There is a relentless attack on the value of manhood. This is not chauvinistic or demeaning to women. This blog could also be titled "the value of one woman" for the most part. It is not God or the Bible that promotes an alleged war between the genders (and there are only two genders). It is the devil who seeks to divide us and turn us against each other. God created men and women with similarities and differences. The similarities are meant to bring us together, and the differences are meant to compliment each other. Men and women have equal value to God, but are given different roles. Each gender is specifically equipped to fulfill its role. However, God has always started major things with one man:
A. Adam – Gen 1:26-27, Gen 2:7-8 & 15-16 (God created many animals at first, but only one man)
B. Noah – Gen 6-9
C. Abraham – Gen 12:1-3 & 7, Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:1-21, Gen 17:1-22, Gen 18:1-33, Gen
21:12-13, Gen 22:1-18
D. Moses – Ex 2-3 (to Deut)
E. Joshua – Ex 17:9-14, Ex 24:13, Ex 32:17, Ex 33:11, Num 13:8-16, Num 14:6-9 & 30 & 38,
Num 26:65, Num 27:18-22, Num 32:38, Num 34:17, Deut 3:21 & 28, Deut 31:3 & 7 & 14 &
23, Deut 34:9, Josh 1:1-9
F. Judges
1. Gideon – Jud 6-8
2. Samson- Jud 13-16
3. Samuel – 1Sam 1-16
G. Jonathan – 1Sam 14
H. Kings
1. David – 1Sam 16 - 1Ki 2
2. Solomon – 1Ki 2-11
3. Jehoshaphat – 1Ki 22
4. Hezekiah – 2Ki 18-19
5. Josiah – 1Ki 13:2, 2Ki 22-23
I. Prophets
1. Elijah – 1Ki 17-21, 2Ki 1-2
2. Elisha – 1Ki 19, 2Ki 2-8
J. John – Is 35:4-6, Is 40:3-4, Mal 4:5-6, Mt 3, Mt 11, Mt 14, Lk 1, Jn 1:6-8 & 15-37, Jn 3:24-
27
K. Jesus – the new testament, the church, eternal life
1. He ministered to one
a. Demoniac – Mk 5
b. Nicodemus – Jn 3
c. Samaritan – Jn 4
d. Man born blind – Jn 9
e. Lazarus – Jn 11
L. Peter – Mt 10:2, Mt 16:13-18, Acts 1-12, 1 & 2 Pet
M. Paul – Acts 9-28, 14 epistles
N. One sinner that repents – Lk 15:7
There is irreplaceable power in manhood and fatherhood. Children raised without their fathers are at a serious disadvantage:
1. 63% of youth suicides (5 times more likely)
2. 90% of homeless and runaways (32 times more like to run away)
3. 85% of child behavior disorders (20 times more likely)
4. 80% of rapists (14 times more likely)
5. 71% of dropouts (9 times more likely)
6. 75% of teens in chemical abuse centers (10 times more likely)
7. 70% of juveniles in detention centers (9 times more likely)
8. 20 times more likely to end up in prison
9. 53% of children born out of wedlock
10. 92% of children not in poverty have both parents
11. 40 % chance of being in poverty with one parent
12. 83% of single parents are poor women
13. 15% lower depression in teens with both parents
14. 15% lower drug use when family eats dinner together
You can reverse all of those statistics to show how much better off children are with their father.
An earthly illustration of the value of one person is examples in history when one vote changed an election:
A. In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England
B. In 1649, one vote caused Charles I of England to be executed
C. In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German
D. In 1839, one vote elected Marcus Morton the governor of Massachusetts
E. In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union
F. In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from conviction on impeachment
G. In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic
H. In 1876, one vote elected Rutherford B. Hayes president
I. In 1920, one vote gave Tennessee ratification of the 19th amendment
J. In 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler leadership of the Nazi party
K. In 1941, one vote saved selective service weeks before Pearl Harbor was attacked
L. In 1976, one vote derailed HR-11193 and saved America from a handgun ban
The Lord told His disciples that He was going to suffer and die (Mt 16:21-25). Peter did not receive this, so the Lord explained the part suffering plays in fulfilling the will of God. Then the Lord asked an essential two part question to His disciples. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" The first question asks how much more a soul is worth than all the world. We cannot put an exact figure to the question of how much the world is worth, but here is some information to give an idea:
A. total gold – about 10 billion ounces, 165,000 metric tons, cube 82 feet, can fit in
olympic pool (164 ft. x 82 ft. x 6.5 ft.)
B. Great Star of Africa (Cullinan 1) diamond - $400 million
C. Hope diamond – $250 million
D. pink diamonds rarest and most valuable
1. Nov 13, 2013 – new world record at auction: $83 million
2. Sotheby’s in Geneva
3. “Pink Star” – 59.6 carats, over double next largest
E. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport - $2.4 million, Volkswagen loses $6.24 million on each
F. real estate
1. NYC – 5th Ave. btw. Central Pk. And 42nd St. - $1,850 p.s.f. in 2008
a. Tiffany Bldg. – most valuable
b. GM Bldg. - $4 billion in 2008
2. Sears Tower - $840 million in 2003
3. Biltmore - $1.3 billion
4. Antilla – mansion in Mumbai - $1 billion
5. Stonehenge - $10 billion
6. Prado Musem - $58 billion
7. Tower of London - $70 billion
8. Duomo - $81 billion
9. Coliseum - $90 billion
10. White House - $101 billion
11. Eiffel Tower - $ 544 billion
12. Jwaneng diamond mine in Botswana possibly most valuable real estate in world
a. 1 of 5 of world’s super pits
b. 10 million carats per year
c. as of 2013 1,150 feet below surface
d. plans for another $3.4 billion dollar cut into mine (cut 8)
e. plans for cut 9 – 2,800 feet down
13. $178,360 for 1 square meter in world’s top ten most expensive cities
14. total square feet of earth – $5.5 quadrillion, at $500 p.s.f. $550 quadrillion
The Lord’s rhetorical question means one soul is worth more than the whole world. When we are discouraged, we can remember our value to God. When we understand how much we are worth to God, we can be moved to reach souls.
The second part of the Lord's rhetorical question is different. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? He is pointing out that there is nothing worth losing our soul over. Anything we trade our opportunity at eternal life for is a bad deal. This question also shows us that once we lose our soul, there is nothing we can give to get it back (Mt 26:27). The only thing that can pay for a soul is the blood of Jesus Christ (Ps 49:8, Mt 26:28, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, Heb 9:12 & 22).
One man can have a powerful effect, even on God. The prayers and actions of one man can turn back the judgment of God.
A. Noah (Gen 6-9)
B. Abraham intercedes for Sodom (Gen 18:17-33)
C. Moses intercedes for Israel
1. Ex 32:8-14 – golden calf
2. Num 14:5 – 12 spies
3. Num 16:4 & 20-22 – Korah and company
4. Num 16:42-50 – day after Korah
5. Num 20:6 – no water
D. David (2Sam 24, 1Chr 21)
E. Jesus
God is looking for an intercessor to turn His anger away. Will He find you?
1. Is 59:16 - he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor (Is
63:5)
2. Jer 5:1 - seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that
executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it
3. Eze 22:30 - I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in
the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none