814. Be a Man

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in we're continuing a study series entitled Divine Design, which is a study of biblical manhood and biblical womanhood. Today's message will be preached by BGU President Steve Pettit.

Unfortunately, there was a technical issue with today's original recording, but it only lasts about a minute. Would you please take your Bibles this morning and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Yesterday I was coming back from Jacksonville, Florida with five students, and while we were coming back, four of them are ladies in our student body, and I asked the question, when you think of the statement what it means to be a man, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? First thing they said was, Mulan. I meant like, I said like clue me in. They said, well haven't you seen Mulan?

I said no. Obviously there's a song about being a man. When I ask 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, you used a two-wheeled dolly, and the probably the one of the hardest things to move was the refrigerator, and of course there are all kinds of different sizes of refrigerator, and so if we came into a house and it was a really large fridge, usually one of the older workers would give that refrigerator this designation. He'd say, that's a man. Well when he would say that, that's kind of the cue for anybody that needs to prove their manhood to move it themselves, and usually the younger guys would step up.

We'd get the two-wheeled dolly, and we'd put it underneath the fridge, and if we could pull it out, not bang the walls, get it out the front door, and roll it up on the truck into its place, usually we'd get the ultimate compliment by someone saying to us, you a 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 does it mean to be a man, what comes to your mind? Or is this even an important question?

Well it was important to the Apostle Paul, because listen to what he said in 1st Corinthians 16 verses 13 and 14. He said, watch ye stand fast in the faith, quit you like men. Alright let's stop there. What does that mean? Does that mean all men are quitters?

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 our roles, our responsibilities, our relationships are clearly laid out in God's Word. And so this morning I'd like us to go back to what we've been doing, and that is following the pattern of creation.

Going back to what the Bible says, how everything began. And 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. So let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Genesis chapter 2 this morning, and let's look at the first man.

We're going to begin reading verse 7. It says, And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. There are 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, what is a man?

And there are four things I want you to note. Number one, man is a spiritual being. When God created the animals, he made them by a spoken word.

He said, let there be, and there was. But when he made Adam, he divinely sculpted and carefully crafted him out of the dust of the earth. He breathed 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 words. Man became a creation, a 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 though man was made in God's image, we sinned, and consequently, what did it do?

It affected our spirituality. And furthermore, when Adam sinned, it marred the image of biblical manhood as 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 two 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 they're self-evident. We have four children. Our first three children were born back in the day before there was an epidural. Do you know what an epidural is?

That means you take that to avoid the pain of 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 and the whole time everybody's in suspense. And when the child comes out, let me ask you a question. How long do you think it took for the nurses to figure out if it was a boy or a girl?

It was instantaneous. First one was Rebecca. It's a girl.

Third one, Stephen. It's a boy. Well, how do we know? Because one was a male, has a male part. The other female has a female part.

That's awkward, but that's what happened. We're all physical beings created by God. Number three, man is not only a physical and a 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, but they show that every society has male and female cultural distinctions. And the point I'd like to make is this, that as a believer, God wants us to reflect our male and female distinctions within our own cultural context, 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. And in chapter 11, he shows us 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 mandate of order sets the rule of authority in the church. In other words, in 1 Corinthians 11, 3, 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 has ordained that men have the responsibility to lead the church, and women have a complementary and supportive role. 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 it was worn by women in the first century culture. In chapter 11 in verse 5, Paul says that if they didn't wear the head covering, then 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 coverings. So the women were to demonstrate that in the church.

That's the order that God set up. Then 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. He says, 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 bald headed bearded woman, but they're rare compared to men. They're different. So society influences the norms of masculine and feminine expressions within a particular culture or time period.

So let me illustrate it 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 has shifted a little bit since I've been there, but when I went there, women wore a particular certain dress style. Women either wore trutidars or they wore saris. Saris were just traditional Indian dress. I never recall ever seeing a man wear a sari. Men, at least in southern India, wore what we call dodis. Dodi looked like a long bed sheet that was wrapped around them and basically it draped down to their knees. But you never saw a woman in public wearing a dodi generally and you never saw a man wearing a sari.

Their cultures manifested the 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. A number of years ago it was my privilege to go overseas to Russia. And when you go into a Russian church, Russian men greet each other by kissing each other on the lips. That was their cultural expression. Now cultures are different. For example, I love Dr. Horn, but you will never see me holding his hand or kissing him on the lips.

I can tell you that right now. We express it differently. So as a Christian man, I should seek 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, an awareness of what we are. And to make it really simple, you've probably heard this many times, a little boy is born and one year later you hear somebody say, he's all boy. I have three grandsons, they're all boy. They like to tear things up.

They like to do all kinds. I mean, they're just boys. How do you know they're boys?

Because they're just boys. Or have you ever heard the statement, she's all girl. And all of us have an awareness of what we are. Now within a fallen culture or society, those traits can be and have been blurred and twisted. And a good example is the stereotype that manhood could mean muscle, or he's tough, or he's rude, or he's crude, or he's a ladies man.

He's promiscuous. And those images abound and surround us. When I was growing up there was a famous commercial about the Marlboro man. Have you ever seen that commercial? Usually it's this guy, he's a tough guy, he looks tough. Got a cowboy hat on, smoking a cigarette. Says come to where the flavor is. Now a lot of times that picture had a herd of cattle behind him.

Just to let you know, that's not where the flavor is. But 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 they're exercised in love within 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 and the fact of what God gave to Adam. God gave Adam a job. In Genesis 1 28, God gave Adam a big vision, a strategic plan to be a world changer for God's glory. He said, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea. And in fulfilling this plan, God gave him two responsibilities, and God gives every man two responsibilities.

What are they? Look at Genesis 2 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and to keep it. Man has two 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 ruled. As a steward, Adam was to nurture, to cultivate, to tend, to care for, to build up, to guide, and to rule over all of creation. In other words, you could say it this way, Adam was to be a hard working leader. He was to be productive.

He was to make things happen. All men, listen to me, all men are to be leaders. You say, well, I don't feel like I'm a leader. Then 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 to assume responsibility. We're to establish goals. We're to work hard. We're to produce results. That is what we are to do. Leadership also includes working with and developing people, cultivating relationships, investing and mentoring others, striving to build productive lives with those who are connected to our leadership.

But I want to say it clearly so you don't misunderstand it. When he gave him 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 man is to keep. He's not only to be productive, but he's to be protective. Adam was given the responsibility to keep the garden.

The word keep has the idea of sustaining it and progressing it, keeping it going, growing faithfully, but it 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. It's 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 oftentimes one man did both. What is true manhood? It 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 of work because all work is sacred service. So did Adam exemplify perfect manhood? No. Have we exemplified perfect manhood?

No. All men, all of us recognize our failure to live up to the standard, but you know what? That doesn't mean that we don't have hope 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. And there was one word that summarized 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 tended 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, he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the nursing ewes, 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. He guides and he guards. He provides and he protects.

His agenda is their growth and their nurturing and that's how he knows he's successful. He takes care of the sheep. His sheep are his preoccupation, his burden and his joy and Jesus, thank God, is our shepherd. Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd.

I lay down my life for the sheep. What is manhood? It is a calling from God to be like Jesus. It is a calling where he has 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. You know, my hope is in 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 and the whole time you do it you can laugh. You know guys are funny guys.

You go over the guys' dorms you'll find out. There's nothing about, to me there's nothing manly about being so serious you can't ever laugh. Man, if I can't laugh, I can't. Look, I live at Bob Jones. I gotta laugh.

Okay? This is my life. You come and you go, I stay. You have to be able to be who you are. But manhood does not come naturally and it doesn't come easily.

Paul talks about a change that has to be made. 1 Corinthians 13 11, 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. And Lord I pray that you'll help us to accept the responsibilities that you have 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 you're raising up many men in this student body who will go out and make a difference for you. And God I pray you'll help us to be men. In Jesus' name, Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Bob Jones University President Steve Pettit.

This 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. Whether you're seeking to expand your skills, pursue a passion or develop a ministry on your own time, qualified and engaged instructors will help you reach your goals. For more information, visit scope.bju.edu or call 888-253-9833. Join us again tomorrow as we continue this series here on The Daily Platform.