Made In His Image - Biblical Manhood (1 Cor. 16:13-14; Gen 1:26-28; Eph 5:23-33)

This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd.

Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people

striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through

our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church

at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message.

Great. OK.

Yeah. All right.

Spoilers. I'm not the hero.

We are starting a three-week series this week called Made in

His Image. This week we're looking at

biblical manhood. Next week is going to be

biblical womanhood and then the third week is going to be all of

us as children of God. Obviously some of us are quite

literal life stage children right now.

At one point we all were and we are all constantly children of a

loving heavenly Father in this life.

So those are the next three weeks.

And I just want to talk about a little bit about what this is.

You might you might hear that and be like, OK, biblical

manhood, half of you in this room are not men.

I get that. And God made you that way and

that's great. So how does this morning look

for me if I'm not a man? Well, I hope some of the things

that we glean from God's truth this morning for those of you

who are wives informs the relationship that God designed

for your husband to have with you and you with your husband.

For those of you that maybe aren't yet married or or even

you young girls right down here. And I don't want to like just

put you on the spot, but you can be listening for how you should

be looking at in your future, someone to marry, how men should

be interacting with you, how men who are after Jesus's heart.

Will pursue you. In a biblical worldview, in

God's truth, in God's design, Because see what gets twisted.

About what we're going to. Look at the next few weeks.

We let our emotions, our feelings, our experiences and.

Quite honestly, this. World.

Define and inform. The roles of men and the roles

of women. And I'm not.

Going to pretend like those things aren't real and that

those things don't affect how we think about these things.

But if you were to, if you were to go look to make some changes

to this building, if you were to go look at adding on or maybe

changing the roof or or. Changing up where?

The bathrooms were or where the kitchen was.

You're not going to go look at the plans for another church in

town and base your plans off of that.

You're going to look off. The blueprints of this building.

You're going to look off the foundational designs.

Of this building. To inform how.

Then you're going to live. How?

Then you're going to proceed and plan, right?

That's what we're doing this week.

We are looking at God's Word, the foundation for how He

designed manhood, not how sin and the world and society.

Have twisted it. But what his original intent was

and how ultimately it's fulfilled in Jesus, the only man

who lived like a man perfectly. So that's what to be on the

lookout for. If you're maybe not a man, you

can still glean from this men. I've been laboring over this

message all week to be honest with you, because there's some

heavy-handed stuff in here. There's some gut wrenching, soul

searching, guilt inducing stuff in God's word.

Because I can tell you from experience, I'm not the hero.

I don't have all of this perfectly licked and lived out.

That's not why I'm up here, because I'm the perfect example

of living this out. That's not it.

I am up here to share what God's Word said about it and how I'm

still working through it too. How I'm still trying each and

every day to be the husband and father and leader that God

designed me to be. So, guys, we're going to start

in this verse in First Corinthians, and I want you to

hear this sincerely because there's not judgment coming from

up here. I'm right in these trenches with

you. First Corinthians chapter 16.

1 Corinthians 16 · chapter mention

I do have the clicker, but it's not clicking.

So if you want to be my clicker, there it is.

OK, This is where we're going to start because it's actually

where I think we should end. And I want you to see what's

coming. Paul writes in his closing

remarks in his first letter to the Corinthian church.

Be watchful. Stand.

Firm in the faith. Act like men.

Be strong. Let all that you do be.

Done in love. Hold on to.

That verse men especially because you might hear words

from up here this morning that sounds like judgment.

I hope they are laced in love. I'm not perfect at it.

I want to do it right by God, right along with you.

OK, so this morning though we started with Paul's remarks and

conclusions of how men should act.

We are going to go back to the beginning, to Genesis, and we're

going to look at 5 different ways that God intended men to

be, what His plan for men is. The first is that men are

created in God's image to reflect His character.

Genesis 1. All the way back to beginning.

Verses 26 through 28 then God said, let us make.

Man in our image. After our likeness, let them

have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of

the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the

earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created him.

Male and female. He created them and God bless

them, and God said to. Them be fruitful and multiply

and fill the earth. And subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of

the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the

earth. If we're firstly created in

God's image to reflect his character, this is going to be

something that's actually shared next week.

And I'm not telling Pastor Chris what he needs to preach on, but

it's in there that though he created them, male and female,

distinctly separate and having distinct roles, they're both

created reflecting God's image, made in God's image to reflect

his character. We do that in different ways,

but that's the purpose He has in creating each of us.

Men and women. Are designed to reflect.

God's glory, His wisdom, His creativity, His moral truth.

And that's lived. Out in having dominion over.

The fish. Of the sea, the birds of the

air, over every. Creeping thing.

He created us with responsibility over the earth

that He created. He also gave us a.

Mandate to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and

subdue it. If we are all image bearers of

God and reflecting. Him wouldn't.

He want to fill his creation with him, right?

If you were God, that's the chief purpose of your creation.

To reflect him and his. Ways to?

Pass that down generation to generation.

To your offspring, all this responsibility points to care,

not domination, though that word subdue carries.

An innate. Responsibility and care you are.

Stewarding these. Things this responsibility that

God has. Given us over now, that's the

original intent. Has that.

Certainly been distorted. In.

Various ways throughout. The course of history, yeah.

Sinful man has moved to a culture of of.

Domination and submission. Or just complete.

Control without respect for God's authority.

In various ways. But that's not the way that God.

Designed it. Moving on a little.

Further. In Genesis 2.

We see this calling expanded. Men are called to work and

guard. Genesis 215 The Lord God took

the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and

keep it. These Hebrew words here that

that we translate into English as these phrases work it and

keep it work. It means to cultivate, develop

and make fruitful. You're not just there to to keep

it as it is. You are there to care and

nourish and multiply the goodness that God has created.

That phrase, keep it. It's the Hebrew word shamar.

It means to guard. Protect and watch.

Over God established men for purposeful labor, for

productivity, and for protection.

Later on, the first time we see this phrase in the.

In the creation account verse. 18 of Genesis 2, God said that

it was not good. For man to be alone.

Everything else to this point, God saw that it was good.

God looked at his creation and and called it good.

Named it good. Yep, nailed that.

The one thing that needed to be amended?

Was man being. Alone he created Eve.

Then. As a helper fit for Adam, not a

not a servant, not a less than a helper to compliment Adam named

the animals received his wife in verse 24 of Genesis 2.

It says, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and

hold fast. To his wife.

And they shall. Become one flesh.

All the way back at creation, God established what marriage

looks like. He established the priorities of

OK, yes. Parents.

Children. Honor your parents in their

household, but when you grow up and move out and move off.

And become. Husband and wife, those

priorities shift. There's that one flesh union in

marriage. Husbands and wives, you are now

after your relationship with God, your relationship with each

other is that next box that's established all the way back in

Genesis 2. So men called to work and guard

all of. Creation What God?

Tasked you with your wife, Your family.

Sounds like a lot. It is a lot.

The third. Way that God designed men.

Designed for sacrificial. Leadership and we see that.

Lived out. In marriage.

It was not good for a man to be alone.

And if Eve was created as a helper A.

Compliment for him. Not not an inferior lower

helper, but something. To enhance and.

Partner their relationship Ephesians 5 sets the.

Table for this further verse 20. Three, the husband is the head

of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.

His body. And is himself its savior.

Now as. The church submits to Christ, so

also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave

himself up. For her, this passage and really

the entirety of Ephesians 523 through 33.

You can you can look at this husbands and wives, I encourage

you to go back and study this further.

We could spend weeks on just these 10 verses for this

morning. I want to point out what's here

and what's not here. What is here.

God established a hierarchy of authority and guys.

That's that's good. News and bad news.

Good news is you're in charge and you're supposed to be in

charge. The bad news is you're in charge

and you're responsible to be in charge.

And do it the way God designed it, not the way you would like

to. The husband is the head of the

wife. I know culture would tell us

that women can do everything that men can.

Do and I'm. Not here to get in a whole.

Discussion, diatribe about all about all of those things.

What I am going to say is God. Made men and women different.

With different strengths, with different giftings and with.

Different responsibilities he did establish.

Men as the head. How though as?

Christ is the head of the church.

That's the bad news, guys. That's what we have to live up

to is how Christ led the church. Wives Now Now as the church

submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in.

Everything to their. Husbands again.

There's that buzzword submit in there, but let's dial it back a

little bit. As the church submits to Christ.

So church, all of you here this morning, do you feel oppressed

in your submission to Christ this morning?

I hope not. You shouldn't.

That word has been taken and twisted 4 wives to their

husbands as breaking free from any form of of of domineering or

of decision making. And has been.

Given to women to entitle them to break free.

In their own truth. Now I know there is a laundry

list of examples of men. Who have?

Exploited this passage who have led in a in a non God honoring.

Way. In enforcing submission.

For their wives, that's. Not what I'm talking about.

That's not what God designed. Husbands, wives, you are

designed. Husbands to.

Love your wife. As Christ.

Loved the church. What is?

What does that look like? Well.

That means you. Don't come first.

You come, you come last in all the things you place.

Her needs? Your children's needs before

your own. Sacrificial leadership that you

are laying yours your life down daily for.

Those that God entrusted you with when you're wrong.

When you sin against your family.

When you get angry at your children.

When you're just lazy and tired and don't want to do the things,

you own it. You are the first repenter.

You are the first to say I was wrong.

And I'm sorry, even when you're tired and you don't want to do

things and you didn't get your way today or this week or this

month, not even once. Now, you might say that doesn't

sound very fair. It doesn't.

There's one place in existence that is fair, and that is hell.

Fair is getting. What we deserve.

Everybody in hell is getting what their sins deserved.

Even those in heaven are getting an eternal.

Life that we did not deserve. And I know that those words.

Don't just. Automatically heal.

Whatever, whatever struggle or or whatever frustration you may

have in your life, men. But we're not allowed to make

excuses. We can have excuses, but there's

nowhere in any of these passages that we're going to look.

At that. Gives a mandate to men and and

has a cop out. And has.

A. Unless your dad didn't model it

this way for you. Unless.

Your wife is not fulfilling God's calling on her life for

how she should be in relationship with you.

Unless your kids just don't listen to you at all there,

there's no cop. Outs in this.

And that's. The bad news?

A little bit, guys. That we are in charge, but that

Jesus is perfect, standard and model is ace of the test.

I can't do that. And I'm not saying obviously,

that any of you can. That's the scary part, that we

are going to fall short. Biblical headship is not

domineering or selfish. It's sacrificial servant.

Hearted and sanctifying men, we. Lead in God's design by loving,

deeply providing, protecting. And pointing our families to

Christ. And that's ultimately how we.

Do it, guys. It's going back to that.

First point that you were created in His image to reflect

His glory. He is your strength.

He is your sustainer. In order to.

Come close to doing this? Well, you've got to be in

relationship with him. Constantly.

Consistently. It's not.

An easy thing for guys especially to do.

Any of you who are strong willed really to.

Do to admit a. Dependency to admit.

Your weakness. Or shortcoming.

We don't like doing that. That's vulnerability that we as

people just we don't like. But that's what God called us.

That's why God created us in His love.

He created us to depend on Him. Any fighting or uncomfortability

we have with that is going against His.

Design his creation. He made us.

To depend on him. So, men, that's the only hope we

have in leading like Jesus does, because what's at stake?

Well. Men are called to fatherhood.

And spiritual instruction be. Fruitful and multiply, we just.

Read in Genesis. Paul goes on in Ephesians

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 to bring your children up in the discipline and

instruction of the Lord. Teach them diligently.

Other words all the way back in the old.

Testament in Deuteronomy 6 Bring your children up in the

discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Fathers, in God's design model godliness.

Your words, your work ethic, your integrity and your prayers

shape the next. Generation and remember.

Even those in your household they ultimately belong to.

God. You are their steward.

You are their caretaker on earth.

Of course we. Should be guiding them home to

their heavenly Father. Finally, men.

Are. Created to glorify God.

In strength and love. This is where we started.

This is where we're going to end up.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men.

Be strong. That all that you do be.

Done in love, we could have spent all morning on this one

verse. I'm going to encourage you all,

if you haven't yet, there's a whole book on these two verses

here. If you've been coming to

Thursday night Men's ministries, we worked through this in the

fall by Pastor Joby Martin. He takes these verses and writes

a diatribe on what it means to stand firm and act like men.

It's out at the ERC pic shelf there.

I'd encourage you to pick it up, but I will let you know.

Man, this is not a feel good book.

It's a good guide. It's it's a blueprint for what?

Biblical manhood. Looks like.

It's going to beat you up. It's going to make you feel

guilty about the shortcomings that you have in biblical

manhood. But it lays out what a man after

Jesus's heart looks like. So if you're ready to grow some

discipline, to grow some direction.

For how you're living like a man to glorify God.

This is a great place to start. I'd encourage you to go through

it with some other guys though too.

He even by chapter 3, I think that's one of the tasks at the

end, is, hey, you're going to need 3 or 4 buddies to go

through this with you because that's also part of God's

design. The Bible says that as iron

sharpens iron, so one friend sharpens.

Another we're not. Meant to go through this alone.

God created us for dependence on Him, but also dependence on

others, on brothers, women, you too.

You need sisters, you need some, you need some gravedigger dead

body people in your lives, then have no questions.

And I'm not not saying go make dead bodies.

I'm saying when you are in the worst of unthinkable situations,

do you have people that are there for you, no questions

asked? Do you have brothers and sisters

in Christ who as as as those men on the roof, lowered their

friend on the mat down through the roof to Jesus and by their

faith? They literally brought their.

Friend to Jesus. Literally moved.

Him to Jesus's presence because they knew He was what their

friend needed. Do you have those mat bearers,

men and women? Do you both have those mat

bearers in your life? Because I know I get it.

I can say the words up here that were built.

To depend on God. And I know sometimes that feels

like it's empty. Sometimes you're stuck there

wondering how and when God's going to answer what you feel

like you need. You might be in a situation.

Where you're asking God to get you out of a situation you're

asking God to. Change your circumstance.

He might have you in that because he's trying to change

you. He's trying to grow you.

Build you up. In dependence on Him, because He

is how we live and move and breathe.

So this is. It 5 steps easy.

It's not, but it's important. We have a good and gracious

heavenly Father as our example. We have Jesus Christ, his

perfect Son. We have a Holy Spirit.

We have a helper who is our sustainer, who is who we should

depend on in all these things. It looks really good in a 5

point list. I promise it's even simpler than

that. This is the blueprint right here

for all of life. I brought I brought up this book

because it's maybe a. Little more digestible.

And specific. But God's words are enough.

There's power in these that are enough to establish a foundation

of God's strength into you men in the Word, in prayer, we need

to depend on God together, and that's what it looks like,

setting our wants aside, putting Him first in all things so that

his strength. Flows.

Into all these other areas of our life.

It's by His word and by His Spirit He can do it.

We have to declare our dependence on Him.

Thanks for listening to the ERC Sundays to support work God is

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