’t want to be men who are stuck in pursuing forms of spirituality that are light on studying truth and heavy
on endless naval gazing and self-absorption about our internal emotional states. The scriptures provide a great
display of emotion that beefy burritos of biblical burliness display:

• David and Jonathan wept together as they parted company after Saul’s vicious attacks (1 Samuel 20: 41
– 42)
• David wept for the loss of his son and his own sin (1 Samuel 18 & 19)
• Elisha wept as he foresaw the cruel evils that Hazael’s troops would commit against Israel’s women and
children (2 Kings 8: 11 – 12)
• King Hezekiah wept bitterly when he was told he would not recover from a sickness (2 Kings 20: 3)
• Israelite elders in the time of Ezra broke down in tears when the foundation for a new temple was laid
(Ezra 3: 12)
• Ezra wept over the disobedience of the Jewish men who had married pagan wives (Ezra 10: 1)
• Nehemiah was moved to tears on hearing a report of conditions at Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1: 4)
• Job poured out his tears to God after the painful loss of his goods, family, and health (Job 16: 20)
• Jesus was moved to tears at the tomb of His friend Lazarus (John 11: 33 – 36)
• Peter wept with bitter shame after he realized that he had betrayed his Lord (Matthew 26: 75)
• Paul acknowledged that he was sometimes moved to tears in his work (Acts 20: 18 – 19)

True manhood calls for discipline of character, strong determination to set a course of
action and courage to stay at a task. But brutality? Vulgarity? Lack of courtesy? Hardly.
Authentic men aren’t afraid to show affection, release their feelings, hug their children,
cry when they’re sad, admit it when they’re wrong, and ask for help when they need it.
Vulnerability fits beautifully into mature manhood. So does integrity.

Man To Man - Chuck Swindoll – (Ex-Marine)

Remember that openly flagrant display of love and relief poured out by the prodigal son’s father as he saw his
errant boy from a distance, ran, embraced and kissed him? He then threw a party. This was NO austere and
distant father. This was his dad!

1 Samuel 17: - We saw that men who were purposeful in their “keeping” were organized. Adult men, even
leaders, are afraid when there is reason to be concerned. Jesse, David’s father, demonstrated his “keeping” as
the patriarch of his family by allocating resources in his home (David protecting the sheep and caring for his
brothers). David showed that he bore God’s image by working hard, with his hands and his head in multiple jobs
(music for Saul, sheep herding, food distribution. Jesse showed “keeper” wisdom by providing for those men who
had oversight of his sons. As a “keeper” himself, David not only cared for the sheep, provided solace for Saul, but
also the welfare of his brothers. Men who are “keepers” are also concerned about truth and the honor of God.
David showed that he had the choice possession of diligence and rose up EARLY (didn’t hang around in bed
watching TV or playing MORTAL COMBAT) and wasn’t so full of himself that he didn’t obey orders. David also
showed that he was a good steward by even being careful with the suitcases! His courage and bravery did NOT
keep him from going right up to the battle line. As an adult man, David kept his eyes open and was quick to
observe and discern the situation. As someone with backbone, David stood his ground when falsely accused.

When brought before someone in Authority, this man did NOT shrink back but GAVE GLORY to God and
honestly described the reasons for his courage whil BOLDLY trusting. As someone who was a “keeper” and
concerned with truth, David didn’t back down but also had discernment to use THE TOOLS AND SKILLS with
which he was familiar and accomplished. He was RESOURCEFUL and, after victory, improvised to finish the job.

Deuteronomy 11: - Moses, even after the disappointment, demonstrates his honoring God by persevering with
Israel. He doesn’t give up on them, but remains loyal to THEM and to GOD by continuing to work with them and
not give up. Moses demonstrates His love for God and His people by ENCOURAGING THEM TO REMEMBER
God’s work in their presence and WARNS them of consequences of disobedience. He doesn’t coddle them, but
CHALLENGES them to be obedient in action AND IN HEART AFFECTION. Moses even encourages ways for
them to remind themselves and others ESPECIALLY TO TRAIN THEM TO BE KEEPERS.
18
"You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a
sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
 19
"You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the
road and when you lie down and when you rise up.
20
"You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
21
so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your
fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

As a keeper and motivator, Moses sets before them a blessing and a curse:
26
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27
the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today;
28
and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way
which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.

Remember the promise of good leadership?

2 Samuel 23: 3 - The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, 'He who rules over men righteously,
who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without
clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.'

QUESTION – Why is the role of “keeper” and leadership like shepherding?

____________________________________________________________________________

A true “keeper”, a leader is focused on:

• The flock
• Their needs
• Their security
• Their well-being
• Their health

The shepherd-leader has the sheep as his preoccupation, his burden, and his joy. He wearies himself in labor for the
sake of his sheep. The shepherd is the servant of the sheep; it is their growth and nurture that se the agenda for his
success. The way for Christian men to leave a lasting legacy is for us to embrace the Bbile’s model of shepherd-
leadership.

Numbers 27: 16 - May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the
congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.

____________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 78: 70 – He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His
inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands.

____________________________________________________________________________

John 10: 11 - I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

____________________________________________________________________________

3 John 4 - I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

____________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 23: 1 – The LORD is my shepherd (knowledge of the leader), I shall not want. (confidence & provision)

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; (safety and provision indicating planning and forethought – leaders
must have knowledge and the ability and willingness to learn and to put in the time and effort)
 He leads me beside quiet waters. (again provision but more than just that, specific to the needs of the sheep)

3 He restores my soul; (there is an awareness of weakness and strength and the leader knows his flock well
enough to read and even anticipate)

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. (this is not allowing them to wander wherever,
but a purposeful planning for an outcome, not just drifting through life but to have a purpose)

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; (Protection is
there. Confidence is there because of danger OR even the “shadow” of danger. Everyone has had times of
apprehension and terror that were unfounded. If you have ever hunted, you know how the prey can be skittish
at times; bucks are especially prone to being cautious.)

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (These are the tools of the shepherd’s trade. The staff was to gather
the strays and be an extension of his arm. Your leadership and ownership may be known throughout your town
/ church / community and respected by others. The rod is a short, blunt weapon to fend off aggressive
predators.)

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; (Two things: a. no one can eat when they are
nervous, if someone is an adversary and present, you are NOT comfortable. Our leadership must be so
pervasive that the ones entrusted to our charge feel safe because of us and our presence. Your leadership
must also permeate so much so that your table is a place of safety and joy.)

You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. (Do you feel blessed in the presence of the one who
lead you? Are you someone who has received cold, distant leadership, or is there tenderness in the care for
you? We are to lead in such a way that people say that their cup overflows.)

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD forever. (Belonging, security, eternity is mine because of the loving leadership of my Heavenly Father.)

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

1 Peter 5: 1 - I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a
partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,
2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to
the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

____________________________________________________________________________

There IS a reward to this labor of being a leader and keeping!

Most everything I needed to know in life I learned in high school football. My team was a
melting pot of ethnic flavors, coached by a similarly broad mix of committed men. My
mentor was a 6’5", 260-pound persuader named Manny Penaflor.

As the giant on the defensive line (I weighed in at 172 pounds, minus gear), Manny would
often start with me when demonstrating a point. One day as we lined up for scrimmage,
Manny decided to capture a teaching opportunity. He had a peculiar way of seizing our
attention—he grabbed your face mask and pulled you up real close, so you wouldn’t miss
a single word.

On this particular day, he grabbed my face mask and yelled in his distinctive accent,
“Chank, you’re a defensive tackle, not the whole team. I don’t want you playing the whole
field. Here’s your job.”
 He let me go and used his foot to scratch a ten-foot by ten-foot square around my spot on
the line. “Chank, you see this square?” I couldn’t miss it. “This square is yours. Anybody
from the other team who comes into this square, it’s you job to put them on their butt. You
got that?”

When he was convinced I understood my assignment, he moved to the middle guard,

Ernie Norton, and went through the same theatrics. Property rights were assigned in 100-
square-foot increments to five linemen and two linebackers. None of us could ever say
we didn’t know what was expected of us. We knew our personal responsibilities.

I think of Manny often when I tense up over what needs to be done on a global scale. I
have a tendency to become frustrated, then fatalistic, because I can’t get my arms
around all there is to do. It’s at those moments that I need to remember I’m not assigned
the whole planet. I’ve only been entrusted with a particular slice of it. This is the portion of
the world for which God will one day hold me accountable.

Total Life Management - Bob Shank

Honorable men are protectors. They will guard your heart, protect your emotions, defend
your honor and stand as champions for your spiritual, mental and physical well-being;
choose an honorable man and choose life!

Gillis Triplett

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

God created man and then placed man in the garden to be a worker and protector. Then, in Phase II of His plan,
God provided details of how he complemented His own design:

Genesis 2: 18 - Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper
suitable for him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them
to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam
there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and
closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the
man.
23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she
was taken out of Man."
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become
one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

It’s important that we notice several things:

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement. Adam was created as an
adult male and was fully engaged in communication with God, and executing his responsibilities well. There was
nothing inherently lacking in this scenario.

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet. God is intimately involved in providing the woman for man and there is
nothing that is unseemly, crass, or awkward in this magnificent process. It is a pure, and undefiled and wonderful
thing! God Himself reflects this in His word:
 Proverbs 18: 22 - He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 31: 10 - An excellent wife, who can find? Her worth is far above jewels.

In addition to these passages, there are plenty of other passages which celebrate the completion of God’s design
through bringing together couples that are truly soul mates / help meets.

Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

That men have focused and twisted this idea of completion is one which emotionally tears up men in women in
ways that last a long time. God is very concerned about maintaining his design and purity which is why there are:

So many examples of desire gone bad:

Samson – Get her; she looks good to me (Philistine wife) and then Delilah

Judges 14: 13 - Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your
relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson
said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

Amnon & Tamar –

2 Samuel 13 - 1Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was
Tamar, and Amnon the son of David loved her.
2
Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin, and
it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
3
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a
very shrewd man.
4
He said to him, "O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?"
Then Amnon said to him, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom."
5
Jonadab then said to him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say
to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight,
that I may see it and eat from her hand.'"
6
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let
my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand."
7
Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, "Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for
him."
8
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made
cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
9
She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, "Have everyone go
out from me." So everyone went out from him.
10
Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand." So Tamar
took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon.
11
When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister."
12
But she answered him, "No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not
do this disgraceful thing!
13
"As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel.
Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you."
14
However, he would not listen to her; since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
15
Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than
the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, "Get up, go away!"
16
But she said to him, "No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have
done to me!" Yet he would not listen to her.
17
Then he called his young man who attended him and said, "Now throw this woman out of my presence, and
lock the door behind her."
18
Now she had on a long-sleeved garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves
in robes. Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her.
19
Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her long-sleeved garment which was on her; and she put her hand on
her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.
 20
Then Absalom her brother said to her, "Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent,
my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart." So Tamar remained and was desolate in her
brother Absalom's house.
21
Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry.
22
But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had
violated his sister Tamar.
23
Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim,
and Absalom invited all the king's sons.
Absalom Avenges Tamar
24
Absalom came to the king and said, "Behold now, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his
servants go with your servant."
25
But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you." Although
he urged him, he would not go, but blessed him.
26
Then Absalom said, "If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us." And the king said to him, "Why
should he go with you?"
27
But when Absalom urged him, he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
28
Absalom commanded his servants, saying, "See now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say
to you, 'Strike Amnon,' then put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself commanded you? Be courageous
and be valiant."
29
The servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons
arose and each mounted his mule and fled.
30
Now it was while they were on the way that the report came to David, saying, "Absalom has struck down all the
king's sons, and not one of them is left."
31
Then the king arose, tore his clothes and lay on the ground; and all his servants were standing by with
clothes torn.
32
Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, responded, "Do not let my lord suppose they have put to
death all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead; because by the intent of Absalom this
has been determined since the day that he violated his sister Tamar.
33
"Now therefore, do not let my lord the king take the report to heart, namely, 'all the king's sons are dead,' for
only Amnon is dead."
34
Now Absalom had fled And the young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked, and behold,
many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.
35
Jonadab said to the king, "Behold, the king's sons have come; according to your servant's word, so it
happened."
36
As soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted their voices and wept; and
also the king and all his servants wept very bitterly.
37
Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son
every day.
38
So Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, and was there three years.
39
The heart of King David longed to go out to Absalom; for he was comforted concerning Amnon, since
he was dead.

Absalom – 2 Samuel 18 & 19

QUESTION – What predicated all of this?

ANSWER– David & Bathsheba – the glance!

David & Bathsheba – 2 Samuel 11 & 12

2 Samuel 11: 2 - Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's
house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

Job – saw the danger of it

Job’s sufferings caused him to make a sweeping inventory of his inner life. One of the areas he evaluated was his
attitude toward women and how he handled his own desire (Job 31:1).

Job openly acknowledged the power of desire and especially sexual appetites. He catalogued the steps of sexual
lust from “looking upon a virgin” (Job 31:1), to allowing one’s heart to follow one’s eyes (Job 31:7), to finally
allowing oneself to be enticed by a woman and then scheming to have her (Job 31:9).
 Some may see this progression as normal, natural, or unavoidable. But Job viewed lust as a serious moral failure
(Job 31:11). He spoke of it in the same context with:

• falsehood and deceit (Job 31:5);

• oppression of slaves (Job 31:13–15);
• mistreatment of the poor (Job 31:16, 19–20);
• abuse or neglect of widows (Job 31:16, 18);
• taking food out of the mouth of starving orphans (Job 31:17–18, 21);
• rejoicing over the misfortunes of others, even if they are one’s enemies (Job 31:29–30);
• trusting in wealth (rather than in God, Job 31:24); and
• hypocrisy (Job 31:33–34).

Warnings especially to young men in Proverbs about corrupt desire:

Proverbs 6: 25 - Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. 26 For by
means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. 27 Can
a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be
seared? 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

Solomon himself said that the process of corruption that desire can unfold is nefarious:

Proverbs 30: 18 - There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19 The way of
an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a
man with a maid. 20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have
done no wickedness.

The fourth is a mystery of iniquity, more unaccountable than any of these; it belongs to
the depths of Satan, that deceitfulness and that desperate wickedness of the heart which
none can know (Jer. 17:9). The cursed arts which a vile adulterer has to debauch a maid,
and to persuade her to yield to his wicked and abominable lust. This is what a wanton
poet wrote a whole book of, long since, De arte amandi—On the art of love. By what
pretensions and protestations of love, and all its powerful charms, promises of marriage,
assurances of secrecy and reward, is many an unwary virgin brought to sell her virtue,
and honour, and peace, and soul, and all to a base traitor; for so all sinful lust is in the
kingdom of love. The more artfully the temptation is managed the more watchful and
resolute ought every pure heart to be against it.

Commentary On The Proverbs - Matthew Henry

We are enticed by desire:

James 1: 14 - Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

So many passages warning against corrupt desire

Fornication is any sexual relationship outside the bonds of marriage. The technical distinction between
fornication and adultery is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves at least one person
who is unmarried. But the New Testament often uses the term in a general sense for any unchastity. Of the seven
lists of sins found in the writings of Paul, the word "fornication" is found in five of them (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:11;
Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5)

Comes from evil heart Matthew 15: 19

Comes from Satan 1 John 3: 8–12
Comes from Flesh James 1: 14 - 15
Comes from World 2 Pet. 1:4

Unbelievers and lust:

They live and walk in Ephesians 2: 3

Lust sins against the body 1 Corinthians 6: 18
Lust is deceitful Ephesians 4: 22
 Lust is harmful 1 Timothy 6: 9
Lusts are numerous 2 Timothy 3: 6
They are punished with Romans 1: 24 – 32
Lust excludes from God’s kingdom 1 Corinthians 6: 9

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Ephesians 2: 3 - Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved),
6
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7
so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus.
8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Believers must AND CAN resist lust

Romans 13: 13 - Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust,
not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

1 Peter 2: 11 - Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the
soul,

1 Peter 4: 1 - Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he
who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2
so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
3
For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a
course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.

Lust disrupts Christian fellowship 1 Corinthians 5: 9 - 11

We are to consider it dead Colossians 3: 5
We must deny our desires before they turn to sin Titus 2: 12
We are to lee from 2 Timothy 2: 22
We are not to carry out the desires of the flesh Galatians 5: 16

A New View of Sexuality

In an era when Greek women were often deprived both emotionally and sexually, Paul insisted that the Christian
husband should recognize and fulfill the needs of his wife (1 Cor. 7:3–6). He declared that marriage partners have
authority over each other. That means that both husband and wife were forbidden from using sex as a means of
control, but were to enjoy mutuality in that aspect of their marriage.

The gospel required a different understanding of sex and marriage than the first-century culture’s. Two thousand
years later, it still does.

Accountable for Lust

Lust is a serious sin! So it’s worth asking, how are you doing with God’s gift of sexuality? Have you allowed it to
become a consuming drive that craves others for your own pleasure? Or are you guarding your thoughts, eyes, and
steps so as to remain pure and blameless before the Lord?

Although all bones can repair themselves, ribs can regenerate themselves. Ribs are commonly removed during
surgeries that require bone grafts in other parts of the body. The rib is removed from the periosteum (a tissue
surrounding the bone) much like a banana would be removed from its peel while keeping most of the peel intact.
The periosteum must remain, as it contains osteoblasts which build the new rib bone.

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.
 2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”

I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 6 – God’s Astonishing Design For Marriage

Read and discover what these God reveals about men with relationship to women:
Genesis 2 - __________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

I Corinthians 7 – _____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 6 – 10 April 2011

Review

I. Introduction - Images Of Men & Fathers For God’s People – Psalm 101

II. The Image Of God In Man – The Starting Point

III. Working And Keeping

A. The Sacred Call To Work – God as worker

B. The Sacred Call To Keep – Our Lord is our Shepherd - Emotions

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

God created man and then placed man in the garden to be a worker and protector. Then, in Phase II of His plan,
God provided details of how he complemented His own design:

Genesis 2: 18 - Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper
suitable for him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them
to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam
there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and
closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the
man.
23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she
was taken out of Man."
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become
one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

It’s important that we notice several things:

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement. Adam was created as an
adult male and was fully engaged in communication with God, and executing his responsibilities well. There was
nothing inherently lacking in this scenario.

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet. God is intimately involved in providing the woman for man and there is
nothing that is unseemly, crass, or awkward in this magnificent process. It is a pure, and undefiled and wonderful
thing! God Himself reflects this in His word:

Proverbs 18: 22 - He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 31: 10 - An excellent wife, who can find? Her worth is far above jewels.

In addition to these passages, there are plenty of other passages which celebrate the completion of God’s design
through bringing together couples that are truly soul mates / help meets.
Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

1 Corinthians 9: 5 - Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and
the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

1 Corinthians 7: 2 - Each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

1 Corinthians 7: 7 - Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am However, each man has his own gift from
God, one in this manner, and another in that.
8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Let’s clear something up . . . .

Colossians 1: 13 - 24 - For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His
beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He
Himself will come to have first place in everything.
19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through
Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and
blameless and beyond reproach -
23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the
gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a
minister.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the
church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

In the Colossian church there were several misconceptions about Jesus Christ that Paul directly refuted in this
section.

Spirit is good, flesh is bad, and that Jesus could not be both human and divine.

Some believed that God did not create the world because he would not have created evil and, from what we all
know and experience, this world is fallen! Many of these beliefs had their root in Platonism and Greek mythology.

Sophia (Greek for "wisdom") refers to the final and lowest emanation of God. She is
considered to have fallen from grace in some way, in so doing creating or helping to
create the material world; the creator of this world being 'Demiurge'. Sophia gave birth to
the Demiurge, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality. Demiurge was seen to
have created the world poorly and imperfectly, resulting in a material world filled with
decay, suffering, weakness and death. Human beings are thus imperfect vessels trapping
the human spirit and a spark of a higher spiritual reality within; holding the human spirit
'captive'. The spark of the higher spiritual realm, or gnosis, trapped inside every living
human, if developed fully, is believed to liberate a person and help him evolve into
spiritual perfection. This is a process of self-discovery, whereby one discovers one's
divine identity, one separates from the psychical world by stripping away the
consciousness of the physical body, whereupon one can finally experience God's
kingdom of peace, light and life.

Believing that matter is evil, false teachers argued that God would NOT have come to earth as a true human being
in bodily form. Paul stated that Jesus Christ is the image - the exact likeness - of God and is Himself God, and yet
he truly died on the cross as a human being.
 Paul proclaimed that Jesus Christ, who was also God in the flesh, participated in the creation of the universe.

Jesus Christ was not one of many intermediaries between God and people. Paul explained that Jesus Christ
existed before anything else as the One True and Living God and is also the firstborn of those resurrected.

Christ is the source of salvation, people can NOT find God through special and secret intellectual knowledge. In
contrast Paul openly proclaimed the way of salvation to be through Jesus Christ alone ( see Acts 2:38). Paul
continued to bring the argument back to Christ.

Paul confronts the errors - the heresy said that the mind was supreme - but Paul shows that our minds are actually
an enemy of the truth before we have faith in Jesus.

Colossians 1: 21 - And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind

Isaiah 59: 2 - But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden
His face from you so that He does not hear.

That’s what sin does - alienates, makes us “not a part” of what God is. It also makes us think unlike Him. So for us
to imagine that our own philosophies can explain and understand God apart from faith then we are fooling
ourselves.“

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without
blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held
out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Again, Paul comes back to the theme of the mind and the body. God
brought us back into relationship - not through philosophy or thought or some spiritual mumbo jumbo - but through
the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Gnostics taught that the gospel was a mystery - but to know the answers you had to have special knowledge
open only to a select intellectual few. It’s awfully convenient - and a great way to avoid debate over the truth - but
the truth is that the mystery - that God was saving man through a man -- Jesus - was hidden, but now fully revealed.

It is sin and NOT the physical world that separates us from God. Sin, not flesh is the problem.

Bottom line: God’s design of passion and desire is NOT evil and should be seen as a gift!

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

That men have focused and twisted this idea of completion is one which emotionally tears up men in women in
ways that last a long time. God is very concerned about maintaining his design and purity which is why there are:

So many examples of desire gone bad:

Samson – Get her; she looks good to me (Philistine wife) and then Delilah

Judges 14: 13 - Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your
relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson
said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

Amnon & Tamar –

2 Samuel 13 - 1Now it was after this that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was
Tamar, and Amnon the son of David loved her.
2
Amnon was so frustrated because of his sister Tamar that he made himself ill, for she was a virgin, and
it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
3
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a
very shrewd man.
4
He said to him, "O son of the king, why are you so depressed morning after morning? Will you not tell me?"
Then Amnon said to him, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom."
5
Jonadab then said to him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill; when your father comes to see you, say
to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come and give me some food to eat, and let her prepare the food in my sight,
that I may see it and eat from her hand.'"
6
So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill; when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let
my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand."
7
Then David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, "Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for
him."
8
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, and he was lying down. And she took dough, kneaded it, made
cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
9
She took the pan and dished them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, "Have everyone go
out from me." So everyone went out from him.
10
Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the bedroom, that I may eat from your hand." So Tamar
took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the bedroom to her brother Amnon.
11
When she brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister."
12
But she answered him, "No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not
do this disgraceful thing!
13
"As for me, where could I get rid of my reproach? And as for you, you will be like one of the fools in Israel.
Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you."
14
However, he would not listen to her; since he was stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
15
Then Amnon hated her with a very great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than
the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, "Get up, go away!"
16
But she said to him, "No, because this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you have
done to me!" Yet he would not listen to her.
17
Then he called his young man who attended him and said, "Now throw this woman out of my presence, and
lock the door behind her."
18
Now she had on a long-sleeved garment; for in this manner the virgin daughters of the king dressed themselves
in robes. Then his attendant took her out and locked the door behind her.
19
Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her long-sleeved garment which was on her; and she put her hand on
her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.
20
Then Absalom her brother said to her, "Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now keep silent,
my sister, he is your brother; do not take this matter to heart." So Tamar remained and was desolate in her
brother Absalom's house.
21
Now when King David heard of all these matters, he was very angry.
22
But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had
violated his sister Tamar.
23
Now it came about after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim,
and Absalom invited all the king's sons.
Absalom Avenges Tamar
24
Absalom came to the king and said, "Behold now, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his
servants go with your servant."
25
But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, we should not all go, for we will be burdensome to you." Although
he urged him, he would not go, but blessed him.
26
Then Absalom said, "If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us." And the king said to him, "Why
should he go with you?"
27
But when Absalom urged him, he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
28
Absalom commanded his servants, saying, "See now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say
to you, 'Strike Amnon,' then put him to death. Do not fear; have not I myself commanded you? Be courageous
and be valiant."
29
The servants of Absalom did to Amnon just as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons
arose and each mounted his mule and fled.
30
Now it was while they were on the way that the report came to David, saying, "Absalom has struck down all the
king's sons, and not one of them is left."
31
Then the king arose, tore his clothes and lay on the ground; and all his servants were standing by with
clothes torn.
32
Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, responded, "Do not let my lord suppose they have put to
death all the young men, the king's sons, for Amnon alone is dead; because by the intent of Absalom this
has been determined since the day that he violated his sister Tamar.
33
"Now therefore, do not let my lord the king take the report to heart, namely, 'all the king's sons are dead,' for
only Amnon is dead."
34
Now Absalom had fled And the young man who was the watchman raised his eyes and looked, and behold,
many people were coming from the road behind him by the side of the mountain.
35
Jonadab said to the king, "Behold, the king's sons have come; according to your servant's word, so it
happened."
36
As soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king's sons came and lifted their voices and wept; and
also the king and all his servants wept very bitterly.
 37
Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son
every day.
38
So Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, and was there three years.
39
The heart of King David longed to go out to Absalom; for he was comforted concerning Amnon, since
he was dead.

Absalom – 2 Samuel 18 & 19

QUESTION – What predicated all of this?

ANSWER– David & Bathsheba – the glance!

David & Bathsheba – 2 Samuel 11 & 12

2 Samuel 11: 2 - Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's
house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

Job – saw the danger of it

Job’s sufferings caused him to make a sweeping inventory of his inner life. One of the areas he evaluated was his
attitude toward women and how he handled his own desire (Job 31:1).

Job openly acknowledged the power of desire and especially sexual appetites. He catalogued the steps of sexual
lust from “looking upon a virgin” (Job 31:1), to allowing one’s heart to follow one’s eyes (Job 31:7), to finally
allowing oneself to be enticed by a woman and then scheming to have her (Job 31:9).

Some may see this progression as normal, natural, or unavoidable. But Job viewed lust as a serious moral failure
(Job 31:11). He spoke of it in the same context with:

• falsehood and deceit (Job 31:5);

• oppression of slaves (Job 31:13–15);
• mistreatment of the poor (Job 31:16, 19–20);
• abuse or neglect of widows (Job 31:16, 18);
• taking food out of the mouth of starving orphans (Job 31:17–18, 21);
• rejoicing over the misfortunes of others, even if they are one’s enemies (Job 31:29–30);
• trusting in wealth (rather than in God, Job 31:24); and
• hypocrisy (Job 31:33–34).

Warnings Especially To Young Men In Proverbs About Corrupt Desire:

Proverbs 6: 25 - 29 - Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by
means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a
man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be
seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

Solomon himself said that the process of corruption that desire can unfold is nefarious:

Proverbs 30: 18 - 20 - There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way
of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a
man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have
done no wickedness.

The fourth is a mystery of iniquity, more unaccountable than any of these; it belongs to
the depths of Satan, that deceitfulness and that desperate wickedness of the heart which
none can know (Jer. 17:9). The cursed arts which a vile adulterer has to debauch a maid,
and to persuade her to yield to his wicked and abominable lust. This is what a wanton
poet wrote a whole book of, long since, De arte amandi—On the art of love. By what
pretensions and protestations of love, and all its powerful charms, promises of marriage,
assurances of secrecy and reward, is many an unwary virgin brought to sell her virtue,
and honour, and peace, and soul, and all to a base traitor; for so all sinful lust is in the
kingdom of love. The more artfully the temptation is managed the more watchful and
resolute ought every pure heart to be against it.
 Commentary On The Proverbs - Matthew Henry

We are enticed by desire:

James 1: 14 - 15 - Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

So many passages warning against corrupt desire

Fornication is any sexual relationship outside the bonds of marriage. The technical distinction between
fornication and adultery is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves at least one person
who is unmarried. But the New Testament often uses the term in a general sense for any unchastity. Of the seven
lists of sins found in the writings of Paul, the word "fornication" is found in five of them (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:11;
Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5)

Comes from evil heart Matthew 15: 19

Comes from Satan 1 John 3: 8–12
Comes from Flesh James 1: 14 - 15
Comes from World 2 Pet. 1:4

Unbelievers and lust:

They live and walk in Ephesians 2: 3

Lust sins against the body 1 Corinthians 6: 18
Lust is deceitful Ephesians 4: 22
Lust is harmful 1 Timothy 6: 9
Lusts are numerous 2 Timothy 3: 6
They are punished with Romans 1: 24 – 32
Lust excludes from God’s kingdom 1 Corinthians 6: 9

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Ephesians 2: 3 - Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Men must AND CAN resist lust

Romans 13: 13 - 14 - Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and
lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

1 Peter 2: 11 - Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the
soul,

1 Peter 4: 1 - Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who
has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a
course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.

Lust disrupts Christian fellowship 1 Corinthians 5: 9 - 11

We are to consider it dead Colossians 3: 5
We must deny our desires before they turn to sin Titus 2: 12
We are to lee from 2 Timothy 2: 22
 We are not to carry out the desires of the flesh Galatians 5: 16

A New View of Sexuality

In an era when Greek women were often deprived both emotionally and sexually, Paul insisted that the Christian
husband should recognize and fulfill the needs of his wife (1 Cor. 7:3–6). He declared that marriage partners have
authority over each other. That means that both husband and wife were forbidden from using sex as a means of
control, but were to enjoy mutuality in that aspect of their marriage.

The gospel required a different understanding of sex and marriage than the first-century culture’s. Two thousand
years later, it still does.

Accountable for Lust

Lust is a serious sin! So it’s worth asking, how are you doing with God’s gift of sexuality? Have you allowed it to
become a consuming drive that craves others for your own pleasure? Or are you guarding your thoughts, eyes, and
steps so as to remain pure and blameless before the Lord?

Although all bones can repair themselves, ribs can regenerate themselves. Ribs are commonly removed during
surgeries that require bone grafts in other parts of the body. The rib is removed from the periosteum (a tissue
surrounding the bone) much like a banana would be removed from its peel while keeping most of the peel intact.
The periosteum must remain, as it contains osteoblasts which build the new rib bone.

Today’s Challenge

The preacher says these words from the pulpit as they celebrated the life of a saint at their homecoming.

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

In Secretariat, a movie about a race horse nicknamed "Red," you hear the oft repeated theme: "Run your race." The main
character is Penny Chenery and in one scene she says:

“This is not about going back. This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it! Because you never know how far
you can go unless you run.”

I think about life, how swiftly it goes by, how the only way for us is forward.

And I think about you.

What race do you have to run? Whatever it is, take heart. You can do all things through Christ. You can face anything with
Him. And no matter what happens, you win. Yes, I believe more than ever that we all win the race of life with Jesus.
Because it's not about how or when we cross the finish line. It's about Who's waiting for us on the other side.

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 6 – God’s Astonishing Design For Marriage

Read and discover what these God reveals about men with relationship to women:
Genesis 2 - __________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 7 – 17 April 2011

I. Introduction

II. The Image Of God In Man

III. Working And Keeping

A. The Sacred Call To Work

B. The Sacred Call To Keep

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement. Adam was created as an
adult male and was fully engaged in communication with God, and executing his responsibilities well. There was
nothing inherently lacking in this scenario.

There are some who have been gifted to be single and they are not deficient in any way. We are complete in Christ
and He had all of the fullness of the Godhead.

Colossians 2: 9 - For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet. God is intimately involved in providing the woman for man and there is
nothing that is unseemly, crass, or awkward in this magnificent process. It is a pure, and undefiled and wonderful
thing! God Himself reflects this in His word:

Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

• Bottom line: God’s design of passion and desire is NOT evil and should be seen as a gift!

• Ancillary: The rejection of God’s design is a sign of a culture which rejects Him resulting in stunted
growth and self-absorption!

This is an especially important message for young adult men today, who are bombarded
with the opposite message. “Dude, don’t get married!” their friends all say. When the first
guy gets married after college, his male friends lament the occasion as if he had
contracted some fatal disease. So, while God says, “It is not good for men to be alone.”
Men tell each other to avoid marriage like the plague. As always, however, God is the
one who is right. . . . One of the biggest problems in the church today is the failure of
young adult men to value and pursue marriage. . . As a result of a male culture that fears
marriage, men in their twenties and thirties slide into sexual sin and cultivate antisocial
behaviors that perpetuate emotional and social immaturity. Today when God looks on
single males and says, “Not good,” He undoubtedly has in mind a long list of truly “unfit
helpers,” among them the pornography, video games, sports obsessions, and empty
pizza boxes that are intrinsic to so many young adult male lives, even among Christians.

The Masculine Mandate – Richard D. Phillips

In accordance with Genesis 2:24, men should seek a wife, and then to build a family, believing firmly and counter-
culturally (in many instances) that children, and, if possible, many of them, are a blessing from the Lord, a "reward
 from Him" (Psalm 127:3). Though couples may take a little time to develop healthy marriages, children should not
be avoided as an obstacle but should be pursued, though such a decision may make life tougher than it otherwise
would be.

In order to honor the Lord by filling his quiver, the man must take the burden of provision for the family squarely
upon his shoulders. Though this may be difficult at times, he is doing what he is called to do (see 1 Tim. 5:8 and
Titus 2 for starters). If he has to work two jobs, or pull a night shift, or miss out on sports, or read less books, or
make less friends, that is fine. His life is hard, but it is more importantly well-pleasing to the Lord.

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Men must AND CAN resist lust

A New View of Sexuality

In an era when Greek women were often deprived both emotionally and sexually, Paul insisted that the Christian
husband should recognize and fulfill the needs of his wife (1 Cor. 7:3–6). He declared that marriage partners have
authority over each other. That means that both husband and wife were forbidden from using sex as a means of
control, but were to enjoy mutuality in that aspect of their marriage.

The gospel required a different understanding of sex and marriage than the first-century culture’s. Two thousand
years later, it still does.

Accountable for Lust

Lust is a serious sin! So it’s worth asking, how are you doing with God’s gift of sexuality? Have you allowed it to
become a consuming drive that craves others for your own pleasure? Or are you guarding your thoughts, eyes, and
steps so as to remain pure and blameless before the Lord?

B. The Help-Meet God Created For Adam

1. Suitable

The idea is that this person is well suited and “complements” the man. No animals did, so God intimately fashioned
from Adam.

N. B. Men are NOT missing a rib. Adam’s rib regenerated. Although all bones can repair themselves, ribs can
regenerate themselves. Ribs are commonly removed during surgeries that require bone grafts in other parts of
the body. The rib is removed from the periosteum (a tissue surrounding the bone) much like a banana would be
removed from its peel while keeping most of the peel intact. The periosteum must remain, as it contains
osteoblasts which build the new rib bone.

Walter Stuber’s children were afraid that he was going to be lost after 54 years of marriage. This was to be
expected! She complemented him in many ways.

Woman is given as a companion and an associate to the man, to assist him to live well.
John Calvin
Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled
on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him,
and near his heart to be loved by him.
Matthew Henry
God has set the type of marriage everywhere throughout the creation. Every creature
seeks its perfection in another. The very heavens and earth picture it to us.
Martin Luther

2. Different

This is both a wonder and a challenge. The scripture teaches the equality of men and women in three ways:
 a. Creation

b. Fall

c. Redemption

Video - Men’s brains versus women’s brains - [Link]

Scripture teaches about the uniqueness of men and women. While created in the image of God with equality of
worth and value, men and women are different by design and function. Gender differences are apparent physically
and behaviorally. Men and women differ in the way they think, feel, act, and talk. In fact, one of the most striking
differences between the sexes is the unique ways that men and women communicate.

In recent years, the communication styles of men and women have been studied scientifically. Linguists have
documented these perceived differences. The primary purpose of these intensive investigations is not to determine
which communicative style is best or to motivate others to change completely, but to identify differences for the
purpose of understanding and adaptation. As men and women better recognize differences in communicative
styles, they can work to improve their own communication with members of the opposite sex.

In her book, You Just Don't Understand: Men and Women in Conversation (Ballantine, 1990), Deborah Tanen
asserts that "even if they grow up in the same neighborhood, on the same block, or in the same house, girls and
boys grow up in different worlds or words." These gender differences in ways of talking have been observed in
children as young as three years of age, about the time language is developed.

Boys and girls both want to get their way, but they use language differently to do so.

Little girls talk to be liked Little boys often boast to be admired

Little girls make requests Little boys make more demands
Little girls speak to create harmony Little boys jump into conflict
Little girls talk more indirectly Little boys talk directly
Little girls talk more with words Little boys use more actions

Differences in the way men and women communicate affect all relationships: husband-wife, father-daughter, mother-
son, employer-employee, and pastor-member. In fact, gender communication differences are also obvious in the
church. In hallway conversation, committee discussion, Bible study teaching, pulpit preaching, or pastoral counseling,
men and women encounter gender style differences. Scripture challenges believers to communicate more effectively
with each other.

• Men and women are to control their tongues (James 3:1-12)

• Men and women are to speak only words of kindness (Eph. 4:29, 32)
• Men and women are to listen with understanding to others who speak (Prov. 11:12; 18:2, 13; 29:20)
• Men and women are to discuss conflict with a sinning brother (Matt. 1:15)
• Men and women are to "love our neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39).
• Men and women are to search out a matter before speaking or making vows (Prov. 20: 25; Judges 11:30, 31)

3. Designed And Created For Relationship

Genesis 2: 18 - Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper
suitable for him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them
to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam
there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and
closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the
man.
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she
was taken out of Man."
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become
one flesh.
 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

QUESTION – What did Adam know about this woman that God brought to him?

We can achieve deep union with women and never cease to discover new things about them!

1 Peter 3: 7 - You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone
weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will
not be hindered.

QUESTION – What is the first thing that Adam did concerning this woman?

ANSWER – He recognized that she was part of him and communicated. He sought to understand and frame the
relationship as best he could with the limited knowledge that he had.

Genesis 3: 1 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And
he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or
touch it, or you will die.'"
4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!
5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree
was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and
he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together and made themselves loin coverings.

QUESTION – What do we know about communication between Adam and Eve according to this passage?

ANSWER – Some communication of truth, application of truth, consideration of truth. There was no discussion between
Adam and Eve concerning the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

4. Communication For Men

A godly man leads others (friends, family members or wives and children) in worshiping the Lord. Some men will
have more to say than others, but all men can read the Bible, pray with and for others, and talk with them about the
Bible's teaching and application to life. Men who do not have a great deal of confidence in their scriptural knowledge
can consult their pastors or elders for books to work through. In the same vein, men will seek to train; to disciple
their children. This type of man will set an excellent tone for church involvement and attendance and will serve the
church joyfully in whatever ways he can. He should exhibit a palpable excitement over the things of the Lord, should
evangelize when possible (and train others to do so by example and teaching), and should exude strong Christian
character in conformity with the image of Christ.

Whatever one comes up with, though, the key idea here is this: whether singleness or marriage is his calling, a man
is to live for others. He is to embrace responsibility, to stand as a spiritual tower, and to point all around him to the
gospel. As he lives for Christ, the ultimate Other, he will naturally bring grace and goodness to all around him,
making him a man who truly lives not for himself, but for others, to the greater glory of God.

Mature Christians realize that clear, loving, encouraging communication among His children is the desire of Christ's
heart. Since gender will never change, Christian men and women must understand the conversational styles of the
opposite sex.

A godly man is heavenly in his communication; his words are sprinkled with salt to
season others (Col. 4:6). As soon as Christ had risen from the grave, he was "speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). No sooner has a man risen
from the grave of unregeneracy than he is speaking of heaven: "The words of a wise
man's mouth are gracious" (Eccles. 10:12). He speaks in such a heavenly manner as if
he were already in heaven. The love he has for God will not allow him to be silent. The
spouse being love-sick; her tongue was like the pen of a ready writer: "My beloved is
white and ruddy, his head is as the most fine gold . . . " (Song 5:10,11)
 The Godly Man's Picture - Thomas Watson

How can they be termed godly:

Whose tongues are set on fire by hell? Their lips do not drop honey but. poison, to the
defiling of others. Plutarch says that speech ought to be like gold, which is of most value
when it has least dross in it. Oh, the unclean, malicious words that some people utter!
What an unsavoury stench comes from these dunghills! Those lips that gallop so fast in
sin need David's bridle (Psa. 39:1). Can the body be healthy when the tongue is black?
Can the heart be holy when the devil is in the lips? A godly man speaks "the language of
Canaan". "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another" (Mal. 3:16).

Who are possessed with a dumb devil? They never have any good discourse. They
are fluent and discursive enough in secular things: they can speak of their wares and
drugs, they can tell what a good crop they have, but in matters of religion they are as if
their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. There are many people in whose
company you cannot tell what to make of them, whether they are Turks or atheists, for
they never speak a word of Christ.

The Godly Man's Picture - Thomas Watson

A Godly Man Is A Lover Of The Word - He shows that he loves God’s word by talking
about it: "My tongue shall speak of your word." (Psa. 119:172). As a covetous man talks
of his rich purchase, so a godly man speaks of the Word. What a treasure it is, how full of
beauty and sweetness! Those whose mouths the devil has gagged, who never speak of
God's Word, indicate that they never reaped any good from it.

The Godly Man's Picture - Thomas Watson

a. Solomon’s Description Of Communications For A Godly Man

1. A godly man is kind and compassionate (12:10).

2. A godly man is honest (29:24).
4. A godly man is truthful (12:17,19).
5. A godly man exercises self-control (12:15; 16:32).
6. A godly man has a gentle tongue (12:18; 15:1-2,4).
8. A godly man is willing to be corrected and listens to counsel (12:15; 15:12,31-32; 28:13; 29:1).
9. A godly man is a man of integrity (19:1; 20:7).
10. A godly man is faithful and reliable (17:17; 29:3; contrast 25:19; 31:3).
11. A godly man is forgiving (19:11).
12. A godly man is willing to admit he is wrong (28:13).
13. A godly man is humble (15:25,33; 16:18-19; 18:12; 29:23).
14. A godly man is not contentious, but a peacemaker (17:1; 18:1,19).
15. A godly man has control of his temper (14:29; 16:32; 17:27; 29:11).
16. A godly man is a man who avoids excesses (20:1; 23:20-21, 29-35; 31:3-9).
17. A godly man has a concern for others, especially the poor and the oppressed (29:7).
18. A godly man can keep a confidence (17:9; 26:20).
19. A godly man fears God and is obedient to His Word (13:13; 14:26; 16:20; 28:25; 31:30).
20. A godly man is not a jealous man (27:4).
21. A godly man has a positive outlook on life (15:15; 17:22; 18:14).

How can they be termed godly:

Whose tongues are set on fire by hell? Their lips do not drop honey but. poison, to the
defiling of others. Plutarch says that speech ought to be like gold, which is of most value
when it has least dross in it. Oh, the unclean, malicious words that some people utter!
What an unsavoury stench comes from these dunghills! Those lips that gallop so fast in
sin need David's bridle (Psa. 39:1). Can the body be healthy when the tongue is black?
Can the heart be holy when the devil is in the lips? A godly man speaks "the language of
Canaan". "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another" (Mal. 3:16).
 Who are possessed with a dumb devil? They never have any good discourse. They
are fluent and discursive enough in secular things: they can speak of their wares and
drugs, they can tell what a good crop they have, but in matters of religion they are as if
their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. There are many people in whose
company you cannot tell what to make of them, whether they are Turks or atheists, for
they never speak a word of Christ.

The Godly Man's Picture - Thomas Watson

b. The Source of the Godly Man’s Courage In Communication

Men can swallow back their convictions and play the part of a chameleon for the sake of “harmony.”

God called and appointed us to speak the truth in love; this must burst on our conscious. As a child of God, the
Lord had issued men the Sword of Truth. Men have been too willing to abdicate that responsibility of speaking
God’s truth whenever risk of offense was involved.

It’s Impossible to be a Man of God and at the same time have a Casual Relationship to God’s Truth
(Joshua 1:8).
Now the divine mandate, for men especially, to speak God’s truth became undeniably clear. In passages such as
Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78, it was evident that the role of the believing man is that of a perpetual “truth
speaker.” Sadly in countless Christian homes, this God-given mandate of speaking God’s truth is ignored and
relegated to the job of the pastor.

In Christ, our spiritual manhood is restored so that we function as a prophet (teacher), a priest (intercessor), and a
king (protector). This three-fold role for the man can only be fulfilled if he majors in God’s truth. For the godly
man teaches, intercedes, and protects by means of divine truth.

When the truth, backed up by a godly life, is ministered, it heals, feeds, corrects, equips, preserves, builds up, and
establishes the listener. The godly man understands that the spiritual state of those in his sphere depends upon
his willingness to speak God’s truth. He must come to the point where he can tell himself, “I am not loving these
people around me properly unless I am willing to speak God’s truth to them!”

When we examine the example of the O.T. Prophets and the example of Jesus and the Apostles, it is obvious that
their truth speaking was pointed – it was not general, but filled with penetrating application for their listeners. It is
at this juncture that our courage is most likely to fail. We fear being the “heavy,” a meddler, or regarded as
judgmental, or “holier than thou.”

What enabled men like Elihu, Elijah, Daniel, and Phinehas to fearlessly speak the truth when they were a minority
of one? The answer lies in their zeal for God’s honor and glory. They knew that all of history is but a record of
the honoring and dishonoring of God, and that only those who honor God will ultimately stand (1 Sam 2:30).

The man who is willing to risk misunderstanding and rejection for the sake of the truth also knows that the
proclamation of God’s truth always involves a crossroads, or turning point. God commands repentance from
those who hear His truth. There must be ongoing repentance through which our affections and will are repeatedly
conformed to God’s truth. The progress and spiritual well-being of ourselves and our listeners are bound up in
ongoing repentance. The better we understand this, the more willing we will be to speak God’s truth without fear.

In order for a man to excel at speaking the truth, he must be accomplished at using the Sword of Truth on
himself (1 Tim 4:15, 16).
Men who can wield the Sword of Truth are animated by God’s truth – they desire God’s truth in their innermost
being (Ps 51:6). The godly man rejects the notion that truth for the believer need not rise above mental assent.
God’s truth has no power over a person unless the truth is loved (see The Religious Affections, by Jonathan
Edwards).

Where God’s truth is loved, it will be central in our conversations (Zech 8:16; Mal 3:16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:18 19).
Only when God’s truth is loved can it dominate exceptionally in our lives so as to renew us and transform us (Rom
12:1, 2). The man of God ultimately can only preach with conviction what he has first preached to his own heart.
He can only call for repentance only where the truth has produced repentance in his own life.

Truth in the Inner Man Equips the Man to Speak (Ps 145).
What must be uttered from the mountain tops must begin in the heart. We could refer to this as the principle of
the enlarged sphere. There is a logical progression in the enlargement of a man’s sphere of spiritual influence.
Each step of progression is stipulated on faithfulness in the previous step: 1.) The godly man speaks truth in his
own heart. He loves the truth in the inner man. He applies the truth to himself in ongoing repentance. 2.) The
man of God speaks truth in his home; he faithfully fulfills his role of prophet, priest, and king. 3.) The spiritual man
speaks truth in the Body of Christ. He exercises his gifts for the edification of the body. He is able to admonish
his fellow believer (Rom 15:14). 4.) He speaks the truth of the Gospel with boldness to a lost and dying
generation.

Power in evangelism must be built upon the principle of the enlarged sphere. For each step not only prepares a
man for the next step, but reveals the man’s own relationship to the truth.

The Godly Man will not have “Conflict Avoidance” as his Controlling Motive (2 Tim 3:12).
“Jesus promised those who would follow Him only three things. . .that they would be absurdly happy,
entirely fearless, and always in trouble” (Gregg Levoy).
How can a Christian man develop enough courage and boldness to stand upon, and speak his convictions
without fear of consequences? An important part of the answer to this question deals with an inescapable reality
taught in Scripture -- the godly man will be misunderstood. It is par for the course. It follows therefore that
progress in our journey toward godly courage is bound up in accepting the reality that we will face
misunderstanding and rejection because of the truth.

The Scriptures make it clear that all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12).
Jesus prepared His followers for persecution by imbuing them with the fact that they should expect the same
mistreatment that He experienced (Jn 15:18-16:4). (Though we live in a land that protects the rights of believers,
obedient Christians who stand in the truth will frequently experience rejection, ostracism, and discrimination. Our
perspective amidst mistreatment must embrace the following truth. It is an inestimable privilege to have the
antipathy meant for Christ fall upon us – John 7:7; Acts 5:41; Col 1:24).

The fear of man brings a snare (Prov 29:25).

The fear of God and the fear of man have always been, not only incompatible, but inversely proportional to one
another. The greater fear of God a man has, the less he will fear men. When by God’s grace a man answers the
call of true discipleship, his fear of man will be overtaken and ultimately consumed by the fear of God.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus faced “wanna be” followers who remained in bondage to the fear of man. John
12:42, 43 provides an authoritative record of these double minded individuals. “Nevertheless many even of the
rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be
put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

Some might be quick to excuse the desire for human approval as simply a natural tendency in men that is not a
serious sin. Jesus places this illicit craving under the spotlight in John 5:44. In this passage He warns that the
fear of man is so serious, it can keep a person from living to the glory of God. “How can you believe, when you
receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

Again, lest we excuse this sin, let us remember that Jesus reserved one of His “Woes” for the sin of man-
pleasing. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the
false prophets” (Luke 6:26).

Jesus puts this issue into sharp relief – if we live for the praise and approval of men, we are not living for the glory
of God.

APPLICATION: We must repent of our “addiction” to the approval of men. We must admit to God that we have
placed the praise of men above the approval of our Heavenly Father. We need to confess that our narcissistic
desire to be liked by all has often stolen our courage to speak the truth in love.

The Greater our Ambition to Please Christ, the more Courage we will have (2 Cor 5:9).
The ambition to please our Lord is filled with the eschatological hope of favorably greeting Him at His imminent
return. Courage is a byproduct of living to please Christ. When Christ’s approval towers over all other sources of
approval, courage becomes second nature.

Those who live to please Christ have the judgment seat of Christ etched on their consciousness (2 Cor 5:9, 10).
In essence, living to please Christ is a measure of our fear of God.
Those who live for Christ’s approval are continually weighing the glory to come against temporal losses (2 Cor
4:17, 18). As a consequence, their value system is constantly adjusted to heaven’s standard.

This fact alone enables us to see how impotent our fellow creatures are when they attempt to rightly appraise us
(1 Cor 4:3, 4). Spurgeon hit the bull’s eye when he said, “Compared to what my heavenly Father thinks of me,
the opinions of men are like so many chirping sparrows.”

APPLICATION: The one we strive most to please will necessarily be our primary evaluator. In other words, the
one we seek to please will always wind up evaluating our efforts at pleasing them. In effect, we are somewhat
suspended upon their approval or disapproval of us.

God has an incredibly liberating solution to this problem. Not only are we to make sure that all we do is in done in
love (1 Cor 16:14), but we are to do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). Paul argues that our pleasing of men
must spring from the goal not of seeking our own profit, but from the motive of seeking the other person’s eternal
welfare (1 Cor 10:32, 33). This perspective places all of our relationships under the eye of Christ’s scrutiny. The
point is we are most free and obedient when our actions are “as for the Lord rather than for men” (Col 3:22-24).

The more we regard Christ to be our “Source Person,” the more Courage we will have.
The more our hope and expectations are consolidated in Christ, the more we will be delivered from the fear and
worship of the creature. The love and approval of men is incredibly fickle. Christ alone loves us with immutable
love. Frequently the love shown by our fellows seldom rises above self interest. Most commonly, the love of the
creature is not a supernatural love that is mediated by Christ. Instead it is a natural love that goes no higher than
the perceived virtue of its object. Our fellow creatures cannot answer our deepest needs.

Fellow sinners do not carry our worth, security, and dignity. When we mistakenly assume they do, our courage
dries up. Christ alone is our “Source Person.” He alone deserves to be regarded as the unfailing channel of
every resource we need. By union with Him, we have a status before God of favor, righteousness, security, and
sonship (1 Cor 1:30).

Our Lord is a jealous lover, when we attribute too much ability to the creature to serve as a source to us, God may
allow us to experience deep disappointment. At times the Lord even orchestrates our disillusionment that we
might understand that He alone is Source. We can all recall times in which the nurture, praise, and resources
heaped upon us by a fellow creature proved in the end to flow from mercenary motives.

APPLICATION: Paul asserts that Christ is the believer’s life (Gal 2:20; Col 3:4). To the degree that we cast our
entire lot in with Christ so that He is regarded as the entire support of the soul we will have courage. If our
persons are propped up upon corruptible, mutable supports, we will lack courage. When our well being is
leveraged upon the creature, we shy away from taking the risk of boldly declaring the truth of God’s Word.

Courage is the result of habitual dependency upon the Lord. The less dependent I am upon the creature, the
more courage I will have to speak the truth to my fellow man. (EXAMPLE: Daniel was ostensibly dependent upon
Belshazzar for employment and political freedom. Yet due to Daniel’s conviction that God was the sole,
sovereign source of his care, provision, and protection, the prophet was not afraid to rebuke the monarch to his
face (Dan 5:22, 23).

The More Reverence we have for God Entrusting us with His Word, the Greater our Courage will be to
Speak it (Jer 23:28, 29).
God has made us His ambassadors. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men (2 Cor 5:11). The Apostle
Paul saw his role as a proclaimer of the Word of God to be a sacred trust that carried massive accountability.
What is striking about Paul’s testimony in Acts 20 is that his faithfulness was joined to the fact that he was never
mute when God required him to speak the Word. “Therefore I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of
the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:26,
27).

Man’s need is beyond human agency. As redeemed men, we carry in our hearts and hands the divine solution to
man’s ruinous problem. We are armed with the living and abiding Word of God (Heb 4:12).

Paul solemnly charged Timothy in the presence of God to “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:1, 2).
Timothy was to see his task of proclaiming the Word as nothing less than the very means of insuring the salvation
of his listeners (1 Tim 4:16). Paul repeatedly warned Timothy against the error of allowing timidity and neglect to
interfere with his sacred charge of teaching, preaching, and exhorting.

APPLICATION: As Christian men we have been entrusted by God with His almighty, living, sword of truth. We’ve
seen from Paul’s letters to Timothy that this sword of truth must not be allowed to remain unused like a stainless
steel blade stuck in a rusty scabbard. Those in our sphere; family, neighbors, co-workers, friends, are in need of
hearing the Word of truth from us. As with Timothy’s congregation, God has strategically placed us in a position
to speak the truth to those around us. The means God intends to use in their salvation and sanctification is tied to
our faithfulness in speaking the Word with courage.

When considering how God had entrusted him with the Gospel, Paul saw himself as a debtor to both Jews and
Greeks (Rom 1:14). This same principle of obligation applies to us. The Lord has called us to skillfully and
courageously use the “sword” issued to us in order to encourage, reprove, exhort, instruct, equip and admonish.
It will take courage to swing the sword in each of these arcs and orbs of application, but God expects nothing less
from us as Christian men.

The more highly we Esteem our Justification in Christ, the more Courage we will have to speak the Word.
Salvation involves “moral trust” in God. Saving faith involves the consent to cast the whole welfare of the soul
upon Christ that He might be our hiding place, Protector, and Deliverer.

To the degree that we make it a habit to look to Christ for our status, security, favor, and acceptance, our
penchant for self-righteousness will be mortified. By these daily, fresh acts of faith toward our Savior, we affirm
that all of our eligibility before God for blessing is carried by Christ. All “future grace,” and every future installment
of divine blessing and kindness have all been secured for us by our Savior’s Person and work.

Like the Publican who saw his only hope to be God’s mercy, the man who treasures his justification in Christ will
define himself primarily as an object of divine compassion. This mindset has a powerful impact upon our work
and service.

APPLICATION: Since our lower natures always tend to pull us in the direction of legal working and performance,
we need a daily diet of the Gospel to remind us that our status, favor, acceptance, and security are all carried by
Christ. Our labor, our fruit-bearing, and even our integrity must be to the glory of Christ, not ourselves. He must
have all the credit, for we are His workmanship (Eph 2:10).

When we drift away from overflowing gratitude for our justification in Christ, we will slide imperceptibly onto the
foundation of our own performance. If we keep moving in that direction, we will find ourselves burning incense to
our own achievements. A legal motive will raise its specter, deepening our craving for the approbation of men.
When beholden to men for the praise of our works, we will lack courage. When utterly beholden to Christ who
carries our justification, we will be liberated unto the exercise of courage for the good of our neighbor.

The Clear Conscience of the Man who Abides in Christ will show itself in Courage (Acts 24:15, 16).
We cannot make a penetrating application of God’s Word to those around us unless we ourselves welcome
examination by God’s Word. Courage in speaking the Word is dependent upon a clear conscience before God
and men (Acts 24:15, 16). Even one sin or lust “banging around” in the conscience is enough to dull the edge of
our courage. Timothy’s success in proclaiming the Word with courage depended upon his maintaining a clear
conscience (1 Tim 1:5, 19; 3:9).

God’s answer to our fear and weakness is found in the mandate to abide in Christ. “But if we walk in the light
as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son
cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

In order for us to exercise courage, the blood of the Son of God must be the loudest voice in our conscience. In
order for God’s justice at the cross to be believed and reckoned so as to silence the Accuser, we must habitually
be mortifying sin by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:12-14).

APPLICATION: The same man who turned coward when questioned by a servant girl preached the Pentecost
sermon less than two months later. The Apostle Peter’s radical move from fear to courage, according to the book
of Acts, was the result of two factors. First, he had been with Jesus. “Now as they observed the confidence of
Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and
began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Second, Peter was filled with the Holy
Spirit. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people. . .’” (Acts 4:8).
In the final analysis, God is the source of our courage. We are to allow our hearts to take courage (Ps 27:14;
31:24). The ability to act in courage is a function of waiting on the Lord. Faith’s object is the goodness of the
Lord and the confident expectation that He will preserve the faithful, and empower them to bear witness to the
truth (Jn 15:26, 27).

Those around us need our courage in speaking the Word of God. It was a penitent King David who prayed,
“Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach
transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee” (Ps 51:11, 12).

The next generation is depending upon our courage. They are waiting for our faithfulness. They will not put their
confidence in God unless they see the faith of their fathers and hear from their dads the joy of God, the works of
God, and commands of God (Ps 78:3-8).
Today’s Illustration

The Pilgrim’s Progress – Part II – The Eighth Stage

Then they went on; and just at the place where Little-Faith formerly was robbed, there stood a man with his sword drawn,
and his face all over with blood. Then said Mr. Great-Heart, Who art thou? The man made answer, saying, I am one
whose name is Valiant-for-truth. I am a pilgrim, and am going to the Celestial City. Now, as I was in my way, there were
three men that did beset me, and propounded unto me these three things: 1. Whether I would become one of them. 2. Or
go back from whence I came. 3. Or die upon the place. Prov. 1:11-14. To the first I answered, I had been a true man for a
long season, and therefore it could not be expected that I should now cast in my lot with thieves. Then they demanded
what I would say to the second. So I told them that the place from whence I came, had I not found incommodity there, I
had not forsaken it at all; but finding it altogether unsuitable to me, and very unprofitable for me, I forsook it for this way.
Then they asked me what I said to the third. And I told them my life cost far more dear than that I should lightly give it
away. Besides, you have nothing to do thus to put things to my choice; wherefore at your peril be it if you meddle. Then
these three, to wit, Wild-head, Inconsiderate, and Pragmatic, drew upon me, and I also drew upon them. So we fell to it,
one against three, for the space of above three hours. They have left upon me, as you see, some of the marks of their
valor, and have also carried away with them some of mine. They are but just now gone; I suppose they might, as the
saying is, hear your horse dash, and so they betook themselves to flight.

Mr. Great-Heart: But here was great odds, three against one .

Valiant-for-Truth: ‘Tis true; but little and more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side: “Though an host should
encamp against me,” said one, Psa. 27:3, “my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be
confident,” etc. Besides, said he, I have read in some records, that one man has fought an army: and how many did
Samson slay with the jawbone of an ass!

Mr. Great-Heart: Then said the guide, Why did you not cry out, that some might have come in for your succor?

Valiant-for-Truth: So I did to my King, who I knew could hear me, and afford invisible help, and that was sufficient for me.

Mr. Great-Heart: Then said Great-Heart to Mr. Valiant-for-truth, Thou hast worthily behaved thyself; let me see thy sword.
So he showed it him.

When he had taken it in his hand, and looked thereon awhile, he said, Ha, it is a right Jerusalem blade.

Valiant-for-Truth: It is so. Let a man have one of these blades, with a hand to wield it, and skill to use it, and he may
venture upon an angel with it. He need not fear its holding, if he can but tell how to lay on. Its edge will never blunt. It will
cut flesh and bones, and soul, and spirit, and all. Heb. 4:12.

Mr. Great-Heart: But you fought a great while; I wonder you was not weary.

Valiant-for-Truth: I fought till my sword did cleave to my hand; and then they were joined together as if a sword grew out
of my arm; and when the blood ran through my fingers, then I fought with most courage.

Mr. Great-Heart: Thou hast done well; thou hast resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Thou shalt abide by us, come in
and go out with us; for we are thy companions. Then they took him and washed his wounds, and gave him of what they
had, to refresh him: and so they went together.

Now, as they went on, because Mr. Great-Heart was delighted in him, (for he loved one greatly that he found to be a man
of his hands,) and because there were in company those that were feeble and weak, therefore he questioned with him
about many things; as first, what countryman he was.

After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as the other, and
had this for a token that the summons was true, “That his pitcher was broken at the fountain.” Eccl. 12:6. When he
understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then said he, I am going to my Father’s; and though with great
difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I
give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I
carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder. When the day that he
must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, “Death, where is thy
sting?” And as he went down deeper, he said, “Grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:55. So he passed over, and all the
trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
Today’s Challenge

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 7 – Marriage Cursed And Redeemed

Read and discover what these God reveals about the fall and it’s impact on relationships:
Genesis 3 - __________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

A Blueprint for Manhood, Part 3: Maturity, Singleness, and the Legacy Every Man Can Leave - Owen Strachan
October 1, 2008

Communication between Men and Women in the Context of the Christian Community - Rhonda H. Kelley
Faith & Mission, Fall 1996, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Source of the Godly Man’s Courage (or, “When Silence is Sin and Zeal is Golden”) - Jay Wegter
The Qualities Of A Godly Mate - Bob Deffinbaugh

2. A GOOD FRIEND REBUKES US WHEN NECESSARY. There are things which may need to be said to a friend that are
not easy to say. I am disappointed by the sentimentalism that pervades our friendships so that we flatter our friends when
we need to frankly rebuke them. A true friend is the one who is honest enough to tell us what we need to hear, rather than
to flatter us.
A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps (29:5).
Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an
enemy (27:5-6).
Why is it, then, that we seem to think that a wife should never criticize her husband? Is it not better to be corrected by our
closest friend than by an enemy? Sometimes the kindest thing a wife can do for her husband is to tell him that his idea is
absolutely ridiculous--in a gracious way, of course.
3. A GOOD FRIEND IS THOUGHTFUL AND TACTFUL. A good friend is sensitive to our needs and speaks in such a way
that we are encouraged and enriched. His sensitivity is demonstrated in his understanding that gaiety and goodwill is not
34
always appropriate nor appreciated. “It matters not only ‘what’ we say, but ‘how,’ ‘when’ and ‘why’ we say it.”
Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart
(25:20).
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be reckoned a curse to him (27:14).
4. A GOOD FRIEND SHARPENS US. Not only do we need to be criticized when necessary, but sometimes we need to
be probed or stretched in our thinking. A good friend does not allow us to become intellectually stagnant, but prods us on
to higher and greater thoughts.
Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another (27:17).
A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, But a man of understanding draws it out (20:5).
Isn’t this true to life? Don’t you seek to develop friendships with those who will challenge your thinking and present you
with new avenues of thought? Why should one of these friends not be your mate?
5. A GOOD FRIEND OFFERS US WISE COUNSEL. Those whom we choose as friends should be marked by wisdom
and thus have godly counsel to offer.
Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend (27:9).
Think back for a moment to the account of David, Nabal, and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25. David was angered because of the
ungracious words of Nabal to his young men. He was determined to wipe out every male in the house of Nabal
(25:13,34).Abigail quickly formulated a plan to appease David’s anger and then spoke words of wise counsel, pointing out
how detrimental David’s actions would be to his future rule as king (25:28-31). David’s reply indicates his appreciation of
the wisdom of her words:
Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your
discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed, and from avenging myself by my own
hand” (1 Sam. 25:32-33).
I would simply point out that David was indeed wise to marry a woman who could offer such wise counsel. And we would
do well to marry one who offers wise counsel as well. Why is it, then, that husbands seem to think that the biblical
instruction concerning the submission of the wife to her husband precludes her offering him wise counsel, if offered
tactfully and in a submissive spirit? Let us learn from David and Abigail.
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 8 – 24 April 2011

I. Introduction

II. The Image Of God In Man

III. Working And Keeping

A. The Sacred Call To Work

B. The Sacred Call To Keep

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement.

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet.

Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

• Bottom line: God’s design of passion and desire is NOT evil and should be seen as a gift!

• Ancillary: The rejection of God’s design is a sign of a culture which rejects Him resulting in stunted growth and
self-absorption!

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Must AND CAN resist lust A New View of Sexuality Accountable for Lust

B. The Help-Meet God Created For Adam

1. Suitable

2. Different

a. Creation b. Fall c. Redemption

3. Designed And Created For Relationship

4. Communication For Men – JAY ADAMS ILLUSTRATION OF SUE & WILBUR page 32 & 33

a. Solomon’s Description Of Communications For A Godly Man

i. Gentle xi. Keeping Confidences

ii. Integrity xii. Control Of His Temper
iii. Honest xiii. Positive Outlook On Life
iv. Truthful xiv. Kind And Compassionate
v. Humble xv. Willing To Admit He Is Wrong
vi. Forgiving xvi. Not Characterized By Jealousy
vii. Self-Control xvii. Not Contentious; A Peacemaker
viii. Avoids Excesses xviii. Fears God And Obedient To His Word
ix. Concern For Others xix. Willing To Be Corrected And Listen To Counsel
x. Faithful And Reliable
 b. The Source of the Godly Man’s Courage In Communication

i. Godly Men Can’t Have A Casual Relationship To God’s Truth (Joshua 1: 8)

ii. To Excel At Speaking The Truth, We Must Use The Sword Of Truth On Ourselves (1 Tim 4: 15, 16)

iii. Truth In The Inner Man Equips The Man To Speak (Ps 145).

iv. Godly Men Will Not Have “Conflict Avoidance” As Their Controlling Motive (2 Tim 3: 12)

v. The Fear Of Man Brings A Snare (Proverbs 29: 25)

vi. The Greater Our Ambition To Please Christ, The More Courage We Have (2 Corinthians 5: 9).

vii. The More We Regard Christ To Be Our “Source Person,” The More Courage We Have

viii. More Reverence For God Entrusting Us With His Word Equals Greater Speaking Courage (Jer 23: 28, 29)

ix. The More Highly We Esteem Justification In Christ, The More Courage We Will Have To Speak His Word

x. The Clear Conscience Of Men Abiding In Christ Shows Itself In Courage (Acts 24: 15, 16)

B. Trouble In Paradise – How The Fall Affected Relationships

Sin’s curse on marriage is the best explanation for the sky-high divorce rate in American today.

Satan directed his first attack on God’s creation via the man-woman relationship.

Adam thought that he must choose between the woman and God, between the gift (the woman) and the Giver. This
was a false dilemma. We do not know what would have become of Eve had Adam appealed to God for help in light of
her sin. By choosing to sin with Eve, choosing the gift over the Giver, Adam walked into Satan’s clever trap and fell
under God’s condemnation.

In Genesis 3: 6 - She decided that Satan was telling the truth and she had misunderstood God, but she didn’t know
what she was doing. It was not overt rebellion against God, but seduction and deception to make her believe her act
was the right thing to do. The New Testament confirms that Eve was deceived but Adam; he ate. This was a direct
transgression without deception.

1 Timothy 2: 11 – A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.

12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

A woman’s subordinate role did not result after the Fall as a cultural, chauvinistic corruption of God’s perfect design;
rather, God established her role as part of His original creation (v. 13). God made woman after man to be his suitable
helper . The Fall actually corroborates God’s divine plan of creation. By nature Eve was not suited to assume the
position of ultimate responsibility. By leaving Adam’s protection and usurping his headship, she was vulnerable and
fell, thus confirming how important it was for her to stay under the protection and leadership of her husband.

Adam then violated his leadership role, followed Eve in her sin, and plunged the human race into sinfulness—all
connected with violating God’s planned roles for the sexes. Ultimately, the responsibility for the Fall still rests with
Adam, since he chose to disobey God apart from being deceived.

Love Estranged

Genesis 3: 7 - Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

The Hebrew term translated “naked” suggests the idea “laid bare” emphasizing totally and completely naked.
When the verse adds that Adam and Eve were “not ashamed” in Genesis 2: 25, the idea from the original
construction is reciprocal; they weren’t ashamed before or with one another. The picture is that they had no
hidden areas, no hang-ups, no embarrassment, no fears. There was total transparency, the complete
absence of self-consciousness.
 The absence of sin allowed such unhindered ecstasy. When sin entered their lives, Adam and Eve
immediately covered up. And for the first time, they admitted an awareness of their own nakedness. Adam
and Eve’s unguarded transparency prompted unrestrained intimacy with each other. That was exactly as God
originally meant it to be.

How different today! Crippled, diseased and blinded by the pollution of sin, people wrestle desperately to
relate freely and openly. Intimacy for couples can be a frustrating struggle, a strange mixture of selfishness,
embarrassment, dissatisfaction, and resentment.

That they were stripped, deprived of all the honours and joys of their paradise-state, and exposed to all the
miseries that might justly be expected from an angry God.

That they were shamed, for ever shamed, before God and angels. They saw themselves disrobed of all their
ornaments and ensigns of honour, degraded from their dignity and disgraced in the highest degree, laid open
to the contempt and reproach of heaven, and earth, and their own consciences.

What a dishonour and disquietment sin is; it makes mischief wherever it is admitted, sets men against
themselves, disturbs their peace, and destroys all their comforts. Sooner or later, it will have shame, either the
shame of true repentance, which ends in glory, or that shame and everlasting contempt to which the wicked
shall rise at the great day. Sin is a reproach to any people.

What deceiver Satan is. He told our first parents, when he tempted them, that their eyes should be opened;
and so they were, but not as they understood it; they were opened to their shame and grief, not to their
honour nor advantage. Therefore, when he speaks fair, believe him not. The most malicious mischievous liars
often excuse themselves with this, that they only equivocate; but God will not so excuse them.

The sorry shift they made to palliate these convictions, and to arm themselves against them: They sewed, or
platted, fig-leaves together; and to cover, at least, part of their shame from one another, they made
themselves aprons. See here what is commonly the folly of those that have sinned. [1.] That they are more
solicitous to save their credit before men than to obtain their pardon from God; they are backward to confess
their sin, and very desirous to conceal it, as much as may be. I have sinned, yet honour me. [2.] That the
excuses men make, to cover and extenuate their sins, are vain and frivolous. Like the aprons of fig-leaves,
they make the matter never the better, but the worse; the shame, thus hidden, becomes the more shameful.
Yet thus we are all apt to cover our transgressions as Adam, Job 31:33.

8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."

What was the effect and evidence of their fear: They hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God—a
sad change! Before they had sinned, if they had heard the voice of the Lord God coming towards them, they
would have run to meet him, and with a humble joy welcomed his gracious visits. But, now that it was
otherwise, God had become a terror to them, and then no marvel that they had become a terror to
themselves, and were full of confusion. Their own consciences accused them, and set their sin before them in
its proper colours. Their fig-leaves failed them, and would do them no service.

Adam and Eve, who were partners in the sin, were sharers in the shame and fear that attended it; and though
hand joined in hand (hands so lately joined in marriage), yet could they not animate nor fortify one another:
miserable comforters they had become to each other!

Adam was afraid, because he was naked; not only unarmed, and therefore afraid to contend with God, but
unclothed, and therefore afraid so much as to appear before him. We have reason to be afraid of approaching
to God if we be not clothed and fenced with the righteousness of Christ, for nothing but this will be armour of
proof and cover the shame of our nakedness. Let us therefore put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then draw
near with humble boldness.

3:10 - Your voice - Adam responded with the language of fear and sorrow, but not confession.
11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you
not to eat?"

3:11 - Adam’s sin was evidenced by his new knowledge of the evil of nakedness, but God still waited for
Adam to confess to what God knew they had done. The basic reluctance of sinful people to admit their iniquity
is here established. Repentance is still the issue. When sinners refuse to repent, they suffer judgment; when
they do repent, they receive forgiveness.

12 The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

3:12 - The woman whom You gave - Adam pitifully put the responsibility on God for giving him Eve. That
only magnified the tragedy in that Adam had knowingly transgressed God’s prohibition, but still would not be
open and confess his sin, taking full responsibility for his action, which was not made under deception.

He ought to have taught her, not to have been taught by her; and it was no hard matter to determine which of
the two he must be ruled by, his God or his wife. Adam insinuates that God was accessory to his sin: he gave
him the woman, and she gave him the fruit; so that he seemed to have it at but one remove from God’s own
hand. There is a strange proneness in those that are tempted to say that they are tempted of God, as if our
abusing God’s gifts would excuse our violation of God’s laws. God gives us riches, honours, and relations,
that we may serve him cheerfully in the enjoyment of them; but, if we take occasion from them to sin against
him, instead of blaming Providence for putting us into such a condition, we must blame ourselves for
perverting the gracious designs of Providence therein.

He excused the fault, by laying it on his wife: She gave it me. But God does not admit the excuse. She could
but tempt him, she could not force him; though it was her fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to
hearken to her. Thus men’s frivolous pleas will, in the day of God’s judgment, not only be overruled, but
turned against them, and made the grounds of their sentence. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent
deceived me, and I ate."

3:13 - The serpent deceived me. The woman’s desperate effort to pass the blame to the serpent, which was
partially true did not absolve her of the responsibility for her distrust and disobedience toward God.

2. Eve lays all the blame upon the serpent: The serpent beguiled me. Sin is a brat that nobody is willing to
own, a sign that it is a scandalous thing. Those that are willing enough to take the pleasure and profit of sin
are backward enough to take the blame and shame of it. "The serpent, that subtle creature of thy making,
which thou didst permit to come into paradise to us, he beguiled me,’’ or made me to err; for our sins are our
errors. Learn hence, (1.) That Satan’s temptations are all beguilings, his arguments are all fallacies, his
allurements are all cheats; when he speaks fair, believe him not. Sin deceives us, and, by deceiving, cheats
us. It is by the deceitfulness of sin that the heart is hardened. See Rom. 7:11; Heb. 3:13. (2.) That though
Satan’s subtlety drew us into sin, yet it will not justify us in sin: though he is the tempter, we are the sinners;
and indeed it is our own lust that draws us aside and entices us, Jam. 1:14. Let it not therefore lessen our
sorrow and humiliation for sin that we are beguiled into it; but rather let it increase our self-indignation that we
should suffer ourselves to be beguiled by a known cheat and a sworn enemy. Well, this is all the prisoners at
the bar have to say why sentence should not be passed and execution awarded, according to law; and this all
is next to nothing, in some respects worse than nothing.

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat All the days of your life;
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you
on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

A gracious promise is here made of Christ, as the deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Though
what was said was addressed to the serpent, yet it was said in the hearing of our first parents, who,
doubtless, took the hints of grace here given them, and saw a door of hope opened to them, else the following
sentence upon themselves would have overwhelmed them. Here was the dawning of the gospel day. No
sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed. Here, in the head of the book, as
the word is (Heb. 10:7), in the beginning of the Bible, it is written of Christ, that he should do the will of God.
By faith in this promise, we have reason to think, our first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were
justified and saved and to this promise, and the benefit of it, instantly serving God day and night, they hoped
to come. Notice is here given them of three things concerning Christ
Relationships Cursed By Our Failure

God’s Curse On Woman: Pain & Conflict

16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you."

3:16 - conception … pain - This is a constant reminder that a woman gave birth to sin in the human race and
passes it on to all her children. She can be delivered from this curse by raising godly children, as indicated in
1 Tim. 2:15 (see note there).

3: 16 - Your desire … he shall rule - Just as the woman and her seed will engage in a war with the serpent,
i.e., Satan and his seed (v. 15), because of sin and the curse, the man and the woman will face struggles in
their own relationship. Sin has turned the harmonious system of God-ordained roles into distasteful struggles
of self-will. Lifelong companions, husbands and wives, will need God’s help in getting along as a result. The
woman’s desire will be to lord it over her husband, but the husband will rule by divine design (Eph. 5:22–25).
This interpretation of the curse is based upon the identical Hebrew words and grammar being used in 4:7
(see note there) to show the conflict man will have with sin as it seeks to rule him.

We have here the sentence passed upon the woman for her sin. Two things she is condemned to: a state of
sorrow, and a state of subjection, proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her
pride.

The pains of child-bearing, which are great to a proverb, a scripture proverb, are the effect of sin; every pang
and every groan of the travailing woman speak aloud the fatal consequences of sin: this comes of eating
forbidden fruit.

She is here put into a state of subjection. The whole sex is, for sin, forbidden to usurp authority, 1 Tim. 2:11,
12. The wife particularly is hereby put under the dominion of her husband, and is not sui juris—at her own
disposal. This sentence amounts only to that command, Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; but
the entrance of sin has made that duty a punishment, which otherwise it would not have been. If man had not
sinned, he would always have ruled with wisdom and love; and, if the woman had not sinned, she would
always have obeyed with humility and meekness; and then the dominion would have been no grievance: but
our own sin and folly make our yoke heavyThose wives who not only despise and disobey their husbands, but
domineer over them, do not consider that they not only violate a divine law, but thwart a divine sentence.

Observe here how mercy is mixed with wrath in this sentence. The woman shall have sorrow, but it shall be in
bringing forth children, and the sorrow shall be forgotten for joy that a child is born, Jn. 16:21. She shall be
subject, but it shall be to her own husband that loves her, not to a stranger, or an enemy: the sentence was
not a curse, to bring her to ruin, but a chastisement, to bring her to repentance. It was well that enmity was
not put between the man and the woman, as there was between the serpent and the woman.

The pains of a woman in travail represent the terrors and pangs of a guilty conscience, awakened to a sense
of sin; from the conception of lust, these sorrows are greatly multiplied, and, sooner or later, will come upon
the sinner like pain upon a woman in travail, which cannot be avoided.

The state of subjection to which the woman was reduced represents that loss of spiritual liberty and freedom
of will which is the effect of sin. The dominion of sin in the soul is compared to that of a husband (Rom. 7:1-5),
the sinner’s desire is towards it, for he is fond of his slavery, and it rules over him.

God’s Curse On Man

17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree
about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you
will eat of it All the days of your life.
18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."

3:17 - Because you have heeded - The reason given for the curse on the ground and human death is that
man turned his back on the voice of God, to follow his wife in eating that from which God had ordered him to
abstain. The woman sinned because she acted independently of her husband, disdaining his leadership,
 counsel, and protection. The man sinned because he abandoned his leadership and followed the wishes of
his wife. In both cases, God’s intended roles were reversed.

3:17,18 - Cursed is the ground for your sake. God cursed the object of man’s labor and made it reluctantly,
yet richly, yield his food through hard work.

3:19 - return to the ground. I.e., to die (cf. 2:7). Man, by sin, became mortal. Although he did not die the
moment he ate (by God’s mercy), he was changed immediately and became liable to all the sufferings and
miseries of life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever. Adam lived 930 years (5:5).

20 Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth, Adam, in further token of
dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve
that of the living soul. The reason of the name is here given (some think, by Moses the historian, others, by
Adam himself): Because she was (that is, was to be) the mother of all living. He had before called her Ishah—
woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah—life, as a mother. Now, 1. If this was done by divine direction, it
was an instance of God’s favour, and, like the new naming of Abraham and Sarah, it was a seal of the
covenant, an assurance to them that, notwithstanding their sin and his displeasure against them for it, he had
not reversed that blessing wherewith he had blessed them: Be fruitful and multiply. It was likewise a
confirmation of the promise now made, that the seed of the woman, of this woman, should break the serpent’s
head. 2. If Adam did it of himself, it was an instance of his faith in the word of God. Doubtless it was not done,
as some have suspected, in contempt or defiance of the curse, but rather in a humble confidence and
dependence upon the blessing. (1.) The blessing of a reprieve, admiring the patience of God, that he should
spare such sinners to be the parents of all living, and that he did not immediately shut up those fountains of
the human life and nature, because they could send forth no other than polluted, poisoned, streams. (2.) The
blessing of a Redeemer, and promised seed, to whom Adam had an eye, in calling his wife Eve—life; for he
should be the life of all the living, and in him all the families of the earth should be blessed, in hope of which
he thus triumphs.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

We have here a further instance of God’s care concerning our first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Though
he corrects his disobedient children, and put them under the marks of his displeasure, yet he does not
disinherit them, but, like a tender father, provides the herb of the field for their food and coats of skins for their
clothing. Thus the father provided for the returning prodigal, Lu. 15:22, 23. If the Lord had been pleased to kill
them, he would not have done this for them. Observe, 1. That clothes came in with sin. We should have had
no occasion for them, either for defence or decency, if sin had not made us naked, to our shame. Little reason
therefore we have to be proud of our clothes, which are but the badges of our poverty and infamy. 2. That
when God made clothes for our first parents he made them warm and strong, but coarse and very plain: not
robes of scarlet, but coats of skin. Their clothes were made, not of silk and satin, but plain skins; not trimmed,
nor embroidered, none of the ornaments which the daughters of Sion afterwards invented, and prided
themselves in. Let the poor, that are meanly clad, learn hence not to complain: having food and a covering, let
them be content; they are as well done to as Adam and Eve were. And let the rich, that are finely clad, learn
hence not to make the putting on of apparel their adorning, 1 Pt. 3:3. 3. That God is to be acknowledged with
thankfulness, not only in giving us food, but in giving us clothes also, ch. 28:20. The wool and the flax are his,
as well as the corn and the wine, Hos. 2:9. 4. These coats of skin had a significancy. The beasts whose skins
they were must be slain, slain before their eyes, to show them what death is, and (as it is Eccl. 3:18) that they
may see that they themselves were beasts, mortal and dying. It is supposed that they were slain, not for food,
but for sacrifice, to typify the great sacrifice, which, in the latter end of the world, should be offered once for
all. Thus the first thing that died was a sacrifice, or Christ in a figure, who is therefore said to be the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. These sacrifices were divided between God and man, in token of
reconciliation: the flesh was offered to God, a whole burnt-offering; the skins were given to man for clothing,
signifying that, Jesus Christ having offered himself to God a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour, we are to
clothe ourselves with his righteousness as with a garment, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear.
Adam and Eve made for themselves aprons of fig-leaves, a covering too narrow for them to wrap themselves
in, Isa. 28:20. Such are all the rags of our own righteousness. But God made them coats of skins; large, and
strong, and durable, and fit for them; such is the righteousness of Christ. Therefore put on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
 22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he
might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was
taken.
24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming
sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

How admirably the satisfaction our Lord Jesus made by his death and sufferings answered to the sentence
here passed upon our first parents. (1.) Did travailing pains come in with sin? We read of the travail of Christ’s
soul (Isa. 53:11); and the pains o death he was held by are called o!dinai (Acts 2:24), the pains of a woman
in travail. (2.) Did subjection come in with sin? Christ was made under the law, Gal. 4:4. (3.) Did the curse
come in with sin? Christ was made a curse for us, died a cursed death, Gal. 3:13. (4.) Did thorns come in with
sin? He was crowned with thorns for us. (5.) Did sweat come in with sin? He for us did sweat as it were great
drops of blood. (6.) Did sorrow come in with sin? He was a man of sorrows, his soul was, in his agony,
exceedingly sorrowful. (7.) Did death come in with sin? He became obedient unto death. Thus is the plaster
as wide as the wound. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ

The Purpose Of The Curse - Our Hope For Renewal

• There is a pattern to the effects of sin. Sin tends to alienate us from one another, just as it separates us from God.
Sin brings guilt, and with guilt comes an inability to trust others or to allow them near.

• God’s curse on the woman causes men to have an unhealthy desire to possess and even control men, the
inevitable result of which is marital conflict. Men, called to work and keep the garden, find their work and lay so
absorbing that they have little attention to give to their wives.

• All this struggle within and among ourselves is intended by God to draw us back to Himself as we look to Jesus
for forgiveness and righteousness. As we take off the fig leaves of our self-righteousness and cease shifting our
blame onto others, instead confessing our sin and clothing ourselves with the righteousness of Christ, God will
heal both us and our closest and most important human relationships.

Colossians 3: 12 – So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

Colossians 3: 13 – bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone;
just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you

Colossians 3: 14 – Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the
Father.

NOTE THE CONTEXT

Colossians 3: 18 – Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.
20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.
22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely
please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Today’s Illustration

Tom & Sue – an excerpt from Edwin Louis Cole’s “Maximized Manhood”

Today’s Challenge

These verses are not meant merely to provide sentimental warmth to wedding napkins
and wall hangings. Rather, they are the tangible agenda of God’s restoring grace. I do
not have to wait until I fully understand my wife in order to love her. In Christ, I have no
warrant to withhold my love until she changes according to my self-serving agenda. I am
free in Christ, through the resources of God’s redeeming grace for me, to love my wife.
Because God has forgiven me, I can truly forgive her. Because God has given to me, I
can gladly give to her. With God’s compassion for me, I have compassion to give; with
God’s grace I can show grace. And with God’s Word dwelling in our relationship, my wife
and I can grow in this grace so that we learn more and more to love one another while
drawing more andmore from the wells of God’s saving love for us.

The Masculine Mandate – Richard D. Phillips

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read Chapter 8 – Marriage And The Masculine Mandate

Read and discover what these God reveals about headship, submission, and Christ like
leadership:
Ephesians 5: 25 – 30 - __________________________________________________________________

1 Peter 3: 7 - __________________________________________________________________________

Today’s Additional Resources Used In This Lesson

Christian Living In The Home – Jay E. Adams

Maximized Manhood – Edwin Louis Cole

Strike The Original Match – Charles R. Swindoll

Commentary On The Bible – Matthew Henry

The Qualities Of A Godly Mate - Bob Deffinbaugh

2. A GOOD FRIEND REBUKES US WHEN NECESSARY. There are things which may need to be said to a friend that are
not easy to say. I am disappointed by the sentimentalism that pervades our friendships so that we flatter our friends when
we need to frankly rebuke them. A true friend is the one who is honest enough to tell us what we need to hear, rather than
to flatter us.
A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps (29:5).
Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an
enemy (27:5-6).
Why is it, then, that we seem to think that a wife should never criticize her husband? Is it not better to be corrected by our
closest friend than by an enemy? Sometimes the kindest thing a wife can do for her husband is to tell him that his idea is
absolutely ridiculous--in a gracious way, of course.

3. A GOOD FRIEND IS THOUGHTFUL AND TACTFUL. A good friend is sensitive to our needs and speaks in such a way
that we are encouraged and enriched. His sensitivity is demonstrated in his understanding that gaiety and goodwill is not
34
always appropriate nor appreciated. “It matters not only ‘what’ we say, but ‘how,’ ‘when’ and ‘why’ we say it.”
Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart
(25:20).
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be reckoned a curse to him (27:14).

4. A GOOD FRIEND SHARPENS US. Not only do we need to be criticized when necessary, but sometimes we need to
be probed or stretched in our thinking. A good friend does not allow us to become intellectually stagnant, but prods us on
to higher and greater thoughts.
Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another (27:17).
A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, But a man of understanding draws it out (20:5).
Isn’t this true to life? Don’t you seek to develop friendships with those who will challenge your thinking and present you
with new avenues of thought? Why should one of these friends not be your mate?

5. A GOOD FRIEND OFFERS US WISE COUNSEL. Those whom we choose as friends should be marked by wisdom
and thus have godly counsel to offer.
Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend (27:9).
Think back for a moment to the account of David, Nabal, and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25. David was angered because of the
ungracious words of Nabal to his young men. He was determined to wipe out every male in the house of Nabal
(25:13,34).Abigail quickly formulated a plan to appease David’s anger and then spoke words of wise counsel, pointing out
how detrimental David’s actions would be to his future rule as king (25:28-31). David’s reply indicates his appreciation of
the wisdom of her words:
Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your
discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed, and from avenging myself by my own
hand” (1 Sam. 25:32-33).
I would simply point out that David was indeed wise to marry a woman who could offer such wise counsel. And we would
do well to marry one who offers wise counsel as well. Why is it, then, that husbands seem to think that the biblical
instruction concerning the submission of the wife to her husband precludes her offering him wise counsel, if offered
tactfully and in a submissive spirit? Let us learn from David and Abigail.

May 21, 1989

Bethlehem Baptist Church
John Piper, Pastor

MANHOOD AND WOMANHOOD

CONFLICT AND CONFUSION AFTER THE FALL
(Genesis 3:16 and 4:7)

To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your
desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you....If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not
do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."

Last week we focused our attention on Genesis 1:27. This is the utterly important foundation for understanding what it
means to be human, especially what it means to be human as male and female. "So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Moses adds the words "male and female" to
make sure that no one makes the mistake of thinking that the word MAN in this verse ("He created man in His own
image") refers only to the male human and not to the female human.

Genesis 5:1-2 makes the same point: "This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man (Adam), He
made him in the likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man (Adam)
when they were created." So the clear teaching of Genesis is that human beings, both male and female, are utterly unlike
all other creatures because humans alone are in the image and likeness of God — both male and female.

Then I said last week that if God created us in his image AS MALE AND FEMALE, that implies equality of personhood,
equality of dignity, mutual respect, harmony, complementarity, and a unified destiny.

Equality of personhood means that a man is not less a person than a woman because he has hair on his chest like a
gorilla, and woman is not less a person because she has no hair on her chest like a fish. They are equal in their
personhood and their differences don't change that basic truth.

Equality of dignity means that they are to be equally honored as humans in the image of God. Peter says (in 1 Peter 2:17)
"honor all," that is, all humans. There is an honor to be paid to persons simply because they are humans. There is even
an honor that we owe to the most despicable of criminals, like a Ted Bundy, just because he is a human and not a dog.
And that honor belongs to male and female equally.

Mutual respect means that men and women should be equally zealous to respect and honor each other. Respect should
never flow just one direction. Created in the image of God, male and female should look at each other with a kind of awe
that is tempered but not destroyed by sin.

Harmony means that there should be peaceful cooperation between men and women. We should find ways to oil the
gears of our relationships so that there is teamwork and rapport and mutual helpfulness and joy.

Complementarity means that the music of our relationships should not be merely the sound of singing in unison. It should
be the integrated sound of soprano and bass, alto and tenor. It means that the differences of male and female will be
respected and affirmed and valued. It means that male and female will not try to duplicate each other, but will highlight in
each other the unique qualities that make for mutual enrichment.

Finally, unified destiny means that male and female, when they come to faith in Christ, are "fellow heirs of the grace of
life" (1 Peter 3:7). We are destined for an equal enjoyment of the revelation of the glory of God in the age to come.

So in creating human beings as male and female in His image, God had something wonderful in mind. He still has it in
mind. And in Jesus Christ He means to redeem this vision from the ravages of sin.

We looked very briefly last week at what sin did to the relationship between men and women. I want to clarify that further
this morning. Originally I had planned only to touch on this and spend most of our time on the vision of manhood and
womanhood before the fall. But the message took a different turn and what I'm doing now is setting the stage to unfold
this pre-fall vision of manhood and womanhood next week. I want you to sense very keenly what the conflict is between
men and women and how great the confusion is today about what it means to be a man or a woman.

Let's look at Genesis 3:16. Adam and Eve have both sinned against God. They have distrusted his goodness and turned
away from him to depend on their own wisdom for how to be happy. So they rejected His word and they ate the fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God calls them to account and now describes to them what the curse will be on
human life because of sin. In Genesis 3:16 God says to the woman, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in
pain you shall bring forth children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

This is a description of the curse. It is a description of misery, not a model for marriage. This is the way it's going to be in
history where sin has the upper hand. But what is really being said here? What is the nature of this ruined relationship
after sin?

The key comes from recognizing the connection between the last words of this verse (3:16b) and the last words of
Genesis 4:7. Here God is warning Cain about his resentment and anger against Abel. God tells him that sin is about to get
the upper hand in his life. Notice at the end of the verse 7: "Sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must
master it (literally: you shall rule over it)."

The parallel here between 3:16 and 4:7 is amazingly close. The words are virtually the same in Hebrew, but you can see
this in the English as well. In 3:16 God says to the woman, "Your desire is for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
In 4:7 God says to Cain, "Sin's desire is for you, and you shall rule over it."
Now the reason this is important to see is that it shows us more clearly what is meant by "desire." When 4:7 says that sin
is crouching at the door of Cain's heart (like a lion, Genesis 49:9) and that it's desire is for him, it means that sin wants to
overpower him. It wants to defeat him and subdue him and make him the slave of sin.

Now when we go back to 3:16 we should probably see the same meaning in the sinful desire of woman. When it says,
"Your desire shall be for your husband," it means that when sin has the upper hand in woman she will desire to overpower
or subdue or exploit man. And when sin has the upper hand in man he will respond in like manner and with his strength
subdue her, or rule over her.

So what is really described in the curse of 3:16 is the ugly conflict between the male and female that has marked so much
of human history. Maleness as God created it has been depraved and corrupted by sin. Femaleness as God created it
has been depraved and corrupted by sin. The essence of sin is self-reliance and self-exaltation. First in rebellion against
God, and then in exploitation of each other.

So the essence of corrupted maleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit women for its own
private desires. And the essence of corrupted femaleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit
men for its own private desires. And the difference is found mainly in the different weaknesses that we can exploit in one
another.

As a rule men have more brute strength than women and so they can rape and abuse and threaten and sit around and
snap their finger. It's fashionable to say those sorts of things today. But it's just as true that women are sinners. We are in
God's image male and female; and we are depraved, male and female. Women may not have as much brute strength as
men but she knows ways to subdue him. She can very often run circles around him with her words and where her words
fail she knows the weakness of his lust.

If you have any doubts about the power of sinful woman to control sinful man just reflect for a moment on the number one
marketing force in the world — the female body. She can sell anything because she knows the universal weakness of
man and how to control him with it. The exploitation of women by sinful men is conspicuous because it is often harsh and
violent. But a moment's reflection will show you that the exploitation of men by sinful women is just as pervasive in our
society. The difference is that our sinful society sanctions the one perversity and not the other. (There are societies that
do just the opposite.)

This is not the way God meant it to be before sin, when man and woman were dependent on him for how to live. This is
the result of rebellion against God. How then did God mean it to be? What was the relationship between Adam and Eve
supposed to look like before sin entered the world?

We've seen part of the answer. They were created in the image of God according to Genesis 1:27 and so the relationship
they have was supposed to be governed by equality of personhood, equality of dignity, mutual respect, harmony,
complementarity, and a unified destiny. But that's only part of the answer. It's like saying to a man and woman ballet
dancer: Remember, you are both equally accomplished dancers; you are equally regarded among your peers; you must
seek harmonious execution; you must complement each other's moves; and don't forget you will share the applause
together.

That kind of counsel is very important and will deeply affect the beauty of the performance. But if that's all they know
about the dance they're about to perform, they won't be able to do it. They have to know the movements. They have to
know their different positions. They have to know who will fall and who will catch. Who will run and who will stand. It is of
the very essence of dance and drama that the players know the distinct movements they must make. If they don't know
their different assignments on the stage there will be no drama, no dance.

And so we have to ask this: in the drama of life between man and woman before the fall did God mean for some
responsibilities to fall heavier on the one than the other? Both should show equal respect we said; but are they supposed
to show it in just the same way? Both should seek peace and harmony by mutually serving each other; but is the form of
this service to look just the same for the man and the woman?

I want to try to unfold a vision of Biblical complementarity and harmony in the weeks to come. I'm convinced that the Bible
does teach that men have unique God-given responsibilities toward women and women have unique God-given
responsibilities toward men. These responsibilities are not identical, and they are not dependent on our gifts. They are
based on our manhood and womanhood as God designed us to be. And they are not limited to mere biological functions
in the process of reproduction.

These different responsibilities go right to the heart of the meaning of manhood and womanhood as God created us to be.
But they are under tremendous attack today. They have been for some time. And the result in our culture is mass
confusion.

I would guess that probably two generations of men and women have been raised in this country without a positive vision
of what it means to be male or female. We have been told many negative things — things we ought not to be, things we
are to be liberated from.

For example, manhood is not sexual exploitation. Manhood is not cool, rational unemotionalism. Manhood is not the
ruthless task-oriented drive to conquer. Etc. So be liberated, men! On the other hand womanhood is not boring
domesticity. Womanhood is not homebound motherhood. Womanhood is not mindless emotionalism. Womanhood is not
sexual compliance. Etc. So be liberated, women!

But when all our talk is done about what manhood and womanhood is NOT, what have we got? A big void of confusion
about what they are. Frustrating, guilt-producing, destructive confusion. And with it a tidal wave of homosexuality, an
epidemic of divorce, an increase of violent crime, growing domestic abuse, and tens of thousands of suicides every year,
75% of whom are men. (In 1981 there were 27,500 suicides in America of which 75% were men.)

It is simply an abdication of our moral and spiritual responsibility to tell young people to avoid negative stereotypes and
then not give them a positive, practical, Biblical vision of what it means to be a man and or a woman. And one of the
reasons we abdicate our responsibility is because it is the path of least resistance. It's easy to tear down negative
stereotypes; but it's hard and risky work to rebuild the positive archetype.

No one will criticize you if you poke holes in ugly stereotypes of manhood and womanhood. That's a very safe and
customary pastime. But a hundred people wait to be your judge if you try to develop a positive vision for your daughters of
what it means to be feminine, or for your sons of what it means to be masculine. And so by and large we don't do it. And
we leave them confused — telling them what its not but not telling them what it is.

Over the nine years of my pastorate here I have counseled dozens and dozens of couples seeking to be married. My
experience has been that it is rare indeed to find a young couple who have a clear vision of what it means to be a
Christian husband and a Christian wife. By and large couples will readily admit that they don't know whether being male or
female implies any special God-given responsibilities. Or, if they think there are some special responsibilities, they
generally don't know what they are. And that confusion has ominous implications for the stability of marriage and the way
the children will be prepared for life as male and female.

I mention this just to highlight the challenge before us as a church. God has a vision for a redeemed manhood and
womanhood. He wants us to recover what we've lost because of sin. And so next week I want to begin to reconstruct from
God's Word as best I can the shattered vision of manhood and womanhood that God ordained before the fall and that he
is calling us to recover through Jesus Christ. I ask for your prayers and for your very serious consideration of these things.
What we are as male and female goes to the heart of our personal identity. If we are confused here, the repercussions will
be very profound and pervasive.
Copyright 1989, 1998 John Piper
 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 9 – 1 May 2011

I. Introduction

II. The Image Of God In Man

III. Working And Keeping

A. The Sacred Call To Work

B. The Sacred Call To Keep

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement.

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet.

Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

• Bottom line: God’s design of passion and desire is NOT evil and should be seen as a gift!

• Ancillary: The rejection of God’s design is a sign of a culture which rejects Him resulting in stunted growth and
self-absorption!

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Must AND CAN resist lust A New View of Sexuality Accountable for Lust

B. The Help-Meet God Created For Adam

1. Suitable

2. Different

a. Creation b. Fall c. Redemption

3. Designed And Created For Relationship

4. Communication For Men

a. Solomon’s Description Of Communications For A Godly Man

b. The Source of the Godly Man’s Courage In Communication

C. Trouble In Paradise – How The Fall Affected Relationships

Love Estranged

Relationships Cursed By Our Failure

God’s Curse On Woman: Pain & Conflict

God’s Curse On Man

 So the essence of corrupted maleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit women for
its own private desires. And the essence of corrupted femaleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and
control and exploit men for its own private desires. And the difference is found mainly in the different weaknesses
that we can exploit in one another.

As a rule men have more brute strength than women and so they can rape and abuse and threaten and sit
around and snap their finger. It's fashionable to say those sorts of things today. But it's just as true that women
are sinners. We are in God's image male and female; and we are depraved, male and female. Women may not
have as much brute strength as men but she knows ways to subdue him. She can very often run circles around
him with her words and where her words fail she knows the weakness of his lust.

If you have any doubts about the power of sinful woman to control sinful man just reflect for a moment on the
number one marketing force in the world — the female body. She can sell anything because she knows the
universal weakness of man and how to control him with it. The exploitation of women by sinful men is
conspicuous because it is often harsh and violent. But a moment's reflection will show you that the exploitation of
men by sinful women is just as pervasive in our society. The difference is that our sinful society sanctions the one
perversity and not the other. (There are societies that do just the opposite.)

The Purpose Of The Curse - Our Hope For Renewal

That redemption remedies the fall is very good news for us, because it means God has
provided a solution to our biggest problems. Take death, for instance which is the prime
curse that resulted from sin. Because of Christ’s resurrection, Christians may know with
certainty that death will be defeated in our own resurrection at the end of the age. For
guilt, Christ provides forgiveness. For sin’s temptation, He provides the grace of His Holy
Spirit. On it goes, through every category of life. Christian salvation is truly great! God in
His goodness has not only withheld the punishment our sin deserves, but His saving plan
brings about all the blessings He originally intended, so that His people might know His
love and bear His image in glory.
The Masculine Mandate – Randall Phillips

D. Paradise Restored – Masculine Headship and Feminine Submission

1. The Source Of Authority & Headship

Ephesians 5: 23 - 24 - For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He
Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their
husbands in everything

Where does the order and authority come from? _______________________________________

What happens when men do not lead? _______________________________________________

There is frustration and futility and difficulty in the relationship that is otherwise craved! Women get
frustrated and angry over the lack of initiative, protection and keeping that they truly desire and
respect in a man.

What happens when women are not subject? __________________________________________

There is frustration and futility and difficulty that a man experiences in a relationship that is otherwise
craved! God does not design or equip women to lead. Most women will suffer anxiety if they actually
are ABLE to wrest leadership away from the husband!

Male leadership in marriage does not mean the husband does everything or even that he
decides everything. Rather, it means he typically initiates and always leads those shared
discussions with his wife by which the various aspects of marriage and family life are
decided and planned. The iwfe’s opinion is vitally important, and a godly couple should
be a close-knit team. But there should be no area of family life in which the husband does
not serve as leader, facilitator and overseer. This is especially true when it comes to the
family’s commitment to godly principles and behaviors. A Christian wife should be able to
look to her husband with respect, seeing a servant of Christ committed to the Lord’s will
 being done in the home. A husband who seeks to practice headship in a context of fully
respecting and encouraging his wife’s contributions is off to a good start on loving his
wife.

The Masculine Mandate – Randall Phillips

2. The Context For Leadership & Submission

!
Ephesians 5: 25 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but
that she would be holy and blameless.
28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
30 because we are members of His body.

N.B. The wife is commanded to submit due to sin, but we are commanded to LOVE!

When Paul writes the simple command, “Husbands love your wives,” he lays bare the
shameful heart of the problem with most married men.

The Masculine Mandate – Randall Phillips

Why must men be commanded to love their wives? _____________________________________

Men are self-centered and self-serving. They love ease and comfort and foolishly think that, by abrogating
their responsibilities, their life will be easier.

How does the text tell men to love their wives? _____________________________________

WRITE ON BOARD

As Christ loved the church – sacrificially – willingly – for her good – so that she would be blameless – as their
own bodies – through the Gospel! -

1 Peter 3: 7 - You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone
weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will
not be hindered.

How does the text tell men to love their wives? _____________________________________

WRITE ON BOARD

“In the same way” – Just as Christ submitted Himself to authority, and slaves to masters and women to men,
WE SHOW OUR SUBMISSION TO CHRIST – (see 1 Peter 2) – Understanding – what does that mean?
“according to knowledge” - someone weaker – NOT in disgust, but in compassion – she is a woman NOT a
man – “compatibility is WAY overrated” – honor – respect, esteem her opinion, her personage, that SHE
bears the image of God that she is able to bear children and bring life into the world – She is a Princess Of
the Most High King!

Genesis 5:1-2 - This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the
likeness of God. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were
created."

So the clear teaching of Genesis is that human beings, both male and female, are utterly unlike all other creatures
because humans alone are in the image and likeness of God — both male and female.

If God created us in his image AS MALE AND FEMALE, that implies

a. Equality Of Personhood – A man is not less a person than a woman because he has hair on his chest like a
gorilla, and woman is not less a person because she has no hair on her chest like a fish. They are equal in their
personhood and their differences don't change that basic truth.
 b. Equality Of Dignity - they are to be equally honored as humans in the image of God. Peter says (in 1 Peter
2:17) "honor all," that is, all humans. There is an honor to be paid to persons simply because they are humans.
There is even an honor that we owe to the most despicable of criminals, like a Ted Bundy, just because he is a
human and not a dog. And that honor belongs to male and female equally.

c. Mutual Respect - men and women should be equally zealous to respect and honor each other. Respect should
never flow just one direction. Created in the image of God, male and female should look at each other with a
kind of awe that is tempered but not destroyed by sin.

d. Harmony - there should be peaceful cooperation between men and women. We should find ways to oil the gears
of our relationships so that there is teamwork and rapport and mutual helpfulness and joy.

e. Complementarity - that the music of our relationships should not be merely the sound of singing in unison. It
should be the integrated sound of soprano and bass, alto and tenor. It means that the differences of male and
female will be respected and affirmed and valued. It means that male and female will not try to duplicate each
other, but will highlight in each other the unique qualities that make for mutual enrichment.

f. A Unified Destiny - male and female, when they come to faith in Christ, are "fellow heirs of the grace of life" (1
Peter 3:7). We are destined for an equal enjoyment of the revelation of the glory of God in the age to come.

So in creating human beings as male and female in His image, God had something wonderful in mind. He still has it in
mind. And in Jesus Christ He means to redeem this vision from the ravages of sin.

Luke 13: 10 - And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent
double, and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness."
13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.
14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in
response, "There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the
Sabbath day."
15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his
donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?
16 "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should
she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
17 As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the
glorious things being done by Him.

Jesus has done more than anyone has ever done to bring purity and harmony between
men and women.

Jesus, Women, And Men - A Sermon On Luke 13: 10 - 17 – John Piper

A woman was in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. She was bent over and could not stand up. She had been
this way for 18 years. Jesus does not ask her about her disease. She does not ask Jesus to heal her.

She asked for nothing. She promised nothing. She had not cornered Jesus. She had not forced his hand. He
could have finished his lesson and gone home and no one would have even thought about this woman. But he
stopped. He called her. He took the initiative and made an issue of this woman. (Notice how this reflects God’s
grace and initiative in salvation!)

So Jesus has something he wants to say. He wants to say something about the Sabbath day and what it means
to keep it holy. He has something he wants to say about the hypocrisy of the synagogue leaders who water
their oxen on the Sabbath but get ticked at Jesus' healing. And he has something he wants to say about women
and men.

What does Jesus say specifically about this woman? ___________________________

She is a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for 18 years, she should be let loose on the Sabbath day!
 If the only point Jesus wanted to make was the point about doing good on the Sabbath or the point about the
hypocrisy of the leaders, he could have simply said, "Ought not this woman whom Satan bound for eighteen
years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" But that is not all he said. He called her a "daughter of
Abraham."

Why specifically does Jesus call her a “daughter of Abraham”? _________________________

Those words, "daughter of Abraham" are intended to carry a message to the synagogue leaders. The message
goes something like this: On top of all the other reasons why you should care more about a suffering person
than a thirsty ox, is the fact that this woman is a fellow heir of the blessing promised to Abraham. You pride
yourselves in saying, "We are the children of Abraham." Well, she too is a child of Abraham. You hide from the
warnings of John the Baptist by saying, "We have Abraham as our father." Well, she too has Abraham as her
father.

And so the message of Jesus to the synagogue leaders was a message about how men and women ought to
relate to each other as fellow heirs of God's promises. He was saying to men in the synagogue then, and he is
saying to men in the church today, "The believing women in your midst are heirs of the promises of God. They
too are the meek who will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). They too are the righteous who will shine like the sun in
the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43).

Do you see what this means for us men and women today? Husbands and wives. Brothers and sisters. Boy
friends and girl friends. All of us as we relate to each other as men and women. It means we should learn to
look at each other through the lens of God's word.

This woman in the synagogue has been bent over for 18 years. What's that like? It's horrible. That's what it's
like. People stare. People think you've committed some terrible sin. Kids laugh and make jokes. You can't look
anyone in the eye. People don't know how to make conversation. You can't have normal sexual relations with
your husband. You feel like you're an embarrassment to everyone you're with.

So what do you see when you look at this woman? If you were her husband what would you see? Husbands
(let's just bring it right up to date)

When you look at your wife (sister, mother, girlfriend, co-worker) what do you see? _____________________

The answer to that, of course, depends on what lens you're using. What you see will be very different
depending on whether you look through the lens of Playboy magazine or the lens of the Word of God. If you
look through the lens of God's Word you will see a daughter of Abraham. If we learn to see Christian women the
way Jesus saw this woman in the synagogue we will see them as heirs of the King of glory. And that will have a
deep effect on our relationships.

Of course this cuts both ways. Women are just as likely to be disappointed with their husbands as men are to
be disappointed with their wives. Women are just as prone to speak negatively of their husbands. Women are
just as prone to try to get their husbands to be all the things that they dreamed they would be. And therefore it
probably needs to be said that women too must learn to look at him through the lens of the Word of God. He is
a son of Abraham as a believer in Christ. He will one day shine like the sun in the kingdom of his Father. With
all his imperfections he will be changed in the twinkling of an eye: every sin will be gone for ever; and he will
receive a body like Christ's glorious body.

We will, I think, in the age to come be dumbfounded as we look back at how poorly we were able to treat each
other on the way to glory. There is an honor and respect and even reverence that we should show to each other
as men and women. How much happier would be our homes if they were filled with expressions of this honor!
And they WILL be filled with these expressions to the degree that we learn to look at each other through the
lens of God's word — as daughters and sons of Abraham; heirs of all God's promises; destined together for
unspeakable glory.

Matthew 5: 28 - I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.

How, in this verse, does Jesus respond to the way the world treats women? _________________________

With that one word Jesus condemned in the most forceful way possible (the threat of hell) all forms of
pornography and the entire enterprise of commercializing the female body in advertising and entertainment.
 Can you imagine how much wrath is being stored up in heaven against the billion dollar business of doing
precisely what the Son of God prohibits — namely, enticing men to look upon women with sexual desire — not
as persons, mind you, but as objects of sexual pleasure alone! And what is clear from Matthew 5:28f is that
Jesus Christ means to rescue women from this attack on their personhood. Men who follow Jesus guard their
eyes for the good of women and for the glory of God. And women who follow Jesus look to Jesus for how to use
their bodies, not to the world.

Matthew 18: 3 - Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the
kingdom of heaven

Luke 22: 26 - The one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the
servant

Matthew 20: 26 – It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant

Matthew 23: 12 – Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

How does God change the template here for male / female relationships? __________________________

The most devastating thing Jesus ever said against characteristic male and female sins was the word in
Matthew 18:3, "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever
humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Men who act like backyard bullies and
women who play the helpless coquette are not child-like. They are childish. Genuine childlikeness and humility,
like everything else Jesus taught, is revolutionary for the relationships between men and women.

Now how does this relate to our conclusion last week — that God has called men to bear the primary
responsibility for leadership in relationship to women? — that men are held accountable first by God for taking
the initiative to do what can be done to make things the way they should be in the relationship?

The answer is: Jesus purges Christian leadership of everything that makes it ugly and builds into Christian
leadership what makes it beautiful. He purges it of self-exaltation; and he builds into it the reality of
servanthood. He says, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled" (Matt. 23:12). That's the end of arrogance and
self-exaltation in Christian leadership. And he says, "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant"
(Matt. 20:26). That's the key to beautiful leadership that builds up others.

But what a mistake it would be to say that because Jesus elevated the concept of servanthood he cancelled out
the concept of leadership. We know from what he said and what he did that this is not true.

What he said was this: "Let the leader become as one who serves" (Luke 22:26), But He never said, "Let the
leader stop being leader." Nor did he say, "Serving makes leaders less than leaders." He simply said, "When
leadership is appropriate, let it be a servant leadership."

And what he did was to give himself as an example of what he said: at his lowest point of servanthood, with the
towel wrapped around him washing his disciples' feet like a slave, no one in that room doubted who the leader
was. He was the one they would follow. On his knees — and, if they understood, they would be on theirs!
Servanthood does not nullify or cancel out leadership; it transforms leadership. When Jesus hung on the cross
seemingly weak and utterly helpless he was leading a great host into glory.

So what Jesus does for us is this: he shows us and he teaches us that if a man takes up the mantle of
leadership according to Genesis 2, he must not seize it as a right for himself; he must accept it as a
responsibility given by God. The language of leadership is the language of responsibilities not the language of
rights. It's the responsibility of servant leadership, not the right of lordly domination.

Today’s Illustration

Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was born at 'Grasmere' near Lexington, Kentucky, one hundred and fifty years ago
this year on 5th November 1851. He died in February 1921 12 weeks after the death of Abraham Kuyper and 22
weeks before the death of Herman Bavinck. The three were devoted friends.
 Farming was in Warfield's blood. He loved horses, admiring the racehorse and studying their blood-lines, but his
speciality was short-horn cattle. He maintained his interest in them throughout his life being one of the leading
authorities on the breed in the world, writing many articles on that subject in the 1880s in the "National Live Stock
Journal". The articles are found in one of his scrap-books in the Princeton Seminary library.

When BBW was twenty-one years of age he acknowledged the paramount claims of God upon him and entered
Princeton Seminary to train for the ministry. He was taught by Charles Hodge. He lectured for nine years at a
Seminary in Pennsylvania, but in 1887 he succeeded [Link] as a professor of theology at Princeton which post
he occupied until his death, that is, for over 33 years. Ten large volumes of his collected writings were published in the
1920s, and two volumes of his shorter writings in the 1960s. All of those books plus volumes of his sermons are in
print today and are read more widely than those articles were read during his life-time.

But he was a champion of confessional Christianity and despised any truce bought at the price of compromise. A lady
once met him during the week of the General Assembly. "Dr Warfield, I hear that there is gong to be trouble at the
Assembly. Do let us pray for peace." "I am praying," replied BBW, "that if they do not do what is right, there may be a
mighty battle." When he and Dr Machen were talking about their denomination at the end of BBW's life Machen
expressed the opinion that there might be a split. "No. You can't split rotten wood," said BBW.

[Link] married his wife Annie in 1876 and they left for honeymoon in Germany. He was also studying at Leipzig
at that time. While walking together in the Harz mountains, Mr. and Mrs. Warfield were caught in a violent
thunderstorm. Annie Warfield suffered a severe trauma to her nervous system from which she never fully recovered.
She was so severely traumatized that she would spend the rest of her life as an invalid of sorts, becoming
increasingly more incapacitated as the years went by. They had no children and Warfield cared for Annie all her days.
The students would see them walking slowly together about the Seminary campus. BBW was always gentle and
caring with her. He could never leave her for very long. B. B. Warfield could not have foreseen just how constant and
difficult a demand this was to become, and how, in the providence of God, this would impact his entire career. She
was more or less an invalid for the rest of her life. This was one of the reasons he was rarely present at church courts
or heard speaking from the floor of his presbytery. His time was spent with his beloved Annie. Her husband was to
spend the rest of their lives together giving her "his constant attention and care" until her death in 1915.

Today’s Challenge

Matthew 11: 12 - From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent
men take it by force – NASB

Matthew 11: 12 - From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is pressing forward
vigorously, and vigorous men are eagerly taking possession of it – William Hendriksen Translation

The kingdom, says Jesus, ever since the days of John’s first appearance upon the scene
has been pressing forward vigorously, forcefully. It was doing so when Jesus spoke to
John’s followers and is doing so now as miracles are happening and people are passing
from death into life. Still, by no means everybody is entering. Many, very many, even now
are refusing and resisting. But vigorous or forceful men, people who dare to break away
from faulty human tradition and to return to the Word in all its purity, no matter aht be the
cost to themselves, such individuals are eagerly taking possession of the kingdom; that
is, in their hearts and lives that kingship or reign of God and of Christ is being
established.

What Jesus emphasizes in Matthew 11, verse 12, is that one cannot sleep his way into
the Kingdom. On the contrary, entrance into the kingdom requires earnest endeavor,
untiring energy, utmost exertion. This is true because Satan is mighty, has a large army
of helpers, the demons, has learned to use crafty methods and receives aid and support
from his fifth column established in man’s very heart. Therefore it takes vigorous men,
men who are eager to fight and to conquer, to overcome Satan and thus to take
possession of the kingdom, of all the blessings of salvation. The kingdom, then is not for
weaklings, waverers, or compromisers. It is not for Balaam, the rich young ruler, Pilate,
and Demas. It is not won by means of deferred prayers, unfulfilled promises, broken
resolutions, and hesitant testimonies. It is for strong and sturdy men like Joseph, Nathan,
Elijah, Daniel and his three friends, Mordecai, the Peter of Acts 4:20, Stephen and Paul.
And here let us not forget such valiant women as Ruth, Deborah, Ester, and Lydia.

Commentary On Matthew – William Hendriksen

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read the following two chapters:

Chapter 9 – To Work: the Discipling Of Children

Chapter 10 - To Keep: The Discipline Of Children

Read and discover what these God reveals about men’s responsibility with children
Proverbs 23: 26 - __________________________________________________________________

Ephesians 6: 4 - ___________________________________________________________________

Today’s Additional Resources Used In This Lesson

The Qualities Of A Godly Mate - Bob Deffinbaugh

Sermons On Manhood & Womanhood – John Piper

 Biblical Manhood
FBC Adult Christian Education
Mar – May 2011
Lesson # 10 – 8 May 2011

I. Introduction

II. The Image Of God In Man

III. Working And Keeping

A. The Sacred Call To Work

B. The Sacred Call To Keep

IV. Male And Female Created He Them

A. How Man Is Designed

1. Designed To Be Completed

First – God created man and pronounced man good in his creation without a complement.

Second – God, who had designed this man to bear and reflect His image, continues to work with man to provide
him with a companion and help-meet.

Third - It is NOT unspiritual OR carnal OR fleshly OR evidence of a lack of Spirit lead self-control to recognize that
God did not make most men (or women) to be single all of their life!

• Bottom line: God’s design of passion and desire is NOT evil and should be seen as a gift!

• Ancillary: The rejection of God’s design is a sign of a culture which rejects Him resulting in stunted growth and
self-absorption!

2. God’s Design Of Healthy Completion Has Been Corrupted

3. Grace Frees Us To Return To Original, Pristine, Pure, Undefiled Design

Must AND CAN resist lust A New View of Sexuality Accountable for Lust

B. The Help-Meet God Created For Adam

1. Suitable

2. Different

a. Creation b. Fall c. Redemption

3. Designed And Created For Relationship

4. Communication For Men

a. Solomon’s Description Of Communications For A Godly Man

b. The Source of the Godly Man’s Courage In Communication

C. Trouble In Paradise – How The Fall Affected Relationships

Love Estranged

Relationships Cursed By Our Failure

God’s Curse On Woman: Pain & Conflict

God’s Curse On Man

 The Purpose Of The Curse - Our Hope For Renewal

D. Paradise Restored – Masculine Headship and Feminine Submission

1. The Source Of Authority & Headship

2. The Context For Leadership & Submission

!
a. Equality Of Personhood

b. Equality Of Dignity

c. Mutual Respect

d. Harmony

e. Complementarity

f. Unified Destiny

3. Jesus & Gender Relations

Jesus, His Word, the Gospel, and His people have done more to bring unity and harmony between the genders
than anyone else or any other movement. This is illustrated by:

a. The Creation Narrative

b. OT Laws Protecting Women

c. Jesus Acceptance Of, Ministry To, And Empowerment Of Women

i. Acknowledgment of women as “daughters of Abraham”

Luke 13: 10 - And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent
double, and could not straighten up at all.
12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness."
13 And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.
14 But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in
response, "There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the
Sabbath day."
15 But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his
donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?
16 "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should
she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
17 As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the
glorious things being done by Him.

ii. His declaration on the destructive nature of fallen and unbridled lust

Matthew 5: 28 - I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.

iii. His example of servant leadership and true humility

Matthew 18: 3 - Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the
kingdom of heaven

Luke 22: 26 - The one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the
servant
V. Men As Fathers
 “I don’t know how this happened. He has gone to church his whole life. We have taken
him to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, and paid for Christian school tuition.
We have monitored his friends to make sure they came from good families, and we
spanked him when he was little. I thought those things would keep this from happening!”

The Masculine Mandate – Randy Phillips

How would you respond to such a situation? ____________________________________________________

Eating meat is like having kids: the less you know about it, the more likely you are to go
ahead.
The Red Green Show – Red Green

Our children are God’s special gifts to us. Nobody is better suited to be their parents then
we are.
Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

God makes us men through fatherhood!

If only I’d known that my daughter herself would teach me all I needed to know. If only I’d
understood the obvious truth that I couldn’t’ be a father on my own, but only with the help
of a child. I needed a child’s love. I needed to love a child and, just as important, I needed
to soak up her love for me. I needed to experience firsthand how different is the love of a
child, how different it is from everything else in the world, before I could begin to grasp
what Jesus meant by saying, ‘Become like this.’

The Mystery of Children - Mike Mason

The two main obligations the scriptures describe for fathers is to nurture (work) and protect (keep). A man is called to
work the hearts of his children that they might become fertile soil for the gospel and devotion to Christ. A man is also
called to keep and protect his children from the influences of sin – in the world and in their own hearts – so that all the
efforts to draw that young person’s heart to Christ may not be swept away.

A. Discipling Of Children

1. Getting To The Heart Of The Matter

Proverbs 23: 26 - Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways.

This is the very pulse fo the Bible’s teaching on a father’s relationship with his children, including God the Father’s
relationship with us, His sons in Christ.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart - The book is divided into two parts. In the first, Tripp lays the foundation for biblical
childrearing. He shows that the heart of bad behavior is a sinful heart. He discusses a child’s development, showing
that a child is shaped by various influences on his life and that a parent needs to help a child have a God-ward
orientation. He discusses authority and suggests that, despite our culture’s disgust towards authority, a parent must
assert himself as being in a position of God-given authority over a child. A child must realize that parents speak not of
their own authority, but of God’s. He also discusses goals, methods, communication and discipline.

Where the first part of the book lays a foundation, the second part guides a parent through shepherding a child
through three stages of development: infancy, childhood and teenagers. For each of these periods he suggests the
training objectives and then procedures a parent should use to attain these objectives.

Proverbs 4: 23 - Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

The bible does not say, “My son, give me your behavior.” – We don’t want OUTWARD OBEDIENCE

If you teach your child to obey and to perform for approval from you and from others, you
present an unbiblical objective.
 Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

Dr. Tripp is right to emphasize that the goal of parenting is the child's heart, not just confirming to behavioral
standards. I want to raise a Wally Cleaver, not an Eddie Haskell.

The bible does not say, “My son, give me your presence.” – Being at the right place at the right time is not a
guarantee.

Superficial parenting that never addresses the heart biblically produces children who do
not understand what makes them tick. …They will never understand the internal
struggles that lie beneath their most consistent behavior.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

This is the purpose of parental discipling: ministering to our children’s hearts so as to gain a relationship of love with
them and a shared heart-bond of faith in Jesus Christ. The great issue is directing the hearts of our children to the
Lord.

First we must give them OUR heart. Our children must gain from us what they most desire: our affection, our
approval, our attention, our involvement, and our time.

One father’s example:

Dear Ricky,

. . . I heard you had a great baseball game and made a great catch. Your mother told me
how exciting it was when you won. How I wish I could have been there, but I can see you
making that catch in my mind . . .

Dear Ricky,

. . . I was very displeased to hear that you have been talking back to your mother lately.
You know that while I am serving our country, I count on you to be an obedient son . . .

The Masculine Mandate – Randy Phillips

2. Ways To Get To The Heart

A godly father plants good things in the hearts of his children including:

• The seeds of his own faith in Christ

• A longing for truth and goodness

• His hopes and dreams for the godly man or woman the child will become

• His own confidence that the child has all the gifting and capacity needed to serve God faithfully in whatever
way God may call them.

Communication is not monologue. It is dialogue. ... The finest art of communication is not
learning how to express your thoughts. It is learning how to draw out the thoughts of
another. Your objective in communication must be to understand your child, not simply to
have your child understand you.
Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

A regular habit of talking together prepares the way for talking in strained situations. You
will never have the hearts of your children if you only talk to them when something has
gone wrong.
Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp
 a. Read

What are the blessings to reading? _________________________________________________________

What are the hindrances to reading? ________________________________________________________

What are some suggestions? ______________________________________________________________

b. Pray

What are the blessings to praying? _________________________________________________________

What are the hindrances to prayer? ________________________________________________________

What are some suggestions? _____________________________________________________________

c. Work

What are some suggestions? _____________________________________________________________

d. Play

Grand Theft Auto 3 lets you explore the fully realized universe that is Liberty City, and complete gangland
missions. You can steal any car you see, from sports cars to taxis, and even boats. There are over a dozen ways
to take out other characters, including fist-fighting, baseball bat, handgun, Uzi, rocket launcher, and Molotov
cocktail. The game world has unpredictable weather, a variety of pedestrian types who act in unique ways,
changing times of day and night, and a multi-tiered, fully corrupt police force. The revenge plot offers strong story
elements that are balanced with the game’s non-linear freedom-of-movement.

Actual Manufacturer’s Description :

Crime does pay. The hugely successful, highly controversial Grand Theft Auto franchise
moves into 3 dimensions in the dark and seedy underworld of Liberty City. With the
freedom to go anywhere and jack anyone, Grand Theft Auto 3 puts the dark, intriguing
and ruthless world of crime at your fingertips, if you have enough guts to take it.

A Godly father is not going to allow this kind of rubbish in his home. He will warn his children to avoid games like
this that glorify evil and explain why this displeases the Lord. Dads, we need to be aware of the games our
children are playing and carefully monitor them. There is plenty of garbage out there that is passed off for
entertainment.

What kind of music is listened to in your home? Warn your children about music. There’s a lot of corrupt, vile and
Godless music out there and it isn’t what we want our children absorbing into their impressionable minds.

3. Time Changes Some Things

The period from infancy to childhood can be described in a single word – change. There
is rapid change in physical, social, intellectual, and spiritual areas of the child.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

Children grow and our power goes from authority to influence. Parents change to release our hold and transition
from dictating to guiding – from the power of command to the influence of carefully timed and chosen counsel.

Fathers must work for the close bond of a loving relationship all through childhood years. One day children will
encounter outside temptations and spiritual temptations.

Selfishness is not outgrown. Rebellion against authority is not outgrown. These things are
not outgrown because they are not reflective of immaturity but rather of the idolatry of
your child’s heart.
Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp
B. Disciplining Of Children

What do you think of a father who was responsible for raising the following boys?

• One son sexually assaults his half-sister, and is murdered by his brother in
retaliation.
• This murdering son goes on to lead a rebellion against his father and is violently
killed as a result.
• A third son later wages a rebellion against his father and a fourth brother, the
designated heir.

Not quite the model family, is it? Where’s the love and respect for dear old dad? Would
you consider the father of these thugs to be a paragon of spiritual leadership? O even a
halfway decent guy?
The Masculine Mandate – Randall Phillips

What went wrong here? Part of the answer, no doubt, is that great and powerful men typically don’t have nearly enough
time to win the hearts of their children, so the sons of kings often grow up into spoiled and rotten princes.

1 Kings 1: 6 - His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?"

Genesis 37: 18 – 28 - _______________________________________________________________________

1 Samuel 2: 22 – 29 - _______________________________________________________________________

1 Samuel 8: 1 - 5 - __________________________________________________________________________

2 Kings 8: 18 - _______________________________________________________________________

2 Kings 19 - _________________________________________________________________________

Recognizing that in discipline there is hope and refusing to be a willing party to your
child’s death, the parent undertakes the task [of discipline]. It is an expression of love and
commitment.
Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

Proverbs 29: 17 - Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; he will also delight your soul.

Hebrews 12:11 - All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been
trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

1. Seek Obedience

Genesis 18: 19 - For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to
keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what
He has spoken about him."

2. Exercise Self Control

Ephesians 6: 4- Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord.

NIV - do not exasperate your children

In the pagan world of Paul’s day, and even in many Jewish households, most fathers
ruled their families with rigid and domineering authority. The desires and welfare of wives
and children were seldom considered. The apostle makes clear that a Christian father’s
authority over his children does not allow for unreasonable demands and strictures that
might drive his children to anger, despair, and resentment. training and admonition of the
 Lord. This calls for systematic discipline and instruction, which brings children to respect
the commands of the Lord as the foundation of all of life, godliness, and blessing.

Commentary On Ephesians – John MacArthur

Though God has given you power, you must not abuse that power, remembering that
your children are, in a particular manner, pieces of yourselves, and therefore ought to be
governed with great tenderness and love. Be not impatient with them, use no
unreasonable severities and lay no rigid injunctions upon them. When you caution them,
when you counsel them, when you reprove them, do it in such a manner as not to
provoke them to wrath. In all such cases deal prudently and wisely with them,
endeavouring to convince their judgments and to work upon their reason.

Commentary On Ephesians – Matthew Henry

3. Physical Reproof

Proverbs 23: 13 - 14 – Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not
die. You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol.

Proverbs 29: 15 – The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his
mother.

Proverbs 13: 14 - He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

Proverbs 22: 15 - Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

a. Seek Privacy

b. Make The Offense Known

c. Require Acknowledgement

d. Embrace, Reassure, & Exhort

e. Repeat As Necessary

The example of the kid on the plan – page 112

We protect our children from internal threats – their own folly and sin – and we protect them from the external threat –
the ways of an increasingly dangerous culture.

We protect them from internal threats through physical punishment (the rod) and by the
exercise of verbal reproof. This is never fun. I would much rather be lazy, clueless, and
indulgent toward my children. In some ways it would be much easier to be like that father
on the plane – driven in fear from my God given place of fatherly authority by the
foolishness of humanistic blather. But, you see, I love my children, and I have been
taught what it means to exercise fatherly love according to the biblical pattern.

The Masculine Mandate – Randall Phillips

4. Verbal Reproof

THE VOICE
 We think of authority as derived either from overwhelming force or consent…our culture
has no notion of intelligent, thinking persons willingly placing themselves under authority.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart - Tedd Tripp

a. Seek Privacy

b. Make The Offense Known

c. Require Acknowledgement

d. Embrace, Reassure, & Exhort

e. Repeat As Necessary

5. Do Not Provoke

Ephesians 6: 4- Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord.

6. Bathe In Prayer

Today’s Challenge

Godly Dads Video: [Link]

PREPARATION FOR NEXT WEEK

Read the following chapter:

Chapter 11: Men In Friendship

Read and discover what these God reveals about brothers, friends and mentors
The Life Of Jonathan In 1 Samuel

The Ministry Of Nathan With David

Today’s Additional Resources Used In This Lesson

Shepherding A Child’s Heart – Tedd Tripp

Commentary On Ephesians – John MacArthur

Commentary On Ephesians – Matthew Henry

The Mystery Of Children – Mike Mason

The Red Green Show – Red Green