01-05-2020 – God-Ordained Relationships: Part One

See Ephesians 5:21. Christians are to willfully submit to one another, out of
reverence for the Lord who saved us.
This verse is a transition into the larger section (Ephesians 5:22-6:9), where
we are instructed about relationships between husbands and wives, Christ and His
Church, parents and children, and masters and slaves [i.e., employers and
employees]. In short, we are to be submit to one another, out of reverence for
Christ.
All nations, churches, organizations, institutions, agencies, and families, function
best with a clear chain of command or line of authority. Those who have the
responsibility to lead, do not necessarily receive their authority because they are
better than anyone else; but for the most part, it is because they have been hired,
appointed, or elected into a position in order to provide oversight and manage for
the functionality, and overall productivity, of the unit.
God commands all Christians: husbands as well as wives, parents as well as
children, employers as wells as employees, to have the same attitude as that of
Christ Jesus (Philippians. 2:5-8) “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also
in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a
bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross.”
All believers are spiritual equals in every sense and we are to submit to one
another out of reverence for and submission to the Lord, who loved us enough to
die for us, that we might receive forgiveness for sins and adoption into God’s
eternal family. We are to express our love for one another as members of one
body, brothers and sisters in Christ, encouraging one another to know, to exemplify,
and to proclaim God’s Word, as we humbly serve the Lord together.
Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free
man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Mutual submission is what God wants in all of our relationships, and we are to
do this, out of reverence for Christ. As Christians, we are to show mutual respect
and love toward one another, realizing that God has ordained distinct functions and
roles for His people, but we all have the very same value and worth before God.
The church’s understanding and application of God’s Word is meant to provide
protection, power, and purpose for Christ’s church, as we obediently live out God’s
precepts and principles in a world that rejects the very existence of God.
Much of today’s church has succumbed to the influence of the godless world
around us, e.g., self-indulgence, self-importance, immorality, impurity, greed, and
false teaching.
As we enter 2020, it would appear that God’s standards are out-of-date to
most of the world, perhaps irrelevant, and even offensive to a majority of people.
Sadly, this has also become true among many of those who call themselves
Christians.
God calls us to live differently than those who do not belong to him. God’s
design for marriage and family is in sharp contrast to that being practiced and
validated in the world around us, especially in reference to how wives and
husbands, and parents and children, are to function in their god-ordained roles.
God makes clear distinctions in the matter of roles and functions for husbands and
wives (see Ephesians 5:22-25a).
Wives are to respectfully submit to their husband’s leadership; and husbands
are to lead their wives by loving them sacrificially, as Christ loves the church.
God says wives are to be subject to [this is a military term, literally meaning,
to align or arrange in rank under] their own husbands, i.e., wives are to willfully
submit to their husband’s leadership, because God has ordained it so.
This does not mean, nor is it taught anywhere in Scripture, that a wife is to
obey her husband, as children are to obey their parents, and slaves are to obey
their masters. A husband is not to treat his wife as a servant or a child; she is a
co-heir of salvation and co-equal before God; but God has placed the responsibility
on the husband to provide for, protect, and even suffer for his wife’s sake, as did
Christ for His church.
A husband is not superior to a wife, no more than a man is superior to a
woman, simply because he is a man. In fact, many times a wife may be more
qualified and skilled at decision making and leadership than her husband (but this
can, and often does, create struggles in a marriage).
You see, God has ordained that a husband is to lead and a wife is to follow,
much like a man and a woman dancing, if they both are trying to lead, they will
most likely trip over one another’s feet; it is clearly best for only one to lead.
God has designed every person for a unique role in the body of Christ, and
these are to be carried out by way of mutual respect, submission, and love.
God’s directives for leading and following are entirely functional and they are
ordained by God (see Genesis 3:8-19). There was a consequence given for Adam
and Eve’s failure to obey God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17).
The word translated desire (Genesis 3:16) does not imply sexual, emotional
or psychological desire. Eve already possessed those, for she was Adam’s specially
created “helper suitable for him” (cf. Genesis 2:18).
The desire expressed here is the same found in the next chapter (Genesis
4:7) where the same word is used [meaning - to compel, urge or seek control
over]. God warned Cain that sin wanted to control him; God commanded Cain not
to give in to or allow sin to control him.
The context of both Genesis 3:16; 4:7 is after Adam sinned. In Genesis
3:16 the curse on Eve implies that woman’s desire would, from that time on, be to
usurp her husband’s leadership, to not align herself under his headship. Man, on
the other hand, would fight against a woman’s desire to take control, for it says he
will rule over her.
Adam and Eve were told in Genesis 1:26, 28, to rule over the animals (before
sin had entered), a different Hebrew word is used here for the concept of rule, it
means to care for something that belongs to someone else, like a steward of what
belongs to God.
Sin brought about a change in the concept of ruling, i.e., from genuine
stewardship, oversight and management, it digressed to a form of authoritarian
domination; however, this was not part of God’s original plan for man’s role as
leader and woman’s role as helpmate, but instead, this was the consequence of sin
entering creation.
The act of honoring and fulfilling the roles that God intended for husbands and
wives, was distorted at the point that sin entered creation, and the battle of the
sexes began: radical feminism and male chauvinism entered creation as a
consequence to sin’s curse.
The original closeness and perfect unity between Adam and Eve is expressed in
Genesis 2:19-24. By chapter 3 that unity and innocence is gone; Adam and Eve
are at odds with God and with each other, for sin has entered the world.
Man was created first, and God placed man in the role of leader, first in the
family, later on in society, and finally, in the church. 1Timothy 2:11-12 says, "A
woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not
allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.”
Paul then reaches all the way back to original creation to show that women
weren't intended to serve in headship roles over men; the reason being (1Timothy
2:13-14), "For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not
Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”
This is talking about the fact that Eve, circumventing Adam’s leadership, fell
into the transgression of original sin by listening to and being deceived by the
serpent; and yet, it was through a woman [Mary] that the Savior was born. God
designed women to fulfill roles in the home, church and culture that no man can fill,
and therefore, she didn’t have to carry the stigma of being the one who was
deceived in the garden.
Woman was created after man, as his helpmate; and it was she who was
deceived when acting independent of the man’s leadership. Paul goes on to say
(1Timothy 2:15), "But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if
they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
1Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every
man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.”
1Corinthians 11:7-9, “A man… …is the image and glory of God; but the woman is
the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from
man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the
man’s sake.”
It is interesting though, that we are told 1Peter 3:7, “You husbands… …live
with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a
woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your
prayers will not be hindered.”
Peter is speaking of a Christian husband's responsibility to be understanding
toward his wife's physical and emotional needs, and a husband is to be actively and
genuinely sensitive toward her, “as with someone weaker, since she is a woman.”
The truth is, males are generally stronger than females, both physically and
emotionally, as multiple studies confirm, but of course there will always be
exceptions.
However, when a male or a female faces an emergency and/or a high stress
situation (pain or fear> flee or fight), during these events, in 100% of the test
subjects (human and animal) the male brain always exhibits increased blood flow
which heightens awareness, resolve and response; while the female brain always
exhibits decreased blood flow , leading to muddled thinking, confusion, and
indecisiveness.
By God’s purpose and design, man was made to be the provider, protector, and
servant-leader of his family; but western society and culture has pushed hard this
past century, in an attempt to blur all male/female distinctions, roles and functions,
e.g., unisex clothing, genderless bathrooms, feminine men, masculine women,
gender confusion and dysphoria [e.g., Michael Jackson was famous for his sexually
and ethnically ambiguous appearance and attributes; by his own words he sought
to exemplify both gender and ethnic androgyny, and he became very popular
because of it.
Western civilization for the most part has turned its back on God and considers
God’s Word to be obsolete. Let me assure you that all of mankind will one day
acknowledge God’s Living Word as absolutely sovereign and eternally authoritative
(Philippians 2:9-11), “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed
on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.”
Christians are to live by God’s inerrant and eternal Word, no matter what the
corrupt and godless world around us chooses to follow and promote.
The curse of Genesis 3:16 laid the ground work for the battle of the sexes,
and from that time until now women have been trying to usurp man’s headship,
and men have been trying to rule over women by dominating them. The
consequences of such behavior is extremely detrimental to the families, churches,
and communities of our society.
1Corinthians 11:11-12, “However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of
man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the
man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate
from God.”
In other words we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, and
only then will a wife be able to willingly respect her husband’s leadership in the
home, and a husband be able to sacrificially love and care for his wife, leading by
serving.
This is only possible through a personal relationship with God’s Son, the
indwelling of God’s Spirit, and obedience to God’s Word; apart from which, there
will be no love, no harmony, no respect, and no mutual submission for one another out of reverence for Christ.

Pastor Mike