Good morning. How are you all doing today? Awesome. Hey, we like to start by saying
welcome to anybody that's here in our sanctuary for the first time or if
you're watching us online for the first time, welcome. We're so glad you're here
to worship with us at Hosanna. I am Pastor Nathan and today we are going to
be looking at the creation of woman in Genesis chapter 2. If you remember back
in Genesis chapter 1 verse 27 it told us this, so God created man in his own image.
He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. This brief
snapshot of the work that God did on day six of creation is what is focused in on
greater detail in Genesis chapter 2. Last week we studied the first part of this
zoomed in topical look at day six as we looked at the creation of man or to put
it in terms the modern world needs to hear the male gender. And with a focus on
God's personal covenant relationship to man and with man and we saw that switch
in the designation for God switching from Elohim in chapter 1 which refers to
the eternal God Almighty, the transcendent all-powerful creator to
Yahweh Elohim which as he's talking about the creation of man and continues
to use in his creation of woman it's speaking of his personal, intimate,
loving, caring character, the intimate creator God who loves us and provides
for us. And really it was all about how he created man. This beloved
creation of his was created from dust and we looked at last time how that man
was vastly different than all other living creatures that God created. That
he, man, was a living being uniquely, uniquely alive with an eternal spirit
that was gently and lovingly breathed into him by God himself. A very unique
detail of life that made man unique from anything else alive. I touched on this
well as we touched on this last week I mentioned how this uniquely special
quality of life that man had its eternal nature implies that animals don't go to
heaven to which I received some deeply offended backlash. We saw how God
provides for his beloved creation. He provided a garden to live in and to a
joy. He provided the means by which man could fulfill his calling to fulfill
his calling to work and to watch over the garden. We saw how God provided the
free will by which man would not be forced to love God but have the
opportunity to make a decision to do so. And today we're gonna see God providing
for what might be man's greatest need in his creation of woman who is like man
but also his opposite. We're gonna talk about what that means today as we go
through the word and learn God's definition of what a woman is so that
we might go to the public schools in our world today and help them in their
confusion. We're also gonna see God's definition of what the marriage
relationship is between a man and a woman. What it's intended to be, its
purpose, and its definition according to God. But first we're gonna spend some
time worshiping him and I encourage all of you guys you know in this world we
live in today. The very definitions that God has for some of the most basic
things in his creation are being attacked, are being convoluted, people are
aggressively trying to redefine terms all to justify sin. And we are called to
be people that stand solely and firmly on the Word of God. That we would
understand what God's definitions of things are and then be people who
lovingly and caringly yet boldly go into this dark world and share the truth of
who God is and what he defines things to be with people who are lost in the
darkness. And so we want to praise God that he is in us through his spirit, that
he dwells within us his people, that he empowers us to understand his word and
then go out and to share that word with people. And so we're gonna do that today
before we get into the word. So if you all pray with me this morning. Father God,
we thank you so much for creating everything. God we thank you for sending
your Son to live on this earth within your creation, fully God and fully man, to
ultimately die on the cross, to pay the price for the sin that is in this world.
God we know that as this world deviates farther and farther from what you your
word you intended and what you define things to be, man and woman, gender and
purpose and role and marriage and all of that God. As the world deviates things
get more and more perverse, things get darker and darker. And God although we
know that's what's supposed to happen as we studied through Revelation, we are
still called to be people, to be warriors for Christ, to go out into this world, to
save those who are trapped by darkness. And so God I pray that you would speak
to us today and especially God today encourage the women, the women that are
here in our church and those that would hear this message Lord, encourage them to
be women who will defend the definition of who they are, who you created them to
be, their purpose in this world Lord which is under attack by so many in our
culture today. God we love you, we ask that you would just come and speak to us
today. We worship you, we praise your holy name because you are awesome. God we love
you so much. It's in Jesus name we pray, amen. We're in Genesis chapter 2 picking
up in verse 18 and the text we're considering today really it's recounting
the provision of a divine helper for Adam. Last time we looked in the previous
verses at the reality of God's provision for man in creation that was really the
the theme last time and we saw how God ultimately provided not only in creation
but then we forecasted all the way out through Jesus and we saw that God
provides ultimately for man's greatest spiritual need which was salvation
through Jesus Christ coming and dying on the cross for us. Today we're gonna look
at what may be man's greatest or God's greatest earthly provision for man and
how God defines what that is. So as we're getting into it we have to
understand that everything we've seen so far through creation God has been the
initiator right. God is the one that initiated at every single moment and
every single level and we're gonna see more of that in this section. In verse
18 it says the Lord God said. Verse 19 the Lord God formed. Verse 21 the Lord God
caused. Verse 22 the Lord God made. Catching the theme? Who did it? God right?
Yeah and in each case we see that that personal promise-making, promise-keeping
covenant name of God the Lord God Yahweh Elohim and so overall in this entire
story of creation it's God who takes the initiative and here in chapter 2 we're
zoomed in on God taking the initiative to shape and define man, to shape and
define woman, and then to go on and shape and define their relationship and how
that's intended to work together. So as he defines these sayings what we see is
that God is the one who defines gender. He's the one that defines gender and he
defines how many there are. Spoiler alert there's two. Male and female. No more no
less. So the word of God tells us that gender is indeed binary.
There's two options. Now you know we live in a world today and right now I guess
it's pride month right? It's this month that is set aside in our secular
society to celebrate all of the perversions of all of this in our culture
today and I read that someone in the church said actually this should be a
national humility month as we humble ourselves as a church and pray that God
would work in our nation and work in the hearts of people. You know as the church
we don't hate anybody that is subscribing to these ideologies. We
love them and we actually love them enough to warn them about the dangers of
this stuff and so but yeah God is the one who defines it and that's really the
point of this section is God initiated, God created, and therefore God gets to
define it and his definition is the ones that stand. So in chapter one we saw six
different times as God was creating all the different elements of creation it
told us that God saw that it was good right? We saw that over and over and then
in the very beginning of chapter two all of that was capped with a satisfied, God
was satisfied with the perfection on the seventh day and it tells us there or at
the end of the sixth day it says and it was very good so God was creating it was
good it was good it was good it was good and then after the sixth day he said it
was very good. Having already read that in chapter one one might be concerned
about the statement we read here in verse 18 read with me Genesis 2 18 then
the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone. Now again we can't
forget that this is not a second creation narrative this isn't a second
creation this is simply a zoomed in topical look at the chronological
creation of Genesis 1 specifically a look at that day six moment right? You
remember in Genesis 1 27 on the sixth day it says God created them male and
female so if you if you divide that up it says male then there's a space and
female all right? Verses 7 through 17 of Genesis 2 is what takes place in the
space he created male and then we read all about that in detail and now we're
gonna go on and read about him making female but I want to point out
something very important in that space of time before woman was not on the
scene that is what God is declaring is not good. It's a very very strong language
he's using here it's not referring to just the absence of something what is
not good here is he's indicating a substantial deficiency right? A
substantial deficiency and so again I just want to point out again this
observation in verse 18 God's observation and God's declaration it's
all God's it's God's declaration God's summary of the situation from his point
of view he didn't ask Adam hey bro you do you feel alone? He didn't ask right?
Adam may have had no idea that it was not good for him to be alone possibly
wasn't even aware that he was alone as we're gonna see in the next few verses
he was in the garden he had every abundant provision that he could possibly
want at least in his own mind he had the garden itself right? All of the trees and
all this stuff he had an entire zoo of animals that that just adored him as
their ruler right? God said he created him to rule over it and so all the
animals just adored him and so the assessment of this moment by God in this
gap between man and woman this assessment by God was not a response to
any complaint by Adam rather right after God creates man and places him in the
garden and then gives him instructions on how to live and don't eat from this
tree lest you will die it's God alone that deemed that man was incomplete on
his own and he declared this halfway through the sixth day of creation and it
just points out an entire or an important point for all of us that it is
God who is ultimately the one who knows our needs better than we do we might
think we know what our needs are and and we often pray to God about those
perceived needs that we have and sometimes they're accurate and sometimes
they're not they're more wants than needs but we have to remember that God
knows our needs he's our creator he knows what we need better than we do it's
why we pray after Jesus's example right not my will but your will be done it's
why we we with Thanksgiving according to Philippians let our prayers and
supplications be known to him and then it tells us when we do that we rest in
the peace that surpasses all understanding it's because God knows
there's no better place to go to than God with your needs God this is what I
think I need but not my will your will be done God here's all my prayers here's
all my supplications and I'm so thankful for what you've already given me and so
God I'm gonna put it in your hands and ah peace right that's the relationship
that we're called to have it's when we try to determine and define what is
right and wrong what is good and bad without reference to God without
reference to God's word when we do that it's it's then that we come up with all
manner of destructive foolishness and we see a lot of that in our world today
God knows what we need God knows how things should be because God created all
of it and we as his creation find the most peace the most joy the most
blessing following his way following his word following his plan aligning
ourselves with his definitions of things in this world and so now I do find it
very interesting that the very first thing in all of creation that God says
this isn't good is for man to be without woman it's the first thing male to be
without female that's the first thing God says that's not good that's not good
now this speaks tons about how important women are to God's design ladies pay
attention right the very first thing in all of creation God went that's not good
is that you weren't there it shows so much how important you are now he
phrases it this way the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone and
that word alone means isolated it means solitary it means alone now if you
remember back in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 and 28 God declared they will rule
the fish of the sea the birds of the sky the livestock the whole earth and the
creatures that crawl on the earth and then it says God blessed them and said
to them brief be fruitful multiply fill the earth and subdue it and rule all the
creatures God's design for mankind humans male and female he created them
was to be fruitful to multiply to fill the earth to subdue it and to rule all
the creatures now guess what man male cannot fully do this on his own it's
it's it's pretty biologically solid that man cannot procreate on his own he can't
fill the earth he can't multiply on his own and in this modern notion that oh no
men could get pregnant it's just foolishness it's absolute foolishness
it's the height of foolishness and that's exactly what the book of Romans
told us would happen in our world that professing to be wise we're so
enlightened we're so progressive they became fools right Adam could not fulfill
God's will for his life which is much more than procreation but he couldn't do
it without woman being there with them and it points out something else that's
very important is is God never intended for man to be alone either in a marital
sense or a social sense right we are social creatures by nature man and woman
but in the context of this man was was was created to need companionship right
guys need to hang out with guys guys need relationship in their life now this is
not to say that being a single man or a single woman is sinful or wrong in that
sense first Corinthians 7 Paul had a lot to say about this and he said look some
have the gift of marriage some have the gift of singleness but biblically it
does seem to indicate that marriage the union of a man and a woman for not just
procreation but but life and so much that's God's will for most people in
most cases that's what the Bible seems to indicate but in first Corinthians 7
Paul did point out that hey if you could remain single without burning in lust
without sleeping around without playing the field if you could remain single
hey that's a good thing because then your whole life can be dedicated to God
right you don't have the the concerns of your wife and your family and so Paul
says look if you can do that if God's called you that and gifted you that it's
a good thing but still even if you're a single person you still need the
community around you to fully fulfill what God has for your life so then he
goes on with the rest of verse 18 it's not good for man to be alone so I will
make a helper corresponding to him now ladies you might read that kind of verse
and not feel very flattered by that right a helper I was created to be a
helper corresponding to man you know there's ladies there's many of you out
there that that gosh from a knowledge standpoint from a skill standpoint from
an experience standpoint you're blowing the man out of the water right so so
what does he mean here you know I mean how would you feel right ladies if you're
if you're married and your husband introduced you to somebody this is my
helper right with the would you wow I feel so special right it I mean that
word sounds like you're just like an assistant or you're you're like an
apprentice employee you know I read one guy and he goes yeah it would be like
this I take you as my lawfully wedded wife to cook and to launder to have and
to fold so let's dig into this word let's dig into this word a little bit
because ladies it really is something beautiful in the Hebrew it's the word
either easy er or Ezer it literally means a person who gives support aid and
relief to another in a time of need or difficulty right but the the greater
application of this is that it's a stabilizing force that that's really the
idea of this word see it's an interesting word because it carries like
a bunch of different meanings so before anybody checks out here I want you to
understand what this word means here first this word helper either is used of
God himself as the helper of Israel so before you think oh this is a
derogatory term this is a no no this is the same word God uses of himself as the
helper of Israel you see in Exodus chapter 18 verse 4 Moses referred to God
as his helper who delivered him from Israel so this word helper in in the
rest of the Old Testament it almost has militaristic overtones right because
because as you go through the Old Testament you see that God was the
helper to Israel it was oftentimes when Israel was in trouble and they had blown
it they had done something wrong or the enemies were just coming upon them and
God stepped in and helped stabilize the situation he stepped in to accomplish
help Israel accomplish what they couldn't accomplish on their own it
really is the idea of an allied king royalty coming to the aid of another
king royalty and so again in Genesis 1 26 it told us that man and woman were
made in the likeness and the image of God that word likeness there again if
you go through the Old Testament you'll see it many times used when when like a
king has their has their offspring and that that offspring is in the likeness
of their father right it's an idea that they're that they carry similarities and
whatnot but not the same Psalm 46 1 it says God is our refuge and strength a
helper who is always found in times of trouble now this isn't to say God is a
woman regardless of what pop stars want to write in their songs but that helper
helper is in no way implying servitude or a lower status or anything like that
so ladies when you read this and it says God's gonna make a helper and it tells
us he made woman that's that's not making you subservient and in some less
important way or inferior not at all you are the thing that brings stability to
man the person the creation now Adam needed all the help he could get because
like him being alone I don't believe he was even aware of his need for help he
was just going about it and doing it and you know taking care of the garden and
you know in in guys right we still deal with this today don't we we don't want
help I don't need your help with directions I know how to get there we'll
just turn on the GPS I don't need your help with the project right it's it
you know and the more we deny help the more lost we get you know so but but the
idea here is it's a lot more than just physical help right it's there's an
emotional and a spiritual help that woman brings to man it's really because
man can fall to self-doubt self-deprecation extreme condemnation and
guilt when they can't provide for their family when they can't protect their
family man often can find himself feeling like a loser or a failure when
he looks into the eyes of those he loves the most and he finds criticism there
and he finds challenge there and demeaning words there and what happens is
then man gives up turns to things like drinking or drugs to kind of bury the
pain he tries to hide and disappear right when men get upset typically were
the ones that want to go away we want to hide we don't want to talk anymore this
conversation is done but the power the effect a woman has in the life of the
man who loves her is incredible there's a book out there ladies if you've never
read it it's called the power of a praying wife even if you're not married
I encourage you to get it it is incredible you see when the woman a man
loves believes in him and supports him gosh he can conquer the world everybody
could be against him but if that one woman that is that is his helpmate his
helper corresponding to him if she's behind him saying honey you could do it
this guy's the limit you know Irene my assistant she's a great assistant by the
way I said this she goes as woman is made in the likeness of God made to be a
helper to man who is made from dirt but also made in the likeness of God one of
the greatest roles I can play possibly the greatest role is to be the mirror
for man to remind him that he is made in the image of God to not be the one
pointing out that he's dirt because man will often do that to himself but to be
a source of everything he is made in the image of God to be his reminder that he
is the imago day that he carries the love and the strength and the compassion
and creative ability the image of God himself to continually uplift him and
that he would look to me woman and know his value and worth as being made in
God's image that beautiful that just sums up this whole idea here and that
is really what's summed up in Ephesians chapter 5 that whole section that's
about marriage where it says wives at the end of the section it says wives
respect your husbands that's what it's talking about man does a good enough job
going I'm a loser I'm a failure I want to quit I'm useless and right and when
we pile on that and ladies if you when you pile on that it's it's destructive
in so many ways not that man is perfect in any of these things but he needs that
encouragement he needs that stabilizing force to offset what the enemy is
whispering into his ears all day every day now so it says a helper corresponding
to him that word corresponding means literally like opposite she's like him
but opposite him so woman at this time of creation was and is today like and
unlike man what does this mean it means that one she would share his nature she
would be like him in the fact that they're both created in the image of God
they both display God's image in who they are but as his matching opposite
perfectly suited to him she would fit with him like like the yin and yang
symbol have you guys seen that that like black and white symbol you know and they
they fit together perfectly you ever seen those like those cute charms that
people would get it's like two halves of a heart and the guy wears one and the
girl wears one oh right but it's literally that idea click wow what a
perfect picture she would supply what was lacking in him per God's observation
remember God is the one who defined what was lacking in man this isn't an attack
on man this is God who created man going yeah he's incomplete without this so as
I've stated it seems Adam wasn't even aware of his need and so God intervened
to bring him that awareness look at verse 19 then God formed out of the
ground every wild animal in every bird of the sky and brought each to the man
to see what he would call it and whatever the man called the living
creature that was its name the man gave names to all the livestock to the birds
of the sky to every wild animal but for the man no helper was found
corresponding to him so as as Adam was contemplating his existence and we call
him Adam because the word man in the Hebrew is Adam okay that's where he got
his name from he was contemplating his existence his calling right I believe
this all happened on the sixth day so he's just freshly created and God put
him in the garden he's like cool I gotta work this place and watch over it and
he's just chilling and then all of a sudden God brings these animals to him
this is what are you gonna name it now this verse here this is another one where
people go no chapter 2 is a different creation because you know he created the
animals you know on the beginning of day six and he created birds and fish on one
of the other previous days and yet it's saying the Lord God formed him here this
is another section where the language the original Hebrew carries the idea of
the Lord God had formed right it's he's topically referring to something that
had already happened and so he brings the animals in and he gives Adam the
right to name them you see God was the namer of all creation God is the one
that said this is day this is night God is the one that said this is earth this
is sky this is see right God named everything but then here he's bestowing
sovereignty to Adam underneath God's authority and we see that in his naming
creatures like Adam you're gonna have rulership over this so you name them you
name them it's like you know parents you know you get to you get to name your
children when they brought into the world right and you know I know some
parents you know they've they've you know taken that authority you know to
great extents when they get mad and say I brought you into this world I'll take
you out right you know but the idea is like like I've I've given you your name
and that implies an authority over that that life that creature and it's how
Adam was over the over the animals now that word name there as it says Adam
named them it means more than just its designation or its outward appearance
it's much more than just that right the Hebrew word is sem SEM and it denotes a
deep direct insight into the nature of the named meaning that the name of these
creature represented its inward characteristics as well as its outward
characteristics it was much more than what it looked like but it was its
behavior and how it acted right this was he didn't just name the animals he
interpreted them that's the idea here and so this simply suggests that Adam
was brilliant he had deep insight you know I believe that Adam was probably
the most brilliant man of all time smarter than anybody that has ever
existed at least on the human side of things and and so Adams naming all the
animals now there are some conjecture here where people go is it every animal
in the world or is it just the Adams are animals local to him I don't know but I
don't put it past God to be able to say all the animals in the world name them
you know I don't put that past the Lord's power anyways as he was naming
these animals the idea here is that his skill of observation and interpretation
and identification just got better and better and better right his his ability
to look and analyze and just kind of really name the creature based on its
nature got really really good you'll notice that then when we look around it
doesn't tell us here that Adam named any of the creatures after himself which
implies that he understood that he was essentially different than the animal
kingdom and so as he named all these animals it tells us that he realized
something one that God did not create the even the animal kingdom according to
multiple genders but rather there were two they were male and female every
creature had a corresponding helper one that fit to them different but man
together they were like one beautiful picture those animals who God said go
and multiply and fill the earth right well they were able to do that because
they had this corresponding helper and then they had this one that was just
like them but but opposite but a perfectly complementary fit I believe
in his naming of the animals he saw how they had community how they had opposite
roles I'm sure he observed how they had biological differences that supported
those those roles in the community and and so yeah in the animal kingdom he
just saw so much like but unlike but not for him and in the process of that I
believe as Adam started to realize I'm alone I don't have one like but unlike
me I don't have someone that's gonna help me fulfill you know there's this
overall calling in my life and I believe this was to prepare Adam to value his
helper to esteem her to honor her to cherish her cherish her to love her to
appreciate the differences and celebrate the similarities and this first Peter
3 7 tells us this Peter writes and he says husbands in the same way live with
your wives in an understanding way as with a weaker partner now before
everybody goes pick it you know it's weaker partner simply is referring to
the general physical strength difference between man and woman it's it's a
acknowledgement that there are biological differences and over the
entirety of humanity men tend to be biologically stronger and women not in
every case so that's what it means by weaker partner but then right after that
he goes showing them honor as co-heirs of the grace of life he goes do that so
your prayers should not be hindered she is like him as a co-heir but unlike him
in physical makeup and so God had revealed Adam's need to him I believe
Adam understood the need it's reasonable to assume he kind of started to ache for
one that was like but and unlike himself and so verse 21 it says so the Lord God
caused a deep sleep to come over the man and he slept God took one of his ribs
and closed the flesh at that place then the Lord God made the rib he had taken
from the man into a woman now stop there so he made Adam go into a sleep this
kind of sleep we see in scriptures usually kind of like a divinely induced
thing in Genesis 15 Abraham is is put into a sleep like this when God showed
him the the idea of the covenant was establishing the Abrahamic covenant Jonah
chapter 1 implies that Jonah may have fallen into one of these deep sleeps
where God revealed some things to him and so the man went to sleep and then
God took one of his ribs no man does not have one less rib than woman okay we got
all of them but but this word rib this is this is one of those weird words it
can mean rib right like rib it also could mean side like like the side of a
structure all the left side of the building the right side of the building
and it can also mean load-bearing beam it means all three of these things so
this idea of the rib is that it implies stability of an object or a person it is
implying that whole idea of woman stabilizes man the same thing we've been
talking about and really we see that right especially in younger men they
shower once a week sometimes you know they turn their clothes inside out
instead of washing them but then a woman comes into the picture what happens I
got a shower every day twice a day my clothes are dirty I gotta wear cologne
maybe they go from a caveman to to a civilized man but this idea is this rib
because it's also the rib inside of the building and load-bearing beam it really
is that idea of stabilizing now if you've ever cracked your rib I've done
that once I was riding a skateboard and I fell and I hit a corner of concrete
and cracked my rib I couldn't walk I couldn't breathe I couldn't do anything
and I realized oh my goodness how important your ribs are right how they
hold you together and allowed you to just function and so this word is is
sometimes translated different ways I believe it's actually rib myself but it
doesn't have any real big bearing on the idea because it says God took one of his
ribs right and then closed closed closed the flesh at that place but some people
do say it means sides you know God took one of his sides so anyways but the
point is is that God took this element out of Adam and made woman and so the
rib is a very significant detail here like Adam wasn't created out of nothing
most of creation was created out of nothing but he was created from the dust
of the ground he was created from something else neither was Eve neither
was woman at least indirectly she was made from man she was made of the same
bone and the same flesh and the same DNA yet with unique differences very unique
differences but Eve was the first human to be created from another human Adam
was made from the dirt Eve was made from man and because she came from Adam
because she shares his nature she's also equally in the image of God as is every
human that comes from every human sense this is why we as a church believe
abortion is wrong that life in the womb is created in the image of God and it
comes from human Eve was the first one and then woman down the line only woman
has the blessed ability to bring life into this world it's a beautiful thing
but again Genesis 127 which summed up the entire chapter God created man in
his own image he created him in the image of God he created them male and
female so woman came out of the side of Adam it's interesting to me that when we
go into the New Testament we see the bride of Christ which is the church the
bride of Christ came from the wound on Jesus's side right it was his blood that
cleansed us of all sin that blood that flowed out of him and so we see the same
picture that his bride the church came from his side and it's not that we
stabilized Christ in any way but the idea is that the church came from him
the blood that flowed washed us clean and so the woman being created out of
man is the basis for her equality to man she is an equal as first Peter 3 7 said
an equal co-heir of the grace of life some of you guys have heard this before
but this is famous saying and I tried to look up where it came from and
everybody quotes it from a different source so I don't know but it says woman
was not made out of his head to be above him she was not taken from man's foot to
be trampled on by him but she was taken out of his side to be equal with him
under his arm to be protected by him and near to his heart to be loved by him so
spiritually before God man and woman is equal right there's not one that's more
superior one that's more inferior they're equal they're equally loved by
God man and woman are equally sinful man and woman are equally saved by Christ
man and woman are equally gifted by God but then verse 22 the rest of it it
tells us so he created woman and he brought her to man I just think that's a
really beautiful picture because you've all been to weddings right who's the one
that brings the bride to the groom the father so we just see this neat picture
of God himself leading the woman to man much like that but again much like man
and woman are are like an opposite much like they're equal before God in their
standing they are different in role and responsibility see Eve was created as a
helper for Adam not the other way around that's a very important concept to
understand when it comes to God's design for the family and even God's design for
the church Eve was created as a helper for Adam Adam was created first then Eve
this difference right they're both equal standing before God but this difference
it's the basis for biblical teaching on things that we call gender roles in the
family in the church in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 Paul the Apostle wrote man is
the head of the woman just as Christ is the head of man in Ephesians 5 that
passage all about marriage it says the husband is the head of the wife as
Christ is the head of the church now the context of both of those passages are
about the responsibility of authority within those contexts as defined by God
that has nothing to do with worth has nothing to do with value has nothing to
do with skill has nothing to do with gifting it's not implying superiority
and inferiority in any way it's simply the context of the responsibility of
authority as defined by God and so biblically in the concepts of both the
family in the church the Bible teaches that male headship or male authority is
is the way God has set it up we see it example in the Bible we see it taught in
God's Word within the church for example in 1st Timothy chapter 2 it speaks of
authoritative doctrinal teaching and leadership within the church and what it
says in 1st Timothy 2 that this type of teaching establishing doctrine and all
of that this type of teaching and leadership in the church it restricts it
to men God restricts it to men where Paul says I don't permit a woman to teach
or have authority over the men in the church and why does Paul say that well
first Timothy 2 13 Paul says for Adam was formed first then Eve he appeals to
the creation order for why God established this order in his church it
doesn't mean women that you're less skilled or you're less anything it
literally is because God said so and truth be told I think most men in the
world were like I don't want that responsibility let the woman do it she's
really good at the bills right and God said no you're and we'll get into that
in chapter 3 and all that stuff but so yes women lead in the church yes women
teach in the church yes even women women even have a gift of shepherding within
the context of the community of the church but not as elders or overseers or
pastors because that's what God said then in the family back in Ephesians 5 in
the very beginning of that marriage section it says wives submit to your
husbands and that's like ooh don't say that in our culture right but in
Ephesians 5 he says why he goes why I'm instructing the wives to submit to their
husbands because the husband is ahead of the wife as Christ is the head of the
church guys you need to understand something your wives are individual
people same standing with you accountable to God for their life but you
are accountable for her and the family if your wife goes off the deep end
somewhere God's gonna say you're the spiritual leader what happened if your
kids go off into the deep end God's gonna say husband you're the spiritual
leader what happened I put you in charge you're responsible for this now yeah
they're ultimately responsible for their own individual decisions but God is
still gonna call you to account because that's how he set it up wives he said
hey you're to yield submit to their leadership in the family now this this
chain of command if you will this chain of authority I see it established here
in God presenting Eve to Adam Adam was formed first and then God created Eve and
he said here she's for you right I created her to be a helper
corresponding to you not the other way around very important distinction so
what we see here is their creation of the same substance the same image the
same likeness of God is God defining their equal standing their equal
spiritual standing their equal value and worth before God but then the creation
order is God defining their roles and responsibilities of authority within the
context of the family and the context of the church and women your role is
critical your your role is immensely equally valuable and it's such a
stabilizing force in the lives of your husbands in the lives of your sons even
as you're raising them it's so critical it's so important and so we go on here
and and we see that this woman that God presented to him was stunning she's the
prototype of all women perfect in every aspect and again we have to remember
Adam was made aware of his need his skills of discernment and identification
that was all honed by his identification of God's creatures and then verse 23 we
get to his response and man said this one at last is bone of my bone and flesh
of my flesh this one will be called woman for she was taken out of man other
translations go wow this is it Adam was overwhelmed it's a shout of
raptures ecstasy and intense intimate deep comprehension of who she is the
treasure she is the perfect corresponding helper that he was missing
and so again I find it interesting the first thing that was not good in
creation was the absence of woman the first human words that were recorded is
how special and amazing and wonderful woman is as uttered by Adam so he
understood that in this thing here we see that although they are they are one
he understood that she was not the same right when he says bone of my bone and
flesh of my flesh that's like us in our modern culture going oh they're blood
right oh they're family they're biological right we we say oh they're
blood relative and sometimes that implies there's a greater connection in
intimacy there when someone else well in the Hebrew they would say bone of my
bone and flesh of my flesh to imply that same thing that there's this deep
intimate connection but then he says this one will be called a woman because
she was taken from man the idea is that that man identified that there were so
close but different that he embedded his own name into hers and it implies
because his skills of of seeing who they are and all that those skills were so
honed he said this is who she is perfectly like an opposite of me and so
Moses now concludes and says this is why a man leaves his father and mother and
bonds with his wife and they become one flesh right this whole description of
the creation of man and the creation of woman and who they are and who they are
before God and who they are to each other this forms the foundation of the
Bible's understanding of marriage and family Jesus quoted this in Matthew 19
5 Paul quoted it in Ephesians 5 as we've been looking at and the idea here is
that marriage is between a biological man and a biological woman as a
perfectly complementary pair not anything else he says a man leaves his
father this doesn't speak of moving out right leaves his mother and father the
idea is in the in ancient times the custom was you got married and you stay
you kept living in your father's house right that was the ancient custom so
this word leaves speaks of leaving in a in a in a relative sense it's a shifting
of loyalties it's a shifting of priorities right the marriage union
between man and woman is so profound that it says he leaves his loyalty and
priority to his family and then assigns that first obligation that first loyalty
that first priority to his wife it's very important because this is one of
the reasons why some marriages fail in our culture right husbands and wives
fail to leave their parents mom and dad have far too much say in that marriage
relationship husbands end up feeling disrespected because the wife will
listen to her mom or her dad over her husband vice versa the wife can feel
unloved because the man is listening to his mom or dad instead of putting the
priority of his wife in place and thus in that we see the creation norm is
ignored and marriage is distorted and we see that in the church too right one of
those statistics that is still hold strong over the years is that the
divorce rate in the church is the same as it is in the world that's a tragedy
but he says he leaves and he bonds that idea bonding it's like sticking to her
it's almost like something being welded or glued together in a way that they
can't be pulled apart physically emotionally spiritually and the idea of
that is marriage is viewed as a covenant it's a public declaration in the sight
of God it's a public declaration of intent and reorganization of my
relationship right that's why we do the whole ceremony it's this whole picture
that she's leaving the father's giving her away she's leaving her mother and
father now she's bonding to her husband and it's a new family unit and you know
that's just been devalued so much in our culture and that's why Christian
marriage should stand apart it should be different Christian marriage should
stand out as this public covenant before God and before the church and you know
even before the family and even before the the state you know it's we are
something different so one flesh is just the idea of the deepest intimacy it
includes transparent honesty it includes the sharing of everything one flesh
means there's no secrets no lies no hidden things no secret bank account one
flesh now God defining marriage right here at the very beginning of creation
plus Jesus and Paul quoting it it just it demonstrates to us how important the
institution of marriages it's really critical and and why it must be defended
and protected by the church at all costs to abuse marriages to abuse Christ in
the church and that's why we can't as Christians we can't bow to or support
or condone any deviations from this creational intention monogamous
heterosexual marriage was always viewed as the norm from the very time of
creation one biological man one biological female joined together and
I'm gonna say this in the greatest love I can because it's a problem within the
church at a large but I don't believe you could really call yourself a
follower of Christ and a believer in God's Word if you don't follow and
uphold this creation intention I really question you being filled with the
Spirit of God if in your heart and mind you're like this is totally okay
because it's it's against God's Word now again not that we're hateful towards
people but we have to stand for righteousness right so for Adam and
Eve sexuality and relationship in God it was all part of the same cloth we see
here in this whole section God defined humanity God defined sex God defined
gender God defined man God defined woman God defined love God defined marriage
and he elevated all of it at the pinnacle of his creation in today's world
men and women have just become sexual users consumers right rather than
participants in this holy union that includes God at the center I really love
without God it reduces love to nothing more than an inward feeling right and
that's what we see today oh I don't feel in love anymore boom cheat I don't feel
in love anymore divorce I don't feel it's it's it's more than just the
feeling so the idea is that when God's at the center of all of it and his
original instruction is followed as the rule man woman marriage will flourish
when we do it according to God's way according to his word and so yeah that's
close Adam and Eve were truly in paradise truly in paradise they were in
fellowship with God that fellowship was as natural as breathing right they walked
with him they lived in this one flesh harmony man and woman together were
reflective of the same image of God but complementary in function each fulfilling
their role and the responsibility and their part in God's design each equally
valuable equally special equally important as the image bearers and the
likeness of God but each uniquely equipped biologically and emotionally to
complement one another perfectly so women never let anybody devalue your
worth don't let this world devalue your worth I find it just strange that this
whole world that is like equality equality wants to then erase the very
identity in women in sports and in competitions and let men compete with
the women and it's a travesty so many women who are the best the best in
their sport or having their their recognition stripped from them some
because some guy who yeah is is biologically stronger or faster wants
to pretend he's a woman and go steal that from her it's horrific it's wrong
so ladies claim your identity that God gives to you don't let this fallen world
devalue your worth as a woman don't let this fallen world and devalue
the importance of your calling within the context of the family as a helper
corresponding to man you know cuz you're ladies you're not called to be
man and men you're not called to be women we're called to be what God created
us to be in his purpose we all function according to these God ordained
definitions when we do God is glorified God is glorified in his people God is
glorified in your family God is glorified in his church and that is why
I believe the enemy is working so hard to erase the definitions change the
definitions and pervert God's definitions and thus we need to stand up
for him even more so at the end of the sixth day after God had created man and
woman his not good became very good and it was very good he says and that's
really the closing admonition you know when God's word defines your life defines
your love defines your relationships your beliefs your values when God is at
the center of all of it it is indeed very very good
amen let's pray father we love you God Lord we know we're in a world that is
assaulting the very identity of women the very identity of man has been
assaulting the the concept of marriage and what that relationship between a
man and a woman is supposed to be Lord we know that it's much more than just
feeling love but it's a representation of you Lord your word even tells us in
Ephesians 5 that the picture of marriage and the man and woman coming together
it's meant to speak of the relationship that you as our creator desire to have
with us as your creation and of course the enemy wants to pervert that the
Lord I just I pray for the women here in our room Lord even those that are
watching this video now or in the future God I pray Lord that they would
understand the great and incredible value they are to God that their identity
as a woman their their created skill sets as a woman they're calling Lord in
the context of marriage to be that helper corresponding that they would
never let anybody take that away from them they wouldn't let the people around
them tell them it's wrong or something is is a miss that they're being put in
bondage by patriarchal man but Lord they would understand that your view is the
right view your definitions of the right definition your way is the only right
way and that God the peace and the joy and the true harmony that is found when
when man and woman do things your way would be a foundation for them to share
the truth the hope that is in Jesus Christ Lord there are so many women in
our world that are so confused and so hurt and told that their identity is as
an individual woman is is such an important thing and at the same time
they're being told we can't even define what you are Lord let us stand up for
the truth in love in compassion but in boldness God bless the women bless your
creation in woman bless the man your creation in man and Lord bless marriage
as you've defined it that the world would truly see the relationship you
desire to have with them as your creation we love you and we thank you
it's in Jesus name we pray amen let's worship church