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On July 6, 2014 in Instruction by Robert Kelley

I hope you and yours have had a great 4th and weekend. Because of the way the founders obtained American independence, our nation has a special reverence for what is considered the noble rebellion of persons and peoples that throw off the shackles of royal or any other type of government tyranny. This reverence for rebellion is part of the cultural DNA of the nation and is prominent in many churches that practice Christianity the religion of men. So, without any shame, many professing male and female Christians have sided with the world in all of its foretold rebellion against God and His Word in these latter days to include its definition of a man (Psalm 2:1-3).

However, in every generation of men since Eden, God has had those that remain faithful to Him in spite of the rebellion of others supposedly equally religious and even at the cost of their lives (Genesis 4:1-8; Luke 11:37-54). I take my stand among the faithful that the immutable God and Creator has not changed His definition of what a man is from the beginning of creation and that Jesus Christ is eternal Manhood in perfection! As the Lord leads, I briefly lay out my biblically drawn case in this blog repost and more fully in my just re-released book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.

Originally Posted October 20, 2013

As it is written, God is man’s Creator that purposely made him “in the image and likeness of God,” (Genesis 1:26, NKJV). However, perfect Adam rebelled against his Creator in sin. Yet, God loves man and sent the Word and Son of God into this world to save the willing by faith through His own death on the cross for man’s sins and bodily resurrection to immortality on the third day after (John 1:1-18; Romans 5:6-11). Reconciled back to God, such men come up under the work of God to fully restore them not in accord with their fallen, sinful nature and character in the flesh, but God’s eternal, perfect nature and character fully displayed by the Son of God, Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 5:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-4). And so, redeemed men are called to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” as the divine garment of eternal, perfect Manhood that was taught and displayed by Him who was Adam’s prototype before creation (Romans 5:14, 13:14; 1 Corinthians 15:47-49, NKJV)!

In my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, I am led by the Father to focus entirely on His Son as the Father’s joyfully presented model of perfect Manhood and the Strong Man of God (Matthew 3:16-17). His is the image men in God pleasing restoration are being transformed to conform to (Romans 8:29). As the Lord Jesus bears the divine nature and character, so, also aspiring strong men of God in His image; as He had several roles the Father designed for Him to act out of, so, those that aspire to be strong men of God in His image.

Concerning roles assigned the Lord by the Father, there were several including Christ, King, Prophet, Priest and Lamb of God! His conduct in these roles as others was influenced by the perfect nature and character of His uppermost and eternal role as the Son of God (Luke 2:48-49; John 5:17-19, 20:17)! In the same way, God has purposed that men who will become like Jesus have as their number one role being eternal sons of God in His image (Luke 11:2)! Then, they are Christ’s disciples, husbands and fathers or celibates, sons of their parents, servants of God and humanity.

Therefore, fully restoring men requires those that win and disciple them to cooperate with God to help the men understand who and what they are as unique creatures designed to fulfill multiple roles--some temporary for this present age only and a few eternal--He has assigned them. Once more, their foremost role in the image of Christ is to live now and forever as sons of God! Developing in nature and character in their primary role as sons through the agency of the Holy Spirit, these aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ excel in all of their other roles as He did and does!

For example, the Lord does not call Himself to be High Priest, but is first identified as God’s Son. And He is not said to “learn obedience” as the Christ, King, Prophet, Priest or Lamb of God. But it is written, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered,” (Hebrews 5:5-8, NKJV). It was His demonstrated faithful obedience as a Son that showed Him qualified to serve and function in superior fashion as the “Author of eternal salvation” and in His role as our “High Priest” (Hebrews 5:9-10, NKJV).

So, while many in the churches, denominations and Christian men’s movement of American Christianity major on men as good husbands and fathers which are solely temporary roles for this present age, it is only possible that men functioning in those roles will finally begin to hit the biblical mark of pleasing God in them when they are first fully functioning as His eternal sons in the image of Christ! Thus, there is frustration in the often well intended efforts at restoring men because steps are being skipped or eliminated and emphasis is in the wrong place; the proverbial cart is being put before the horse.

Sinful men no matter how well intended can come up with a program for anything that will work better than the one God has already put in place! God’s unchanging program for fully restoring men begins with their salvation through genuine faith in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ, and making them sons by spiritual rebirth--something only He can do (John 1:12-13)! God then develops His aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ as eternal sons through bringing them to sold out devotion to Christ as His disciples--their second eternal role. For we shall line up behind, follow, be taught by and serve our Lord Jesus Christ forever (Luke 14:26; John 12:25-26, 14:1-3, 17:24; Revelation 20:4, 22:1-3).

God makes no exceptions to His program: first comes salvation, then sonship, discipleship and the heart of a servant to God as eternal roles; after these comes all other temporal roles which of rank importance if not assigned by God to be a lifelong celibate is being a husband, father and son of one’s parents as adults. The apostle Paul as great as he would become is a prominent example in the New Testament of God’s “no exception” in His program for fully restoring men (Acts 7:54-8:3, 9:1-30; Galatians 1:11-2:10).

Again, for those of us who have been burdened and called by God to fully restore men, our mission is to cooperate with Him in His already established program for doing so plainly laid out in His Word, not attempt to come up with our own! As obedient sons, disciples and servants, we are to serve as His vessels to make (witness and proclaim the Gospel) disciples of Christ, baptize and teach them His commandments and instructions exclusively (Matthew 28:18-20). This is why my book is subtitled, Back To Basics. God’s program for fully restoring men is so basic and plainly presented in the Bible.

But supposed Christian men are sitting in the pews clueless to the fact God has called them to be strong men of God in the image of Christ and in many cases, are ruined spiritually if they are in church at all! And is it any wonder that untold numbers of professing Christian men fail spiritually, morally and ethically as pastors and leaders especially among the churches of manmade Christianity the religion which pride themselves on self-sufficiency since God’s program for preparing men for service is discarded for their own (1 Timothy 3:1-13)? I exhort pastors, elders, denominational and men’s movement leaders that are guilty to repent and let’s get back to God’s program for restoring men from the Bible as faithfully presented in my book.

Tagged With: Jesus Christ is perfect Manhood

Fully Restoring Men

On June 29, 2014 in Instruction by Robert Kelley

It is with great joy that I announce the re-release of my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics this July 1^st under the exclusive publishing imprint, ODCM Publishing Division a unit of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc., I was privileged by the Lord to found in 1985. This day has come in spite of all of the resisting and hindering tactics the enemy has employed in the process--to God be the glory! Why does this book concern Satan so? Because he fears the prospective results for good among Christian men that will result from widespread encounter with the content. For this re-release, I am reposting two blogs this and next week that stress the great need and urgency for my book. I have done some minor editing in paragraph construction and content in this first repost.

Originally Posted October 13, 2013

There is nearly universal agreement among leaders in the denominations and churches of American Christianity that more must be done to restore men to a biblical worldview of manhood. Of course, given the divisiveness that exists on all other matters great and small within this fractured house, the question of what a biblical worldview of manhood looks like is also the subject of debate. Most, in accord with the superficiality of manmade Christianity the religion however, are satisfied to major on helping men be better generic Christians, churchmen, husbands and fathers as far as that goes.

A few authors have done an excellent job of exploring and presenting a profile of the ideal man almost exclusively as Christian mortals of this present age. Along the way there are periodic large arena events, conferences, monthly meetings, occasional retreats and the annual golf tournament to support the effort to help men come into what is termed, “biblical manhood.” I am empathetic toward, salute and stand with those men that are sincerely and passionately committed to helping restore men to a biblical worldview of manhood. However, it is my conviction from the Spirit and Word of God that bringing them up to the already inferior standard of Christianity the religion as Christians and churchman is missing the biblical mark.

The current standard of manhood Christianity the religion of men promotes causes them to live out of balance; in the constant demeanor of a harmless lamb conversant with all of the words and ways of modern psycho-babble as husbands and fathers. This is an incomplete restoration of men that minimizes the most important eternal aspects of man the creature God is concerned about and instead, maximizes focus on the divinely ordained, but very temporal matters of this present, mortal existence (Matthew 16:24-26; Luke 14:25-27). Too, some among the Christian men’s movement, pastors, churches and their denominations are attempting to craft a non-threatening model of manhood loosely based on Scripture and in their own sectarian images that is also not offensive to secular society especially feminists. This is not only an incomplete restoration of men, but one that is downright corrupt and false!

Finally, far too many in all of the ways an incomplete restoration of men is attempted fail to hold up the absolutely critical role of the Holy Spirit as high as the Bible in the relationship He has with men, in men to craft the man God is making over into the image of Christ (John 3:1-8; Romans 8:1-9; 2 Corinthians 3:18). There is no such thing as “biblical manhood” without the Holy Spirit--why would you even dare to try? These men try because they are religious and deceived by their own arrogance into believing they can concoct a recipe of principles that can make a man God would be pleased with--foolishness!

By way of reminder, the biblical Church of Jesus Christ is not the world or of it! We that authentically make it up with gladness have been called out of the world and its thinking, attitudes and behavior (John 15:19; 17:6, 14-15). We are of the Kingdom of God (1 John 4:4-6, 5:18-20)! We remain in this world only to serve the purposes of our God. The principles and instruction of God’s Kingdom embodied in the Holy Scriptures directly inform every aspect of our thinking, attitudes and behavior as well as form our marching orders while in the world. Thus, as it concerns what a man is and does, what God has said in His Word is our singular and final source of instruction about it. We should not be forming our own beliefs, opinions or doctrines contrary to what God says in His written Word or listening to sinful, mortal flesh no matter how credentialed as a final authority.

God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save and fully restore men by supernatural transformation in line with the original divine purpose for creating man (Genesis 1:26; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 3:4-8). An incomplete restoration of men caused by the worldly focus, willful disobedience and arrogance of religious men displeases God the same way partial obedience does (1 Samuel 15:1-3, 7-11). The guilty must repent and move beyond the superficial and incomplete efforts to restore men typical today unless like the religious leaders of ancient Israel, you wrongly fear no divine consequence for this (Jeremiah 6:13-15, 8:10-12).

I invite every man as an individual seeking a biblical worldview of manhood to purchase and read my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics available in the Strong Man Store on this Web Site. Also, as a pastor, education or denominational leader desiring to help men in these latter days learn the biblical worldview of manhood, visit our Strong Man Store to obtain the companion Men’s Group Study with Leader Guide, optional power point instructional support, and Participant Workbooks the Lord led me to produce to teach men the way of The Strong Man of God, Jesus Christ, in the group settings of local churches and beyond!

Tagged With: God seeks to fully restore men

Strong Man Of God Blog

Robert Kelley's weekly instruction, observations and reflections inspired by the Lord posted each Sunday night.

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