WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.356 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.856 --> 00:08.256 We're so glad you're here and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.456 --> 00:12.036 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.576 --> 00:15.156 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.156 --> 00:17.856 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.256 --> 00:20.396 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.176 --> 00:24.956 Now, if you have your Bible, please open it with me to Genesis chapter 2. 00:25.856 --> 00:27.356 We are living... 00:28.229 --> 00:33.009 in a time that some have called a fatherless generation. 00:33.009 --> 00:34.909 Millions of kids are growing up 00:34.909 --> 00:36.569 without a father in the home. 00:36.569 --> 00:39.769 Millions of others are growing up with fathers 00:39.769 --> 00:43.649 who are really just grown up boys. 00:43.649 --> 00:46.049 They grew up physically so they could sire a child, 00:46.049 --> 00:48.489 but they never really grew up, 00:48.489 --> 00:50.849 which brings us to the question, 00:50.849 --> 00:54.649 what or when rather does a boy 00:54.649 --> 00:57.309 move from being a boy to a man? 00:58.739 --> 01:03.099 By the end of the message, Lord willing, I'm going to answer that question. 01:03.199 --> 01:11.639 Now, the message today isn't really about fatherhood, because being a good father doesn't start with trying to be a good father. 01:12.059 --> 01:16.359 It starts with becoming a real man in the biblical sense. 01:17.217 --> 01:22.817 So whether you're a dad today, a boy, a young woman looking for a husband or a mom 01:22.817 --> 01:28.097 who's trying to raise her son to be a man, this message is for you. 01:28.177 --> 01:30.077 I think you're going to find that it applies. 01:30.797 --> 01:34.657 Now, we've been in the book of Ecclesiastes for the last several months, 01:34.777 --> 01:39.317 a book written by King Solomon towards the end of his life. 01:39.317 --> 01:43.497 And I want us to listen to what Solomon's dad... 01:43.492 --> 01:47.752 King David had to say to him just before he died. 01:48.132 --> 01:50.332 In 1 Kings 2, verse 1, it says, 01:50.332 --> 01:53.952 Now the days of David drew near that he should die. 01:54.592 --> 01:57.812 And he charged Solomon his son, saying, 01:58.152 --> 02:00.032 I go the way of all the earth. 02:00.552 --> 02:05.672 Be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 02:06.762 --> 02:09.102 David was basically saying to his son, 02:09.102 --> 02:13.442 it's time for you to rise up and be a man. 02:13.442 --> 02:18.982 Men, it is time for us to rise up and be men. 02:18.982 --> 02:23.682 That's what our culture, our family desperately needs. 02:23.682 --> 02:25.942 Now, there's a lot that that means, 02:25.942 --> 02:29.102 and there's a lot that that does not mean. 02:29.240 --> 02:32.000 We're not going to cover everything this morning, but here's what I want to do. 02:32.540 --> 02:37.740 I want us to go to the very beginning of creation in Genesis chapter 2, 02:38.320 --> 02:42.440 when God created man and he designed man. 02:42.980 --> 02:47.340 This is sort of a manhood simplified kind of a message today. 02:47.920 --> 02:50.260 Us men, we are simple creatures, right? 02:50.260 --> 02:53.540 You ladies, you're complex creatures. 02:54.518 --> 02:58.258 You've got the ability to process all of these emotions, 02:58.258 --> 03:00.718 all of these facts all at once. 03:00.718 --> 03:02.358 Men, we're pretty simple. 03:02.358 --> 03:05.638 So I've just got three points for us today, all right? 03:05.638 --> 03:10.638 Three responsibilities that God gave to you and I as men 03:10.838 --> 03:13.278 that if we will focus on, 03:13.604 --> 03:16.744 I believe it will really simplify our lives. 03:17.464 --> 03:22.104 Now, some of these things certainly apply to you ladies, so don't tune me out, all right? 03:22.184 --> 03:28.504 Now, in Genesis chapter 1, we have the summary of God's creation of the universe. 03:29.064 --> 03:32.104 Included in that is his creation of mankind. 03:32.104 --> 03:39.564 And the emphasis in chapter 1 is that God made both men and women to be equal. 03:39.727 --> 03:44.047 Both are clearly made in the image of God. 03:44.507 --> 03:49.107 Well, in chapter 2, we're given some more details about the creation of mankind, 03:49.567 --> 03:54.827 about how God created men and women and how he created them a little bit different. 03:56.028 --> 03:59.028 Genesis 2, verse 7, we're going to focus on men today. 03:59.028 --> 04:07.208 It says, And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. 04:07.528 --> 04:10.068 And man became a living being. 04:11.408 --> 04:16.248 Everything else in the universe God spoke into existence. 04:16.468 --> 04:19.868 But with man, it says that he formed him. 04:20.368 --> 04:23.648 That word form means handcrafted. 04:24.817 --> 04:31.677 Men, the culture wants you to believe that you need to apologize for being a man. 04:32.497 --> 04:37.297 Do not ever apologize for being who God created you to be. 04:37.577 --> 04:39.697 God handcrafted you. 04:39.997 --> 04:42.377 He formed you with incredible purpose. 04:42.557 --> 04:46.217 You are a man whom God carefully made for a reason. 04:46.957 --> 04:49.777 It's very important that you own that, 04:49.777 --> 04:53.977 the significance that you have that God gave to you. 04:53.977 --> 04:57.857 Now, it says that God also breathed into man 04:57.857 --> 05:01.337 the breath of life and he became a living being. 05:01.337 --> 05:05.117 This word for breath in Hebrew is the same exact word 05:05.117 --> 05:08.597 that sometimes is translated as spirit. 05:08.597 --> 05:10.897 It's a very personal picture. 05:10.902 --> 05:17.702 of God getting face to face with the man's lifeless body that he had formed from the dust 05:18.322 --> 05:20.862 and breathing life into it. 05:21.422 --> 05:28.202 Now notice that the body that God had formed did not become a man until God breathed His Spirit into it. 05:29.382 --> 05:35.302 Man's not a man in the way that God designed him to be until he received the Spirit of God. 05:35.877 --> 05:39.917 Some of you, sadly, are simply a shell of a man. 05:40.557 --> 05:48.417 You have the form of a man, but not more than that, because you have not yet received the breath of God. 05:49.137 --> 05:50.597 That can change today. 05:51.297 --> 05:52.777 I'm praying that it does. 05:52.777 --> 05:55.097 Verse number 8. 05:55.402 --> 06:01.562 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 06:02.002 --> 06:07.302 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. 06:07.762 --> 06:13.202 The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 06:13.202 --> 06:18.802 So God creates man, and then he places him in this ideal garden called Eden. 06:19.617 --> 06:25.117 And in verse number 15, God repeats himself again, I think, for emphasis. 06:25.657 --> 06:26.216 He says, 06:26.217 --> 06:40.237 Now, I don't know for sure how significant it is, but it's interesting to me that God created man out in the wilderness. 06:41.032 --> 06:43.832 And then he put them in the garden after he was created. 06:44.852 --> 06:49.912 Perhaps that explains why some of us men, we have a love for nature and the outdoors. 06:50.052 --> 06:53.372 I'm not sure if that's what it means. 06:53.432 --> 06:55.432 But here's the main thing I want to point out. 06:56.412 --> 06:58.232 It says that God put them in the garden. 06:58.352 --> 06:59.631 Why? 06:59.632 --> 07:02.112 To tend it and keep it. 07:03.323 --> 07:07.463 God gave man a job to do from the very beginning. 07:07.603 --> 07:10.043 Now, notice this is before sin entered the world. 07:10.423 --> 07:13.343 Some people think of work as a curse, 07:13.523 --> 07:18.963 that it's somehow a result of the broken, fallen nature of the world because of our sin, but not at all. 07:19.683 --> 07:22.483 Work was a part of God's original design. 07:22.483 --> 07:25.623 You and I, we were made to work. 07:26.307 --> 07:29.967 Men, God has given us a work to enjoy. 07:29.967 --> 07:31.147 Did you know that? 07:31.147 --> 07:33.567 We should enjoy the work that God has given us. 07:33.567 --> 07:35.687 God said, tend and keep the garden. 07:35.687 --> 07:40.567 That means cultivate it, grow it, expand it. 07:40.567 --> 07:45.527 Now in the garden, work was rearranging the raw materials 07:45.527 --> 07:49.787 that God had given humanity for human flourishing. 07:49.966 --> 07:53.006 And really, that's still what work is today, right? 07:53.066 --> 07:56.746 It's the rearranging of that which God has already created. 07:57.326 --> 08:04.806 Now, I think it's important to realize that since work is given by God, work is a calling, isn't it? 08:05.386 --> 08:11.366 I believe every man should seek God, seek the face of God, asking Him, 08:11.366 --> 08:15.566 what do you want me to do with my life? 08:15.886 --> 08:25.206 Sometimes in the church, we create this divide, a false dichotomy between the secular and the sacred, between the secular and the spiritual. 08:25.386 --> 08:30.306 Some of you, you look at me and you think, well, as a pastor, you've been given a job by God. 08:30.506 --> 08:31.906 But I'm just... 08:31.900 --> 08:36.640 I'm just an oil-filled worker. I'm just a mechanic or a businessman. 08:36.640 --> 08:41.560 And you sort of think that you have a lower tier job among God's colleagues. 08:41.560 --> 08:46.160 Listen, whatever God has called you to do is on the top of the ladder. 08:46.160 --> 08:50.860 It's at the top of the tiers in terms of importance. 08:50.860 --> 08:53.040 Here's the thing about work. 08:53.040 --> 08:55.240 Work will become drudgery to you. 08:55.240 --> 09:00.240 It will become this heavy, almost impossible burden to carry. 09:00.503 --> 09:03.203 when you divorce it from purpose. 09:03.203 --> 09:04.783 If you're just working for the dollar, 09:04.783 --> 09:06.923 you don't understand work. 09:06.923 --> 09:08.123 You're just working for the dollar, 09:08.123 --> 09:10.383 you're not going to enjoy work 09:10.383 --> 09:13.183 like God intends for you to enjoy it. 09:13.183 --> 09:16.343 But if you will get your heart and your mind 09:16.343 --> 09:19.003 in touch with the purpose of your work, 09:19.003 --> 09:21.823 that's when your work will have elevated significance 09:21.823 --> 09:22.823 with your life. 09:24.112 --> 09:31.592 Now, it's said that when President Kennedy visited NASA in 1962, he was walking down the hallway 09:31.592 --> 09:34.592 and he encountered a man who was carrying a broom. 09:34.752 --> 09:37.672 And he asked the man, hey, what are you doing? 09:38.352 --> 09:41.672 And he said, I'm helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President. 09:43.282 --> 09:46.522 See, there's purpose in all of our work. 09:46.522 --> 09:48.762 There's dignity when we understand our purpose. 09:48.762 --> 09:51.062 All of our jobs, it should be connected 09:51.062 --> 09:54.062 to human flourishing and more specifically as Christians, 09:54.062 --> 09:58.682 all of our jobs should be connected to kingdom flourishing. 09:58.682 --> 10:03.682 As a Christian man, don't pursue your potential for money. 10:03.722 --> 10:05.782 Pursue your calling from God. 10:06.316 --> 10:07.836 And there's a difference in focus. 10:07.976 --> 10:09.315 It changes everything. 10:09.316 --> 10:11.956 God has called us to reach our world for Christ. 10:12.416 --> 10:14.876 And God's called us to different positions, right? 10:15.496 --> 10:17.696 Different occupations that we all have. 10:17.956 --> 10:18.275 Why? 10:18.276 --> 10:21.736 To be salt and light to the world around us. 10:22.656 --> 10:30.156 Now, men, what do you do if you don't yet know your calling from God on what you're supposed to do? 10:30.156 --> 10:31.779 What do you do? 10:31.780 --> 10:35.320 Well, you get a job and you work really hard until you figured it out, right? 10:35.900 --> 10:42.380 One of the problems that we have in our culture is that we have these grown men acting like boys, 10:42.560 --> 10:46.840 living in their mom's basement, playing video games in chat rooms. 10:48.250 --> 10:50.510 I understand why that's the case. 10:50.510 --> 10:54.450 It may be that you're one of those young men listening to this message. 10:54.450 --> 11:00.510 Maybe you never had a man in your life to show you what it's like to work. 11:00.510 --> 11:06.090 So many of these grown boys, I'm convinced they're scared to go out and get a job. 11:06.090 --> 11:07.150 They're afraid what? 11:07.150 --> 11:08.150 Of failure. 11:08.150 --> 11:14.290 You see, boys are content to remain in a controlled environment. 11:14.290 --> 11:16.750 Men risk failure. 11:17.056 --> 11:20.076 So what if your first day at work doesn't go so well? 11:20.076 --> 11:21.696 Learn from it. 11:21.696 --> 11:23.916 Go back to work the next day a little bit better. 11:23.916 --> 11:26.736 So what if your first job doesn't go so well 11:26.736 --> 11:27.956 and you get fired? 11:27.956 --> 11:30.456 Learn from it and go out and get another job. 11:30.456 --> 11:33.776 God is calling us as men to rise up and work, 11:33.776 --> 11:37.116 to produce, to accomplish, to provide. 11:38.268 --> 11:42.048 Now, with the emergence of AI, there's some angst 11:42.048 --> 11:44.528 in our culture about the future of work. 11:44.528 --> 11:47.768 Some are speculating, telling us that AI 11:47.768 --> 11:50.428 is gonna eventually replace all of our jobs. 11:50.428 --> 11:52.788 There's gonna be this universal income. 11:52.788 --> 11:54.948 We're not gonna ever have to work again. 11:54.948 --> 11:57.648 What a miserable dystopia. 11:58.648 --> 12:02.468 We thought depression rates were high now. 12:02.468 --> 12:04.828 Imagine what it'll be like if there's no work. 12:05.386 --> 12:07.686 Now, I'm by no means an expert on this. 12:07.686 --> 12:10.626 I have no idea what the future of AI holds, 12:10.626 --> 12:13.386 but let me put some of your hearts at ease. 12:13.386 --> 12:18.386 Even if, worst case scenario, all of our jobs are gone. 12:19.766 --> 12:22.066 We're living in this dystopia 12:22.066 --> 12:24.106 where all of our jobs have been removed. 12:25.113 --> 12:28.653 As Christians, we're always going to have a job, aren't we? 12:29.313 --> 12:31.353 Jesus gave us our main job. 12:31.453 --> 12:33.773 It's your main job as a Christian, not just as a pastor. 12:33.893 --> 12:35.252 It's your job as well. 12:35.253 --> 12:50.493 Go and make disciples of all the nations, which means that even today, whatever job you have as a school teacher, truck driver, doctor, whatever it might be, whatever you earn your paycheck with, that's not actually your main job. 12:50.881 --> 12:58.061 Your main job is to help people know Jesus, which means no matter what your occupation, 12:58.201 --> 13:02.361 your work has eternal significance and value, purpose, right? 13:02.901 --> 13:07.181 If you're an oil-filled worker, you're actually a missionary disguised as an oil-filled worker. 13:07.181 --> 13:11.941 If you're a schoolteacher, you're a missionary disguised as a schoolteacher. 13:12.160 --> 13:17.880 So if someday all of our jobs are taken away, our main job as a missionary is never going to be taken away. 13:17.960 --> 13:19.260 It's always going to exist. 13:19.780 --> 13:22.780 The church is in no danger of being replaced by AI. 13:23.640 --> 13:29.340 Your purpose in life is in no danger being replaced by AI. 13:30.100 --> 13:34.600 I know that's a little side tangent, but there's a lot of people worried about it because I hear from some of you. 13:35.620 --> 13:36.479 Not me. 13:36.480 --> 13:40.940 The way I see it, we might just get a whole lot more full-time workers down at the church house, right? 13:40.940 --> 13:42.450 Right? 13:42.451 --> 13:45.591 in the mission, out among people, 13:45.591 --> 13:48.671 making known the name of Jesus. 13:48.671 --> 13:52.791 Nothing, including AI, can thwart the plan of God. 13:52.791 --> 13:54.711 Verse number 18. 13:54.711 --> 13:56.331 And the Lord God said, 13:56.331 --> 13:59.931 "'It is not good that man should be alone. 13:59.931 --> 14:04.111 "'I will make him a helper comparable to him.'" 14:04.523 --> 14:11.483 And then if we were to read on, we'd see that God removed a rib from the man and he created a woman out of it. 14:11.503 --> 14:13.683 And he brought her to the man. 14:13.683 --> 14:17.603 In verse 23, Adam breaks out in Hebrew poetry. 14:17.863 --> 14:21.263 He says, and Adam said, this is now bone of my bones. 14:21.323 --> 14:25.903 Some translate this at last is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. 14:26.343 --> 14:30.683 She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. 14:31.118 --> 14:36.138 Now, in context, God had just been bringing all the animals, the animal kingdom, in front of Adam, 14:36.218 --> 14:39.438 and he was responsible to give them each names. 14:40.298 --> 14:44.178 I think Adam is sort of feeling left out at this point because he sees all the animals. 14:44.298 --> 14:47.558 He's thinking, man, I don't really have someone that's comparable to me. 14:47.558 --> 14:53.258 And finally, God brings him a naked woman, and he says, this at last is mine. 14:54.458 --> 14:57.878 Paraphrased by some scholars, wow, right? 14:58.758 --> 14:59.657 Verse 24, 14:59.658 --> 15:00.581 Verse 24, 15:00.582 --> 15:06.442 Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. 15:07.002 --> 15:08.522 And they shall become one flesh. 15:09.042 --> 15:14.202 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. 15:14.302 --> 15:15.662 This is speaking of marriage. 15:15.662 --> 15:16.762 We see here men. 15:17.402 --> 15:20.782 God has given us a woman to love. 15:22.242 --> 15:28.882 Now, it's important to note that God didn't give Adam a woman to love until he first gave him a work to enjoy. 15:29.793 --> 15:31.773 There's a proper order of things. 15:31.893 --> 15:33.873 Get a job and then get married. 15:33.933 --> 15:37.973 If you ever, young men, think about dating one of my daughters, that's the order, all right? 15:41.433 --> 15:46.833 Now, we know from the New Testament that it's not God's will that everyone should marry. 15:48.423 --> 15:52.043 Some men and some women have been given a gift from God 15:52.043 --> 15:53.683 of celibacy, singleness. 15:53.683 --> 15:57.203 They're called to be single in order to devote themselves 15:57.203 --> 15:59.423 more fully to the kingdom of God. 15:59.423 --> 16:01.763 And we praise God for those people. 16:01.763 --> 16:04.363 We wouldn't be who we are as a church family 16:04.363 --> 16:06.543 if it were not for those people. 16:07.843 --> 16:11.663 But the truth is 99% of you men 16:11.663 --> 16:13.243 have not been given that gift. 16:13.938 --> 16:16.718 If you have, there's a good chance you suspect it. 16:17.138 --> 16:19.338 And if you haven't, you probably know it. 16:20.098 --> 16:26.438 For most of us as men, God gives us a woman to love in the relationship of marriage. 16:27.269 --> 16:31.809 Now our love for our wives should be a sacrificial love, right? 16:31.909 --> 16:35.369 Ephesians chapter five, verse 25 says, husbands, 16:35.669 --> 16:40.589 love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave 16:40.589 --> 16:44.329 himself for her. Now that's a high standard, isn't it? 16:44.489 --> 16:49.489 Love your wife like Jesus loves us. Like he died for us. 16:49.889 --> 16:52.129 That's what you're supposed to do for your wife. You see, 16:52.129 --> 16:56.169 being the leader of your home does not mean perks. It means responsibility. 16:57.121 --> 17:03.761 Now, that does not mean that everything bad that happens within your home is your fault, men. 17:04.421 --> 17:06.441 But it does mean it's your responsibility. 17:08.427 --> 17:14.227 Our love for our wife, it should be a sacrificial love, but it should also be an understanding love. 17:14.567 --> 17:16.807 1 Peter 3, verse 7 says, 17:16.887 --> 17:21.287 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them, that's your wife, with understanding, 17:21.967 --> 17:24.927 giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, 17:25.087 --> 17:30.587 and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 17:30.587 --> 17:35.727 Now that's a challenging command because sometimes it's really hard to understand a wife, isn't it, man? 17:36.467 --> 17:38.127 Surprised I didn't get an amen there. 17:40.355 --> 17:47.275 I read recently that someone suggested that when responding to your wife, 17:47.415 --> 17:52.255 always answer feelings with feelings and facts with facts. 17:52.955 --> 17:54.335 I think that's good advice. 17:54.755 --> 18:00.735 Because maybe we can get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble when we start answering feelings with facts. 18:02.022 --> 18:05.802 If your wife says, well, I'm feeling really, really tired lately, 18:05.802 --> 18:10.202 you might be tempted to say, well, you need to eat better and start exercising. 18:12.322 --> 18:18.362 Folks, let me tell you, even if that's true, that is a horrible thing to say. 18:19.622 --> 18:21.982 That's going to blow up in a lot of ways. 18:23.926 --> 18:26.306 Whenever your wife is saying she feels tired, 18:26.306 --> 18:28.126 she's not looking for solutions. 18:28.126 --> 18:29.506 She's looking for compassion. 18:29.506 --> 18:31.586 She's expressed a feeling to you. 18:31.586 --> 18:33.706 One of the ways you love her well 18:33.706 --> 18:35.646 and meet the need that she has 18:35.646 --> 18:39.166 is you respond with the feeling. 18:39.166 --> 18:41.386 Love her well, learn to love her. 18:41.386 --> 18:43.166 That includes studying her. 18:43.166 --> 18:45.786 Know what makes her tick, know how she's wired. 18:45.786 --> 18:49.346 Learn how she responds and learn how to love her 18:49.346 --> 18:53.026 in a way that allows her to flourish. 18:53.018 --> 18:58.998 Now, the third thing that God gave Adam was a will to obey. 18:59.158 --> 19:00.277 In verse 16, it says, 19:00.278 --> 19:02.558 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 19:02.678 --> 19:06.418 Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, 19:06.958 --> 19:09.818 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. 19:10.338 --> 19:14.218 For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 19:15.178 --> 19:19.318 Men, God has given us a will to obey. 19:19.938 --> 19:22.245 His will. 19:22.246 --> 19:25.866 You will never be fulfilled in life until you realize that. 19:26.746 --> 19:31.606 Now notice that from these verses, God gave Adam a whole lot of yeses, 19:31.906 --> 19:33.126 and he only gave him one no. 19:33.746 --> 19:39.406 Eat from all the trees that exist, all of the trees, but not that one. 19:39.486 --> 19:41.226 If you eat that one, it's going to kill you. 19:41.266 --> 19:43.246 So please, don't eat that tree. 19:44.403 --> 19:47.803 Now, most people think of this command as God being restrictive. 19:48.323 --> 19:50.543 That's how the devil presented it to Eve. 19:50.723 --> 19:52.843 He basically said, God's holding out on you. 19:53.443 --> 19:55.023 God wasn't holding out on them. 19:55.203 --> 19:57.123 He'd given them every tree to eat of. 19:57.263 --> 19:58.923 He was protecting them. 20:00.003 --> 20:03.643 Did you know that that's always the case when God commands us something? 20:04.783 --> 20:08.103 You've got to come to realize that God is a good God. 20:08.103 --> 20:13.383 If he's given you a law, if he's commanded you something, it is in your best interest. 20:16.128 --> 20:17.568 What is the word I'm looking for? 20:17.568 --> 20:20.448 Interest. 20:20.448 --> 20:21.868 To obey it, right? 20:21.868 --> 20:23.708 Being in the center of God's will 20:23.708 --> 20:27.688 will never be the wrong place to be. 20:27.688 --> 20:30.448 Now, in order to obey God's will, 20:30.448 --> 20:33.148 you must know God's will. 20:33.148 --> 20:37.208 As Christian men, you need to become obsessed 20:37.208 --> 20:41.788 with the truth, discovering the truth. 20:41.788 --> 20:44.988 Boys are content with fantasy, men want truth. 20:45.322 --> 20:50.262 One of your jobs as a man is to learn about reality as God created it. 20:51.282 --> 20:54.882 Reality, truth, and that comes from God. 20:54.942 --> 20:56.302 He's the definer of that. 20:56.542 --> 20:57.782 He's the giver of that. 20:58.222 --> 21:03.162 So what you need to do is you need to pursue God with all of who you are. 21:03.162 --> 21:09.422 And then you want to listen to everything he's revealed about himself and reality. 21:10.042 --> 21:14.222 Make a commitment to devour his word and then make a commitment, I'm going to obey it. 21:15.528 --> 21:18.148 If God tells you to serve, serve. 21:18.148 --> 21:20.208 If God tells you to sacrifice for your wife, 21:20.208 --> 21:21.568 you sacrifice for your wife. 21:21.568 --> 21:23.528 If God tells you to tithe, you tithe. 21:23.528 --> 21:25.908 If God tells you to jump up and down 10 times, 21:25.908 --> 21:28.648 you jump up and down 10 times. 21:28.648 --> 21:33.648 God is supremely in control. 21:34.368 --> 21:36.048 He is our authority. 21:36.048 --> 21:39.428 You may think you're really great, but you're not God. 21:40.250 --> 21:42.390 Whenever you go against God's will, here's what it does. 21:42.750 --> 21:48.570 It creates chaos within you, and it causes chaos around you. 21:49.290 --> 21:51.690 Every man's got to know his place in the world, 21:51.750 --> 21:56.210 and his place in the world is in full submission to Jesus Christ. 21:57.817 --> 22:01.637 Now, for about six weeks now, I've had this message on my mind. 22:01.697 --> 22:04.217 Since Mother's Day, whenever that was, I started thinking about, 22:04.377 --> 22:05.677 what am I going to do for Father's Day? 22:05.797 --> 22:09.917 And so I've been kind of just wrestling with this message in my mind. 22:09.977 --> 22:12.957 And nearly every morning, I've been reminding myself in my prayer time 22:12.957 --> 22:15.177 that God has given me a work to enjoy. 22:15.822 --> 22:20.182 A woman to love and a will to obey. 22:21.042 --> 22:26.802 And that has kind of just really simplified things within my mind. 22:26.842 --> 22:32.442 If I run into something challenging at work, I remind myself God's given me a work to enjoy. 22:32.542 --> 22:33.542 I can tackle this. 22:34.002 --> 22:38.122 If I run into a challenge with Kelsey, which would never happen, right? 22:39.382 --> 22:43.222 I remind myself God has given me a woman to love. 22:44.375 --> 22:46.915 Now, why would I need to remind myself of that every day? 22:46.995 --> 22:48.035 Well, because I'm a sinner. 22:48.035 --> 22:49.132 I'm a sinner. 22:49.133 --> 22:52.533 And I don't do this very well oftentimes. 22:52.733 --> 22:54.293 It doesn't always come natural to me. 22:54.413 --> 22:59.433 You see, God gave Adam a will to obey, and he chose to violate God's will. 22:59.953 --> 23:03.013 He passively took the fruit that Eve gave to him, 23:03.053 --> 23:06.513 and he ate what God had clearly forbidden him to eat. 23:06.573 --> 23:08.453 We see that in Genesis 3, verse 6. 23:08.553 --> 23:08.832 It says, 23:08.833 --> 23:11.613 So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, 23:11.733 --> 23:15.573 that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, 23:15.773 --> 23:18.173 she took of its fruit and ate. 23:18.175 --> 23:22.135 She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 23:23.155 --> 23:28.635 So we see Adam's right beside his wife when she's talking to the dangerous serpent. 23:29.035 --> 23:32.475 He's right beside her when she's having this conversation. 23:32.695 --> 23:33.895 He never speaks up. 23:34.175 --> 23:35.034 She takes of it. 23:35.035 --> 23:35.834 He watches. 23:35.835 --> 23:36.834 She gives it to him. 23:36.835 --> 23:38.074 He takes of it. 23:38.075 --> 23:43.955 God had clearly given Adam and Eve a command, and they violated it. 23:44.675 --> 23:45.715 And Adam sinned. 23:47.183 --> 23:53.063 And our sin has made our little simplified life as a man very, very challenging. 23:53.243 --> 23:54.323 It's become very hard. 23:55.343 --> 24:01.783 All three things that God gave to mankind for their flourishing were corrupted by sin. 24:01.843 --> 24:06.103 A work to enjoy, a woman to love, a will to obey. 24:06.103 --> 24:09.343 All three were corrupted by sin. 24:10.143 --> 24:15.283 See, every pain and tragedy that you've ever experienced in life can be traced back to Adam's. 24:16.073 --> 24:18.373 Choice to violate the will of God. 24:19.453 --> 24:26.573 See, when Adam and Eve sinned and then later had babies, they had little sinners, didn't they? 24:27.213 --> 24:30.113 Little babies who were infected with the sin virus. 24:30.473 --> 24:33.173 So the Bible says there's none good, no, not one. 24:33.273 --> 24:36.153 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 24:36.153 --> 24:41.013 Our hearts, our minds, the totality of who we are has been corrupted by sin. 24:41.875 --> 24:44.175 so that now obeying God's will 24:44.175 --> 24:46.615 is not something we naturally do. 24:48.055 --> 24:49.875 Now, we don't have time to read it, 24:49.875 --> 24:52.215 but if we were to read through Genesis 3, 24:52.215 --> 24:53.895 after Adam and Eve's sin, 24:53.895 --> 24:57.335 God pronounced some judgments upon them. 24:57.335 --> 24:58.294 He told the man, he said, 24:58.295 --> 25:01.075 "'Because of your sin, cursed is the ground for your sake.'" 25:01.075 --> 25:02.715 Remember, he was supposed to till the ground 25:02.715 --> 25:04.235 and tend the garden. 25:04.235 --> 25:07.535 "'Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth.'" 25:07.535 --> 25:09.255 You see, because of our sin, 25:10.023 --> 25:16.863 Even good, wholesome work became a whole lot harder and more taxing on us. 25:18.383 --> 25:21.143 I've got one of the best jobs in all of the world. 25:21.223 --> 25:23.163 I love my job. 25:23.323 --> 25:29.603 But because of sin, there are some aspects of my job that aren't very fun. 25:30.803 --> 25:37.803 Counseling with a person whose spouse has just recently found out that has been cheating on them. 25:38.503 --> 25:40.852 Not very fun. 25:40.853 --> 25:44.553 comforting a family who's tragically lost a loved one, 25:44.673 --> 25:46.773 rebuking someone who's living in sin. 25:46.873 --> 25:49.213 Sometimes my job is really, really hard. 25:50.333 --> 25:57.513 Because of sin, even the best of jobs are a lot more taxing upon us, right? 25:57.513 --> 25:58.335 Right? 25:58.336 --> 26:02.776 Now, God told the woman in judgment, he said, your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. 26:02.776 --> 26:09.496 That means, simply put, things are going to be a whole lot harder because there's going to be conflict now. 26:09.976 --> 26:11.816 Before sin, no conflict. 26:12.116 --> 26:14.316 After sin, a whole lot of conflict. 26:15.056 --> 26:17.636 Because sin always brings division, doesn't it? 26:18.063 --> 26:22.583 It brings division between us and God, and it brings division between us and one another. 26:22.923 --> 26:29.063 Gary Thomas said about marriage, he said marriage is one sinner living with another sinner trying to get along. 26:29.783 --> 26:31.103 It's hard, isn't it? 26:32.143 --> 26:36.303 So here's the temptation that you and I face as men. 26:36.463 --> 26:43.283 With our work, our woman, whatever God has called us to, men, we are tempted to avoid our callings. 26:44.371 --> 26:48.011 Instead of charging forward in our calling, sometimes we're tempted to retreat 26:48.011 --> 26:51.091 because those callings have become very, very difficult. 26:51.691 --> 26:54.071 And so some guys simply avoid them. 26:55.151 --> 26:57.911 And those guys, in my opinion, are more like boys than men. 26:59.051 --> 27:00.251 A boy... 27:00.875 --> 27:05.375 is someone who has not yet owned his God-given responsibilities. 27:05.915 --> 27:09.155 He settles for fantasy instead of reality. 27:09.355 --> 27:13.835 Instead of cultivating and growing and building something real in the world, 27:13.835 --> 27:16.515 the only thing he grows and builds is something in a video game. 27:17.395 --> 27:18.054 Like Minecraft. 27:18.055 --> 27:20.995 I looked up this week, the average age of person, 27:21.435 --> 27:27.315 the most prominent age of a person playing the game Minecraft is 24 years old. 27:29.967 --> 27:32.807 Instead of fighting the spiritual battle 27:32.807 --> 27:35.167 that God has called all of us to fight, 27:35.167 --> 27:37.147 he's content fighting in a sport 27:37.147 --> 27:38.867 or fighting in a video game. 27:38.867 --> 27:40.687 Instead of being intimate with the woman 27:40.687 --> 27:43.287 that he has been given by God to love, 27:43.287 --> 27:46.167 he fantasizes about another woman. 27:46.167 --> 27:50.527 Boys settle for fantasy, men face reality. 27:51.347 --> 27:54.047 Now at the beginning of the message, I posed the question, 27:54.047 --> 27:55.387 when does a boy 27:56.663 --> 27:59.383 Go from being a boy to becoming a man. 27:59.483 --> 28:02.323 And that's admittedly a hard question to answer. 28:03.063 --> 28:08.763 I'm not sure there's one exact thing we could point to, but in my opinion, here's the starting place. 28:10.123 --> 28:15.523 When a boy takes responsibility for disobeying God, 28:15.523 --> 28:21.703 he has taken the first step in becoming the man God has designed him to become. 28:22.398 --> 28:25.058 1 John 1, verse 9 says, 28:25.138 --> 28:27.098 "...if we confess our sins, He..." 28:27.098 --> 28:28.151 That's God. 28:28.152 --> 28:33.892 It's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 28:34.012 --> 28:36.692 Men, here's the reality that we all need to come to grips with. 28:36.772 --> 28:38.652 And ladies, you've got to come to grips with it as well. 28:39.692 --> 28:40.812 God formed you. 28:41.852 --> 28:46.852 He handcrafted you with incredible purpose to be in the image of God, 28:46.912 --> 28:49.892 to reflect Him in all of His glory in your life. 28:50.212 --> 28:55.712 And men, you were given a work to enjoy, a woman to love, a will to obey, 28:55.812 --> 28:57.172 and we have felt that at all. 28:57.886 --> 28:59.226 We're all sinners. 28:59.226 --> 29:00.686 We have failed the will of God. 29:00.686 --> 29:03.366 We failed to perfectly live out our design. 29:04.866 --> 29:07.566 And God makes clear within the Bible 29:07.566 --> 29:10.706 that when we sinned, we died spiritually. 29:10.706 --> 29:14.126 And here's what that means, to spiritually die. 29:14.126 --> 29:15.626 It's when the spirit of God 29:15.626 --> 29:19.366 that he breathed into mankind departs from us. 29:21.359 --> 29:23.739 Separation, death. 29:23.739 --> 29:25.079 And here's what happens. 29:25.079 --> 29:29.699 The spirit departs and shame and guilt fill the void 29:29.699 --> 29:31.959 that the spirit leaves behind. 29:31.959 --> 29:34.059 That's exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. 29:34.059 --> 29:36.859 Whenever they sin, suddenly they were ashamed. 29:36.859 --> 29:38.079 They realized they're naked, 29:38.079 --> 29:39.999 so they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves 29:39.999 --> 29:42.199 and they run and they try to hide from God. 29:42.199 --> 29:45.259 That is the solution religion will get you. 29:45.389 --> 29:52.009 You would try to cover your shame and your nakedness on your own with rules, rituals, self-righteousness. 29:52.669 --> 29:54.089 Adam and Eve, they tried fig leaves. 29:54.209 --> 29:55.869 Fig leaves are not going to cut it. 29:56.649 --> 29:58.149 God knew that, so what did he do? 29:58.909 --> 30:01.589 He sacrificed an animal for the very first time. 30:01.589 --> 30:07.609 Out of love and grace, he properly clothed Adam and Eve like they couldn't clothe themselves. 30:08.449 --> 30:09.749 A foreshadowing. 30:10.820 --> 30:15.080 thousands of years later what Jesus would do for you and I as Jesus 30:15.080 --> 30:20.840 willingly hung upon the cross and he died and he shed his blood white to pay 30:20.840 --> 30:26.240 for our sins so that if we believe in him he'll cover us with forgiveness and 30:26.240 --> 30:32.820 grace the righteous robe of Jesus and what else will he do 30:33.145 --> 30:35.385 At that moment, we believe, what does he do? 30:35.505 --> 30:38.925 God says he breathes his spirit into us. 30:39.145 --> 30:41.945 We are born again of his spirit. 30:43.165 --> 30:46.245 If you have not received the spirit of God, 30:47.165 --> 30:48.765 I'm telling you, you're a dead man walking. 30:50.945 --> 30:52.485 Maybe that's how you feel today. 30:53.525 --> 30:55.585 Oh, you might be really strong on the outside. 30:55.585 --> 30:58.725 Men, we're good at projecting strength, aren't we? 30:59.791 --> 31:03.711 Maybe you're physically strong, financially strong, socially strong, 31:03.811 --> 31:09.271 but it seems like you've got it all together, but inside, you know you're broken inside. 31:11.171 --> 31:16.731 When you really evaluate it, you know that you're just the shell of the man that you're supposed to be. 31:18.271 --> 31:19.871 And there's only one way to fix that. 31:21.251 --> 31:23.791 And that is to fall down at the feet of Jesus. 31:25.677 --> 31:30.677 See, the charge this morning was men, rise up. 31:31.297 --> 31:34.197 But the irony of that is the only way we rise up 31:34.197 --> 31:36.537 and become men is by first falling down 31:36.537 --> 31:38.977 and surrendering to Jesus. 31:38.977 --> 31:41.317 Because you can never stand as a man 31:41.317 --> 31:43.437 until you bow to the king. 31:44.637 --> 31:47.577 See, manhood is not something we earn, 31:47.577 --> 31:49.117 it's something we receive. 31:49.117 --> 31:52.217 Manhood is bestowed by God. 31:53.285 --> 31:58.625 Now I think we've all seen some medieval war movies where some guy kneels before a king 31:58.625 --> 32:06.265 and the king touches the guy with his sword and then he says, rise a knight. 32:06.265 --> 32:14.105 In a similar way to knighthood, manhood is bestowed not by a king but by the king. 32:14.105 --> 32:20.345 Jesus, man, the king of kings and Lord of lords, he's calling your name. 32:20.774 --> 32:22.054 He formed you. 32:22.494 --> 32:23.974 He shaped you by hand. 32:24.174 --> 32:25.033 He made you. 32:25.034 --> 32:25.993 He loves you. 32:25.994 --> 32:27.054 He died for you. 32:27.154 --> 32:32.454 He's calling you to kneel before him so he can touch you, not with his sword, but with his spirit. 32:33.934 --> 32:41.994 If you'll just come to him and give it all to him and humbly bow yourself before him, 32:41.994 --> 32:46.994 he will bestow on you the true life of a man. 32:48.483 --> 32:51.063 I want us to bow together in an attitude of prayer, if you will. 32:53.883 --> 32:59.463 Men, it's time for us to rise up, but clearly we do that by first falling down. 32:59.543 --> 33:00.603 That's full surrender. 33:00.863 --> 33:05.043 Not before just any king, but before Jesus who loves you. 33:05.623 --> 33:08.963 He loves you so much that he died for you. 33:09.023 --> 33:10.723 He gave everything for you. 33:11.838 --> 33:15.838 You, me, mere peasants, less than a peasant, 33:15.838 --> 33:19.258 an enemy of the state who had joined the rebellion against him. 33:19.378 --> 33:24.218 Jesus died for us that we could rise up and really live. 33:25.258 --> 33:30.758 The Bible says, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 33:32.238 --> 33:34.918 Maybe you need to call in the name of Jesus today. 33:34.998 --> 33:37.858 In just a moment, we're going to have pastors and leaders here at the front. 33:38.686 --> 33:46.326 We're going to stand and as soon as I pray, we're going to stand and our team's going to be singing a song, leading us a song together. 33:47.426 --> 33:51.626 And we're going to ask you to just come forward and give your life to Jesus. 33:52.926 --> 33:57.706 To bow before the Lord and receive him as your savior. 33:58.886 --> 34:06.386 You see, the greatest need of humanity, men and women, the greatest need of humanity. 34:07.694 --> 34:17.174 is to be forgiven. I want to invite you to be forgiven today of all your sin. Now, today 34:17.174 --> 34:25.594 is Father's Day, and maybe on Father's Day you feel especially heavy, because maybe your 34:25.594 --> 34:31.294 father is no longer with us. That's hard, isn't it? Maybe you had a lousy father. 34:33.614 --> 34:36.074 Instead of protecting you, he abused you. 34:36.194 --> 34:38.894 Instead of being there for you, he abandoned you. 34:40.334 --> 34:43.514 Instead of loving you, he was angry with you all the time. 34:43.594 --> 34:44.634 Maybe he had a lousy father. 34:44.734 --> 34:46.014 Maybe he had no father at all. 34:47.174 --> 34:48.714 I want to encourage you today. 34:50.094 --> 34:56.134 Please remember, Christian, that God says, I am a father to the fatherless. 35:00.479 --> 35:05.339 As a Christian, that's one of the most important steps of discipleship that you will ever take. 35:06.599 --> 35:14.299 Is to recognize your identity in Christ as a son or a daughter of the living King of God. 35:15.819 --> 35:22.399 Maybe today you need to have a fresh understanding that God wants to be your personal father. 35:22.899 --> 35:26.979 To protect you, to love you, to provide for you. 35:28.359 --> 35:29.759 To guide you. 35:32.997 --> 35:36.117 If you've never given your life to Jesus, please, in just a moment, come. 35:36.217 --> 35:39.417 There's going to be pastors here and leaders there at the front. 35:39.537 --> 35:40.917 We're not going to embarrass you in any way. 35:40.977 --> 35:44.817 We're just going to invite you to step out, make a decision for the Lord. 35:44.897 --> 35:48.717 Maybe you don't need to talk with any pastor here. 35:49.477 --> 35:50.897 You need to talk with the master. 35:51.717 --> 35:55.117 We talked about kneeling our heart before the king. 35:56.297 --> 36:01.617 Maybe, I have at least found it very helpful at times to physically kneel. 36:02.714 --> 36:08.314 physically put myself in the posture that I'm desiring my heart to be. 36:08.434 --> 36:10.774 And so maybe you just need to come kneel before God. 36:16.594 --> 36:22.154 Cry out to Him for His help to make you the man that God wants you to be, 36:22.234 --> 36:25.154 to make you the woman that God wants you to be. 36:29.123 --> 36:34.023 Others, maybe you want to be baptized like others this morning or join our church family. 36:34.103 --> 36:36.503 However God leads in just a moment, please come. Let's pray. 36:37.323 --> 36:41.303 Father, we thank you for being our Father. 36:41.583 --> 36:44.783 To be able to call you Father and to experience you as our Father. 36:48.783 --> 36:52.583 I thank you, Lord, for my earthly father that you gave me. 36:54.250 --> 36:59.250 I recognize what an incredible privilege and blessing that is. 37:00.510 --> 37:06.970 I pray, Lord, that you help me be the kind of father to my kids that he was to me. 37:09.470 --> 37:11.450 Lord, I pray for all our dads. 37:12.330 --> 37:15.470 Help them, Lord, become the men you want them to be. 37:15.470 --> 37:21.350 And then fatherhood gets easier at that point. 37:21.650 --> 37:23.230 Not easy, but easier. 37:23.230 --> 37:26.143 Yeah. 37:26.144 --> 37:33.044 Lord, would you become a father to some today that don't know you personally? 37:33.984 --> 37:36.204 Would you do a special work in their heart? 37:38.007 --> 37:42.267 Help them know that you love them, that you are not against them. 37:42.347 --> 37:43.447 You are for them. 37:43.567 --> 37:45.467 You want a relationship with them. 37:46.027 --> 37:50.887 But, Lord, I pray that you give them the courage and the faith and the willingness. 37:51.527 --> 37:52.727 Tug on their heart, Lord. 37:52.767 --> 37:59.607 Make it easy for them to bow their knee before you in humility and in faith. 38:00.187 --> 38:01.427 Help them receive you, Lord. 38:01.767 --> 38:04.067 We love you, and we pray this in Jesus' name. 38:04.667 --> 38:06.576 Amen. 38:06.577 --> 38:07.597 Thanks for listening today. 38:07.957 --> 38:09.437 We hope you enjoyed this message. 38:09.677 --> 38:12.797 And if you did, we would be so grateful if you left us a review. 38:13.457 --> 38:15.557 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 38:15.557 --> 38:18.437 if you would like to be notified when a new sermon is released. 38:19.037 --> 38:22.157 If you feel the Lord calling you to take the next step in faith 38:22.157 --> 38:26.057 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 38:26.675 --> 38:29.775 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 38:30.115 --> 38:32.395 That's podcast to 88988 38:32.395 --> 38:35.355 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. 38:36.015 --> 38:39.115 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org 38:39.115 --> 38:41.115 to find even more great resources. 38:41.795 --> 38:43.455 No matter where you are in your journey, 38:44.035 --> 38:45.274 know that we love you. 38:45.275 --> 38:46.415 We're praying for you 38:46.415 --> 38:49.435 and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.