We spent all last session discussing how the fall of man in Genesis 3 directly effects Biblical manhood and womanhood. I believe the following statement is an important one to consider: The curse did not introduce new roles per say rather it distorted God’s original roles.
Can any of you recall what some of the effects of the curse and the fall were? (A) Women’s role as child-bearer was affected (v. 16a), through greater pain and sorrow. (B) Women’s role as helper was distorted (v. 16b); she now had a sinful “desire” against her husband’s God-ordained role as “head”. (C) Man’s role as leader was distorted (“And he shall rule over you”). Husbands’ don’t always lead the way God ordained them to lead (loving sacrificial leadership, not aggressive, selfish, manipulative rule). (D) Man’s role as provider was affected as well (v. 17ff); the ground was cursed making work much more difficult and laborious. (E) Men and women were introduced to death (no concept of death or dying before the fall). Yet remember that in all of this God was very gracious in that Adam and Eve were not condemned immediately. They did still die as a result of sin mind you. What the Bible says is true, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23, Gen. 2:17). My point is that they should have died instantaneously.
Did you know that the battle between the sexes finds its origins in the fall? Those of who were thinking Billy Jean King versus Bobby Riggs showcase your age. In the words of John MacArthur, “Women have a sinful inclination to usurp man’s authority and men have a sinful inclination to put women under their feet.” Genesis 3:16 does not outline a pretty scenario. After the fall, all humans have a new master (sin); the sinful flesh is preoccupied with self instead of others. Pride, selfishness, and lust are detrimental to human relationships. Think about how those sins have impacted your relationships with other people. More specifically, how do you see these sins negatively impacting male/female relationships around you?
Some of you may remember that we asked the following questions before we ended last time: Is there anything we can do about the curse? Should we just accept the fact that man is not going to lead the way God wants him to the lead and that woman is not going to help and support the way God designed her to help? Can this curse be reversed or are we Chicago Cub like (cursed Christians)?
(I) Some people don’t believe anything can really be done about the Gen. 3:16 curse. It is what it is so we shouldn’t worry about it. Others try and play the victim card while still others simply despair. (II) Some people think that the best way to reverse the curse is to pursue equal roles & authority in marriage, in the workplace, and at church. Now if this point is true, how does that harmonize with what we learned about in Genesis chapter 2? I showed you that even before the fall, God gave Adam and Eve different gender-defined roles. According to God’s Word, that reality in no way undermines our equality before Him. Said another way, if role(s) alone determine equality, value, and worth then many other Biblical concepts (such as church elders, the Trinity, etc) could not work.
For example, how could a group of qualified men (1 Tim 3, Titus 1) serve in an exclusive leadership capacity, if one’s role determined one’s value? I suggest to you that God has given us different gifts and different roles and that every spiritual gift and role is absolutely essential to the body of Christ. God has given us a diversity of gifts for the unity of the body (note 1 Corinthians 12-14). Elders and Pastors are not more important then the deacons and deacons are not more important than laypeople. There is no church hierarchy in regards to worth. I should repeat the fact that God ordained authority roles don’t imply greater value or worth! If God’s Word restricts the pastorate to men this does not mean women in the church have lesser value or worth. So what’s my conclusion after saying all this? If the eldership and pastorate is restricted only to men (and for that matter only biblically qualified men) then Egalitarians have some major theological problems. Of course those of you who know your Bibles really well understand that Paul uses the Trinity as the ultimate example to prove this very point (we’ll examine 1 Cor. 11 next time).
Coaches try and teach similar concepts to there teams, especially when coaching team sports. Good coaches know that it takes an entire team to win a team championship. In football the Q.B. can not function effectively without his offensive line, running backs, receivers, etc. A great team offense requires more than one star player. Do you think Peyton Manning is more important than Tony Dungy? That’s a silly question since they have totally different roles. Could Peyton Manning win a NFL championship without assistance from 10 other players? Could he really do it himself? Obviously not! Perhaps only one player is given the MVP trophy, but more importantly the Lombardi NFL Championship trophy was presented to all the players on the Colts roster. This was done for a reason. It was a team championship.
So how does all this nonsense affect our conversation? Dr. Grudem summarizes our point well, “If men and women have different God-given roles and authority, then we can’t be equal” is an unproven assumption and it just does not hold true in human experience.” Jesus’ teaching on this topic is actually quite radical. Matthew 20:25-28, But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus taught that just because someone is in a position of authority does not mean they’re more significant in God’s eyes. On the flip side of the coin, just because someone is in a position of lesser authority does not make them less valuable in God’s eyes either. The church janitor is just as important to God as I am (a church pastor). Jesus taught his followers that the way up in the kingdom of God is down. In other words, servant leadership is crucial to Biblical authority. All of us are commanded to embrace our positions in life with humility and with a servant’s mindset.
Here is what I am trying to suggest to you in all this. If authority denies equality, than the biblical concept of male headship, implemented before the curse in Genesis 2, provides the Christian feminist view with a big stick in their theological spokes. (If you ever had someone stick a piece of wood through your bicycle spooks you know what I mean here.) Sin was not introduced into the male/female equation until Genesis 3.
Can any of you recall what some of the effects of the curse and the fall were? (A) Women’s role as child-bearer was affected (v. 16a), through greater pain and sorrow. (B) Women’s role as helper was distorted (v. 16b); she now had a sinful “desire” against her husband’s God-ordained role as “head”. (C) Man’s role as leader was distorted (“And he shall rule over you”). Husbands’ don’t always lead the way God ordained them to lead (loving sacrificial leadership, not aggressive, selfish, manipulative rule). (D) Man’s role as provider was affected as well (v. 17ff); the ground was cursed making work much more difficult and laborious. (E) Men and women were introduced to death (no concept of death or dying before the fall). Yet remember that in all of this God was very gracious in that Adam and Eve were not condemned immediately. They did still die as a result of sin mind you. What the Bible says is true, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23, Gen. 2:17). My point is that they should have died instantaneously.
Did you know that the battle between the sexes finds its origins in the fall? Those of who were thinking Billy Jean King versus Bobby Riggs showcase your age. In the words of John MacArthur, “Women have a sinful inclination to usurp man’s authority and men have a sinful inclination to put women under their feet.” Genesis 3:16 does not outline a pretty scenario. After the fall, all humans have a new master (sin); the sinful flesh is preoccupied with self instead of others. Pride, selfishness, and lust are detrimental to human relationships. Think about how those sins have impacted your relationships with other people. More specifically, how do you see these sins negatively impacting male/female relationships around you?
Some of you may remember that we asked the following questions before we ended last time: Is there anything we can do about the curse? Should we just accept the fact that man is not going to lead the way God wants him to the lead and that woman is not going to help and support the way God designed her to help? Can this curse be reversed or are we Chicago Cub like (cursed Christians)?
(I) Some people don’t believe anything can really be done about the Gen. 3:16 curse. It is what it is so we shouldn’t worry about it. Others try and play the victim card while still others simply despair. (II) Some people think that the best way to reverse the curse is to pursue equal roles & authority in marriage, in the workplace, and at church. Now if this point is true, how does that harmonize with what we learned about in Genesis chapter 2? I showed you that even before the fall, God gave Adam and Eve different gender-defined roles. According to God’s Word, that reality in no way undermines our equality before Him. Said another way, if role(s) alone determine equality, value, and worth then many other Biblical concepts (such as church elders, the Trinity, etc) could not work.
For example, how could a group of qualified men (1 Tim 3, Titus 1) serve in an exclusive leadership capacity, if one’s role determined one’s value? I suggest to you that God has given us different gifts and different roles and that every spiritual gift and role is absolutely essential to the body of Christ. God has given us a diversity of gifts for the unity of the body (note 1 Corinthians 12-14). Elders and Pastors are not more important then the deacons and deacons are not more important than laypeople. There is no church hierarchy in regards to worth. I should repeat the fact that God ordained authority roles don’t imply greater value or worth! If God’s Word restricts the pastorate to men this does not mean women in the church have lesser value or worth. So what’s my conclusion after saying all this? If the eldership and pastorate is restricted only to men (and for that matter only biblically qualified men) then Egalitarians have some major theological problems. Of course those of you who know your Bibles really well understand that Paul uses the Trinity as the ultimate example to prove this very point (we’ll examine 1 Cor. 11 next time).
Coaches try and teach similar concepts to there teams, especially when coaching team sports. Good coaches know that it takes an entire team to win a team championship. In football the Q.B. can not function effectively without his offensive line, running backs, receivers, etc. A great team offense requires more than one star player. Do you think Peyton Manning is more important than Tony Dungy? That’s a silly question since they have totally different roles. Could Peyton Manning win a NFL championship without assistance from 10 other players? Could he really do it himself? Obviously not! Perhaps only one player is given the MVP trophy, but more importantly the Lombardi NFL Championship trophy was presented to all the players on the Colts roster. This was done for a reason. It was a team championship.
So how does all this nonsense affect our conversation? Dr. Grudem summarizes our point well, “If men and women have different God-given roles and authority, then we can’t be equal” is an unproven assumption and it just does not hold true in human experience.” Jesus’ teaching on this topic is actually quite radical. Matthew 20:25-28, But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus taught that just because someone is in a position of authority does not mean they’re more significant in God’s eyes. On the flip side of the coin, just because someone is in a position of lesser authority does not make them less valuable in God’s eyes either. The church janitor is just as important to God as I am (a church pastor). Jesus taught his followers that the way up in the kingdom of God is down. In other words, servant leadership is crucial to Biblical authority. All of us are commanded to embrace our positions in life with humility and with a servant’s mindset.
Here is what I am trying to suggest to you in all this. If authority denies equality, than the biblical concept of male headship, implemented before the curse in Genesis 2, provides the Christian feminist view with a big stick in their theological spokes. (If you ever had someone stick a piece of wood through your bicycle spooks you know what I mean here.) Sin was not introduced into the male/female equation until Genesis 3.
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Chicago Bears 2-4. Have anything to say about it?
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