Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: The Music Behind the Dance Steps

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Vanessa Robertson
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1 Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: The Music Behind the Dance Steps December 2, 2012

3 Men and Women: Absolutely Equal Genesis 1:27: So God created mankind in his own image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 1. Next to bearing God s image, our gender is the most foundational thing about us. Sexuality permeates one s individual being to its very depth; it conditions every facet of one s life as a person. As the self is always aware of itself as an I, so this I is always aware of itself as himself and herself. Our self- knowledge is indissolubly bound up not simply with our human being but with our sexual being. At the human level there is no I and thou per se, but only the I who is male or female confronting the thou, the other, who is also male or female. -- Paul Jewett: Man as Male and Female 2. The New Testament Reinforces Our Equality Galatians 3:26-28: So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 3:7: Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12: Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 3. The Trinity provides the basis for equality and distinction Galatians 4:4-6: But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. Matthew 26:39: Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. 1 Corinthians 11:3: But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 3

4 Biblical Femininity: The Helper Genesis 2:18-25: 18 The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. 1. What does helper mean? The noun helper in Genesis 2:18 (Hebrew ezer) means help, support, aid. It is the key word used to describe the woman s role. This is not a demeaning term. God is frequently described as a help to His people (Ps. 121). To be a helper means that the woman has the necessary ability, fitness, resources, and strength to be a help (see Proverbs 31:10-31)...The Hebrew term for suitable for him (Hebrew kenegdo) means like him, corresponding-to-him, matching him, counterpart. Thus her nature corresponds to his. This shows their equality. She is not like the animals Adam names in verse 19. She, too, is an image bearer of God. -- Alexander Strauch, Men and Women: Equal Yet Different 2. The New Testament draws significance from the order of creation. 1 Corinthians 11:8-9: For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 4

5 3. Passages about submission. Ephesians 5:22-24, 33: Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything...however, each of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Colossians 3:18: Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 1 Peter 3:1-6: Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. 4. What is a biblical understanding of the core of femininity? At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman s differing relationships. -- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood The Essence of Femininity by Elizabeth Elliot 5

6 Biblical Masculinity: The Head Genesis 3:6-12: 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, Where are you? 10 He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. 11 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? 12 The man said, The woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate. 1. When Mankind Falls into Sin, the Man is Held Responsible Romans 5:12-14: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 2. Passages about Headship Ephesians 5:25-33: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Colossians 3:19: Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 1 Peter 3:7: Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 3. What is the biblical understanding of the core of masculinity? At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man s differing relationships. -- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6

7 The Impact of the Curse Genesis 3: To the woman he said, I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. 17 To Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. 1. The curse brought frustration into our areas of strongest contribution. The woman has pain in childbirth. The man has difficulty in work. 2. The curse brought enmity to our relational dynamics. Women will tend toward subversion. Men will tend toward dominance. 3. In the midst of the curse, there is hope. The seed of the woman brings restoration. Christ sets us free to be who we were made to be. 7

Why Is Life So Hard?

Hebrews 11:6 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Why Is Life So Hard? John