Why Men Matter | Sermon by Tony Evans
When Adam and Eve were hiding from God in the garden, He didn’t call out for both of them to show themselves, instead He simply said, “Adam, where are you?” Because God created man first, it was man who He held responsible for the provision and protection of the garden. Join Tony Evans in this look at God’s definition of masculinity and the crucial role of responsibility that follows.
dad i cannot believe where we’re
standing right now it’s not just in
israel but behind us is the sea of
galilee what it reminds me of is the
beauty and the grandeur of the fact that
the word became flesh when jesus invites
you on a journey you have no idea that
where he’s taking you to is something
that is beyond what you’re comprehending
at the time that you start out
he needed his friends often we discount
the strength of community in our journey
to jesus this is a church of the holy
sepulchre where we believe that
his greatest power was demonstrating the
power over sin and death i’ve never been
so excited to see nothing in all of my
life
i love that at the end that’s right the
power of emptiness right there
when the power of jesus helps you to
overcome what looks like is overcoming
you
do you know your answer could be sitting
right next to you but you’ll never know
it
until god is ready to reveal it
god says if you come back home you’ll
see
i haven’t gone anywhere
so you draw near to him
and he will draw near to you because
he’s the one who’s never left if you
walk in the spirit or walk by means of
the spirit he will open up the hole for
you to get through
the snake is going to try to stir stuff
up the snake is going to try to get you
away from god there is a serpent in the
garden and your job keep him out
sometimes he brings a little something
that’s a little cute to let you know
keep on going keep on trusting because i
hear you
[Music]
one of the dominant questions of today
can be recited simply by asking
adam
where you at
the missing man has become the crisis of
the day
not the missing male
the missing man
it is the question of the single woman
who can’t find a worthwhile man to marry
she want to know adam where you at
it’s the question of the single parent
who’s been abandoned
by the father of her
children
and she wants to know adam where you at
it’s that child
who has to grow up with a physically or
emotionally absent
father
and he’s asking the question
however he phrases it
adam where you at
it’s the question of churches and
pastors
who have to keep calling on ladies to do
jew jobs that men ought to do because
the men are missing in action
and the question is adam where are you
at
we’re living in a day when men have
become domesticated
or abusive
or sissified
and the question on the floor is adam
where you at
we’re living in a day of terrorism
where violence
due to the absence of the conscience
and the dumbing down
of decency
has raised again the question
adam where you at
but worst of all
worse than all of that
is that god is asking the question
adam where are you
now if god can’t find adam
then you shouldn’t be shocked we can’t
find him either
adam
where are you
and so the desperate need of today
is to call males back to being men
as god defines a man
not as the culture defines it
and so i want to
speak with you
about answering the question about the
position of a man
adam where are you
here is the first thing that you need to
understand about a man
in and his position
not his location alone but his position
and that is
that it is a position of
priority
i know some won’t like that but this is
not a popularity meeting it is a
position of priority because god says in
first timothy chapter 2 verse 12
god created adam first
and then he created eve
word first
first has to do with
order
first has to do with
progress in time
adam and eve were not created at the
same time
adam first
then eve
god spends a whole chapter
genesis 2
discussing adam before eve is ever
created
for adam
why
because
it would be the man who would be
responsible
the man was created first because god
would hold him responsible even though
it was adam and eve in the garden
hiding from god god didn’t say adam and
eve where are y’all
he said adam where are you
because you are responsible
if you’re going to be god’s man
then you’re going to have to accept
responsibility
for everything he brings behind you
second third fourth fifth and sixth
because you first
so if you are a man if you are a male
god says i’m holding you responsible
even if it’s not your fault
see it may not even be your fault
but i’m holding you responsible for
fixing it
god says in malachi chapter 4
verses 4 through 6
he says there will be a messenger who
will come who restore the fathers to the
children and the children to the fathers
so that i will not have to curse the
land
so if our culture is declining
while we can discuss all the peripheral
political sociological racial we can
discuss all of those reasons why the
culture is declining but what god says
is first
on the front end
where’s the man
as you’ve heard me say if you’re a
messed up man and you have a family
you’re going to help make a messed up
family
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family and your messed up
family goes to church
then your messed up family is going to
make its contribution to a messed up
church
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
messed up church and your church is
supposed to be the light to the
neighborhood then your messed up church
is going to make its contribution to a
messed up neighborhood
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
messed up church causing a messed up
neighborhood and your neighborhood’s
part of a city
where your messed up neighborhood is
going to make its contribution to a
messed up city
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
messed up church causing a messed up
neighborhood that resides in the messed
up city and your city is part of the
county
well now your mess-up city is going to
make its contribution to a messed up
county
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
mess of church causing a messed up
neighborhood that resides in a mess-up
city that’s part of a messed up county
and your county is part of the state
well now your messed up county is going
to make its contribution to a messed up
state
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
messed up church causing a messed up
neighborhood that resides in a messed up
city as part of a messed up county
contributing to a messed up state and
your state’s part of the country when
your messed up state’s going to make its
contribution to a messed up nation
if you’re a messed up man contributing
to a messed up family resulting in a
messed up church causing a messed up
neighborhood that resides in a messed up
city it’s part of a messed up county
that’s contributing to a messed up state
that contributes to a messed up country
and your country’s part of the world
well now your messed up country is going
to make its contribution to a messed up
world so
if you want a better world compose the
better countries and have it by better
states because they’ve better made up of
better counties composed of better
cities inhabited by better neighborhoods
illuminated by better churches that are
made up of better families we got to
start by becoming better men because it
all rests
on the position of the man
because the man was first
he is to function as the foundation
[Music]
so in this day of male abandonment male
abuse
male disregard
male irresponsibility
we have cultural chaos
he says
that man has a priority responsibility
now the foundation isn’t the whole thing
that’s where the woman comes in and
we’re going to get to that but the
foundation is always the first thing
if you’re building a building
it says in that verse verse 8
he was hiding from the presence of god
watch this
in the garden
he was hiding from god
in his house
see don’t miss that
not only was he hiding from god in his
house because the garden was adam’s
house
this place he lived
adam went to
the house
to get the leaves to hide from god so he
used what god gave him to hide from god
he literally used god’s blessing to run
from god
today we have men
who want all the blessings of god and
they use the blessings to hide from god
he says
he was hiding from the presence of god
in the garden
see you can hide from god in church
adam where are you how does this
this kind of man
roll
in chapter 2
verse 15 it says then the lord god took
the man because there’s no woman yet the
lord god took the man and put him in the
garden
that’s his house the garden of eden to
cultivate it and to keep it
he gives the man a job
he gives the man a house
place is in the garden that’s his house
and he gives him a job
i want you to notice something man
he gave him a house he gave him a place
to live
he gave him a job but but notice
he told him
to cultivate it
ah
oh that’s a different word cultivated
see
he didn’t just give him a job
he told him to be productive
see to cultivate something is to produce
something more than what you start with
so if you’re in farming you take seed
you farm the seeds because you now want
growth and plants and in other words you
want to be productive in other words you
want more than what you start with
you’re trying to become all that you
were created to be
god expects a man
to maximize his potential underneath god
in whatever sphere
of opportunity god gives him and
whatever gifting he’s placed on him
he says not only do i want you to do
that but i want you to keep the garden
cultivate it and keep it
the hebrew word for keep means to god or
protect
i want you to protect your house
i want you to protect your garden
what is he protecting the house from i
mean this is a perfect world he’s living
in
no it’s not
slick is in the garden
satan is in the garden chapter three
the serpent comes up to eve
so
they’re going to be problems in the
garden
because the snake is there
and the snake is going to cause stuff
the snake is going to try to stir stuff
up the snake is gonna try to get you
away from god there is a serpent in the
garden and your job is to keep him out
because you are responsible
for the garden to keep the devil out
because he trying to get in
provision and protection
that is the environment
that adam was responsible for
and then he gives them another
instruction
verse 16
genesis 2
the lord god commanded the man saying
from any tree of the garden you may eat
freely
but from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat for in
the day that you eat from it you will
shall not die
he gives him his word
his commandment not his request
his commandment why
because a male who plans to be a man
must position himself under divine
authority which means god’s word has the
final say-so in his life
not his posse not his friends not his
homeboys
nobody overrules god
not even his wife
because god is gonna say in chapter
three because you listen to your wife
all hell is broken loose in your life
because as much as you love her she’s
not supposed to overrule me
that his job is to oversee
the
communication
and the operation of god’s word
in his sphere of influence
starting with his family
or as joshua said as for me in my house
joshua 24 15 this is how we roll this is
how we roll
as for me and my house this is how we
there’s no vote here
god commanded me
i’m under commandment
but notice the command the command
the command was a happy command
see we we look at the negative part
don’t eat from that tree no that’s not
the first part of the command
the first part of the command was live
it up
first command was from every tree of the
garden you may freely eat
the first part of the command he’s a
single man he tells them the first part
of the command is maximize all that i
have given you maximize my creation
maximize all that you can do just don’t
mess with that tree
he says the day you eat of it
you’re going to break relationship with
me that’s death
he says
that you are to carry my word
what was the difference between what was
the problem with this tree in the middle
called the tree it was a google tree
because it calls it a tree of knowledge
it was it was google it was the internet
tree
this tree was full of data
all kinds of data
good data bad data tree of the knowledge
of good and evil so the tree wasn’t all
bad it had evil but it also had good
but he said i don’t want to eat it
even though it’s got good stuff on it
why
because
adam
if you’re going to be the man that i
want you to be created you to be and
you’re going to be
operating like you’re supposed to be
then i want you to live by revelation
not reason
i do not want your human reason
to determine your actions i want divine
revelation what i say and when i’m ready
for you to know it i’ma tell it to you
don’t go out there apart from me and
learn it on your own
one of the problems today with so many
men
is that they’ve gone so secular
or they’ve been to some college
or they’ve gotten stuck in some career
or they’ve been hanging out with the
wrong folk
and they’ve gotten all of this
definition of manhood
messing them up so that they’re not able
to function
in the way god wants them to function
and we wind up as men being dead men
walking
he says no he’s talking to adam
guess what adam’s job was to be he was
to make sure this information got
transferred to eve
he got he wanted to make sure this
information got transferred to eve and
he transferred it to eve in fact he
transferred it with a vengeance
what do i mean he transferred it with a
vengeance because when the devil asks
eve can you eat from the tree
she said not only can i not eat from it
i can’t touch it
so what adam told her was girlfriend
don’t eat from that tree and in case you
didn’t get it
don’t even go near where you can brush
up against it
he was to transfer
so if the wife has got to ask you are
you going to church today
if the wife has got to ask you are you
going to pray with the family
if the wife has got to ask you are you
going to have devotions
that means you’re not fulfilling the
spiritual
responsibility of spiritually leading
your home
you say but i don’t know what to do
i didn’t already done the work so all
you got to do is take what i did and say
family let’s discuss the sermon that we
had on sunday
and this places things in order
it gets things in the proper place god
says not your reason but my word must
define you
before i give you a woman because when i
give you a woman and then when i give
you a family and then when i give you a
culture then when i give you a career
then when i give you all this stuff it
will be managed by me through you
it will not be managed by you apart from
me
a man is to be the vehicle the flow
through
from god
to those entities family church society
that he flows through
as the first point of contact yes women
you have your own personal
responsibility and relationship with the
lord that is to be primary the bible
says even a husband can’t overrule god
in the life of his wife
but at the same time god has a process
that he prefers to flow through
so god is calling on men and he’s asking
the question
adam
where are you
not just a location question but a
position question
as you all have heard me say at least a
minute from me say
i love being a man
and let me tell you one reason
why verse 19 of chapter two
out of the ground the lord god formed
every beast of the field and every bird
of the sky and brought them to the man
to see what he would call them and
whatever the man called a living
creature
there it is
that was his name
you know why i love being the man i get
the name stuff
get the name stuff you know what the
name stuff means in the bible when you
got the name stuff you got to own it
when you got the name stuff you could
exercise authority over it
now you can’t just go name anything you
got to name what god brings you but once
god brings it to you you get to own that
thing so i be naming everything i can
get my hands on
and giving it back to god god gives you
the ability and the authority you get to
do that
if you’re underneath his covenant and
his covering
so the question on the floor is adam
where are you now
i know
that many men
as i said earlier have grown up without
a biblical worldview
and i know that we as men
even if you had it stray from it
and god is asking us today where are you
where are you as i define you
but that’s where the good news comes in
because in the bible there are two men
named adam not one
you got the first adam
in genesis 2
and 3
and the bible says in romans 5 he blew
it for the whole race
in chap verse 18 and following of romans
5 the first adam blew it for the whole
race but in first corinthians chapter 15
verses 22 45 and 47 it says there’s
another atom
adam number two he’s called the last
adam
while adam number one got us
booted out of the garden the bible says
the last adam is a life-giving spirit
and he can escort you back into the
garden the first adam may have messed
you up but the last adam can pick you up
and you don’t have to be like your daddy
you don’t have to be like your
granddaddy you don’t have to be like the
people who influenced your life who are
wrong the last adam can rename you
there were two two guys in a mountain
climbing incident
and there was a man in the front and a
man in the back and there were two men
in the middle who were climbing the
mountain but in order to get him up
there safely there was a guy at the
front named adam and a guy at the back
named adam so they are climbing up this
mountain but the problem is as the first
adam the atom up front he slipped
and all the all the folks were tied
together by a rope the first adam
slipped and when the first adam slipped
he pulled the two men with him and they
were going to fall off of the precipice
but the last adam took his axe and
plowed it into the mountain so that all
the men that were behind him could climb
back up the first adam slipped and he’s
dragging all the men down but the last
adam on the cross has nailed that thing
and he says if you climb up on me i will
take you back to what you think you lost
so the question is adam where are you
man it’s time to come home because he
says authentic people
see god
but because they are for real god can be
for real with them what he’s offering
you
is a new life
regardless of your past regardless of
all the things you’ve done
he says follow me your mama didn’t treat
you right your daddy didn’t treat you
right he’s gonna use all that ugly stuff
to take your life make your life so you
can save somebody else’s life
you
amen