Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as the King James Version ( KJV ). Genesis 1:26, 27 read as follows:
"26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 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. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
Moreover, Genesis 2:4-25 read as follows:
"4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."
If you, the reader, will notice, the sacred text of the second passage from the Holy Bible, above, does not specify that Adam had great strength, yet he is still called a man ( see verse seven, for example ). The heavenly Father ( see Matthew 5:9, 16; 6:9, 14, for example ) considered him to be a man before He created Eve ( see Genesis 3:20, for example ). A man is an adult human being of the male gender, who is created in His image ( as we read, above, in the first passage from the Holy Bible ).
Moreover, the apostle Paul ( see 1 Timothy 1:1 ) wrote the following concerning Jesus ( see Matthew 1:16, for example ) in 2:5: "5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The phrase "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," in this verse five, has a cross-reference to Hebrews 9:15 ( please read verses twelve through twenty-eight to get the immediate context ), which reads as follows: "15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Implied, in these two latter passages from the Holy Bible, is the fact that manliness was epitomized at the cross of Calvary ( see Luke 23:26-49 ( especially verse 33, for example ), for example ). Jesus never lashed out at His murderers ( see Matthew 5:44, for example ), He did not use profanity ( see Ephesians 4:29, for example ), He did not have an outburst of wrath ( see Galatians 5:20; NKJV ), nor did He have a temper tantrum ( see 1 Corinthians 6:7, for example ), for example. See also Hebrews 4:15, for example.
He endured hostility from sinners against Himself ( see Hebrews 12:3, please read verses one through four to get the immediate context ): Jesus' willingness to endure such hostility is equated with manliness. This observation, as applied to human males, implies that the one who endures such hostility is not a sinner: he is a child of God ( see Matthew 26:36-46 ( especially verse 45, for example ), John 8:30-32 ( especially verse 31, for example ), Acts 2:38, 41, and 47; 8:26-40 ( especially verses 36-39, for example ); 11:19-30 ( especially verse 26, for example ), Romans 6:1-4 ( especially verses 3 and 4, for example ), 1 Corinthians 11:1, and Galatians 3:26, 27, for example ). Do not let the world dictate that manliness is determined merely by great physical strength or by being married, for example. The Holy Bible does not restrict manliness to these two concepts alone. Please study the Holy Bible ( which is God's word - see Psalm 119:65-73, 142, 151, John 17:1, 3, 17, and 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17, for example ).
If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>.
NOTE: In the future, there will be an entry to this weblog regarding womanliness.
