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Today too, the biblical picture of following Jesus from His own teaching and example as well as that of His apostles flies in the face of teaching from many pulpits that narcissistically and falsely make Christianity all about the follower! Yes, Christ suffered, died and rose again to save me, but not so I can go off selfishly to do my own thing and only receive from Him what is in my narrow self-interest. No longer preaching the Gospel of Christ, repentance from sin and faith in Him to be saved and become His disciples, many to their destruction preach this other gospel of narcissism to attract the attention, attendance and affections of followers for themselves (Galatians 1:6-10, NKJV).
Here is God’s reality check for the preachers and professed Christians of these self-absorbed and materialistic latter days: it is not about you! It is about Jesus Christ crucified, buried, risen, ascended and returning soon! Lining up behind Christ as our Savior and Lord through faith, He still expects us to follow His example in everything (John 13:12-17; 1 Peter 2:21-25). This being so, love of Christ who died for our sins is to be our deepest layer of motivation after faith and thanksgiving for following Him. And just as He modeled, we are to also be willing to go where He sends us, speak and do what He commands, forsake all, suffer and die for Him if required (Matthew 10:16-39).3
Moreover, in accord with His Father’s will, the Lord was quite intentional about giving us an exemplary display of His nature, character and demeanor we are to exhibit. Indeed, there are four distinctive characteristics of Christ His followers as aspiring strong men and great women of God in His image are to commonly exhibit I write about in my book. Like Him, we accept the roles God assigns, obey God to the death,4 rely on God for everything and trust God for vindication. Even the most casual reading of the four Gospels plainly show Christ walked out these characteristics in His life and service as a Disciple of His Father.
In His role as “the Lamb of God” in particular, He powerfully displayed all four characteristics at once! Again, moved by love for God and us He accepted this role, obeyed His Father’s will to the death, relied on Him to care for His soul in death and trusted that God would vindicate His sacrifice as He did first by raising Him from the dead to immortal glory (Isaiah 50:5-9; John 1:29; Acts 2:22-36, NKJV)! Sinful human love is incapable of reproducing Christ’s required example. No doubt, for this reason and anticipating the coming of the Holy Spirit to help, the Lord queries Peter who had denied he knew Him three times: “do you love Me,” (John 21:15-17; Romans 5:5-8, NKJV)?
The Lord’s demand to be the highest recipient of our love is not just a means to secure our sold out devotion, but also to help us keep our priorities straight with a Kingdom perspective and avoid becoming distracted and divided in heart, unfaithful, unwilling to suffer for His cause and coldly religious (Luke 9:57-62, 12:35-48; 2 Timothy 4:9-10; Revelation 2:1-7).5 Not following the Lord in sold out love and devotion causes a man to develop blind spots in his life that Satan comes by stealth and exploits to seduce him into various sins. For example, greater love for a wife or other family member can lead a man to disobey the Lord’s commanded will or allow them to take liberties that do so.
As well, absent the motive of love for Christ first it is easy to give oneself permission to mistreat others or be dishonest. If the man in these examples is in church leadership, Satan’s end game of scandal and profaning the name of Jesus in the wider world will be exponentially realized. Church history is replete with instances of such failed professed Christians to this hour many of whom for whatever all of the secondary reasons besides being impostors, fall away from Christ as foretold because they quench the Holy Spirit their source of love for Him (Matthew 24:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:19, NKJV). Only sold out love first for and faith in Christ will overcome Satan and cause a man to stand faithful and true to Him to the end (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3-5; Revelation 12:11).
Finally, if we will really line up behind Christ, it must be in accord with His written Word, interpreted and applied not as we wish, but as it is objectively understood! This is critical since God has allowed these foretold times of “testing” to be seductively filled with the purposeful deceit and falsehood of demons leading to the Antichrist as a final exam (Deuteronomy 13:1-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; 1 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 3:7-11, 13:1-18, NKJV). God’s Word as it is written must be fully anchored in our hearts, loved and obeyed in order not to be deceived (Psalm 119:11, 97). Otherwise, God warns of the eternal consequence of failing His final exam--a likely prospect for the many rebel professed Christians now deceived in so many ways (Jeremiah 12:5-6; Revelation 14:9-13, 22:11).
(I will be enjoying a Labor Day rest on September 1st. The Lord willing, look for my next post on Sunday evening, September 8th. Have a great Labor Day!)
3 If a man is not willing to do these things, then, as Christ warned he cannot be His disciple since he will not line himself up behind Him in the full commitment He requires
(John 12:25-26; Galatians 2:20) or follow His example as He wills (Philippians 2:5-8, 3:7-14).
4 I urge readers who have not to read and those that have to re-read the July 14-28, 2019 posts to honestly evaluate the objections you have to what is written in light of
just these first two distinctive characteristics of Christ God wants also displayed in us. If you are a professed Christian male or female refusing to accept the roles, rank
and responsibilities God has assigned and are in fact a disobedient to the Word rebel doing Christianity your own way, are you really a biblically defined disciple of Je-
sus Christ (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46; Hebrews 3:7-19)?
5 A Kingdom perspective pays attention to the will of Christ the King contained in the written Word and views all of life through that prism; staying also prophetically aware
and alert. Read the October 19, 2014 post, Sons Of The Kingdom under the category, Instruction and Out Of Step With The Times?, posted on May 5, 2019 under the
category, Bible Prophecy.
Many today falsely claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, the Man from Heaven I wrote about in the August 11, 2019 post under the category, Glory To God! This is nothing new, of course, since those that are false or apostates have been present in all of the history of the Church on earth from the first century (Galatians 2:1-5; Philippians 3:17-19; Titus 1:10-16). But just as the Lord and His apostles foretold, these latter days overflowing with deception, falsehood and apostasy are especially filled with those that deceive themselves and anybody gullible enough to believe or worse, imitate them in their folly as professed Christians (Matthew 24:4-5, 11; 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 13; 2 Peter 2).
Exactly what does it mean to follow and be a follower of Jesus Christ?1 First, a basic understanding of each word to help get to what the Lord means by them. Webster’s Dictionary defines “follow” with several layers of meaning to include: “To come or go after; to chase, pursue; to attend, accompany…to comply with, obey and to come after in time, order or position.” It defines a “follower” as “One that follows--especially a pursuer; an attendant; a subordinate; an adherent of the methods or teachings of another.” In or about AD 30, Jesus of Nazareth began calling Israelites to repent, believe in and follow Him as the sign God’s promised Kingdom was near (Matthew 4:12-17).
He also directly and authoritatively called specific men to follow Him to do as He was doing (Matthew 4:18-22, 9:9). With the specific men, multitudes responded to His preaching and miraculous works of healing power to become His followers or disciples (Matthew 4:23-25) and gathered together to Him to hear Him teach (Matthew 5:1-7:27). It was not unusual for a Teacher or Rabbi to have a following and be popular in Israel in those days (Acts 5:34-39). However, none performed the miracles of Jesus or taught with His commanding authority (Matthew 7:28-29)! He taught those that gathered to Him what He required to be His disciple as He did on one occasion.
The Lord first told the twelve men He was equipping to be apostles He must suffer death and be resurrected (Luke 9:18-22). “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me,’” (Luke 9:23, NKJV). A faithful and true follower of Jesus Christ is to disown his life for the sake of chasing after, pursuing, being with, obeying and lining up behind Him to suffer death if necessary; filled with faith that just as God raised Christ from the dead, He will raise him too (Luke 9:24-26). Thus, the Lord plainly and firmly teaches there is a cost one must be willing to pay to be His disciple which He has never walked back!
This cost involves a giving over of self to following Christ so completely, He becomes the uppermost love of a man’s life. Too, there is a willingness to carry an assigned cross to the death and to “forsake all that he has” or he, says the Lord, “cannot be My disciple,” (Luke 14:25-33, NKJV). Nothing of Christ’s requirements to be His disciple is missing from His own life and example as the Disciple of God the Father (Isaiah 50:4; John 5:16-20, 6:38, 8:29). As a result, love for His Father above all others was Christ’s deepest motive for following Him and doing every single thing He had been shown and commanded to do without deviation (Mark 3:31-33; John 14:31).
Love for God the Father led to Christ’s resolve to bear and endure His cross as intensely difficult as it was to get there (Mark14:32-42; Hebrews 5:7-8). Nevertheless, He went to the cross forsaking any yearning for or claim to mortal pursuits; suffering its agony to please His Father and save fallen mankind (Isaiah 53:1-6; John 3:14-17, 19:17-18). He loudly cried out to His Father from the cross before yielding His spirit into His care at the finish of the mission (Matthew 27:45-46; Luke 23:46; John 19:30). He was buried with no one really understanding why He died, but at His resurrection on the third day after it was made plain to His followers (Isaiah 53:7-12; Luke 24:1-49).
At His command, His apostles went forth preaching the Good News about Him. Hearers through repentance and faith were and have been made new disciples of Christ from that time until now in nearly every nation on earth (Matthew 28:18-20)! They were all supposed to be taught the same instruction and requirements of following Christ as those in the first century.2 But even before that century ended satanically inspired deceit and falsehood to include religion invented by men began to arise and threaten the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3-4, NKJV). Following Jesus as He taught became the experience of but a remnant that God preserved in every generation.
1 Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is one of the important eternal roles of Christians I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or
digital download of the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy
of the book in the Strong Man Store.
2 This is one of the common sense reasons God had the requisite teaching and commandments of Christ written down so they could be perpetually and accurately pre-
sented (Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:1-15). Oh, how clever the deceiver and evil the guilty human hearts that have twisted and corrupted even the straightforward teaching and
commandments of Christ over the centuries to this very hour! And you do not think you will have to give an account to God for that?
A man’s Man to be sure, but God’s Man all the more, Jesus, Son of Man displayed the masculine traits that have long been considered solidly male. Clearly, however, this was not the extent of His eternal masculinity and Manhood as He also displayed traits that have been wrongly associated uniquely with femininity and weakness. Such traits as grace, mercy, compassion, humility, gentleness, kindness, empathy, longsuffering, forgiveness and consoling were displayed in Jesus too (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-36, 11:25-30; Luke 6:1-11, 7:1-17, 9:37-42; John 8:1-12, 16:16-33). Thus, He fully exhibited man as the masculine being he is as I have been proclaiming in this blog!
Contrary to what sin has corruptly worked in fallen man as male and female by God’s perfect, purposeful design and division, they in their marital oneness were to operate cooperatively in a complementary relationship. Their intrinsic masculinity was “fleshed out” by God in their natural bodies in such a way as to foster understanding, appreciation and harmony for each other’s roles and responsibilities in the divine assignment to rule and fill the earth.4 As a result, males in general as His chosen heads and initiators of the family with the help of hormones have emphasized those parts of masculinity that are strongly linked to their tasks such as authority, ambition and strength.
Hormonally aided, females in general as helpers to their husbands in the management and expansion of the family through childbearing, display more of such masculine traits as compassion, gentleness and consoling suited for those responsibilities.5 Nevertheless, as demonstrated by Jesus, Son of Man, these masculine traits are not intended exclusively for feminine ends and in fact, now, His male and female followers are being restored inwardly to conform to His image and example of eternal masculinity in becoming like Him in every way, but without conflict with their respective temporary gender body designs, roles and responsibilities (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
As great as Jesus is, He still presented Himself a “bondservant,” (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:7, NKJV). John the Baptist described Him as “the Lamb of God” which spoke to His mission to take “away the sin of the world,” (John 1:29, NKJV)! But calling Jesus, Son of Man “the Lamb of God” also speaks to His eternal attitude and posture of humility to please the Father in all submission that led to His offering Himself on the cross to take away sin and bring forth the restoration of willing mankind. Therefore, again, submission as taught and displayed eternally by Jesus is not something exclusive to femininity and negative, but well pleasing to God since it is directly tied to the proper loving response to greater authority as in the divine Father and Son relationship above all other examples!
The foregoing is certainly the reason Jesus does not attempt to fix God’s order of mankind as it concerns the headship of a man over his wife and family--there is nothing wrong with it, but mankind as sinners! Instead, as the consummate Man and our Head (1 Corinthians 11:3), Jesus teaches us men how to treat women (Luke 7:36-50) and His apostles our wives with love, dignity, compassion and true equality as fellow man (Genesis 2:23; Ephesians 5:28-29); leading, teaching, providing for and protecting them as God has done for man since Adam in the garden (Genesis 2:7-17). God’s restoration of man in Jesus makes better male and female relations in this age possible!
Man is a ruler by divine design and created to rule God’s creation under Him. As I wrote in another place, as fully restored in Jesus Christ we are eternally destined “a race of rulers.”6 God did not create man to rule in any way that he pleased, but to do so in the divine image and likeness. Jesus, Son of Man showed us what kind of a ruler man is to be in perfect masculinity, nature, tested character and balanced demeanor as a lion and a lamb as I describe in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Having ended the first part of His work to restore man crying out from the cross, “It is finished“ (John 19:30, NKJV), He rose from the dead and ascended to His Father who “exalted Him” “Lord” to which every created knee bows to God’s glory (Philippians 2:8-11, NKJV)!
In the meantime, He continues seeking willing men among Adam’s fallen sons to restore in salvation and spiritual regeneration so they may be deployed and labor too in His present Kingdom cause (Matthew 4:18-19, 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Titus 3:3-7). Truly, the second and consummating part of God’s restoration work draws near; Jesus, the Son of Man’s declared return to earth when He will immediately raise the dead and transform the bodies of those living that have waited for Him (Matthew 26:63-64; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)!7 He with His fellow glorious immortals as God’s eternal sons will reign over an eagerly waiting creation beginning then and forever (Romans 8:14-25)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”
4 Read my May 1, 2016 post, Natural Bodies By Divine Design and others referenced in it under the category, God’s Creatures.
5 Read the June 19, 2016 post, Eternal Sons Of God to learn more about how eternal, spiritual masculinity transcends and informs that which is displayed in the human body by gender under the category, Instruction.
6 Read the September 19, 2014 post, A Race Of Rulers under the category, God’s Creatures. Also, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics referenced in this blog can be purchased in the Strong Man Store.
7 See the July 10-31, 2016 posts that discuss the immortal bodies of the eternal sons of God!
Mankind have been sinners so long, we cannot wrap our brains around a perfect, sinless man as Adam was before he sinned. This is why even with Jesus, Son of Man, many attribute His sinless life to His deity. This is the second of two common misconceptions of His Humanity mostly well meaning Bible teachers have and teach. However, to any way have used the powers of His divinity in the conduct of His mortal sojourn would belie the apostle Paul’s inspired declaration, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men,” (Philippians 2:6-7, NKJV).
Also, Scripture teaches that the Lord Jesus in the body of Mary, the virgin had a perfect, sinless body “prepared” for Him or else being holy God, He could not have entered it (Luke 1:31, 34-35; Hebrews 10:5, NKJV)! The net result of this mostly unintended second misconception of Jesus, Son of Man is the implication that He through His deity cheated somehow in keeping Himself in perfect obedience to and sinless before God. But, of course, this would be sin and scandalous! This is why once again my God demonstrates His infinite wisdom in what is recorded in three of the New Testament Gospel accounts of Jesus being put to the test before He began His ministry.
The Father having declared loving affection for and full pleasure in His Son at His baptism by John, the Holy Spirit who had descended upon Him is seen to even push Jesus into the wilderness to fast forty days and afterward become ravenously hungry; then, be tempted by the devil to act in this weakened state three ways. First, he tempted Him to use His own power as the Son of God to meet His physical needs. Second, Satan tempted Him to put the Father’s promise of protective care to the test. Lastly, the tempter offered Jesus a path to world rule through bowing to him. The Son of Man refused every temptation and prevailed (Matthew 3:13-4:11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-13)!
This was surely not the first attempt by Satan to seduce Jesus into sin from His age of accountability to that moment or after during His ministry years. But in the barren wilderness temptation of Jesus as with Adam in the paradise garden, God the Father sought to reveal His only begotten Son’s heart; His willingness to please the Father even over Himself and do His will as He avowed coming into the world (Hebrews 10:6-7). Adam failed in the garden, but Jesus marvelously succeeded in the wilderness and thereafter since it is written of Him that He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin,” (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV).
Jesus, the Son of Man maintained His perfection from a Boy the same way Adam could have out of faith in and love for His Father along with the pure, Selfless ambition to please Him and do His will (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:6, 17a; Luke 2:41-52, 8:19-21; John 14:31). The Gospels record that Jesus kept emphasizing repeatedly how He had come to do His Father’s will in all that He taught as His message and the deeds He carried out in the Father’s power by the Holy Spirit (John 8:25-29, 12:42-50, 14:7-11). Beyond ambition as a Man, He perfectly displayed authority, leadership, courage, zeal, physical and spiritual strength, toughness and forcefulness in His mission (Luke 4:31-44; John 2:13-22).
Along the way, He forthrightly spoke of greatness in the glory the Father had prepared for Him; the life cause and mission He was willing to suffer and endure death for in carrying out (Matthew 16:13-17:13). He took what most mortal men would certainly agree were risks in His ministry while traveling throughout Israel and decisive actions that relieved human suffering (Luke 4:16-30; 5:12-26). He followed His Father’s instructions and plans wholly to the death as an obedient Son; the distinctive Strong Man of God (Philippians 2:8)!2 Truly, He learned obedience (God does not learn, man does) in all that He suffered on the way to and on the cross (Isaiah 50:4-6; Matthew 26:36-46; Hebrews 5:5-8).
Even with the impending abandonment of His “band of brothers,” Jesus copiously “loved them to the end,” (John 13:1, NKJV).3 Before entering His final trials, He interceded for them and all of us that would be the beneficiaries by faith of His sacrifice (John 17); a sacrifice that made a way of eternal deliverance from sin and death for the first time since Adam’s fall (Isaiah 53; Romans 3:10-31; Ephesians 2:1-10). Again, Jesus, Son of Man did this to restore fallen man the creature in the divine purpose of creation-wide governance, bring many sons to eternal glory with Him, help the faithful in our earthly sojourn and remove the fear of judgment (Hebrews 2:5-18, 4:14-16, 5:9, 9:22-10:18). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”
2 Obeying God to the death is one of four distinctive characteristics of Jesus as the Strong Man of God I am led by the Holy Spirit to write about in my book, The Strong
Man Of God: Back To Basics available in the Strong Man Store.
3 I gratefully acknowledge here David Murrow and his book, Why Men Hate Going To Church as a reference source for presenting part of Jesus’ masculine checklist
(i.e. aspiration for greatness, a cause to die for, risk taking, adventure, action taking and problem solving, following a leader and the love of a “band of brothers”). I
have shown Jesus as such a Man in this blog and will do so in upcoming blogs to relate this partial masculine display to His disciples and very importantly, as typical
of males presently and man the creature made in the image and likeness of God. Other characteristics of masculinity displayed by Jesus, Son of Man will also be
presented in upcoming blogs as they are by Murrow in his book and me in The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.
It is the question of millennia that haunts fallen mankind disconnected from God to this very hour. Ignorant in sin and spiritual darkness, they have groped about wildly grasping unsuccessfully for a fully satisfying answer to the question, “What is man?” Their literary philosophical and poetic musings and empty speculations fill libraries. Self-deification, thrones, empires, absolute authority and control over people, places and things, unlimited pleasure, wealth, accomplishments, building cities and towering edifices all brought some measure of gratification, but still most that have done it all would probably agree with Solomon, ‘“All is vanity,’” (Ecclesiastes 12:8, NKJV).
In light of his conclusion, Solomon did wisely urge that men live to their Creator from their youth and in fear of Him, “keep His commandments” to experience a life beyond futility before inevitable death and certain judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, 13-14, NKJV). Made temporarily mortal and perfect by way of the first man, Adam, men die since him because Adam disobeyed a very clear command from his Creator after being warned death would be the result (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-11, 17-19; Romans 5:12). Solomon’s wise and general counsel speaks more to how a man should live in the face of death and judgment, but still does not address the question, “What is man?”
Framed as it is, the question is hopelessly without answer by sinful men who cannot even all agree they have a Creator! However, Solomon’s father, David, asked the question framed appropriately in Holy Scripture after considering the greatness of God and His awesome work of creation that surrounded him when he wrote, “What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him,” (Psalm 8:4, NKJV)? The inspired king understood men are made just a “little lower” as mortals than the ageless angels to rule over God’s creation (Psalm 8:5-8, NKJV) starting with the earth. Overwhelmed by sin, though, the earth rule of fallen man has been and is corrupt.
Nevertheless, man must be very important to God, his Creator, since before there was ever a creation and knowing what would befall His planned creature, the eternal Son and Word of God consented to do the unfathomable to the fallen, finite mind of His creature. He would submit to being incarnated a mortal Man; a Son of Man, one of and with His highest creature (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20; John 1:1-5, 14; Philippians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 1:20)! So beyond natural human mental grasp is this staggering reality, many men for centuries have rejected it, while even some that profess to believe it have looked for ways to diminish the blinding light of its truth.
Not being willing to think of much less repeat the many diabolical heresies concerning Jesus, the Son of Man which He called Himself more than anything else in the Gospel accounts, my focus here are two of the most common misconceptions of His Humanity. First, though solid Bible teachers correctly declare that the Lord is “fully God and fully Man,” often lost in the instruction is the important truth that He is “fully Man” as God originally envisioned and designed from eternity! Thus, like the first Adam, Jesus the Son of Man and second Adam came into the world in completeness of masculine form inwardly and bodily as mortal Man (Genesis 2:7; John 1:15-18). Indeed, Adam prefigures Him in “type” (Romans 5:14, NKJV) as I teach in The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.1
As the Lord also leads me to teach in the book, Adam spent only a short time as one, whole creature before he was divided into two with the creation of his helper. The Lord put Adam and his wife back together in marriage to make one complete man again and fulfill His priority purpose of procreation out of this union despite their later disobedience (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-25, 3:20). Fully Man, the celibate Jesus in splendid perfection was not androgynous, but all male which His circumcision and presentation to God proves (Luke 2:21-24). In Him, we are able to see what man the creature is supposed to look like in unspoiled glory of nature, character and demeanor made in the image and likeness of and surpassingly greater as God (Genesis 1:26; Colossians 1:15-16, 2:9)!
This business today of putting men down by all that are guilty is of Satan, not God who sent His Son into the world to become one of and restore us. For truly, men as sinners are light years from what God intended by design, but He cared enough; thoroughly loved enough not to disparage or abandon His creature, but make a way to restore him forever through Jesus (John 3:16)! Jesus not only is that way for the restoration of fallen man (John 14:6), but the eternal Man (never again to be solely God), Ruler and Judge of all mankind (Isaiah 9:6-7; John 5:24-30); founding Head of those that by faith in Him have embraced an eternal destiny with Him (1 Corinthians 15:45-49)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”
1 The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics in print and e-book formats along with my new Strong Man Of God Audio Release, four part CD message, Fishers Of Men are available in the Strong Man Store.
On this day marking the sanctity of human life beginning in the womb and eve of the nation’s holiday remembering slain Civil Rights leader and martyr for Jesus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am challenged afresh about doing God’s will. Dr. King made it clear this was his life aim in what would be his final sermon before being assassinated. He said, “I just want to do God’s will.”1 This conviction does not originate with Dr. King, of course, but is pleasantly consistent with my own heart and multitudes of persons that have through time enjoyed relationship with the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ, who preeminently expressed and carried it out (John 6:38, 17:4).
Pleasing God and doing His will is the heart of the Lord Jesus and what makes Him the Strong Man of God (John 8:29)! From eternity it was known what the will of God would entail for the Lord: a cross (John 3:13-16, 12:27, 32-33). In His perfect Humanity He, even He struggled with this part of God’s will for Him and prevailed through Self-denial (Matthew 26:36-46). The Lord unambiguously charged all that would be His followers to line up behind Him in self-denial to live on purpose to please God and do His will too (Mark 8:31-38).2 This has been the heart of aspiring strong men and great women of God in His image to the point of martyrdom beginning with Stephen (Acts 7:51-60)!3
What is God’s will for Christians since despite the corrupt laxity of Christianity as manmade religion, doing His will remains a biblical requirement (Matthew 7:21)? Continuously Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:15-18), faithful followers of Christ understand God’s priority will for them after salvation is to cultivate relationship with Him through a growing faith and love even through much tribulation (Romans 5:1-5; Ephesians 3:14-21). His will linked to this is our character development and spiritual growth (2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 2:1-4, 5:12-14, 12:3-11; 2 Peter 1:1-11). We are to also fulfill our assigned familial roles while loving and serving fellow saints (Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Peter 4:7-11).
Finally too, we are to be engaged in the mission Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). In light of the two-part post, Revelation’s Seven Churches In Time, beginning January 5, 2020 under the category, Bible Prophecy, we know with certainty God’s will is for us to continue faithfully doing all of the foregoing. These together are the “works” of Christ we are to diligently keep to whatever end He has permitted for us (Revelation 2:26, NKJV). By His grace and in His strength, I daily press to do God’s will to include my assignment through this Ministry to restore men in the Kingdom cause of the Gospel, revival and the strong man of God among the willing.
Indeed, it is absolutely imperative that men be restored at this late hour because individually they are equipped to walk in the four distinctive characteristics of Christ as aspiring strong men of God in His image. In accepting the roles God has assigned, being willing to obey His will and Word to the death, relying on and trusting in Him for vindication they stand in the evil day. Very importantly too, in their roles as husbands and fathers they appropriately lead their families to stand as persecution and God’s judgments in the earth intensify and going to corporate brick and mortar churches are increasingly not an option.4 Resisting the Lord through me in this cause and work is evidence of your need for repentance, salvation or revival! Otherwise, stand with me in it!5
1 The statement was made in the I’ve Been To The Mountain Top portion of his sermon on April 3, 1968 at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple Church Of God In Christ,
Memphis, TN, while in town to support the city’s striking sanitation workers.
2 Read my two-part 2019 post that begins August 18, Lined Up Behind Jesus, under the category, Instruction.
3 I write and instruct about aspiring strong men and great women of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or digital download of
the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy in the
Strong Man Store.
4 Read the July 30-Sept 3, 2017 six-part series Restoring Men In The Two Minute Drill, under the category, Bible Prophecy to get a sense of the urgent need to restore
men now!
5 Contribute to my salary support in the work at https://fundrazr.com/salarycampaign1. Give either to my support or the ongoing work of the Ministry or both at
https://thestrongmanofGod.org/Give.
Jesus, Son of Man came to the earth preaching the good news the time of the foretold “Kingdom of God” had arrived and that hearers should “repent and believe” His message. Then, without apology or point by point explanation through theological treatise, He did something remarkable today. He went purposely seeking fishermen He had previously met and commanded them: ‘“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men,’” (Mark 1:14-20, NKJV). Why did He make men a priority? Not because of humanly invented Jewish culture, sexism or any other reason originating with fallen man, but God, the design of His creature, order and purposes of mankind!1
In this 17th year of the 21st century, I continue to write as the Lord has led to instruct, appeal to and warn the churches now rebelling with the world against His design, order and purposes of mankind and undergoing judgment as a result, to repent! For though the Lord Jesus knowing the future later had His apostles explain about God’s design of man, His order and purposes of mankind to mostly ignorant Gentiles, no such explanation was necessary for 1st century Jews who honored the Scriptures and knew men are God’s chosen leaders in the home, larger community and nation. They were not ashamed to be the descendants of patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob either!
For them, it was no random event that caused the first human creature to be a man. He came to be as the purposeful, creative act of God! The fact this truth offends many women and their sympathizers as feminists today is not a product of enlightened progress, but rejection of God and His Word inspired by Satan working deceitfully as he did in the Garden (Genesis 3:1-6). The value of men as intentionally designed by God is being lost to a world and churches pandering after it that now foolishly marginalize them. This blog, then, is the introduction of a series of four entitled, The Value Of Men I write in furtherance of God’s cause to target and restore them as did Jesus, Son of Man.
The value of something speaks of its worth and importance. The value of man is fully shown by God when from eternity, before creation, a plan was put in place to save His creature from the just consequence of foreknown, willful disobedience (1 Peter 1:13-21)! Though He made man male and female, God created the male first as the founding embodiment of the race and brought forth the female from him for him to fulfill His purposes for them (1 Corinthians 11:7-9). As I write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, God also made a very clear statement about His creature, will and the ruling order of mankind by creating Adam, the male first (Genesis 2:7; 1 Timothy 2:11-13)!2
Indeed, the value of man to God as eternal sons and rulers in the divine image and likeness is declared at his creation (Genesis 1:26-28). Only the first man’s disobedience leading to the penalty of death temporarily delayed fulfillment of his eternal destiny until Christ, the second Adam came to make redemption possible for those of Adam’s seed that would repent and believe on Him! In the Bible as in my book and three part blog, Jesus, Son Of Man, under the category, The Cause drawn from both, I am led by the Father to exalt His Son as the complete fulfillment of the divine design, eternal purpose and plan for man the creature.
Even so, the mortal body (to include brain function and hormonal make up) of the fallen first man showcased his assignment to govern beginning with the earth and its creatures followed by his wife taken out of him and their children after he initiated their existence (Genesis 2:15, 18-25, 3:20, 4:1). A relative few experienced God’s grace by having a heart to please Him and do His will (Genesis 4:2-10, 6:5-12). And despite regularly judging their sins, under His sovereign oversight God permitted men with natural drive (passion, ambition) and talents divinely bestowed to build great cities, empires, civilizations, roads, walls and monuments, tangibly invent the ideas of their minds from and conquer the earth as well as reach for the stars (Genesis 4:16-22, 6:13-22, 11:1-9)!
While sin had corrupted men and tarnished the perfect divine image and likeness within each, only because of being made in it with a divinely designed body, have they aspired to be and do great things as does their Creator (Genesis 1:31). Compelled by the predominate hormone, testosterone in their bodies, men have begotten progeny in abundance, spread across the earth and risked all to pursue greatness! They have relished solving problems leading to ingenious technological innovation. Their willingness to die for a cause and follow leaders into battle with amazing displays of strength and courage is legendary as is their sacrificial care for a fallen brother. Truly, the historical value of men designed by God to humanity is immense and cannot be overstated!
1 Consider this truth further in two multi-part blogs from early 2017 also under the category, The Cause and entitled, In God’s Revival Men Are Restored and Jesus, Son Of Man.
2 The Strong Man Store now has my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, on sale digitally as an E-Book in two formats and special for Father’s Day, the print Soft Cover Edition with free shipping though June 20th. I urge the reader to take full advantage of these sales to get the book for yourself or a male in your sphere of influence if you have not already!
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