The Purpose And Power of Manhood
You are going to miss a lot of what I’m presenting today if you don’t read the printed sermon on the church web page on Tuesday, but do the best you can.....
I’m going to speak a lot of things to the men today, because men are fathers, not those who identify as men, but there’s a lot for everyone!
The key to God’s strategy for ruling earth, is the male of the human species! I will quickly explain that statement so I won’t offend the women..... God shows us clearly in scripture that the man is the foundation for the human family. Many men have been taught that they are the head of the home, and that produces an image of being on top, which means that someone else has to come underneaththat... but we need a correction to this image....The male is not at the top of the family, he is at the bottom.
You see, God’s intention was and is, that the man, is the foundation that carries the weight of all that is built upon it. God began His divine society as any good contractor....You ladies need to ask that man...”Are you ready to be the foundation that holds everything up”?
God started the human race by laying the foundation. The bible is the story of a King, a kingdom and His royal family.
You see, God’s purpose in creating the man first, was to extend His heavenly kingdom into the earth. God’s strategy was to colonize earth with heaven, so that He could extend His invisible kingdom into the visible earth. He wanted to fill the earth with the culture of heaven. When a kingdom extends into a territory, it brings its culture and its customs into that new territory.
America did not begin as a country, it began as a colony of Great Britain.We were supposed to talk like the British, drink tea like the British, drive on the left side of the street, and basically be a little Britain. Whatever happens in the kingdom, should reflect in the colony. The British intended that this colony look exactly like the kingdom it was part of, but this colony rebelled and refused to accept the culture of England, much like so many today, refuse to accept the culture of Heaven, as God intended from our Genesis. You see, Democracies do not colonize, only kingdoms colonize....Kingdoms hold sway over the population, but Democracy allows for everyone to do what is right in their own eyes. It’s called diversity...
But Jesus told the disciples to pray “Our Father who is IN HEAVEN, holy is Your name. YOUR KINGOM COME, YOUR WILL (WAYS AND CULTURE) BE IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”.
He didn’t say, pray that we could get out of here and go to heaven, but pray that the kingdom of heaven might be reflected in the earth and fill all the earth.
Without realizing it we have reversed God’s program, and put too much emphasis on going to heaven, and getting out of here, instead of occupying this earth, in a way that will make it a reflection of heaven. Sowe train people how to leave earth, instead of transforming earth into something that looks like the kingdom of heaven.
Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth”.
Dominion in the original language is RADAH, and it means to govern, to manage, to lead a kingdom. To bring the government and culture of heaven into the earth. It is in the man’s nature to lead, that’s why men hate to be told what to do.
Men were designed to manage, to lead, to be in charge, but not to be over people...
Man was not created to dominate other people, that includes your wife and children, but we were designed to dominate the earth!
Every man was designed with gifts which enable him to lead, manage and be in charge of his area of dominion. Discovering your purpose is the source of your leadership.
God began His human family by first designing the human male. Man was the prototype or first edition. There were already males of every other species, but not a human male. Leadership requires something to lead, so God made man after every thing else, so everything else would have leadership. (more about that later)
The word “human” is two words.... “HUMAS” which means dirt, and “ISH”, Which is the spirit. Then God took that spirit and put it into a dirt suit and made a hu – man, or a (Humas Ish)
Man is a Spirit, and spirits have no gender. There is no reference in the bible to a male or female spirit. One time they asked Jesus, “If a woman marries 5 times and she dies, whose wife will she be in the resurrection”. Jesus answered, there is no marrying or giving in marriage in the resurrection. Galatians 3:28says “there is no male or female in Christ”
But the first dirt suit, which God put a none gender spirit in, was a male. That was His plan.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female He created them”.
God started with a spirit in His image which He put in a male dirt suit, because the man was to be foundational to the human family. He was the only one that God made from dirt. Eight Billion others plus the womb-man that He pulled out of the man, all came from that first edition.
This is all going to come together in a few moments....
Genesis 2:4-5 “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 for the plant of the field was in the earth and the herb of the field. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, for there was no man to work the ground”
God could not go any further here, God had to stop until he had a man to manage the planet. If you don’t manage well what God gives you, you won’t keep it for long. If men don’t manage their marriage and their families as they aught to, they’ll lose them. If they don’t manage their job well, they’ll lose it, if they don’t manage what they’re given, it will be lost. Men were created by God as foundations that He could build the future upon. Marriages and families and entire cultures in the earth, need someone to manage and to cultivate them.
Let me go back for a moment....
Look with me at, Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”.
We are told first that God created man, now we see that God formed or made man.
The word Create, is the word Barah, which means to form something that didn’t exist before....The word formed, is the word Asah, which means to use something that already exists. So part of you came from nothing and part of you came from something.....Even though your body came from something that was already there, your spirit came forth, right out of God.
Genesis 2:8 “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed”.
What I want to emphasize here is God made the garden and put the man there.....
It’s easy to miss this and run on by it....
The man didn’t have to search and find the garden... first God made the garden and then put the man there..... This is about the man’s purpose and his work.
Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
This scripture has in it everything a man needs. The woman hasn’t been formed yet, it’s only the male that God is talking to here.
Eden is not a geographical place that is mentioned here. The Hebrew word means presence. Eden can’t be found today, because it was more than a physical place. Eden was an atmosphere, or environment on the earth. The Hebrew word actually has four aspects.... it is the location of God time, God’s presence, God’s opening, and God’s delight.
When you put it together it means in God’s perfect time, He created an environment on earth, where the presence of God produced an open heaven, and by relationship it became a delightful place.
That’s where God intended for the man to live.....in an environment on earth where the presence of God created an open heaven and a delightful place.
We were created by God to live in that Eden!
Song says.... And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known”.... Man didn’t have to find that, it was created for him, then he was put in it!
When God created the fish, He created the water first... When He created the birds, He created the environment it would fly in first.... When God created all the plants, He made the earth for them to be placed in.... When God made the stars and planets, He created the heavens to place them in......When God created man, He created the environment first.... and put Him in it, where the presence of God created an open heaven and a delightful place.
Men were made for His presence!
Take a fish out of water, it can’t function and it dies. Take a plant out of the soil, and it withers and dies... take a star out of the firmament and it becomes a meteorite and dies.....take a person out of God’s presence and they malfunction, and lose their purpose!
That’s why Satan wants to fill the church with skirts, but no trousers... He knows that the men are foundational to a healthy society and family unit!He knows that if the men ever get back into God’s presence, society will come back under the influence of kingdom culture and the earth will be a delightful place!
Scripture says that God gave the man work. This is not just a job, you can get fired from a job, but you can’t get fired from your work and you can’t retire from your work either.
God gave man work, before the woman was formed, and before the fall took place. So it’s not part of the curse. Look at the work He gave the manto do. God told the man to cultivate Eden, the garden of His presence, He told him to guard the garden of His presence, and He told him to keep the garden of His presence.
He told him all that, before He formed the woman.
Satan is working so hard on men because he is foundational to our culture. As the men go, so goes the country.
That’s why we have gender confusion, pornography, drug addiction, alcoholism, and adultery to derail men from their God given purpose as foundation stones in society.
If the foundation is weak, the whole building will collapse. We see that happening in our country today.
I said that One of the first commands God gave to the man, was about his work. The Greek word for work is Eragon. It means to manifest, to fulfill, to reveal, and to become yourself.
So this means that we become what we were created to be through self discovery and self manifestation.
If you think work is just something you do to make money, that’s probably why they fired you..... Your job is what they pay you to do, your work is what you were born to do. Your job is your skill set, your work is your gift you were created to give. They can never fire you from your work. You can retire from your job, but you never retire from your work, because that is the gift of who you are.
When a mango seed, becomes a tree filled with mangoes, it’s working!
When I turn on my car and the motor starts running, it’s working!
When a bird flies, it’s working as it was created to....
Every man has built within him a blueprint of what he is to become, and when that blueprint starts working, it blesses, equips, and prepares everyone around him to also become and work as the gift they were created to be!
The average man will never truly discover his work, or become what God intended him to be. Satan wants to do all he can to be sure of it!!
I wrote down some questions that I would like to ask my future self.... Looking back, what do you wish you had spent more time doing? What do you wish you had spent less time doing? What are your biggest hopes and dreams you have been able to accomplish?
What has kept you from going after your dreams?
What are the three biggest lessons you’ll take from the life you’ve lived?
How do your family relationships look and feel?
What regrets do you have?
What are some things you “let go of” in order to move on with your life?
What would you do differently if you had the chance to do it over again?
Did you continue to follow your dreams? What are the biggest thingsyou’ve been able to overcome? Has your life turned out the way you thought it would?
If today was your last day on Earth, what would you do?
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in man’s heart, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail”.
Before you were born, God had a purpose that made you necessary. You are here to do something that God saw as finished, so that you could start it. You’re not here as an experiment, you’re here as an assignment. (repeatthat statement)
God gave the woman to the man as a help meet. But if the man doesn’t know his assignment, how can she help him!!! If the man doesn’t know his purpose, how can she support him and assist him to fulfill it!
Men need to know what God intended them to be and to do, before they try to find a woman to help them.
God formed the man, but He built the woman. So God has the helper you need cause He built her for you. But you’ve got to appreciate that she wants to become part with your work, and your process of development as you become all you can be, and she becomes all she can be when you do!!
The first question a woman should ask a man, is not “do you love me”.... It should be “Where are you going”... because if she’s going to follow him, she needs to know where he’s going... I recall a statement, I can’t remember the author... “Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend”.. The woman gets a lot of peace and security out of knowing where her man is going. God didn’t give the woman to the man, to compete with him, she came to complete him!! If the woman comes to help you and you don’t know where you’re going, then she will help herself, because she is developing her own gifts too!
FIND YOUR WORK AND YOU’VE FOUND YOUR PLACE. You can’t discover your worth, until you discover your work.
When a man finds his work and his worth, everything begins to fit together, and everything comes alive! He is awakened!
Jesus said, “I came to do the work, the Father gave me to do”..... I work the works of the Father”..... “I came to finish the works the Father sent me to do”.... “My Father is working and I am working”......Works, works, works.....
A crises can overwhelm what you see, but it is no match for your purpose. Your purpose is greater than sight and sometimes it contradicts what you see.
When you’re promoting vision and hope, you’re promoting one of the most powerful things in life. It identifies with everyone, because purpose gives hope and produces vision and goals for your life.
Joel 2:28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions”.
The old men dream dreams about hopes they will not see but the next generation will.... The young men see visions of what they can achieve in their lifetime. Your sons and daughters will prophecy, because they will remember the hopes you have described to them, and taught them, and later when you get discouraged or lose hope, they will say, “didn’t you say that you were hoping for this or that... Didn’t you say that you’re believing for those things, and they stir it back up within you, and they remind you so that you can renew your vision, and regain your hope! The young men asked the prophetic question in the old testament.... “Where is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”?
I feel like we should gather around the men today, and renew their vision, and stir up hope and purpose in some areas, perhaps, that have faded and maybe been lost.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that if we are older, He’ll give us back our dream, and if we are young, He’ll give us back our vision.
No matter how powerful you were visited by the Holy Spirit, the evidence should be, a clear vision of your purpose, and a renewal of your dreams....
Isaiah 46:9 “I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like Me.10 I make known the end from the beginning...I say from ancient times what is to come....I declare that my purpose shall stand...” It is God that gives us purpose...
God says here “I speak the end from the beginning”. I see the end of your life, then I back up to the beginning. When God starts something in us, it is evidence that it is already finished as far as He is concerned. Your very birth, is evidence that it is already finished. We weren’t just born to start,we were born to finish!!!
Isaiah 46:11 “What I have declared, I will bring about, what I have begun, I will finish”.
God finished your purpose, even before you started! That’s where that vision inside of you which you carry all the time comes from.... He’s declaring it inside of and through you.... God already knows your outcome, before you begin....
You can see healing, while you’re still sick.... You see everything coming together, while you’re in the midst of chaos, and crises.... You see a better financial situation, while you’re still broke....You see your family whole and flourishing, when your world has gone crazy and out of control!
God won’t allow you to keep seeing what is not there! God is speaking to each of you what He declared to Abraham....
Romans 4:17 “As it is written beforehand, “I have made you a father of many nations, in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead and calls those things which are not, (at the moment) as though they already were”.
That’s what vision and dreams are about...
When my wife married me, I didn’t even have a bicycle to ride. But I had a dream to preach the gospel, and she was looking for a man, who had a dream to preach the gospel... So God showed us the end at our beginning, and we’ve been going strong (it’ll be 60 years, this October 28th) And it’s been an amazing adventure!!
Joseph had a vision, and he saw his brothers and his father bowing down to him. And there were times in the pit, a prisoner of slave traders, Potiphar’s house, and an Egyptian prison, when that vision seemed crushed, but Joseph believed that he was looking at the finish line when he was at the starting line. That’s why he was able to say “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good”....That’s purpose, That’s vision, which comes into every man from God.
No matter how it looks, God has intended it all for good!!!! If you have learned that life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful, then you can be the happiest man on earth!!!
Let’s pray over the men this morning, come on. God is beginning something that He already saw as finished!!! It’s our purpose.....
