[Translation: Tamquam Alter Christus ~ As If Another Christ]
The average man in the church body cannot follow the culture’s lead. It is leading them to a spiritual abyss. Men are reaching towards ideals and ideologies that are not biblical and are damaging the Church's spirituality. As a whole I am noticing more and more men with issues revolving around depression or abdication of their proper roles in the home and in society. Of late, the feminist movement which was a reaction to the abuses of women in the past has now outgrown its originally intended purpose into an ungodly and unbiblical monstrosity that has pervaded society and in so doing has contaminated the church.
So what is a Godly man? The best place to see this lived out is in the life of Jesus Christ. Can we be like Jesus perfectly? Of course not…but we need to turn to Him as a role model. We also need to turn to Him in repentance acknowledging that our sin entraps us. This post will predominately be Scripture that give us a clear picture of Jesus as a male leader and role model. It will be followed by a third and fourth post applying some of these principles to men's lives today.
Jesus: A Perfect Man
Jesus was
the only perfect man so it is He that other men should emulate.
1 Peter
2:21-22 ~ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you
an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no
deceit was found in his mouth.”
Jesus’ character showed men what
men should be. We need to look to Scripture for clarification of this point.
Of first
importance we see Jesus had an eternal mindset. He did the will of the Father
not his own desires. He was filled with the Spirit of God. He preached the
Gospel to other men and women not a Prosperity Gospel or Health and Wealth
nonsense that crumbles when suffering and pain begins. Above all Jesus distinguished Himself above mere men because of His
overt holiness.
What Was Jesus’ Attitude?
Jesus did the Will/Work
of the Father
John 5:30 ~ “I
can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,
because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
John 8:28-29 ~ So Jesus said to them, “When
you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am
he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the
Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left
me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
Jesus was Filled with
the Spirit
Luke 4:1 ~ And
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by
the Spirit in the wilderness.”
Jesus Preached the
Gospel/Jesus Was The Gospel
Mark 1:14-15
~ “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the
gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus Preached Gospel
not Prosperity
Matthew
10:34 ~ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Jesus Was Holy and
Sinless
1 Peter 2:22
~ He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”
Philippians
2:8 ~ “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Where Was Jesus’ Heart & Compassion?
Jesus Served
Others
Matthew 4:23
~ “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every
affliction among the people.
Luke 4:18 ~ ““The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed”
Jesus Was Sacrificial
Luke 22:42 ~
“saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless,
not my will, but yours, be done.
Philippians
2:6-8 ~ “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the
form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found
in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross.
Jesus Was Gentle
Matthew
11:29 ~ “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Where Was Jesus’ Courage and Zeal?
Jesus Was A Leader
John 6:2 ~ “And
a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing
on the sick.
Jesus Showed
Initiative
Mark 6:34 ~ “When
he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them
many things.
Jesus Was Confrontational When Warranted/Not a Man Pleaser
Mark
11:15-17 ~ “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and
those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the
money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would
not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them
and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a
house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of
robbers.”
Jesus Was Decisive and
Courageous
Mark 8:31-32
~ “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes
and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly…”
Jesus Was Responsible
and Conscientious
John 17:4 ~ “I glorified
you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
John 19:30 ~ “When Jesus had received the sour wine,
he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his
spirit.”
Jesus Was Diligent and
Industrious
John 5:17 But
Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Jesus Wasn’t
A Quitter
Hebrews
12:2-3 ~ looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who
endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow
weary or fainthearted.
Jesus Served
Others
John 13:12-17 ~ “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
John 13:12-17 ~ “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus was
Not Proud, Did Not Crave Attention
John 8:50 ~ “Yet
I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.”
John 8:54 ~ “Jesus
answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who
glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ “
John 17:1 ~ “When
Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you”
In a third
part of this lament I will attempt to tie the Scripture into a coherent
applicable picture for the modern evangelical male to follow.
[Continued Inn Part III]
[Continued Inn Part III]
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