"When We Consider Jesus"

As I was reading this USA Today article by Daniel Fusco regarding what today's man could learn from Jesus about masculinity, my eyes focused on the following four words in his below paragraph: "When we consider Jesus."

"When we consider Jesus, we realize he was the most powerful person in history. He had the most influence on people. And yet, instead of exploiting relationships to fulfill his selfish desires, his life was always about God’s will for him and God’s heart for people. Jesus humbled himself and served others."

One of the masculine qualities of Jesus was endurance. Jesus "endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2). If we as men today want to imitate Christ, we must also possess the same masculine quality of endurance (Matthew 10:22).

In considering Jesus and His masculinity, let us also consider the apostle Paul in the New Testament as the humble imitator of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1). If there was ever a man in the New Testament who possessed similar qualities that Christ possessed (including masculinity), it had to have been the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Galations 2:20), for he endured many trials and tribulations for the cause of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:16-31).

In considering the qualities of God's "Good Man" in Psalm 112:5, let us also consider the qualities of the one man in the Old Testament who "endured" or persevered (James 5:11) through many trials and tribulations -- that man being Job. Along with Jesus and the apostle Paul, was Job the epitome of masculinity? You be the judge, as Job defends and upholds his integrity (see article) in Job 31.

Beloved, above all things on this Christmas day, let us consider Jesus (Hebrews 3:1-6), the epitome of masculinity, and imitate Him.

---Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets