1144. Be A Man

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones Senior's intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything, so he established daily chapel services today.

That tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University travel platform today on The Daily Platform were continuing a study series entitled divine design which is a study of Biblical manhood and biblical womanhood. Today's message will be preached by Beecher you president Steve had it. Unfortunately there was a technical issue with today's original recording but it only lasts about a minute please take your Bibles this morning and turn to first Corinthians chapter 16 yesterday I was coming back to Jacksonville Florida with five students and while we are coming back for them or our ladies in our student body and I asked the question when you think of the statement what it means to be a man was the first thing that comes your mind.

First thing they said was move on. I met like a satellite clue me in.

They still haven't you seen that's it. No, obviously there's a song about being a man.

When I asked myself the question. I go back to my late high school and early college years, I worked for a company, a moving company called beacon Van lines and our job was to move houses and furniture and so forth and so it involved packing and moving boxes and loading up trucks and it was it was hard work. Most of it was by hand, but anything was really heavy used it to wheel dialing, and probably that one of the hardest things to move was the refrigerator and of course are all kinds of different sizes of fruit refrigerator and so if we came to a house that was a really large fridge, usually one of the older workers would give that refrigerator. This designation he'd say that man will when he would say that that's kind of the Q for anybody that needs to prove their manhood to move it themselves and usually the younger guys would step up, we get the two wheeled dolly and we put it underneath the French and if we could pull it out not paying the walls, get it out the front door and roll it up on the truck into its place. Usually we get the ultimate compliment, but I would by someone saying to you on man. So when I'm asked the question, what's a man that's the first illustration that comes to my mind is that a good illustration.

Not really when you think of what is it mean to be a man.

What comes to your mind or is this even an important question what was important to the apostle Paul. Because, listen to what he said in first Corinthians 16 verses 13 and 14. He said why she stand fast in the faith quit you like men either stop there was ME seminomadic winners. No, it literally is translated. Be a man. He said be strong.

Let all your things and let everything that you do be done with love. So, Paul commands the Corinthians to act like men so obviously it's a very important issue and really this is one of the key questions that gets at the heart of our series, which is Biblical manhood and womanhood. So next week I'm going to address the question of what it means to be a woman and so I roles are responsibilities I relationships are clearly laid out in God's word, and so this morning I like us to go back to what we been doing and that is following the pattern of creation going back to what the Bible says how everything began in this morning. I'd like us to go back to the first man Adam and discover what God said about him.

And then I'd like us to finish this morning by going to the New Testament to see the ultimate man the perfect man, the man Christ Jesus Celeste take your Bibles and turn to the book of Genesis chapter 2 this morning and let's look at the first man were going to begin reading verse seven it says in the Lord God formed madman out of the dust of the ground. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. There two things I want us to see this morning about manhood. First of all what a man is and secondly what God says a man is to do what a man does so very simply. Why is a man in the four things I want to know number one man is a spiritual being. When God created the animals he made them by spoken word he said, let there be, and there was but when he made Adam. He divinely sculpted and carefully crap crafted him out of the dust of the earth. He breathed into his into man his own breath and the Bible says that man became a living soul. By the way, the word for breath and the word for spirit are the exact same word man became a creation of spiritual being.

Spirituality is the highest aspect of manhood because that means that you and I have the ability to have a relationship we can commune with God, and it differentiates us with the rest of creation, because nothing else about creation can commune with God like man can, however, we all know that the man was made in God's image.

We send and consequently what it do that affected our spirituality and furthermore when Adam sinned it more the image of Biblical manhood is God intended it to be.

But thank God the second Adam came to undo what the first Adam did, so that you and I can come back in a relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ and be restored and be transformed into the image of perfect manhood as a believer as a Christian we should be perfecting. But one day in glory. We will be perfect men, so man is a spiritual being. Secondly, man is a physical being.

As we've already noted when God created humanity he made to differently distinct genders because in humanity humanity is a plurality it's both male and female. This means that they have distinctly different bodies. However, the Scripture does not really explain those physical differences simply because it doesn't need to because their self-evident.

We have four children our first three children were born back in the day before there was an epidural.

You know what an epidural is means you take that to avoid the pain of child childbirth, so my wife had three children without any kind of anesthetic to deaden the pain. Secondly, it was back in the day before you could find out if you're going to have a boy or girl. So we didn't know, like four or five months in advance. Everything was a surprise and so when all when my first three children were born, I was there in the whole time everybody's in suspense and when the child comes out let me I should question how long do you think it took for the nurses to figure out if it was a boy or girl. It was instantaneous first one was Rebecca.

It's 1/3 when Stephen gets up all will. How do we know because one was a male as a male part of the other female female part that's awkward but that's what happened were all physical beings created by God number three man is not only a physical or spiritual being, but man is a cultural being.

That is, we all live in a world where masculine and feminine traits are identified through culturally conditioned expressions or characteristics.

Now these expressions vary from culture to culture and from one time period to another that, but they show that every society has male and female cultural distinctions in the point I'd like to make is this. It is a believer. God wants us to reflect our male and female distinctions within our own cultural contexts.

As long as those characteristics are not sinful. So, let me give you an example. First Corinthians chapter 11. Here Paul is writing instructing the Corinthian church about worship issues in a Chapter 11 he shows is that men and women should honor God and others by maintaining proper gender distinctions in worship and in this chapter we see some very important principles number one that the creation man date of order sets the rule of authority in the church. In other words, and in first grade is 11 three it says that God is the head of Christ. Christ is the head of man and man is the head of woman, that's the order that God set up and that is to be set up in the church.

Secondly he said women are to demonstrate submission to male leadership in the church while they are involved in active spiritual worship. God is ordained that men have the responsibility to leave the church and women have a complementary and supportive role of women in the first century were to show their submission to male leadership by wearing a head covering the head covering was like a veil and was worn by women in the first century culture and Chapter 11 verse part five, Paul says that if they didn't wear the head covering them. They were dishonoring the authority. In other words, they were acting in rebellion by the way just to make a point that women could pray and prophesy as long as they showed submission by wearing the head cover so the women were to demonstrate that in the church.

That's the order that God set up the number three men and women were to maintain proper gender distinctions within their culture there was to be no confusion of the sexes because this would be contrary to creation. So Paul uses an illustration in chapter 11 in verse 14 about men's hair pieces does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair. It is a disgrace for him in the ancient world. Men wore their hair different from women just like today.

And naturally, women have longer hair and naturally men have short hair. I mean who goes bald first who grows a beard first.

I mean there might be a baldheaded bearded woman, but there rare compared to men. There different so society influences the norms of masculine and feminine expressions within a particular culture or time. So when illustrated to you practically it's been my privilege to go overseas many times to the country of India. We have Indian students here, one of the things I learned and I'm sure the culture shifted a little bit since I've been there. But when I went there women wore particular certain dress style women either. Ward, Trudy Dars, or they wore sorry sorry's work just traditional Indian dress.

I never recall ever seeing a man where sorry men, at least in southern India. What were what we called Jody's Dodi look like a long bedsheet that was wrapped around them and basically and write down to their knees, but you never saw a woman in public wearing a Dodi generally and you never saw a man wearing a sorry that their cultures manifest manifested distinctions between men and women. However, in that culture in India.

It was very common to see men walking down the street holding hands with men.

It looked really odd to me. But in that culture. It was an expression of friendship that's just what they do.

Number of years ago as my privilege to go overseas to Russia.

When you go into a Russian church. Russian men greet each other by kissing each other on the lips that was there cultural expression now cultures are different. For example, I love Dr. Horn will you will never see me holding his hand or kissing him on the lips. I give a we express it differently. So as a Christian man I should seek to to maintain proper gender distinctions within the culture. As long as they're not sinful and speaking directly to you as a man we should not be feminine in our traits we should walk like we should talk like and we should dress like men. We should be the best of manhood within our culture and then number four man is a psychological being what we simply mean by that is that we all have a sense unawareness of what we are to make it really simple. You probably are this many times a little boy is born in one year later you hear somebody say he's all boy.

I have three grandsons there all boy they like to tear things up.

They like to do all kinds. I mean, they're just always. How do you know the boys to the just bully are you ever the same as she's all girl and all of us have unawareness of what we are now within a fallen culture or society. Those traits can be and have been blurred and twisted in a good example is the stereotype that manhood could mean muscle or a scoff always rooted or you screwed or he's a ladies man. These promiscuous and those images unveiled in surround us.

When I was growing up there was a famous commercial about the moral borough man piercing the commercial usually is is this guy's a tough guy looks tough got a cowboy hat on smoking a cigarette since come to where the flavor is not a lot of times that picture had a herd of cattle binding just let you know that's not where the flavor is but it's it's the image portrayed but is that the biblical image that God sets forth what is a man a man is a spiritual, physical, cultural, and psychological being and Christian men are called to live in ways that reflect their masculine traits that are shaped by the word enabled by the Spirit, and there exercised in love with in our society.

So that leads me to the second thing and that is what a man does what a man is what a man does men are often defined not only by who they are, but by what they do.

We call that their vocation and God's design reflects this truth in the fact that what God gave to Adam. God gave Adam a job in Genesis 128 God gave Adam a big vision of a strategic plan to be a world changer for God's glory.

And he said be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea.

In fulfilling this plan God gave them to responsibilities and God gives every man to responsibilities what are they look at Genesis 215 and the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it banished to jobs number one man is to work God gave Adam dominion over the earth. He was the master he was the Lord. Adam was a steward charged with the responsibility to make things grow, to flourish on the earth over which he rule as a steward, Adam was to nurture, to cultivate to 10 to care for to build up to God and to rule over all of creation.

In other words, you could say this way Adam was to be a hard working leader. He was to be productive he was to make things happen all man legitimate. All men are to be leaders. So I don't feel like I'm a leader that either you don't understand what it means to be a leader or you need to become a man.

Every man ought to be a leader to reject leadership is to reject manhood men are charged to take charge.

We are tourists we are to assume responsibility weird establish goals were to work hard for to produce results.

That is what we are to do. Leadership also includes working with in developing people, cultivating relationships, investing in mentoring others striving to build productive lives with those who are connected to our leadership. But I want to say clearly so you know misunderstanding misunderstanding when he gave them the responsibility to work. It meant that he was to take responsibility and he was to lead. Secondly, man is not only to work but managed to keep these not only to be productive, but he's to be protective. Adam was given the responsibility to keep the garden work.

Keep has the idea of sustaining it and progressing it, keeping it going. Growing faithfully but also has the idea of protecting and preserving to guarding it courageously. This is what Paul meant when he instructed Christian men at Corinth to act like men.

The word for act like men means to exhibit courage and bravery is very interesting to me that the main two jobs of Israelites number one is that they were farmers and number two is that they were soldiers. Those are the top two jobs and often times one man did both. What is true manhood is responding to God's calling for men to assume sacrificial responsibility to care for to provide and to protect to love and to serve his wife and his family to be responsible in his God-given field because all work is sacred service so did Adam exemplify perfect manhood, no that we exemplify perfect manhood, no all men. All of us recognize our failure to live up to the standard that you know what that doesn't mean that we don't have because what was commanded to the first man was perfectly demonstrated to the second by the second man Christ is the ground and Christ is the goal of all true masculinity. Jesus is the perfect man the perfect Adam and in him and through him we can have the grace to become like him.

There was one word to summarize who Jesus was and what he came to do as a man, and that is, he came to be a shepherd, would you consider all the shepherd leaders in the Old Testament. Think about it. Adam was the Lord over the animals. Abel was the keeper of sheep, Abraham was a shepherd. Isaac was a shepherd. Jacob was a shepherd. Moses attended sheep on the backside of the desert for 40 years and David was a shepherd who became the Old Testament ideal of a true leader. God says in Psalm 78, 70 chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfold from following the nursing use. He brought him to shepherd Jacob his people. The one image that most sums up who Jesus was, as a man is a shepherd for Jesus said I am the great and the good Shepherd and what is the role of the shepherd.

The shepherd lives among the sheep.

He identifies with them in his heart he shares their hardship and their risks and their dangers. The shepherd leads and feeds guides any guards. He provides any protect his agenda is their growth and their nurturing and that's how he knows he's successful. PKD takes care of the she is cheaper his preoccupation his burden in his joy and Jesus that God is our shepherd. Jesus said on the good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. What is manhood is a calling from God to be like Jesus is a calling where he is opened up the way for all of us as men to follow in his steps. There's a tremendous need today for young men to man up your my hope is our student body that every man in this university will be a true Christian man to be a leader to be responsible to be hard-working to be goal oriented to care for people to persevere and stick it out through hard times to produce fruit to make a difference in the whole time you do it you can laugh you know guys are funny guys go over the guys. Don't you find out there's nothing about me. There's nothing manly about being so serious you can ever laugh and if I can't laugh I can look like I live in Bob Jones. I got a laugh. Okay this is my life.

You come and you go I stay you have to be able to be who you all are but manhood does not come naturally and it doesn't come easily.

Paul talks about a change that has to be made. First Corinthians 1311 when I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things. Biblical masculinity is not for the immature child. It's for men. So, be a man be what God intended for you to be.

Father, we thank you for your word.

Lord I pray that you will help us to accept the responsibilities that you've given to us to be men of God to be like Jesus. To have the kind of traits that are loving and gracious and good and strong and brave and courageous. Thank you that your raising up many men in the student body will go out make a difference for you got.

I pray you help us to be men in Jesus day the men you've been listening to a sermon preached by Bob Jones University president Steve Pettit. The sermon was part of the study series about Biblical manhood and biblical womanhood entitled divine design.

I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. Thank you for listening to The Daily Platform, the Bob Jones University school for continuing online and professional education offers convenient and affordable online programs.

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