Good News Week 19

Then God said, “Let us make manF in our image, according to our likeness. 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.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

Notice something.

When God created Mankind God created us in His image - male and female.

Male and female equally image God.

Male and female were given the same task.

Male and female were given the same command.

Male and female were given the same creation mandate.

Male and female were given the same right to rule and responsibility to rule.

Male and female were both called to be fruitful and multiply?

Why? Because it takes both male and female to create life.

Male and female were both commanded to subdue the earth.

Why? Because they placed on the earth as partners and divine representatives of God.

They were both commanded to rule?

Why? Because they were not created in opposition to one another but as co-equal representatives and rulers over God’s creation.

In Genesis 2 we see another creation account.

God take Adam, a created man and out of Adam he created a woman Named Eve.

Bone of my bones, Adam says.

Flesh of my flesh, Adam says.

Do you see the equality there?

Adan doesn’t see a women to be ruled over but a equal to rule with.

An equal to come alongside of him and fulfill the creation mandate of Genesis 1 - to multiple, to rule, to represent God, and to care for His creation.

The word that the KJV translates as “helpmeet” in Genesis 2:18 simpley means helper, but not one in subjection or subordination to someone else.

Genesis 2:18 CSB

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”

The word Helper is actually used multiple times in the Old Testament to refer to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s work within the Trinity.

The Hebrew word is EZER.

Robert Alter, a renowned expert on Hebrew literature and language, highlights the implicit strength in the word ezer. In a comment on Genesis 2:18 in his translation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible he writes, “‘Help’ is too weak because it suggests a merely auxiliary function, whereas ‘ezer elsewhere connotes active intervention on behalf of someone, especially in military contexts, as often in Psalms.” Alter translates ezer kenegdo as a “sustainer beside him.”[6]

That ezer has a sense of strength and rescue is clearly seen in Exodus 18:4. Here we are told that Moses named one of his sons Eliezer, which in Hebrew means “My God is my helper” (Eli = “my God”; ezer = “helper”). This verse goes on to explain why Moses named his son Eliezer: because God had powerfully delivered Moses from Pharaoh’s sword!

Ezer describes aspects of God’s character: he is our strength, our rescuer, our protector, and our help! And ezer is the word God used to describe the first woman. Eve was someone who would give vital strength to Adam.[7]

Eve was not created to be dominated to to take domination with her husband in the creation mandate.

In the Genesis 2 and 3 account Eve was not yet with Adam when Adam was given the command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Eve is then formed out of Adam.

And they are given instruction on sex and marriage.

What is that instruction? Get married. Have sex. Be faithful and committed to each other above all else. Become one (mission, purpose, sex, identity). And fulfill the creation mandate of Genesis 1 together.

But in Genesis 3 something goes terribly wrong.

Paul address it like this 2 Corinthians 11:3

2 Corinthians 11:3 CSB

But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Eve was deceived by the serpent.

And Eve took the fruit. Ate it. And gave it to Adam. And Adam ate it.

And this is the beginning of millennia of trouble, evil, strife, and curse.

Genesis 3:1–21 (CSB)

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit 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 knew 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 walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

THEY HID - SIN CAUSES US TO HIDE FROM GOD

10 And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

THEY HID - SIN BRINGS SHAME

11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

ADAM’S RESPONSE IS TO BLAME EVE AND THEN BLAME GOD

THE FIRST CASE OF TOXIC MASCULINITY IS FOUND HERE - ADAM DOESN’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIMSELF AND BLAMES HIS WIFE.

THE FIRST SIN OF THE FIRST MARRIAGE WAS THE MAN BLAME-SHIFTING AND MAKING EXCUSES FOR HIS OWN SIN.

I THINK WE ARE GIVEN THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF WHAT MASCULINITY SHOULD LOOK LIKE IN GENESIS 3 - IT LOOKS LIKE HONESTY BEFORE GOD AND BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE.

13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

SO ADAM BLAMES EVE SO GOD ASKS EVE, WHAT HAPPENED?

THE SERPENT DECEIVED ME.

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,

you are cursed more than any livestock

and more than any wild animal.

You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.

15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.*

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.

ENMITY, HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE SERPENT AND THE WOMEN - WE WILL COME BACK HERE IN A MINUTE.

16 He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;

you will bear children with painful effort.

Your desire will be for your husband,

yet he will rule over you.

I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THIS - THIS RULING BY THE HUSBAND OVER THE WIFE IS A RESULT OF THE FALL, IT’S A CURSE, IT’S NOT GOD’S CREATIVE DESIGN.

THERE ARE SOME BAD THEOLOGIES THAT HAVE COME FROM MISINTERPRESTING THIS VERSE.

THERE ARE SOME BAD TRANSLATIONS OF THIS VERSE.

I DO NOT PREACH FROM THE ESV BIBLE ANY MORE BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT’S TRANSLATORS TRANSLATED THIS VERSE.

I BEIEVE, FROM MUCH STUDY AND PRAYER, THAT THE WAY THE CSB AND MULTIPLE OTHER TRANSLATION IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE INTENT OF THIS PASSAGE.

THE WIFE WILL DESIRE HER HUSBAND BUT HER HUSBAND WILL RULE OVER HER AND CHILDBIRTH WILL BECOME PAINFUL.

THIS IS PART OF THE CURSE.

IT’S NOT PART OF GOD’S ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR WOMEN.

AND GOD TURNS HIS ATTENTION BACK TO ADAM

17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.

You will eat from it by means of painful labor

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 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow

until you return to the ground,

since you were taken from it.

For you are dust,

and you will return to dust.”

THERE WILL BE PAIN IN WORK.

CREATION WILL FIGHT AGAINST YOU.

THE GROUND WILL FIGHT UNTIL YOU ARE PLACED INTO THE GROUND.

20 The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

AND GOD PERFORMS THE FIRST BLOOD SACRIFICE TO COVER THE SIN AND SHAME AND GUILT AND CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR SIN.

I want to go back to the curse on the serpent.

The serpent will bruise the heel of the the seed of the women.

The seed of the women will crush the head of the serpent.

This is the protoevangelium - the First Gospel

The seed of the women.

What does that mean?

Men have seed, not women.

Men plant their seed into the women, women do not have seed.

But the curse on the serpent is that the seed of the women will crush him.

The New Testament alludes to Genesis 3:15 in several places. Romans 16:20 speaks of victory over Satan with the image of crushing underfoot, as one might do to a snake. Galatians 4:4 refers to Jesus being “born of woman,” reminding us that the phrase in Genesis refers to the seed (offspring) of the woman. Hebrew 2:14 refers to Jesus destroying – through his own death – Satan. Some think that the blow against the heel in Genesis 3:15 actually would be lethal, since snakes were often poisonous. In that case, Genesis would not be talking about a lethal vs. non-lethal blow, but both would be mortal wounds. In Jesus’ case, however, it was exactly his death that led to redemption. Finally, Revelation 12:9 and 17 allude to the war of Satan against “the woman” and “the rest of her offspring” – a clear reference back to Genesis 3:15 which ties the first and last books of the Bible together. Jesus may be the ultimate seed of the woman, but his followers are also in battle against Satan against which they will be victorious (compare Romans 16:20 above). -Jews For Jesus

Jesus is the Seed of the Woman because Jesus was born of a virgin.

Here this - GOD IS WORKING REDEMPTION IN, THRU, AND FOR WOMEN.

God is bringing redemption for the one who was deceived thru the one who was deceived.

God is bringing judgement to the deceiver thru the one he deceived.

God was not casting Women aside but was promising to work thru women to bring salvation.

Sin came thru Adam.

The seed of Adam.

Salvation came thru Eve.

The seed of Eve.

This is not to condemn men.

The seed of the women who would crush the serpent was a man - the man Christ Jesus.

But the narrative that women are to be ruled over and relegated to a subjugated status as God’s Good Design for women is not the narrative that God has for women.

That narrative is the continued narrative of the curse.

But we see through the scripture God elevating women above the curse.

God Elevates Women

Throughout scripture we see women used by God even to the point of being included in the lineage of Jesus.

Rahab was a Cannanite prostitute who welcomed the Hebrew spies into Jericho. Become a great-grandmother of Jesus. Included in the lineage of Jesus.

Deborah was judge in Israel - was a commander, a teacher, a prophet.

Jael - killed the Cannaite General Sisera

Esther - stood up for her people to King Xerexes in the face of possible death

Ruth was a convert to Judaism who became a great grandmother of Jesus and is listed in his genealogy.

The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who works with her hands, cares for her family, works inside and outside the home, manages a budget, is godly, has integrity, loves her husband.

The Proverbs 31 woman is not a woman who takes a backseat to her husband but is a co-equal representative of their MARRITIAL ONENESS.

Now, each marriage has it’s own look and feel.

Each marriage has different expressions of this ONENESS.

Some women work exclusively in the home.

Some women work outside the home.

Another women shown in scripture to be elevated is the Virgin Mary.

She would conceive Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Salvation comes thru Mary.

The Seed of Mary would crush the head of the Serpent.

God Elevates Women.

Jesus Elevates Women

So Jesus has stepped onto the scene.

What will happen to women?

How will he treat them?

Luke 7:36–50 CSB

Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—she’s a sinner!” Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He said, “Say it, teacher.” “A creditor had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.” “You have judged correctly,” he told him. Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

In this act of servitude Jesus is actually elevating the status of this woman.

Jesus receives her touch.

Jesus doesn’t view her as unclean, unworthy, or to be disregarded.

Jesus treats her with dignity.

Jesus uses her humility and act of service to shame Simon.

Jesus forgives her sin.

Jesus calls her loved.

She’d been used by men but is now being restored by a man.

Jesus honors her.

Jesus removes her shame.

Jesus removes her stigma.

Jesus speaks peace over her.

Jesus restores her in the view of others to her proper image bearing status.

Jesus elevates women.

Jesus Welcomed Women

Luke 8:1–3 CSB

Afterward he was traveling from one town and village to another, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her); Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others who were supporting them from their possessions.

Because of the way Jesus treated women as dignified humans women followed him.

They even supported His ministry.

All types of women - former prostitutes, mothers, wives, single, affluent, poor, working-class, Jew and Gentile, young and old.

Jesus standing up for women in the face of hypocritical Pharisees and financial marginalization and against the demonic forces of the day was an elevation of all women.

Women were even the first to testify to the resurrection of Jesus.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Woman, you are an image bearer.

Here’s what Jesus did.

Jesus Reversed The Curse

Remember the curse?

Remember the promise?

That the seed of the women would crush the serpent.

The hope and promise of Jesus is that as we walked in the garden before the fall we would be restored to proper relationship with God and others and that ultimately that Garden Kingdom would be restored.

Jesus broke the curse of sin.

Galatians 3:13 CSB

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

Romans 16:20 CSB

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Colossians 2:14–15 CSB

He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

Jesus did It.

Jesus defeated the serpent.

And we get to join in that defeat.

Women, you get to enjoy the spoils of that defeat.

The curse is broken.

The demonic rulers and authorities have been triumphed over.

Woman, Christ has elevated you.

He has poured out His Spirit on you.

Acts 2:17–18 CSB

And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy.

You will preach and proclaim.

Women served as prophets and deacons and teachers and financiers and perhaps even as an apostle.

Galatians 3:28 CSB

There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Equality in the Kingdom of God.

Christianity Elevated Women

Christianity challenged Romans view of sex

Tim Keller put it like this ”Roman culture insisted that married women of social status abstain from sex outside of marriage, but it was expected that men (even married men) would have sex with people lower on the status ladder—slaves, prostitutes, and children. This wasn’t only allowed; it was regarded as unavoidable. This was in part because sex in that culture was always considered an expression of one’s social status. Sex was mainly seen as a mere physical appetite that was irresistible.

Christians’ sexual norms were different, of course. The church forbade any sex outside of heterosexual marriage. But the older, seemingly more “liberated” pagan sexual practices eventually gave way to stricter Christian norms, since the “deeper logic” of Christian sexuality was so different. It saw sex not just as an appetite but as a way to give oneself wholly to another and, in so doing, imitate and connect to the God who gave himself in Christ. It also was more egalitarian, treating all people as equal and rejecting the double standards of gender and social status. Finally, Christianity saw sexual self-control as an exercise of human freedom, a testimony that we aren’t mere pawns of our desires or fate (see From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity).”

That cultural challenge transformed cultures.

Sue Bohlin points out the following: As Christianity spread throughout the world, its redemptive effects elevated women and set them free in many ways. The Christian ethic declared equal worth and value for both men and women. Husbands were commanded to love their wives and not exasperate their children. These principles were in direct conflict with the Roman institution of patria potestas, which gave absolute power of life and death over a man’s family, including his wife. When patria potestas was finally repealed by an emperor who was moved by high biblical standards, what a tremendous effect that had on the culture! Women were also granted basically the same control over their property as men, and, for the first time, mothers were allowed to be guardians of their children.{15}

The biblical view of husbands and wives as equal partners caused a sea change in marriage as well. Christian women started marrying later, and they married men of their own choosing. This eroded the ancient practice of men marrying child brides against their will, often as young as eleven or twelve years old. The greater marital freedom that Christianity gave women eventually gained wide appeal. Today, a Western woman is not compelled to marry someone she does not want, nor can she legally be married as a child bride. But the practice continues in parts of the world where Christianity has little or no presence.{16}

Another effect of the salt and light of Christianity was its impact on the common practice of polygamy, which demeans women. Many men, including biblical heroes, have had multiple wives, but Jesus made clear this was never God’s intention. Whenever he spoke about marriage, it was always in the context of monogamy. He said, “The two [not three or four] will become one flesh.” As Christianity spread, God’s intention of monogamous marriages became the norm.{17}

Two more cruel practices were abolished as Christianity gained influence. In some cultures, such as India, widows were burned alive on their husbands’ funeral pyres. In China, the crippling practice of foot binding was intended to make women totter on their pointed, slender feet in a seductive manner. It was finally outlawed only about a hundred years ago.{18}

As a result of Jesus Christ and His teachings, women in much of the world today, especially in the West, enjoy more privileges and rights than at any other time in history. It takes only a cursory trip to an Arab nation or to a Third World country to see how little freedom women have in countries where Christianity has had little or no presence.{19} It’s the best thing that ever happened to women.“

That is not to say that there in no longer any misogyny in the church.

But it is to say that where there is misogyny - an elevation of men and a subjugation of women - that misogyny is still rooted in the curse in the garden rather than the crushing of the serpent.

Jesus elevates women.

I do want to point out that that are good men and women who view certain scriptures to describe certain roles within the church to be reserved for men. I would not call that misogynistic unless that interpretation is arrived at thru a posture of misogyny and subjugation.

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