GOD'S PLAN

FOR MEN
AND GOD'S
CHALLENGES TO MEN
District Convention Workshop
June 17, 2010
Rev. Don E. Peavy, Sr.
 Devotion
• Scripture
“You are the light of the world. A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they
light a candle and put it under a basket, but
on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who
are in the house. Let your light so shine
before men, that they might see your good
works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matt. 5: 14-16 (NKJV)
 Devotion Contd.
• Prayer.
• Kirk Franklin and Family: “Lean on Me”
 Objectives
• Explore God's Plan for Men
• Understand and accept God's Challenges to Men
• Commit ourselves individually and collectively to
submit to God's plan for our lives and our world.
What is God's Plan for
Men?
• Before we can
answer that
question, we must
first come to an
understanding of
who God is.
What Is Your View/Concept
of God?

PLEASE DESCRIBE
YOUR IMAGE, IDEA,
CONCEPT OF GOD --
THAT IS, WHO DO
YOU SAY GOD IS? IS
YOUR GOD LIKE
SANTA CLAUS?
 Who is God?
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I
come to the children of Israel and say to
them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me
to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His
name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I
AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to
the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to
you.’”
Matthew Henry's Commentary
• Jehovah
• Self-existent
• Eternal, unchanging, the same yesterday,
today, and forever – the eternal now
• Incomprehensible
• Faithful; true to His promises
• http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/co
mmentaries/Matthew-Henry/Exod/Name-
Jehovah
 God is Love
Whoever does not love does not know God,
because God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

He said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no

God like you in heaven or on earth – you
who keep your covenant of love with your
servants who continue wholeheartedly in
your way.”
2 Chronicles 6:14 (NIV)
 God is Merciful
As for God’s mercy, there can be no doubt
about the mercy of God. As 1 John 3:1
states, “Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed on us, that we should
be called children of God!” And as Paul
declares, “But God demonstrates His own
love towards us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
 God is Forgiving
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a
man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest," declares the
LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."
Jeremiah 31:34 (NIV)
 God is Forgiving
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

I write to you, dear children, because your sins

have been forgiven on account of his name.
1 John 2:12
 God is Spirit
23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for they are the
kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God
is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in
spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24 (NIV)
 POP QUIZ!!!
Name the eight attributes of God which help
us to understand who God is.
You do not need to write them in the same
order we discussed them.
 SUMMARY
God is:
• Self-existent
• Eternal
• Incomprehensible
• Faithful
• Love
• Merciful
 God is – Contd.
• Forgiving
• Spirit
GOD'S PLAN FOR MEN
 Imagio Dei
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over
the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over
all the earth and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created
man in His own image; in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created
them. (NKJV)
 TWO QUESTIONS?

1. Why did God create the universe and

humans?
2. What does it mean to be created in the
image and likeness of God?
3. Question two will have to wait for another
time and place because we cannot answer it
without considering several theological
constructs.
GROUP ACTIVITY
Courtesy:
Mission Polyvalente
Why did God
create?
 Why Did God Create?
1. Because “God is love” love exists in
relation to an object of affection – that is,
love is not just a quality, it is a state of
being. Love demands something or
someone to love – like a magnet.
2. Because God is creator, God creates as an
artist is an artist only in relation to the art
created.
 God's Plan for Man
Notice the three blessings:
1. Be fruitful
2. Multiply
3. Have dominion over the earth
 Be Fruitful
To be fruitful means to be mature – to grow in
stature, spirit, and moral development.
The beginning of this maturity is the
foundation of marriage. Psalm 1:3
“You, therefore must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.” Matt. 5:48
And Jess increased in wisdom and stature, and
in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52
Be Fruitful = Maturity
“A mature personality comes from the unity
of mind and body centering on God.”
“A mature person manifests God's love.”
A mature person is perfect in heart and love
and his/her heart, soul, and mind are
focused on God.
Such a man manifests the image of God.
 Multiply = Marriage
Therefore, a man leaves his father and his
mother and cleaves to his wife, and they
become one flesh. Gen. 2:24
Duties for wives and husbands set forth in
Eph. 5:22-25
To multiply means to have children who are
also centered on God and who manifest the
image of God.
 Have Dominion
To rule over
But caution is needed here.
According to biblical experts, the Hebrew
word used actually means to care for as a
steward or trustee rather than as a ruler as
we understand that term today.
“The earth is the Lord's and the fullnes
thereof.” Ps. 24:1
The Three Blessings Were
God's Original & Perfect Plan
However the Fall caused a serious and deep
rupture in the relationship between God and
humans, between humans and each other,
and between humans and the earth.
Genesis 3: 14-19
Notice that the relationships are re-ordered and
humans lose the blessing of having
dominion over the earth.
 Reference
Some of the information on the Three
Blessings, Maturity, and Multiply is
excerpted from the presentation by Bishop
Jesse Edwards entitled, “Biblical Principles
Revealed: The Hidden Truths and New
Wine within the SCRIPTURES.”
 Genesis 9: 1-3
1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to
them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall
be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the
air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the
fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for
you. I have given you all things, even as the green
herbs.
 Altered States
Notice that this time the blessings are not
given to the women but only Noah and his
sons.
Notice also that the blessing to have dominion
over the earth is not given.
Man may rule over his own household and
wife but not the earth.
 Natural Disasters Argue
Against Man in Control
 Summary
God's original plan for man was to be fruitful
and to multiply and to have dominion over
the earth.
As a result of the fall, man lost dominion over
the earth.
God also had a plan for man to raise up a
Godly family centered on God which would
multiply a Godly offspring. Lost!
 God's Challenges to Man
God has not given up on humans nor on man
specificially.
God has set in motion a plan to redeem
humanity and the earth as we see in
Revelation.
Meanwhile, God challenges man to do certain
things and to become certain things.
 First Set of Challenges
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your
God ask of you but to fear the LORD your
God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to
serve the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul …
Deuteronomy 10: 12 (NIV)
Second Set of Challenges
So rend your heart, and not your
garments;
Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Joel 2:13 (NKJV)
 Third Set of Challenges
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of
you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6: 8 (NKJV)
 Fourth Set of Challenges

“This is the first and greatest

commandment. And the second is
like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two
commandments."
Matt. 22: 38-40 (NKJV)
 Fifth Set of Challenges
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one
can enter the kingdom of God unless he is
born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives
birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to
spirit.” John 4: 5-6 (NIV)
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers
must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4: 23-24
 Sixth Set of Challenges
“For the pagans run after all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them. But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as
well. Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day has enough
 Seventh Set of Challenges

For God so loved the world that he

gave his one and only son, that
whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NIV)
 Summary
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into
judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil. Ecc. 12: 13-14
Reclaiming the Image &
Likeness of God
Eternal – 6th & 7th Sets of Challenges
Faithful – 1st Set
Love – 1st & 4th Sets
Merciful – 3d Set
Forgiving – 3d Set
Spirit – 5th Set
 Children of God
“I said, 'You are "gods";
you are all sons of the Most High.'
But you will die like mere men;
you will fall like every other ruler."
Psalms 82: 5-7 (NIV)
And What Happens If We
Meet These Challenges?
The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)
 Wrap-Up
We have explored God's perfect plan for man
and God's revised plan.
We have also looked at who God is and why
God created the universe and humanity.
We have noted the challenges God has given
to men.
Tomorrow, we will consider men's role in the
church and what it means to stand for God.