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| Family Order | |||||||||||||
| Male-Female Equality-Man and Woman are equal in the sense that they bear God?s image equally. | |||||||||||||
| Male Headship-In the partnership of two spiritually equal human beings, man and woman, the man bears the primary responsibility to lead the partnership� in a God-glorifying direction. | |||||||||||||
| Genesis 1:26-28Male-Female Equality | |||||||||||||
| v.26God creates man in His image to rule over creation.� He spoke the other creatures into existence all at once in v. 24, God specifically creates man in His image.�� Genesis 5:2 proves that in this instance man=man and woman. | |||||||||||||
| v. 27 We were created by God. | |||||||||||||
| We were created in God?s image. [The image of God in man is the soul?s personal�������������������������������������� reflection of God?s righteous character.] | |||||||||||||
| �������� We were created equal but different. | |||||||||||||
| v. 28 Charges:� God charged man and woman equally.� ?God blessed them and said to them? Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. | |||||||||||||
| Both man and woman were created in God?s image equally. | |||||||||||||
| Genesis 2: 18-25Male Headship(repeat definition) | |||||||||||||
| v. 18 God realizes that man needs a helper. | |||||||||||||
| v. 19-20 God brings all of His creatures before Adam so that he can name them according to their nature.� As God foreknew Adam did not find a suitable helper.� God went through this exercise so that Adam would realize that he is alone and needs companionship and help.� God had to take Adam through a trial to show him he could not do it alone and needed a helper. | |||||||||||||
| v. 21-22 God created woman out of man to be his needed helper.� It is here that we learn of the different roles of husband and wife.�� We are equal beings both made in the image of God, but with different roles.� The husband is the leader of the family with the help and support of his wife to ensure that the family is lead in a way that glorifies God and not led into sin.� The scripture states that man was created and then woman was made from him to be his helper.� This was deliberate and could have been the reverse, but it wasn?t.� This submission is not a demeaning or enslaving submission, but a voluntary, loving submission as the church submits to Christ or as a member of a church to an elder.� The member of the church is free and has the chance to grow and mature, but the member still must support and submit to the elder. �In neither of these situations is the submission negative, but they are positive because they are fulfilling their God ordained role.� Just as in Godly submission of the church to Christ or a member to an elder, a woman?s role as a submissive wife is fulfilled not stifled.�� This type of submission shouldn?t be foreign to us.� Take a look at the Trinity.� The Trinity is made up of 3 persons that are equal in glory, but serve different roles.� The Father leads, the Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to both.� There is no demeaning or negative feeling about this submission.� It is differences in roles.� In 1 Peter 5: 2-3 Peter instructs us not to ?lord over? our wives.� Just like husbands and wives are equal in being, but serve different roles. | |||||||||||||
| �������������� The submission of wives to their husbands is mentioned many times in the New Testament.� Ephesians 5:21-33 is an example put down by Paul. | |||||||||||||
| v. 21 A general command for all Christians to submit to one����� another.� Paul starts general before commanding specifically. | |||||||||||||
| v. 22 Paul commands wives to submit to their husbands because it�� is Christ?s will that they do so.� He does not say women submit to men, but wives to their husbands. | |||||||||||||
| v. 23-24 Head in this instance means authority.� As Christ is the authority of the church, the husband is the authority of the wife.� As the church submits to Christ� in a loving, voluntary manner, the wife should submit to the husband in the same way. | |||||||||||||
| v.� 25-27 Paul instructs husbands as how they are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.�� Christ made the church holy and blameless by sacrificing himself.� As husbands we should do the same thing.� We should lead sacrificially.� Not for our good, but for the glory of God.� | |||||||||||||
| v. 28-30 Paul takes us back to the fact that woman was taken out of man and we were reunited in marriage.� As husbands we must love our wives as we love ourselves, because we are one flesh.�� ?feeds and cares? in the Greek language translates to nurturing.� ��If Christ is the head of the church then as husbands we are the head of our wives.� So we must care for our bodies(wives) with a very intimate caring and loving. | |||||||||||||
| v. 31-32 Paul quotes Genesis.� The mystery is that in Genesis Moses was telling of Christ and his church coming together as one flesh.� This is a revelation in the time it was written because it had just occurred. | |||||||||||||
| v. 33 A loving and voluntary respect. | |||||||||||||
| v. 23 Adam welcomes the woman and names her. | |||||||||||||
| v. 24 The man leaves his father and mother to lead a new family unit.� This is said this way for a reason.� The man must become the leader of a new family and lead that family in a way that glorifies God.� ?They will become one flesh? man and woman are again one.� Woman was taken out of man, but in marriage we are reunited in one flesh.� A husband must love his wife as his own flesh because she is one with him (Ephesians 5:28-29). | |||||||||||||
| Genesis 3The Fall | |||||||||||||
| v. 1-6a The serpent deceives Eve.� In this action she competes with Adam for the leadership role in their relationship.� She unilaterally decides to disobey God. | |||||||||||||
| v. 6b-7 Eve gives the forbidden fruit to her husband who was with her.� He was standing idly by while the serpent deceived his wife.� He failed to live up to his God ordained male headship and Eve took the lead.� It was Adam?s responsibility to prevent this from happening.� He did nothing but eat the fruit.� | |||||||||||||
| v. 8-13 God confronts the couple.� He calls out and questions Adam first.� This again is deliberate.� God goes to the leader of the couple.� The final responsibility lies with the leader.�� The leader failed in that he allowed the wife to usurp his leadership.� Paul reiterates the fact that the primary responsibility lies� with Adam in Romans 5: 12-21 | |||||||||||||
| v. 14-15 God sentences the serpent. | |||||||||||||
| v. 16 God sentences Eve.� Woman will now suffer pain in childbirth.� ?Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you?.� Sin has destroyed the union God created and the order within.�� Wives will now desire the role of their husbands, but their husbands will rule over them.� Not in the loving way God intended, but in a harsh unloving way. | |||||||||||||
| v. 17-19 God sentences Adam.� God approaches Adam differently.� To Eve he just gave sentence.� He indicts Adam because final responsibility lies with Adam ?because you?.� Adam is punished for two reasons.� One for disobeying God and eating the fruit, and two for abandoning his post as leader and listening to his wife.��� He will toil and sweat over the land and they will have to leave the garden forever. | |||||||||||||
| Because of his lack of responsibility Adam allowed the God ordained order of his family to subside into disorder.� Through this disorder Adam opened the door to sin and death.�� It was Eve who took the fruit, but Adam in his role as leader should have been there to take action.� Our responsibility as husbands and fathers is to serve our wives and families by leading our families in a direction that will glorify God without any concern for ourselves.�� A Godly husband doesn?t stifle his wife?s ideas and actions.� In a orderly marriage the wife would bring these ideas and actions to the husband to consider before acting.� The same goes for the husband.� Neither should ever act unilaterally.� The leadership difference comes when there is a disagreement.� These should be prayed about and brought before the Lord for resolution.� When there is none the wife should submit to the husbands leadership decision as long as it is leading the family in a way that glorifies God. | |||||||||||||
| God granted authority does not build ego.� Our authority is to be used to build other without regard for ourselves.� Any authority used for personal gain is earthly.� Through Adam and Eve sin entered our world.� When sin entered the world it entered our relationships.� It destroyed the God ordained order of our marriages.� It has caused a negative, demeaning submission to occur in our households.� It has caused some women to try and lead their families and by pass their husbands as the rightful leader.� 1 Peter 3 1-6 describes the behavior of the wife of an ungodly husband.� The world wants us to think that our function determines our worth as people.� Romans 8:29-30 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 both prove that our worth is measured by our conformity to Christ. | |||||||||||||