Servants of the Lord

Servants of the Lord

TEXT: GEN 2:15 JOHN 3: 27-30

INTRODUCTION:

The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men Gen 2:15

Gen 2:15 Kinuha ng PANGINOONG Diyos ang lalaki at inilagay sa halamanan ng Eden upang ito ay kanyang bungkalin at ingatan.

To Understand Our Mandate: we go back to Genesis where lahat nagsimula. Marriage, role of women in relation to men, issues of gender male and female relationship answered in the opening chapters of the Bible. the basic teaching on creation in Genesis 1 and the record of God's specific dealing with the first man and woman in Genesis 2. It is here that we should search for the Bible's most basic teaching on manhood.

Genesis 2 tells us four essential things about man: who man is, where man is, what man is, and how man is to fulfill his calling. This is obviously very important stuff, essential to an accurate understanding of our calling as men.

Genesis 2:7 tells of God's special formation of man: At nilalang ng PANGINOONG Diyos ang tao mula sa alabok ng lupa, at hiningahan ang mga butas ng kanyang ilong ng hininga ng buhay; at ang tao ay naging buhay na kaluluwa. This creation of man is unique in two ways, First God formed man from the dust, molding us with fatherly care. Second, God then breathed into man His own breath-the breath of life eternal. God made man to be different.

Gen 1:27 Kaya't nilalang ng Diyos ang tao ayon sa kanyang sariling larawan, ayon sa larawan ng Diyos siya nilalang. Sila'y kanyang nilalang na lalaki at babae. God has given us a spiritual nature so that we may bear His image as His worshipers and servants. This is who we are as men.

Gen 1:28 Sila'y binasbasan ng Diyos at sa kanila'y sinabi ng Diyos, "Kayo'y magkaroon ng mga anak at magpakarami, punuin ninyo ang lupa at supilin ninyo ito. Magkaroon kayo ng pamamahala sa mga isda sa dagat, sa mga ibon sa himpapawid, at sa bawat bagay na may buhay na gumagalaw sa ibabaw ng lupa." 

Here we begin to see the what of maleness, namely, that Adam was put in the garden to be its lord and servant. Adam was to bring glory to God by devoting himself to bearing God's fruit, starting in the garden and extending outward to all of creation. For this reason, Adam was God's assistant lord, exercising authority over creation: "Subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28).

This is the calling of mankind as a whole-men and women together but of males especially. God placed Adam in a leadership role toward Eve, referring to her as Adam's "helper" (Gen. 2:18, 20)

Genesis 2:15, we learn how man is to fulfill his calling: "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." Kinuha ng PANGINOONG Diyos ang lalaki at inilagay sa halamanan ng Eden upang ito ay kanyang bungkalin at ingatan.

Work. To work is to labor to make things grow. In subsequent chapters I will discuss work in terms of nurturing, cultivating, tending, building up, guiding, and ruling.

Keep. To keep is to protect and to sustain progress already achieved. Later I will speak of it as guarding, keeping safe, watching over, caring for, and maintaining.

We have been drawing our picture of masculinity from the opening chapters of Genesis, and so far we have noted the following: • God made man in His own image. • God placed man in the garden, the world of God's covenantal relationships. • God placed him in the garden that he might work and be fruitful. • Toward that end, God gave man the work-and-keep mandate of cultivating and protecting. • The ultimate goal-the chief end of man-is that he might display God's glory in the world.

THE LEADER AS SHEPHERD, Work: Shepherding as Guiding, Keep: Shepherding as Protecting

Work and Keep: Shepherding as Caring

Living Our Mandate: The Application of Our Calling in Marriage and Family as

Husband and being a Father.

Being a Friend who pinalakas ang kanyang kamay sa pamamagitan ng Diyos. The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him.

MALE-ONLY LEADERSHIP in Church

Servants of the Lord

I look forward to meeting in person, and seeing with my own eyes, the Lord of glory, the Son of God, my Savior and Master, the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

Unlike the other things for which I hope, this glorious event is absolutely certain. As job marveled, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes-I, and not another" 25“Pero alam kong buhay ang aking Tagapagligtas at sa bandang huli ay darating siya rito sa lupa para ipagtanggol ako. 26Pagkaalis ko sa katawang ito at mabulok ang mga laman ko, makikita ko na ang Dios.19:26 O, Habang nandito pa ako sa aking katawan, makikita ko ang Dios kahit na naaagnas ang aking balat dahil sa aking sakit. 27Makikita ko siya nang harapan at hindi na siya iba sa akin. Labis na akong nananabik na makita siya.(Job 19:25-27, NIV). Job then exclaimed, "My heart faints within me!" To this I say "Amen!" because these words are true for me, and they are true for you as well.

Many people, I realize, live and work with their eyes on retirement. Everything is thus measured by its contribution to the IRA or another retirement fund. But I believe a Christian man should live, work, and play with an eye on the coming glory of Jesus Christ. His return in glory is not a fable, a fantasy, or science fiction. It is certain future history-it is going to happen, and relatively soon. How should we then live? How should we measure things happening in our lives? The answer is that we should live now in the light of the future that is certain to come.

According to the Bible, there are rewards in heaven for our service to Christ on earth. This is why Jesus tells us to "lay up treasure in heaven" (Matt. 6:20)19“Huwag kayong mag-ipon ng kayamanan para sa inyong sarili rito sa mundo, dahil dito ay may mga insekto at kalawang na sisira sa inyong kayamanan, at may mga magnanakaw na kukuha nito. 20Sa halip, mag-ipon kayo ng kayamanan sa langit, kung saan walang insekto at kalawang na naninira, at walang nakakapasok na magnanakaw. and why the parable of the ten minas shows the giving of differing rewards to servants with differing amounts of profit (Luke 19:17). I admit I have a hard time thinking of any reward greater than mere entrance into the glorious kingdom of our Lord. I will see him, and I imagine myself kneeling at his feet and worshiping His glory. Then I will hear words from His lips, the anticipation of which defines my entire present existence: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master" (Matt. 25:2 1). This is the future event, the future reward, that should motivate every Christian to live in a bold and mighty way in service to Jesus Christ.

With this in mind, it does not matter whether I am successful as we measure things in this world. It does not matter if the world embraces or despises me. It does not matter if I abound or am abased. What matters is that I be found faithful and hear those words from Jesus Christ, my Savior and Master, the Lord who is coming again to reign forever.

To be a Christian means not merely that I am saved from my sins, but also that I am saved to be His disciple.

That is what Christian men are: followers, disciples, and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The certainty of His return, and His commendation of faithful men and women, is the great and colossal fact that should dominate our view of the future.

PERSONAL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

A number of years ago, when I was still teaching at a college, some leaders from a well-known quasi-Christian cult came to see me. This is a group that demands to take over every aspect of your life. They made the statement that each Christian is to be a disciple. Although their definition of a Christian is fundamentally flawed, for the sake of discussion I was willing to agree with this statement. They then asked me if I was being personally discipled. To their surprise, I answered that I was. When they inquired as to who was discipling me, no doubt intending to express their disapproval, my answer was not what they expected. "I am being discipled by Jesus of Nazareth," I replied. "But He is dead and is no longer here," they demanded. "That is where you are wrong," I replied, "for He lives now and ministers to His believers through the Holy Spirit. As a true believer in Jesus, I am a personal disciple to Him now, no less than Peter, John, and the others were His disciples when He walked upon the earth."

This answer exposed a common problem among ostensibly Christian cults, namely, the absence of a role for the Holy Spirit in their thinking and living (a role the cults seek to usurp in the lives of their followers). For it is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that every Christian today truly is a personal disciple of Jesus. Not only is our discipleship not inferior to that of those who walked on the earth with our Lord, it is better. This is what Jesus said in His meeting with the disciples on the evening of His arrest: "I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7). No doubt every Christian has imagined how wonderful it would have been to live as a disciple of Jesus prior to His resurrection. But here, Jesus Himself said that the addition of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, makes for an even better discipleship.

To understand what it means to be a personal disciple and servant of the Lord Jesus is to rejoice and exult in that present privilege. Central to this service is making time to sit at His feet, learn from His Word, and speak with Him in prayer. Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples" (John 8:31). This means our discipleship is mere talk unless we are dwelling in God's Word and communing with the Lord in regular prayer. And why wouldn't we? For Jesus promises great results if we will be true disciples: "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

Marks of a true disciple of Jesus, someone set free by abiding in His truth, are demonstrated by John the Baptist. John spoke of his joy in serving One so great as Jesus, when he said, "He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie" (Luke 3:16).

Undoing the latch of a sandal was a task so menial and dirty that in ancient Judea even slaves were not required to do it. But John said that when it comes to serving Jesus, this lowest task was not merely beneath him-in reference to Jesus it was actually far above him, so great is the glory of the Son of God, our Lord.

Jesus regarded John the Baptist as the greatest person of the Old Testament (see Matt. 11:11). But John regarded himself as a personal servant of the Lord Jesus, seeing the slightest thing he might do for One so great as Jesus as the highest privilege and thrill he could ever imagine.

LIVING AS A SERVANT-DISCIPLE

If we want to make a difference with our lives by serving Jesus, we should adopt the attitude John the Baptist displayed.

To this end, I would like to begin wrapping up this book on Christian manhood with the Baptist's teaching on the glory of serving Jesus as His disciple.

John 3:22-30 records a time during which John's ministry was diminishing in the light of Christ's growing fame, to the extent that John's followers had begun leaving him to follow Jesus instead. Some of John's still-devoted followers complained to him about the way Jesus' ministry was eclipsing John's. The Baptist's answer is a classic statement of godly faithfulness and a model for how Christian men may yield themselves unreservedly to the Lord:

"A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.... The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:27, 29-30)

Here we have John's model of service to Christ.

That model includes a key principle, a joyful attitude, and a humble resolution.

Together, these elements can enable us as men to be faithful to our calling to carry out the Masculine Mandate in service to Christ.

John revealed the first element of his service to Christ

Calling as a Gift: A Key Principle

First, in response to his followers who resented the growing prominence of Jesus, John set forth this key principle for serving the Lord: "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven" (John 3:27).

John's point was that men must content themselves with the place and provision the sovereign God gives them, seeking only to be faithful to one's particular calling.

Here is the antidote to jealousy and strife among Christians, for John's statement reminds us that everything we have is a gift from heaven. If we have great gifts and a great calling, they were given by God for His service.

If we have modest gifts and a modest calling, these too were given by God for His service. Knowing this should keep us from the twin challenges of jealousy on the one hand and boasting on the other. Paul asks: "What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). 1Co 4:7 Sapagkat sino ang nakakakita ng kaibahan mo? At ano ang nasa iyo na hindi mo tinanggap? At kung tinanggap mo, bakit mo ipinagmamalaki na parang hindi mo tinanggap? The Corinthians should stop boasting of their attachment to certain teachers, as if it shows that they are superior to others. All these teachers as God’s gift to them; and no one has cause for personal boasting about something that after all was freely given by another.

So if we have gifts, they came from God. If we are successful, it is because of God's grace. If we have been diligent, even that has been a heavenly gift. For this reason, we should not glorify those whom we see as successful Christians, but instead give all glory to God. Conversely, if God has granted us lesser success, we should not be envious of those who have more. All that we have comes from God and is for His glory.

This understanding helps us distinguish between godly and ungodly ambition. Yes, Christians are to be ambitious, but for the right things. We are to have energy and zeal for the kingdom of God. We should aspire to work and keep as Christians: to provide for those under our care, to do good in the world, to protect and nurture the weak, and especially to bring people to faith in Christ and disciple them to Christian maturity.

Whatever gifts you have, you should be ambitious about what God can make of them and do through them. Of course, this is a far cry from the selfish ambition that often comes so much more naturally to us. We tend to be most concerned with our reputation and well-being.

This is where our envy and strife come from: we want to be glorified and admired-otherwise, why would we worry that others are more prominent than we are? We want to enjoy or acquire high position, riches, and worldly luxuries-if not, then why do we become anxious when these things are threatened? John's principle is key both for our usefulness to God and our spiritual well-being. If we can replace self-centered ambition with God-centered ambition, we will be free of envy and strife.

The gifted preacher F. B. Meyer struggled with envy. God called him to serve in London at the same time as Charles Haddon Spurgeon, arguably the greatest preacher who ever lived. So, despite his ability and hard work, Meyer would stand outside his church and watch the carriages flow by to Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle. Later in his life, it happened again, as G. Campbell Morgan eclipsed Meyer's success. When they spoke together at conferences, vast crowds listened to Morgan, then left when Meyer was to preach. Convicted over his bitter spirit, Meyer committed himself to pray for Morgan, reasoning that the Holy Spirit would not allow him to envy a man for whom he prayed. He was right. God enabled Meyer to rejoice in Morgan's preaching. People heard him saying: "Have you heard Campbell Morgan preach? Did you hear that message this morning? My, God is upon that man!"20 In response to Meyer's prayers, Morgan's church so overflowed that people came and filled Meyer's church, too.

It is the glory of John the Baptist that he apparently had no such struggles when it came to Jesus. He knew that he was not the Savior: "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, `I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him"' (John 3:28). John understood his place and role; all along he had been preparing and then directing people to follow Jesus, the true Lamb of God and Savior. Thus, he rejoiced when they did so. It did not bother him in the least that his star was declining with the rising light of Christ. God is sovereign, John knew. To each of us, God apportions works and the gifts to accomplish them. What matters is that we faithfully fulfill our particular calling to the glory of God, seeking His approval instead of man's praise.

This is one reason why understanding the Bible's mandate for men is so important. John said that he only wanted to fulfill what the Lord had decided for him to do. What has the Lord decided for you to do? What is your calling? For starters, you may be certain that you have the calling of Genesis 2:15-"The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." From the very roots of humanity and the first pages of Scripture, the essence of your calling and mine is clear.

We are to work and keep in whatever corner of the kingdom God has placed us. Understanding and embracing this essential aspect of our calling is a key to living fruitfully as a servant-disciple of Christ.

elements can enable us as men to be faithful to our calling to carry out the Masculine Mandate in service to Christ

John revealed the 2nd element of his service to Christ

Joy. A Key Attitude

The second great thing we note in John the Baptist is a by-product of the first and is itself a key to our faithfulness as Christians. John told his followers that, far from being frustrated by his waning prominence, he maintained a joyful attitude in his service to the Lord. "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom," John explained. "The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete" (John 3:29).

This "friend of the bridegroom" idea can make john's statement seem hard to grasp, but it doesn't have to be. In ancient Israel, this person was like a best man-but a best man with huge authority and responsibility, since he also served as the wedding planner, master of ceremonies, and security detail for the newlyweds' love nest: He acted as the liaison between the bride and the bridegroom; he arranged the wedding; he took out the invitations; he presided at the wedding feast. He brought the bride and the bridegroom together.... It was his duty to guard the bridal chamber and let no false lover in ... when he heard the bridegroom's voice he let him in and went away rejoicing, for his task was completed and the lovers were together.21

For a while, this friend of the bridegroom would be in the spotlight. But all along, his purpose would be to serve the bride and groom, usher them safely into one another's arms, and then gladly and gracefully fade into the background. His joy came not from being seen, but from the privilege of performing his service, in the honor he showed to his friend, and in the sheer delight of bringing the bride and groom together.

As John first prepared the way for the Savior and then openly proclaimed Jesus when the Lord began His public ministry, John saw the re-direction of public attention away from himself and toward Jesus. John knew this was exactly the right thing at the right time, for his purpose was to use any visibility he might have (as a gift from God) to point to Christ. Seeing the successful completion of this most important task in his life, he was able to say, "Therefore this joy of mine is now complete."

James Montgomery Boice asks:

Do you know that joy? Some persons think that there is great joy in material possessions, but things in themselves do not satisfy. Others think that there is joy in worldly fame, achievement, or pleasure, but these goals are relatively unrewarding. They satisfy at best for a short time. Real joy comes in being able to say to Jesus Christ, "Here I am, Lord, use me," and then finding that out of His grace He is able to use you to bring others into a saving relationship to Himself.22

What is the greatest reward for service to Jesus? It is simply the joy of serving Jesus. This joy makes us faithful and useful as servants of Christ. It enables us to rejoice not merely when our efforts are blessed with success, not merely when others praise and approve us, but whenever we have the privilege of serving Jesus, simply because of our love for Him and our awareness of how great He is.

John the Baptist was overwhelmed with the joy and privilege of doing anything-even unlatching a dirty sandal-for so great a Lord as Jesus Christ. So his joy was especially great when God used him to direct others to Jesus. Our joy in leading people toward Christ should be great as well. Our goal in evangelizing the lost and encouraging the saints is not to attain glory for ourselves. We do these things for the same reason the friend of the groom in ancient Israel brought to him his bride. We do it for our love of them both and the simple joy of serving the Lord.

elements can enable us as men to be faithful to our calling to carry out the Masculine Mandate in service to Christ

Humility: A Key Resolution

Finally, in uttering what Leon Morris has described as "some of the greatest words ever to fall from the lips of mortal man,"23 John revealed the third element of his service to Christ.

Not only did John refuse to compete with Jesus or show envy toward Him. John went further and declared, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). That is, John not only accepted the change in public stature between him and Jesus that already had occurred, he embraced the acceleration and continuation of that process, resolving joyfully that his ministry must give way to that of Christ. In the same way, Christians who are useful and make a difference in this world are resolved to make little of themselves so that Christ will be exalted, believed, and followed.

This kind of humility does not come naturally, and the attitude John displays here is not an easy one to adopt. By nature, we always want our own stature to increase. Indeed, this self-exalting attitude is at the heart of all sin. The Serpent sealed the original temptation to sin by promising, "You will be like God" (Gen. 3:5). In reality, sin makes us like the Serpent-that is, Satan-whose constant desire is to increase in rebellion to God.

Yet John the Baptist models the highest godliness when he says, "I must decrease." To be humble is to be Christ-like; indeed, it is only in Christ that we can ever truly be humble. A. W. Pink rightly says:

Humility is not the product of direct cultivation, rather it is a byproduct. The more I try to be humble, the less shall I attain unto humility. But if I am truly occupied with that One who was "meek and lowly in heart," if I am constantly beholding His glory in the mirror of God's Word, then shall I be "changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).24

Humility is not a pathetic guise we wear because we must. Humility is a glorious grace that is a key to true greatness. The apostle Peter wrote, "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for `God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble"' (1 Peter 5:5). A. W. Tozer comments: True humility is a healthy thing. The humble man accepts the truth about himself. He believes that in his fallen nature dwells no good thing. He acknowledges that apart from God he is nothing, has nothing, knows nothing and can do nothing. But this knowledge does not discourage him, for he knows also that in Christ he is somebody. He knows that he is dearer to God than the apple of His eye and that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him; that is, he can do all that lies within the will of God for him to do.... When this belief becomes so much a part of a man that it operates as a kind of unconscious reflex ... the emphasis of his life shifts from self to Christ, where it should have been in the first place, and he is thus set free to serve his generation by the will of God without the thousand hindrances he knew before .21

This is why God's greatest servants have all been humble people. Moses was the great deliverer of the Old Testament, and the Bible calls him "very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth" (Num. 12:3). It was as a humble servant that David was called "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam. 13:14). John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest mortal man yet born, declared, "He must increase; I must decrease." And above them all towers the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.... For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28-29).

BEHOLD, THE BOND-SERVANT OF THE LORD

I began this book with a story about Brian Deegan-a hard-core motorcyclist who converted to Christianity-whom I first read about in a sports magazine while sitting in a barber shop (not a hair salon). Having thus established my masculine credentials from page one, I'm perfectly comfortable comparing myself, here at the end of this book, to a young woman who inspires me to be a faithful servant of Christ.

The young woman is Mary, Jesus' mother. Here she is, a teenage girl living in what is morally a rather conservative religious culture. Betrothed to be married, and thus expected by everyone to be a virgin, she is visited by an angel, who tells her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-the Son of God.... For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:35, 37). On its face, this is all rather incredible and disturbing. It is disturbing because it means she will be obviously pregnant before her wedding. It is incredible because of the messenger-an angel-and the essence of his message: that this seemingly suspicious pregnancy will result in the birth of Israel's long-promised Savior.

I see this young woman, our sister in the faith, receiving instructions that are simply staggering. She might well complain, weep, object, or flee. Instead, she bows her head and declares to God, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

If this is how a teenage female believer, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, can answer God's call to faithfulness, then so can we as Christian men! God calls us to bear His image in the world, both in the kind of men we are and in the labor we enter on His behalf. Surely we can answer, "Behold, we men are your servants, Lord."

God placed man in the garden, just as He now sovereignly places us into covenant relationships and specific life situations. The Lord tells us "to work it and keep it," so that in joyful obedience we may serve Him by building up, nurturing, and cultivating for growth, while also keeping and guarding so that all that is under our care is kept safe. It is a simple calling in that it is easy to understand, but it is not often easy to live.

God calls us to love our wives, to disciple and discipline our children, to be faithful in friendship, and to be zealous in the work of His kingdom. The great calling of our lives is to answer: "Behold, I am your servant, Lord. Help me by your grace to be faithful to your call."

May God raise up a host of such men in our time, and may we kneel before our sovereign Lord, seeking His grace, and declare to Him: "Lord, I receive my gifts and my calling from You. My great joy is to serve so great a Lord as You. I humble myself to work and keep so that Jesus may be exalted in my life. Behold, Your servant, Lord." If we will do that, answering the Lord's call on our lives in trusting faith, we can be sure that our Savior God will give us the grace needed to serve and lead as the gospel men He calls us to be. Then, when the muster roll of the saints is called at last in heaven, we may expectantly look forward to hearing the Lord say to us the words that Christian men should prize above all others: "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master" (Matt. 25:2 1).