Fulfilling Manhood in God’s Image

Fulfilling Manhood In God’s Image

Man is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). But he’ll never be able to maximize his full potential as a man unless he becomes a man of God (1 Timothy 6:11).

We can draw a lesson about how we can fail to become the man whom God wants us to be from the story of how Israel first failed to enter Canaan.

In fact, there are a lot of parallels between the Israelites’ journey to Canaan and our journey towards attaining our maximized potential in Christ. The journey to Canaan brings us to the land flowing with milk and honey; the journey to true manhood brings us to the abundant life. Canaan is the land of promise; true manhood is the place where God’s promises are fulfilled in our lives. Going to Canaan takes faith; manhood is a destination where God wants us to live by faith. God’s desire was for the Israelites to enter the promised land; God’s desire is for us to maximize our manhood in His image, which we can achieve for as long as the Spirit of the Lord lives within us (Exodus 3 – Joshua 24).

There are 5 reasons why the Israelites failed to enter the promised land; these 5 reasons, which can also prevent us from reaching our manhood in Christ, can be found in 1 Corinthians 10:1-10: Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.

Now these things took place as examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did. Don’t become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died. Let us not test Christ as some of them did and were destroyed by snakes. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

Here are the 5 basic sins that Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 10:1-10.

• Lust – 1 Corinthians 10:8, Numbers 25

Lust is focused on gratifying what the flesh wants without considering God or others. Lust is intent on taking; love is focused on giving.

• Idolatry – Exodus 32:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:7

Idolatry is deeming something to be more worthy of our devotion than God. Anything can be an idol: from seemingly good things like church              ministry and education to neutral interests like power, money, popularity, video games, and music, to outright evil pursuits like pornography.

• Fornication – Numbers 25, 1 Corinthians 10:8

Fornication pertains to every kind of sexual sin. Single or married, anonymous pastors or celebrity preachers are prone to this; no one is                      exempt.

The wisest thing to do is to avoid these situations in the first place. For example, if traveling alone leaves us vulnerable, then we                                      should always travel with our wives. This can be a costly practice but it’s even costlier to fall into sin and destroy our lives and reputations.

It also helps to be accountable to our spiritual brothers. Especially because if we do fall, then we have someone to whom we can confess our                sins.

• Testing Christ – Deut. 6:16, Num 21:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:9

Testing God can mean purposely testing the limits of His mercy and patience. Like how some so-called “believers” would take advantage of                  God’s grace by indulging in their favourite sin “one last time”. Or even testing God through His Word like what Satan was tempting Jesus to                do in Matthew 4:7.

Let’s never assume that God will not strike us dead right after offending the Holy Spirit in this manner. Remember  Ananias and  Sapphira                  (Acts 5:1-11).

• Grumbling – 1 Cor 10:10; Exodus 15:24-25

Grumbling means complaining, criticizing, and fault finding which can even lead to spreading rumours.

As James 3:5-6 puts it, our tongues can cause a lot of trouble:

          … The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue              also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself                set on fire by hell.

          The simple antidote to this is to practice gratefulness at all times and for all things.

These 5 sins are the same sins that many of us are committing now. If we don’t address this, we will not experience the Canaan promise – AKA our full potential. Moreover, we should never overestimate our ability to fight temptation. As 1 Corinthians 10:12 puts it:

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

And whenever we’re tempted, we should always remember that: “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

God’s desire is for us to enter our own promised land of maximized manhood and to have a long life:  “This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2)

This is similar to the promise we get when we’ve surrendered ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus – that we will have a long and abundant life. Abundant life is not about a materially abundant life. It’s about living in the fulness of Christ across every aspect of life – career, family, church and ministry life and more.

Lastly, the most important commandment we have to remember and to keep living out is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). As we take this commandment to heart,  we will be able to overcome the 5 sins discussed here because we will be so devoted to pleasing the Lord.

As we end this study, let’s reflect on these questions:

• What are the things in today’s culture that men might be tempted to crave and how can we guard against these desires? How can men create accountability systems to help them stay faithful to God’s standards?
• Take this time to confess with one another of any sin that hinders you in experiencing the Canaan land. Pray for one another.