The Gospel of John 1:1-5, 14 declares that the Eternal Son of God became a man and dwelt among us. Since mankind is made in the image of God, there can be no greater example of manhood than the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ the God-man. In this message, Jeff Pollard will expound on key traits of Christ’s of manhood that men should strive to emulate.
Good morning. It is a great blessing to be here with you this morning. I have missed you all the last few years and I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for his sustaining mercies. Our text this morning is John chapter 1 for those of you that would like to follow along. Would you please stand with me as God speaks to us from his infallible word.
From his infallible Word. Beginning in verse 1, John chapter 1, This is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shined in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Then verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. Amen. Of grace and truth.
Amen. Holy and righteous Father, O our blessed triune God, how we magnify thee today. I pray with all of my heart that thou wouldst come in the mighty power that thou didst send in the day of Pentecost. May that glorious Spirit fill the hearts of every regenerate soul here. And I pray that those who do not know thee will hear of Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh, and flee to Him in repentance and faith.
And we pray all of this, that thou mightest be glorified and thy people edified. In the name of Christ our Lord, amen. Please be seated. What is the greatest miracle in the history of the universe? Some might suggest creation, the creation of the universe itself.
In six days, God spoke into existence the incomprehensibly vast, breathtaking beauty of heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is. God created all things ex nihilo by the word of his power and then pronounced it very good. What a miracle. Others might point to the mysterious beauty of childbirth, astonished that the love between a man and woman can produce not just a baby, but an image bearer of God, A soul that will live forever. Truly, this is deeper than we can fathom.
Yet others might suggest Jesus' life. Consider his astonishing and authoritative preaching and teaching, coupled with astounding miracles, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out devils. He died on the cross of Golgotha bearing God's wrath for the sins of his people and he rose again from the dead on the third day. He later ascended into glory and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. By all this he inaugurated the new covenant and established the kingdom of God.
What a miraculous life. Still others might argue that the greatest miracle must be God's amazing grace to God-hating, hell-deserving sinners. God the Father predestinated His people to conform them to the image of His Son. And by the power of His Spirit, He regenerates them, brings them to repentance and faith, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies them, changing them from glory to glory until that moment that He makes them like Himself. When they see Him in the beatific vision And all this that they might reign with Christ in that glorious world to come.
Glory, glory to God. These are miracles upon miracles. Now, some may argue that there is no such thing as a greatest miracle. I mean, a miracle is a miracle. And you are free to disagree with me.
But I am convinced that the miracles we have just considered are all directly related to the greatest miracle in the history of the universe. That mystery can be stated in three words. God became man. Now I want everybody here to repeat that really loud. I'm going to say it and then I want you to say it back nice and loud.
God became man. And this leads us to our subject here this morning. May those words be stamped on your hearts forever. We're looking at the manhood of Christ. Now may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give us the Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of His blessed Son, the crucified and resurrected God-man, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now may the Holy Ghost help us to give our attention to a very brief exposition of John's words of life. Again, these are verses 1 through 5 and then verse 14. John begins his gospel with the God-breathed words that we just read. So let us begin at the beginning. Verse 1, in the beginning was the Word.
If you have read the book of Genesis, you remember how Moses began that great book, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The Jews understood those words to reveal to the entire world the one true and living God, the almighty sovereign creator. Now approximately 14 to 15 centuries later, John began his gospel with a surprising modification. Illumined and empowered by the Holy Ghost. John repeats, in the beginning, but instead of the word God, he used the Word.
By connecting Genesis 1 verse 1 and John 1 verse 1, the apostle, among other things, was developing and expanding the identity of God the Creator. Now think with me just for a moment. What is a word? A word is a thought expressed by language, spoken or written. And the words of the Bible are God's mind to the minds of mankind.
In fact, we often call the Bible the Word despite its 783, 137 words, give or take a few depending on which translation you are using. But in this context, John is not speaking about the Bible, another word. Another word is burning in his heart. Furthermore, his use of the verb was is crucial. When all created things had their beginning, the word already was.
The word existed. John goes on to say the word was with God. The preposition with reveals an intimate relation between God and the word, the pre-existent word. As John's gospel unfolds, It shows us that the relation is Father and Son. John then proclaims a truth that transformed the history of the world.
And The Word was God. The pre-existing person with God was and is and ever will be God the Son. The Bible clearly and uncompromisingly declares that there is only one God, not two gods, not three gods. So here the revelation of the Trinity rises before us. But we have no time to unfold that mysterious and foundational doctrine this morning.
It should capture our minds and burn within our souls that the eternal word is a divine person, deity, the eternal son of God. And the Word, God's eternal Son, is God the Father's message. The Son is the Word. The Son is God's message of salvation to our dark, sinful, satanically enslaved world. Verse 2, the same was in the beginning with God.
Again, God the Son, the Word, was eternally with God when the entire universe was created. But John's next revelation was even more awe-inspiring. Verse 3, All things were made by Him, made by the Word, and without Him was not anything made that was made. The eternal Word is the almighty, sovereign Creator of the universe, from the supergiant stars to the tiniest subatomic particle, From the gigantic blue whales to the smallest known bacteria. From all the men, women, and children to all creatures great and small, the eternal Word spoke all into existence and sustains them by the word of His power.
Verse 4, in Him was life and the life was the light of men. As God the Father has life in Himself, so the Son, the Word, has life in Himself. And the eternal Word, the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and the light of the world was is and ever shall be the light of the world. And yet, verse 5, the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. The world in the darkness of its sin and its slavery to Satan did not understand who the word was, and so rejected him as do many in the world today.
All this brings us to the greatest miracle in my thinking in the history of the universe, listen in wonder, wonder to John's declaration, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glorious of the only, begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Do you not hear the grace of God in that? Do you not hear the glory of God, the power of God? What sacred words. I'm convinced that this is the greatest miracle of all, the greatest gift of all. God became man.
God's project is plainly laid before us in Scripture. Paul speaks of them who are called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn of many brethren. So the Word became flesh to accomplish the Father's glorious purpose. To save his people, transform many, to transform them into his likeness that they may reign with him in God's eternal kingdom forever. Is it not in John's first chapter, he came into his own and his own received him not, But as many as received him, to them gave he power.
To them gave he power to become just forgiven sinners. That's not what it says. And unfortunately, that's the paradigm that many Christians live under. Yes, we're sinful. Yes, we are sinners.
Yes, by our sin, we deserve hell. But God doesn't leave you as just a forgiven sinner. He makes you His Son. And that needs to be stamped in our hearts as well. Sons of God.
See we're being conformed to that, to that image. Jesus the Son, and we by faith in Him are sons of God. So now let us consider the manhood of the eternal Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. First, let's consider what manhood is. Now this is something hotly debated all around the world.
I'm not looking to solve all of those debates in the more simple things I'm going to set before you this morning But Jesus was a man He was a man by nature born of a woman Luke 2 7 says that Mary brought forth her firstborn, not baby, and I love the word baby and I love babies, but firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. We then learn something about his boyhood in Luke chapter 2 verse 42. When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. Now when Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus was not with them as they returned home, they went back to Jerusalem to find him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, the theologians, both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. Notice that in all the references to Jesus, it's always He, His, Him. He was a man, a man. Now, after discussing the matter with Joseph and Mary, he went down with them and came to Nazareth and listened to these words and was subject unto them. The sinless Son of God submitted himself to sinful parents.
There's a lesson and a sermon just in those words. So the eternal Son of God was made flesh, lived as an infant, grew as a boy, and matured into manhood. The four gospels detail his holy life and likely his mission as the Christ and as an adult male. Jesus was truly human, and he was referred to as the man throughout the New Testament. The examples are far too many even to begin the list here.
And He manifested all the hallmarks of a man and of what a man should do. Jesus is the do. Jesus is the Lord, amen. Jesus is the Savior, amen. Jesus was and is a man and all and all the hallmarks of a man.
He is the model, not simply the Lord, not simply the Savior, but he is the model of manhood. Not John Wayne, not football players, basketball players, sports enthusiasts, not rockin' rollers. And the list goes on. We worship men. We exalt men.
And we want to be like them. But God has ordained that His people will be like Christ. So, we want to consider then that Jesus' manhood was prophesied, prophecies that declare that the Christ would be a man, fill the Old Testament with a glorious light, dim at first, but growing brighter and increasingly clearer until his incarnation. And then the light of the world shines forth. Now here are just a very few examples.
God prophesied Satan's defeat in Genesis chapter 315. I will put enmity between thee, the serpent, and the woman and between thy seed, the serpent, and her seed, that of course would be all those that are in Christ, but culminating in Christ. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel." The pronouns it and his are clearly masculine in the Hebrew. Satan's conqueror would be a man." Isaiah 714 declares, Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, specific, a son, and shall call his name, Emmanuel." Matthew's gospel affirms this prophecy as a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, oh listen, God with us, God the holy God, the thrice holy God is with us, wretches, sinful, rebellious, us, wretches, sinful, rebellious, doing our own thing when we should be doing God's thing. Again Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. The Old Testament brims with prophecies about the manhood of the coming Messiah. Now who Jesus was and is as a man? Let's think about that for a few moments.
John's spirit-breathed words are stunning. John's spirit-breathed words are stunning. The Word, the eternal Son of God, was made flesh. Now the Greek can also be translated as the word became flesh. Do we hear this?
Do you hear this? Do you believe this with all your heart? Those sacred words mean God became man. Now those three words are an impossibility apart from the miracle of miracles. Now we have a theological term, don't go to sleep on this, we have a theological term called the creator-creature distinction.
It's important to know what a distinction is. A distinction is a clear difference between one thing and another. There is a difference between creator and creation. In fact, there are only two kinds of existence. Creator, creation.
That's it. There are just two categories of existence. Everything that is not God in creation and everything that is creation is not God. I'll say that again. Everything that is not God is creation, and everything that is creation is not God.
God is not a man. Man is not God as much as he believes that he is. God has always existed. No beginning, no ending. But All things have a beginning.
In fact, all people have a beginning and an end in this world. God is immutable. He cannot change. Therefore God, listen carefully, God never becomes, He just always is. Now, listen to John's word again.
And the Word was made flesh and the Word, the eternal Son of God, became flesh. Now how is that possible? Is this a contradiction? It is not. So the startling words of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary are profound.
Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call His name, that name above all names, Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest." that means he will be called the Son of God. And in their understanding of things, they knew that that meant he was God. And my friend, the angel went on to say, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." There it is, the announcement that God will become man.
The greatest miracle in the history of the universe is here before us in these words very often we read right over them, never stop to ponder them. The Holy Spirit worked a miracle above our comprehension in the womb of that young virgin. The eternal Son who made all things was made flesh or became flesh. Now this miracle is what theologians call the hypostatic union. Now, this means that Jesus was truly God and truly man in one holy person.
Not two persons. Fully God, completely God, truly man, completely man in one holy person. That's hard to believe. That's hard to understand. But that is the Word of God and that is our Savior.
And there is no other Savior. It is vital that we grasp this idea. This is something that, and I know some people go, oh, this is too academic, this is too scholastic. Let's just get down to simple things. God is not simple, except He is simple in His nature.
That's another great doctrine we can't touch today. But this means, my friends, that Jesus was not two persons. He was not a strange mixture of part God, part human. For if any aspect of his deity changed, he would not be God. If any aspect of his humanity changed, he would not be human.
The 1677, 1689 Second London Baptist confession puts it beautifully. The Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of His Father's glory, of one substance and equal with Him who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all things that He hath made, did when the fullness of time was come take unto Him, take unto Him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. Being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowing her. And So was made of a woman of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according to the Scriptures. So the two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person.
Without conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God, very meaning true God, and very man, yet one Christ and the only mediator between God and man. That comes from the verse that finishes by saying, the man, Christ Jesus. Brethren, if you get confused about these things, just remember, the God-man, the God-man, truly God, truly man, one holy person. This is your Savior. This is your Lord.
There is none other. This is not the imagination of theologians bubbling up with something Interesting. This is the Word of God the Word the eternal Son was made flesh and dwelt among us Read the scriptures read the New Testament read the Gospels over and over again then read the Apostles There's never any doubt of his being a man, a man both, in what he was and in what he did. Now the incarnation is the beating heart of all theology. It is not the starting point, but it is the central point.
So what Jesus did and does, this will have to be very, very short, very condensed, and therefore, maybe not too satisfying. But at least I set these things before you to consider. Number one, what did Jesus do? He loved and defended the pure worship of God. When Satan tried to win Christ's worship, Jesus replied, get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.
Those are words for us as well. Jesus communed with God, Communion with God, communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is something that is foreign to many of the professing people of God in our day. But communion with God, the triune God, Is what Jesus constantly did. He was a man of prayer Many passages speak of him as going away going into a desert place to meditate to commune with his Holy Father We should be doing the same Drawing away getting alone with God pouring out our hearts to him in prayer, praising him, magnifying him, glorifying him, weeping before him, confessing our sins to him. Jesus communed with God.
Jesus obeyed his father. Hear Paul's spirit-breathed words. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he became obedient unto death. Men, There's the example.
We can't die the death that Jesus died, but we are to walk with Christ no matter what it costs, including the shedding of our own blood. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Friends, Jesus was meek and lowly. Meek, by the way, in this usage does not mean weak. This is not a milk toast word.
Meek here is a strength of submitting oneself to God's sovereign providences. Bowing to Him in all things. That's the way Jesus was. He was meek and He was lowly and He said, come learn of Me in the King James. But the idea of of me means come learn from me.
Jesus loved his brethren. Boy, that's a sore spot today. Jesus loved his brethren, weak, feeble, limited, even sinful as they could be. Before his crucifixion, Jesus says, this is my commandment. This is not a suggestion from heaven.
This is not an option. It is a commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you. That means loving your brothers and sisters to the death if necessary. Giving your life for theirs. Giving of your time, giving of your gifts to them at your expense, willingly, joyfully, for the glory of God and the good of His church.
Love His people. Love them. They're not lovely sometimes. They're not even loving sometimes. And you?
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. Brethren, do we meditate on passages like this? I trust that you do. If you do not, I urge you to do so. Go to the hard passages and say, you know, Lord, as I read this and think about it carefully, as I pray about this, I don't know how to do this.
Show me. Show me your life in the scripture. Show me how you dealt with these things. Show me how to love those who do not love me. Well, Jesus, how Jesus gives sinful males, now this applies to women as well, but we are talking about manhood as we are talking in this conference about manhood and womanhood.
Real manhood, and this is just a summary, I trust you can remember this. I wrestle with remembering things. Real manhood is simply Christlikeness. Real manhood is simply Christlikeness. True manhood is not about how much iron you can pump, how many women you have had, how much liquor you can drink, how many cigars you have smoked, how many buck, fish, or other dead animals adorn the walls of your home, how many times you have hit the bullseye with your gun, or how big your paycheck is.
And the list goes way past that. Real manhood loves Christ because it knows Christ's love for himself. That's how Christians operate. They operate in love because they bathe, they wallow in, they praise and magnify God that he would love. Such a one as me.
Or you. What true manhood is. Again, I repeat it. Christhood, manhood is Christlikeness. And that only comes by the new birth.
You will never accomplish that in your flesh. That only comes by those who have been regenerated by the power of Almighty God. Let me run through these last thoughts quickly. I would love to develop each one of these, but I cannot in this time frame. True manhood, listen carefully, true manhood worships the one true living God.
Young women, you're looking for a husband. Find one that loves Christ above all people and all things. Look for him. Look for the man who longs to worship God and does worship God, for Christ did. True manhood communes with God.
True manhood obeys the triune God. This is what Christ did. True manhood loves a wife as Christ loves the church, sacrificially self-denying love. True manhood brings children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He loves those little souls that God has given him to care for, and he loves them and he teaches them the Word and he prays for them in their presence.
True manhood loves Christ's church. There's so many people today that call themselves Christians that say, I don't need the church. If you don't love what Christ loves, you don't love Christ. The church is hard to love, sure is, but I tell you with all of my heart the very power of God opens hearts to love. The unlovely, like me, like you.
True manhood is meek and lowly. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Submit yourself to Christ, sit at His feet, learn from Him, open up the Scriptures, saturate your mind with the Gospels, look at Christ throughout the Old and the New Testaments, sit at His feet and learn from Him and then pour it out on those around you. That's real manhood. I must close by saying this.
Let me say this to all the converted men. What I have laid out before you isn't just hard. It's impossible without the new birth. It is impossible without conversion. But consider what the triune God has done for you.
Consider, meditate, bring these things by prayer down into your soul and let them light a fire that makes you desire with all of your heart to be like Christ. Consider what God has done for you. The Lord loved you before the creation of the world. He sent His Son to become a man to save sinful men like we are. The Son kept the law in your place.
He died on the cross in your place. He rose again in your place and he intercedes for you every moment of your life The Lord the spirit Regenerated you God gave that spirit to abide in you. Oh, look up Paul's use of the word power as it regards the Christian. Oh, that we could do that, but I urge you to do so. The glorious power of God moves within the Christian, and it gives him the grace to walk according to his word.
Consider this. He made you a new man, and he gives you help every day to put off the old man. He teaches your fingers to war. He teaches you to conquer in spiritual warfare. And when you see him as he is, and we're a day closer to that, When you see Him as He is, He will finish the work of making you like Himself.
And all of this is to God's eternal glory and your eternal good. For all this, God became man. Amen. Holy Father, we have said Thy word before Thy people. Encourage them and build them up into faith.
And for those who do not know Thee, capture them today by thy mighty power, by thy mighty word, by thy mighty grace, mercy, and love. And use us, make us Christ-like. In the name of thy Holy Son, O Father, amen.