Fathers - Wrestling with Your Angel (Pt. 6)
“I love being a man. I don’t feel ashamed, embarrassed, intimidated, or guilty about it. But I know I’m not what I shall be. I am what I am, and I’m more than I was. But I’m not all the man I can be. Today I know where I’m headed with my masculinity. For years I floundered in my attempts at manhood, never having been taught how to be a man. Through the struggles and difficulties, successes and rewards. I learned much of what being a man really means. Now I can say it’s been a wonderful life in many ways. I have a wife I love deeply, children who have matured successfully, a career that—although erratic in some ways—is now a worldwide influence for good and God.” Edwin Louis Cole, Real Men (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992)
As we continue our journey as men, we must acknowledge that this is not an easy task. God’s original intent for man was a part of who He is. God created man to mirror His image and likeness. Today, it seems that men, or humanity as a whole, have become lost in their ability to discern His original intent. Today’s culture continues to precede God’s original intent for man. Only the creator of a thing knows the original intent for creating it. Today’s culture continues to wrestle with originality. This world, under the influence of sin, continues to redefine itself. The challenge with this reality is that man is a created being. In short, he is not the creator of himself.
Dr. Edwin Louis Cole testifies to this reality. It is not easy being original. Maybe this is why men struggle with manhood. Is it possible that humanity wrestles with identity because it has lost sight of the Creator's original intent? The created thing must ponder the truth that it is not the result of its own creation. Everything has a source! Gen. 1:1 declares: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God created everything, including humankind. Only God is the originator, the source of all creation. Is this why there is so much struggle with the created thing becoming what it was made to be?
If this is true, then it is not just man who wrestles with his angel—or the need to become who he was originally created to be. Jacob wrestled with the angel because his identity did not portray the original intent of his Creator. No man can fulfill the will of the Father with an identity that misrepresents the original intent. Every man will experience struggle, embarrassment, and even guilt. However, manhood is not a human choice. In reality, it is God’s original design for man to represent Him. May we pray that men will wrestle with this truth until their identity is restored and their names are changed!