Prayer
O Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, You have fashioned man from dust and breathed into him the breath of life; teach us now to understand your purposes. Give us wisdom to discern your design, humility to submit to it, and courage to walk in it. Let the image of Christ—the true Man—be ever before our eyes, shaping our thoughts, correcting our errors, and guiding our steps. May our learning today bear fruit to your glory, and may we learn more to obey and submit to you. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Reading
Genesis 2:18-20.
“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19. Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
Meditation
As we’ve been pondering God’s original design for men, and in lead up to thinking about his creation of the woman, we’ve got one more set of things to consider – and today’s meditation will be very application heavy! Do you remember what we learned when we studied Day 6 of creation? (see our much earlier studies in the Genesis prologue for a reminder!). We learned three key things:
That God created man in his own image,
That man defiled that image,
And—importantly—that Christ restores God’s image in man.
Colossians 1:15 tells us that Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Likewise, Romans 8:29 says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
From the beginning, Christ has always been preeminent in the Father’s design for manhood. Adam was a type of the one who was to come, and Christ is the image to which we are now being conformed. In this, we see clearly: Christ is the pattern of manhood. What does this mean for our every day lives? Some final thoughts in closing this subject…
Be doers of the word….
First application: Live to Imitate Christ. Now, there’s a great application here for both men and women.
Men, let me speak to you first. Have you ever wondered what it means to be a man? Have you felt that deep desire to be a man of God? Maybe you’ve wished you had more older men to look up to. Let me tell you something. Being a man is not about how much weight you can bench press. It’s not about how thick and lustrous your beard is. It’s not about your bow-hunting skills. Being a man is about Christ. To become the men we’re called to be, we must constantly look to Christ. We must make it our aim to look up to him, to follow him, to imitate him. That’s how we truly learn what it means to be a man.
Ladies, let me speak to you for a moment. Men and women are united in the image of God. In a real sense, marriage itself is a picture of that union and image. And so, imitating Christ applies just as much to you as it does to men. You too must pursue Christlikeness and be conformed to his image—because the bride, the Church, is called to be like her husband, who is Christ.
But let me also give a particular word of encouragement to you as women. Do you ever find yourself wishing there were more real men in the world? Do you long for men to stop acting like boys? Then let me encourage you: point your men to Christ.
Encourage your husbands in Christ. As a helpmeet, that may be the most powerful help you can offer. If you want your husband to be more of a real man, the best thing you can do is point him to Christ. Because when men are looking to Christ, women will no longer wonder where all the real men have gone—because those men will begin to look like Christ, and then they’ll start to step into their calling.
Now let me speak to those of you who are single.
Young men—your goal as you mature must be to be conformed to the image of Christ. That’s how we become men. There’s no such thing as a real man who isn’t like Christ. If we’re not like Christ, then we’re like beasts. Manhood is defined by who Christ is. So what will prepare you to serve a wife one day—if God gives you a wife—is that you should become like Christ.
Young women—if you’re considering marriage, look for a man who is mature in Christlikeness. That’s what you need. And to those who are single and older—perhaps widowed, or living a life of singleness—let me assure you, all that we’ve said is still relevant to you. It will simply look a bit different in practice. Fundamentally, the calling of singleness is a calling to serve Christ. He is your husband. He calls you to be devoted to him—as we see in 1 Corinthians—and to serve his bride. That’s the biblical vision for singleness: a life dedicated to God, and to the service of his people. As a single person, you have time and opportunities that married people often do not. And God’s will for you is that you use those opportunities to see his kingdom extended and his bride built up.
A few more final applications on this topic in closing.
First, reject the world’s lies about manhood. The moral chaos of our world is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the area of human sexuality. Whether we’re talking about: transgenderism; feminism; toxic masculinity; homosexuality; bisexuality; transsexuality; gender dysphoria; polyamory; queer theory; or countless other ideologies – sexuality has become a battleground of theories and lifestyles—jealously guarded and aggressively promoted. As believers, we have our work cut out for us if we are to disciple the nations and obey God in this area. Bible-believing Christians should have a radically different understanding of sexuality from the world. And it’s not just a difference of opinion—we are vilified for it.
We must not buy into the world’s narrative. We must know the truth, live the truth, and faithfully testify to the truth. We need to reject the world’s lies about manhood. The world hates biblical masculinity. We must train our senses to discern those lies and reject them. But how do we do that?
Second application here: understand biblical masculinity. To resist the world’s lies and walk in God’s will, we must understand what that will is. We cannot assume we already know God’s design for manhood—we must go to his word and learn. As we do that, we’ll be equipped to resist the lies, grow in understanding, and honour God. This is important for both men and women. Men, so you can learn to be men. Women, so you can understand the calling of the men in your life, better understand your own calling, and—if you’re a mother of sons—raise them to become men.
Here are some resources to help you begin growing in this:
First and foremost: study Christ.
Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz
Father Hunger by Douglas Wilson
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem
The Complete Husband by Lou Priolo
Third application: honour biblical masculinity. What do I mean by that? I mean: live in harmony with God’s design. And ultimately, I’m not just saying honour masculinity—I’m saying honour God, who reveals himself and works through biblical masculinity. For men, this means living as godly men. It is dishonouring to God when a man abuses his strength and authority. He must learn to honour God by living like Christ. Every time a man lives selfishly instead of sacrificially, he fails to honour biblical manhood. Fathers, this means raising your sons to honour and live out biblical masculinity—for the glory of God. For women, this means not setting yourself against God’s design. Understand and embrace God’s calling for feminine identity. Pursue it wholeheartedly (we’ll look more at the creation of Eve in the coming studies, Lord willing).
Honouring God by honouring biblical masculinity has implications in the church too.
God calls qualified men to lead in the office of elder. And he calls the church—the bride—to honour and submit to those he places in leadership. So honouring biblical masculinity is really about honouring God and his design.
Final Application: don’t exalt men. In some ways, I sympathize with feminism. Throughout much of history, men have abused their power and authority—and it’s often women who have borne the consequences. That’s part of the curse: in Genesis 3:16, God said that husbands would rule over their wives. So in some sense, feminism is a response to that abuse of power. But the solution to feminism is not ultimately about putting men back in charge of the world. The solution is to understand that manhood is not ultimately about men at all—it’s about Christ. I hope you’ve begun to see that in these studies in maculinity. This is not about exalting men—it’s about exalting Christ. Every expression of masculinity in the life of a man should point to the excellency of Christ, the Son of Man. Manhood exists for the glory of God.
May we, in our churches, our homes, and our lives, live to see God raise up many men who honour Christ, serve others, lead well, and display the glory and image of God. SDG.
Prayer of Confession & Consecration
O Holy and Sovereign Lord, We confess that we have strayed from your design, exalting our desires above your truth, and distorting what you called good. Cleanse us from the pride that rebels, and from the apathy that drifts—turn our hearts back to your perfect purpose for men and women. Teach us to honour the weight of masculinity as you intended it: not for power, but for your glory; not for self, but for service. Let the likeness of your Son be etched into our lives, that we may live as men and women, under your authority, and for your glory alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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