“That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”
(II Timothy 3:17)
“For those who have served well obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
(I Timothy 3:13)
“And Him, who is able to keep you from falling, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”
(Jude 1:24)
“…now reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight” (Colossians 1:22)
That’s God’s Purpose for God’s man.
Throughout the history of mankind, art, philosophy and science have had Man as an object of their interest – Man with certain criteria – the one that strives for perfection.
The image of perfection varied – some even went insane, going non stop into passions and lusts; and others went into deep asceticism – in order to achieve perfection. It differs in Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. In Confucianism, it is a “noble man”, although there is no understanding of God. Every thinker tried to understand what Man is to be like.
Indirectly or directly, philosophers – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle – looked for answers – about God, about reason, about man. But all this can be summed to one thing – the desire to understand what man should be like.
Today we are in search of understanding Adam – that Adam, who could not live forever, fell, stepped away and lost paradise. And the Last Adam came, eternal, Who embraced everything in Himself.
Today, our understanding of man is not of the world. The Lord has paved a way for us – it is a man of God. And this doesn’t mean a man who has done a lot of good things, donated his funds to all sorts of charitable organizations and goals. Because this man can be absolutely wicked inside his conscience. Because all things are within your conscience, when you have to know whether you’ve done everything possible.
The way is to be a man of God. Become a Man of God, and many things shall become clear to you.
We either make our Eden, or we make our destruction. We destroy what God has given us. We lose what God gave us – health, strength, mind – as means for better life, for higher purposes. Here is an example of Adam.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:7-9, 15).
This is life – the Lord gave life to man, breathed life into him and settled him in Eden. But how easily we can destroy our Eden today!
A child comes into this world, he is given all the potential – he begins to grow, there are various circumstances around him – both favorable and destructive – and now his Eden loses its strength, he squanders himself and turns either into a “monster”, or into a blessed one, or into a man of God.
Socialist thinking has greatly damaged the concept of human freedom – the son of Adam. We were brought up, as it were, on the ruins, on the ruins of God’s creation. Take even democracy with its extremes or monarchy – they all distort the understanding of a man of God, considering him as a particle of the state, which has certain rights and freedoms, living conditions – all this changes and “attacks” our understanding of man – the understanding of his freedom, both internal and external.
Today we need to recover, sober up, understand – who a Man of God is. And the way to understand is the way of God’s Man.
Not all of us will be able to live like Christ in our flesh, but to have Christ within our lives – inwardly you can let Christ reign in your life. Christ can be revealed through you.
A mother of many children, a lonely grandmother, even a man with some bodily defects – each can be a Man of God. But they just don’t do it. It must be work and labor in the Garden of Eden.
The Lord created man so that he would work, put effort, cultivate it. I want to encourage you to cultivate your garden! We need to tend those blessings, means, trees, spiritual plantings, in order to create a paradise in our lives, so that our life may be an Eden.
You and I either destroy or build, reject and curse or bless. Our life is in God’s hands, but these hands work through our hands.
How did Adam arrange his life in Eden? I think it was up to him. He created his own happiness. He liked flowers and he multiplied them, he liked fruits – he ate them. He kept the garden.
Man must work, he should enjoy the fruit of his labor. If a man has no labor of his own, he can’t be happy in the fullness of this word.
Man can’t be simply a consumer.
It’s like a childless mother. A woman is created to give life, a man is created to give seed, but if they don’t have children everyone understands that the main thing is missing. And so with man – he must enjoy the fruit of his labor. If he only consumes, he collapses, degrades. We need to work to enjoy the fullness of Eden’s happiness, to enjoy the fruit of the hands of our labor.
Adam tended the garden as he saw fit, but for the glory of God. The Lord liked it because he liked the attitude. Our works that flow from our hands must serve for the glory of the Lord.
Dostoevsky has a story – “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”. It describes how the main character ended up on a planet where people had heavenly relationship, loving each other dearly. We must create a house where people in honor give preference to one another. But the man poisoned the planet – with his bad thoughts, which he inspired in these wonderful people. His thinking was oriented towards selfishness, and this was alien to them. Gradually as they listened to him they spoiled. And as a result, people began to kill each other, like Cain killed Abel.
A man comes into this life and damages the circle around him. We must crucify the inner Adam on the cross. A beast rises in some of us, rage and anger rise, as they manifest it they spoil their character, but we are given the Cross of Christ – when your soul goes back to Calvary and gets sanctified. You can’t have your character and yourself neglected and live the way you want. You need to create your Garden of Eden, which was lost and now we are to restore it.
Our ministry is the ministry of restoration. The purpose of our life lies deep within.
The cosmos can’t contain those elevated goals, for which man was born. Because this is eternity. And we must restore eternity around us.
Create an Eden in your life. I’m not talking about luxury items, I’m not talking about comfort, which can be our “swamp”. I’m talking about the blessed work that Adam did.
Adam got up at dawn and tilled the ground, he worked. If you spend your day lounging around, you will degrade – you will regret it. If you did nothing, then everything you achieved will cease to have value. Man was created for work, for creating things, he was made to enjoy the fruit of his labors. But the work must be for the glory of the Lord!
God gave man freedom to manage his time. He gave an incredible gift – to interact with time. He gave us an understanding of the cycle of time – He gave the heartbeat, the breathing cycle, gave the step, gave the calendar. But there is God’s timing. It happens that an aged man is still young, he has kept himself clean, while sometimes a young man is full of grumbling, depression, evil.
God gave freedom for a measure of wealth and resources. We can have things – but there is a certain measure of your capabilities, your criteria, understanding. Here, too, wisdom is needed – to manage resources – with the wisdom that God has given. And don’t compare yourself to others.
The Lord gave man freedom for a measure of kindness in relation to his neighbor. We have this freedom. I can do as much good for a person as I want. God doesn’t intervene and doesn’t stop. I have freedom to love my neighbor where God doesn’t interfere. It doesn’t stop me from loving. This is freedom in a measure of kindness towards our neighbor.
Look, freedom! I interact with time! I am using it the way I want – either to my own detriment, or to my benefit.
He gave us freedom to take advantage of the resources – those that we have. We are free to give for His glory or to use it for ourselves. I can use those resources either to destroy or to bless. He gave us freedom to do good.
Today, many hide their own lack of spiritual life behind the system. The lack of spiritual life is hidden behind legalism, behind rules. But this is a pilgrimage of the spirit, when a man of God encounters God in eternity, he is not surprised, he goes into eternal rapture, goes into glory, becomes a part of Him.
I want to encourage you to build your own house of life, a house of your life. How do you build it? If to have a look at your house of life…
Say, you walk through a swamp, and there is a hut, a fallen fence, but a chic-looking owner is by the house, everyone sings memos to him, he is so smart, so good…
Time is a treasure that can’t be returned. If it is not properly invested, you can’t return it. Treasure this tool. This is a powerful tool that is given to us. I don’t want to say things that “don’t work”. I want to convey an important, in my opinion, message – about time. How much of it we waste on empty chatter, empty idleness! But we can invest time properly. And that is why Apostle Paul says: “… redeeming the time, for the days are evil…”. Time is given to us to sow into fruit.
As the old man in the revelation gave the staff and mantle and received a gemstone in return, I want this interchange with eternity – not only to receive from the eternity, but also to give unto there.
Work makes man better. A man that works is healthy. An idle man always having fun degrades. It is very dangerous. The Bible warns that entertainment, distraction is very dangerous. And even marriage is not for entertainment, but for edification. Labor gives pleasure in the fruits of labor.
I picture Adam, who is tired in the evening. Of course, there has to be tiredness , this is a good feeling when you are tired of work, satiated. In the evening, at sunset, you can be physically tired. But inside you feel happy, your soul smiles, because you worked inside today.
It’s very scary when you haven’t done anything, your soul suffers, and you mess around, dawdle. Young men, don’t wallow on sofas during the day and don’t “hang” on the Internet. Work hard, invest. Because otherwise you will remain empty. Now you may be together with others, but time will pass, and your lives will take different courses, the quality of your life will be very different depending on what you are doing now. And you parents, don’t let your kids be lazy. It is important for young people to think about their future, and “not to sit on their parents’ necks.” I dream that I will be “carried” in old age, because it is right – in old age you get what you deserve. If you didn’t love people, people won’t love you.
I had an old woman who always had lots of young people at her place. It doesn’t happen on even ground. One can only wish such an old age! But another grandmother remains alone, because she invested her whole life in her grandson. Therefore, hurry and don’t waste your time. Work hard! Because you work for the future.
Work for the good of your neighbor – not for yourself, but for your neighbor to benefit. Let’s think about how big of a blessing my life is for my neighbor, whether anyone from our neighbors receives a blessing. This is not any instinct – you do good to those to whom you don’t owe.
I believe that Adam worked for the glory of God. He worked for Him to please the Lord! Adam did things for the glory of the Lord.
Another blessing is health. Don’t destroy your temple. Take care of it.
Work for the good of your neighbor. Not for myself and my mouth. Don’t work just for yourself. Work in such a way that your neighbor will benefit. Let’s think about this – how much my life is a blessing for those near and far. I’m not just talking about family – this instinct is also characteristic of insects. I’m talking about those to whom you don’t owe, but you give.
Work for the glory of God. Adam worked for the glory of the Lord and invited Him into all his affairs to please God.
Present your temple to the Master of life – undamaged.
As Francis said, “Don’t hurt the donkey, the bodies are given to us to carry our soul”. Keep your bodies! I am not saying that they should become our idles, don’t worship your bodies, but still keep them healthy – why should you die at the wrong time, why eat bad food.
He can present us before His glory faultless in joy and keep us from falling! He will present us innocent before Himself!
Man is created for development. He was not created to “outlive” his energy, his resource. Young man is drawn to the street, he can’t sleep or eat – he runs to live his life. But this is not enough. It’s not that kind of energy. It will cease with the time. One has to develop. It is necessary to move in conscious development.
And many believers are degrading – they have no inner development, no encounters with the beings. We must be sure that our life blossoms like a garden. But many do not take care of themselves, of their thinking. They let a swarm of thoughts into themselves and are not on watch. Whatever thought comes, he is carried away after it instead of shutting those doors, forbidding thoughts, making an effort to think right. There is nothing to talk about with such people. Some of the news – but it doesn’t require effort – artificial intelligence itself will offer you everything, taking into account your preferences. And you say you’re developed?! This is exactly the problem that you don’t understand and listen to what you shouldn’t. And why do you need it if it doesn’t serve your neighbor? It only feeds your greed. And instead you degrade, it steals your time. This is degradation, this is loss. You allow yourself to be robbed… Therefore, have an inner decision to forbid yourself to stay in networks. Be free in the new Adam!
But some don’t even make a decision after this Word. You have a job… Stop it! Even on a day off, you can afford to get rid of the Internet. But you can’t…
Instead of worship, you are into the Internet. And there is no more strength to worship… There is no depth of pleasure in prayer, because the internet has gobbled up the juice from your tree, drank it. And you are empty .. And no one needs your knowledge.
The young man set off on his journey, and along the way he enters every tavern that he is offered to enter. This is the internet. He gets in, clicks all over. Whatever is offered is attractive to him. The brakes “are off”, and that’s it – the man is lost. It seems that he was supposed to go to the golden mountain – but he forgot, he remained in the city of vanity.
Get cleansed! Stay awake! I hate vanity. This is my enemy. This is a crocodile. For the anointed of God, for the man of God, this is unacceptable. The man of God is on watch, focused, temperate, purified, he can bring thought and action to the end, he is concentrated.
Develop in the right direction. The time of youth transits into maturity. Man becomes wise. He no longer fusses so much, he speaks no more so many words, but he speaks and acts more accurately, because experience becomes his guide. Old age is beauty. It is written about Abraham and Jacob that they were full of life. We need to be saturated not with the fruits of the flesh, but with life! Real and authentic life!
It doesn’t matter what position you are in – woman, grandmother, man, single or not – become a Man or Woman of God! Not a Man with a capital M, but a Man of God, become a Friend of Christ.
Also, we have been given a means – to make beautiful and have harmony with the outside world. We are not destroying the world. God’s Man can’t destroy the world around him. Christ did not do that. He created the world. He made the world beautiful with Himself. Creation of the beauty of life. God’s Man loves God’s creation. He beautifies the world. We can create beauty.
Our language should decorate life – it is an indicator of our spirituality, our inner beauty. An impure language is an impure brain. An impure language is an impure thought, an impure spirit. This produces an unclean speech.
You may say this is unpopular, you won’t be trending. Come on – the world is legitimizing untruth today.
God’s Man is given to worship. He has been redeemed. He redeems himself and his neighbor. Worship is a position, lifestyle, the way he spends his time. Contemplation, prayer – he spends time contemplating, enjoying meditation, praying, worshiping God.
He is given the subject of redemption as the Gospel. He carries the message, he is not silent.
And one more thing is creativity. It leads us to progress. It is the upbuilding energy of life. It builds, it creates. Create!
I noticed that many even elderly people continue to create: they sing, draw, recite poems.
Creativity works in different areas – in everything and anything. Switch on the spirit of creativity then you do everything perfectly! Creative energy of life, do everything creatively.
Make all your work that you do beautiful – for yourself, even if no one understands. No need to be conformed to an ugly thing, but for the sake of the Lord, Who understands all this, adorn everything that you do, transfer it into beauty. Take everything, make it beautiful and don’t let this world “saturate” you with smoke and smog of selfishness, where everyone is a predator to each other.
The church is losing love, becoming rude, impudent, disgusting, ugly. But is it possible to damage the Bride?! You can only kill her, but she will rise again! The Bride of Christ will remain pure in all circumstances. Even under the antichrist’s kingdom, she will be the Bride. Therefore, keep yourself – your purity. Don’t say you’re “modern” if you’re not God’s. Don’t say you’re “out of trend” if you’re of the Gospel.
This path – from Adam into a Man of God – lies through the Cross – through the fact that you can say “no” to yourself, crucify yourself, and begin to build from your life a house of your life – the Garden of Eden, where everything is wonderful and beautiful! Don’t be depressed, don’t blame anyone, don’t look for faults in others – take care of yourself, take care of your garden and adorn it – so that people may admire God in you.
This life can be called happy, even if it was accompanied by shortcomings and hardships. When this person is once put into the ground, he will continue to shine in the hearts of people, he will continue to live in people, he will remain in the hearts and memory of people. Because this is how eternal life continues – we are in each other. But if you are for yourself alone – you “bury yourself alive”, because you leave like a lonely fragment, like an iceberg beyond the horizon and disappear from memory forever.
This good Word is from Adam into a Man of God.