ARE YOU A KINGDOM MAN?

ARE YOU A KINGDOM MAN?

By admin | February 2, 2021

ARE YOU A KINGDOM MAN?

PASTOR KOLE AIYEJUSUNLE

INTRODUCTION

The topic of this opening message is succinct but promises to be very profound in its dimensions of impart; it is ARE YOU A KINGDOM MAN?

My lead texts are taken from Isaiah 9:6a and 1Corinthians 13:11.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… (Isaiah 9:6a)

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man,

I put away childish things. 1Corinthians 13:11

I very much believe that this conference will be a colossal success if some things drop off of us, like excess and unnecessary luggage we have carried for so long, and then we take on the luggage we need as Kingdom pilgrims. Amen.

WHAT MANHOOD IS

To become a man, people say, is not a joke. People also say to become a man is not a day’s job, indicating the process of development it entails, the sacrifices and the costs involved. Really, the transition to manhood is a most critical and significant milestone in human life. This goes beyond the possession of the male genitalia, or being able to impregnate a woman, or raise up a family; it goes beyond exhibiting a macho characteristics, bullying everyone around or harassing and intimidating the female folks and children, and lording it over everyone around. It is unfortunate; this is the level and position of some men today.

To become a man primarily requires a journey in self-discovery. It is an incontrovertible fact that men have discovered so many things in world and these have added values to living. Consider electricity, automobiles, airplanes, computers, electronics, internet, and other hi-tech equipment.All breathtaking breakthroughs, yet men have not been able to discover themselves. There are men who are so ingenious at seeing the need for a change in others but are oblivious of any change in their personal lives. In his book Developing The Leader Within You, John Maxwell narrated a Middle Eastern mystic which said:

I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: “Lord, give me the

energy to change the world.” As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half

gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to:” Lord, give me the grace to

change all those who come into contact with me, just my family and friends, and

I shall be satisfied. Now that I am old and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how

foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: “Lord, give me the grace to change myself.”

If I had prayed for this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life.

Becoming a man of the Kingdom indeed demands a bold and decisive act, not vacillating or spineless. God seeks men with these qualities for His Kingdom. These are men who are ready to spend and be spent for His Kingdom. Men who are ready to stand on God’s word come what may. Men who count their lives less than dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus far above all intellectual prowess and mundane pursuits. Can we have such men today?

SPIRITUAL STOCKTAKING

May I request at this time that you do a quick appraisal of your life by writing down on a paper your responses to these questions: How have you changed…lately? Have you been able to identify some childish elements in your life that you have dropped or you need to drop? Can you be very specific? If you claim you are changing or growing, okay…how? You see, the more you change, the more you become an instrument of change, like John the Baptist, in the lives of others. Howard Hendricks said, if you want to be a change agent, you also must change.

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR CREATING MAN

Remember the topic of this message is in a question form. It is asking whether you are a kingdom man. How can we effectively respond to this rhetorical question? The issue is that it is not the product that determines its quality or value but the producer and when a product is used according to the specification of the producer or by following the producer’s manual, it will deliver maximally.

Man is a product of God’s cognition and creation. Thus God is the producer and man is the product. So no man cannot truly discover his identity and hence his destiny without the help of God, and this is based on a solid, sound and robust relationship with God. In Genesis 1:26 we read:

And God said: let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them

have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle

and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The major theme of man’s creation is dominion. Consider the phrase ‘and over’ in the aforementioned text which is repeated five times and signifying dominion. So God created man to be a ruler or king, and as no king exists without a domain of influence, man’s domain of influence is rooted in his God-given task or responsibility. The words kingship and domain both combine to form the word kingdom; therefore God’s expectation is for man to be a kingdom man, i.e. man working with God to establish his kingdom on the earth. Tony Evans(Evans ,2018) said, ‘The kingdom of God Is that place where God’s authority is acknowledged and obeyed, where God and Christ rule and have the final say in man’s heart”

THE GLORY OF THE FIRST MAN

Indeed, the first man, Adam, exhibited the glory of the kingdom. Adam was indeed a king on the earth! His word and pronouncement were impeccable and carried authority. Adam gave names to all the animals and the fishes and God never corrected him (Genesis 2:19).He had intellectual soundness and operated in the class of God (Ps 82:6). Adam was in the deep to name the fishes without any diver’s equipment on him, yet he did not drown! He was truly a man of dominion and power, demonstrating what the kingdom of God should be on earth.

THE TRAGIC FALL OF THE FIRST MAN

Unfortunately, Adam failed to realise that it was his obedience to the word of God that brought him dominion. Selfishness, greed, avarice and lust for fame and pride entered into him through the subtlety of the Serpent and he fell into sin, losing his dominion and power, with the consequence ravaging the entire human race (Rom 5:12).God however brought restoration to all mankind through the provision of grace (John 3:16, Rom 5:19). So everyone that believes in Jesus now has dominion over the devil, sin, the world, the flesh, and can manifest the kingdom power on the earth (John 3:8)

GOD IN SEARCH OF MEN: Since the provision of grace has been put in place by God, He has since been seeking for men that he might bless them and make them citizens of His kingdom (Eph 2:19-22).This is accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to observe that the first group of people Jesus called and commissioned to this task were all men (Mark 3:14-19). Man is particularly useful to God and he was the first human gender to be created. He is strong and resilient and apt to spiritually, physically and emotionally confront the challenges of life and use his potential to protect his female counterpart. Earlier in the Old Testament God frequently sought for opportunity to meet with men and to fellowship with them, and such opportunities were always rewarding(Exodus 34:23-24)