Then God said “Let us make human kind in our image according to our
likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds
of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth.” So God created humankind in His image. In the image of God He created
them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”; Gen:
1:26-28.
18 And the Lord
God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help
meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the
name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the
fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not
found a help meet for him.
21 And the Lord
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his
ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib,
which the Lord God had taken from
man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam
said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they
shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man
and his wife, and were not ashamed; Gen 2:18-25.
Outline of
creation
1. God
created man first from dust of the earth (2:7)
2. God created women second from Adam, and unlike
the rest of creation, the woman is taken from other creation, not nature (2:22)
3. Adam names woman Eve (2:23)
4. Man/wife relationship reason for man to leave
his family to be with wife (2:24)
In Genesis 3, we find that sin enters in and the
gender roles begin to mix up when man and woman began to sin together. In the
cool of the day when God comes to them, He calls for Adam and for the first
time he began to feel ashamed before the Holy God, and also shifted the blame on
the woman for his disobedience. The curses given to man and woman separately
was for all mankind, and the emphasis of the curse was different for man from
the woman. If I could brief up the curses, we find that for the man, God talks
about the difficulty in his work, and for the woman difficulty of her
relationship, especially with her family; husband and children.
5. Satan
tempts Eve to disobey (3:1)
6. Eve
brings Adam into the matter (3:6)
7. Women are cursed because of Eve's actions (3:16)
8. Men are cursed because of
Adam's actions (3:1)
In understanding relationships it is important to
understand the physical and emotional differences typical to men and women; and
we have to keep in mind that men and women are wired differently. One should be
very aware not to clone the emotional nature of the other person and this will
be a huge mistake because God made us to be different. It is very important to
keep the main goal as to attentively communicate with each other and expose
from each perspective the issues that come along, very carefully. This is very
important especially in a marriage relationship and the merging perspective is
often a better one than the conclusion of just the man's or the woman's initial
opinion.
Masculine:
In general very strong physically, more realistic, logical, objective, literal,
aggregate thinker, slow to judgement, and doers or very task oriented.
Feminine: In general are physically weaker, more idealistic, intuitive, subjective to feelings, tangential, grasps details, quick to judgement, and very family oriented.
In general one can say: there are two worlds in our thought life impacting decisions. One is the world of objective reality, and the other is the world of subjective world of imaginations. The world of imaginations includes speculating on the intent and motives of others and when unguarded imaginations inflict havoc and one had to be really careful.
Feminine: In general are physically weaker, more idealistic, intuitive, subjective to feelings, tangential, grasps details, quick to judgement, and very family oriented.
In general one can say: there are two worlds in our thought life impacting decisions. One is the world of objective reality, and the other is the world of subjective world of imaginations. The world of imaginations includes speculating on the intent and motives of others and when unguarded imaginations inflict havoc and one had to be really careful.
Having said the above and the different wiring for
male and female it was observed that in the realm of objective reality, the
wife has an indispensable role. It is observed and research has shown that men
find their wives often have better judgement in matters of detail. This is a
gift of God, and that should not be despised, because it will be like despising
the Giver of all gifts. There are many examples in the Bible which shows that
men and women are different in the way they deal things, but they are empowered
by God differently and uniquely to accomplish God’s purposes in this earth. For
example if Moses's father is insensitive to the detail as many men are and had
woven the basket that floated baby Moses, the child could have drowned!
“But these lapses [of being in love while married] will not destroy a marriage
between two "decent and sensible" people. The couple whose marriage
will certainly be endangered by them, and possibly ruined, are those who have
idolized Eros. They thought he had the power and truthfulness of a god. They
expected that mere feeling would do for them, and permanently, all that was
necessary. When this expectation is disappointed they throw the blame on Eros
or, more usually, on their partners. In reality, however, Eros, having made his
gigantic promise and shown you in glimpses what its performance would be like,
has "done his stuff." He, like a godparent, makes the vows; it is we
who must keep them. It is we who must labor to bring our daily life into even
closer accordance with what the glimpses have revealed. We must do the works of
Eros when Eros is not present. This all good lovers know, though those who are
not reflective or articulate will be able to express it only in a few
conventional phrases about "taking the rough along with the smooth,"
not "expecting too much," having "a little common sense,"
and the like. And all good Christian lovers know that this programme, modest as
it sounds, will not be carried out except by humility, charity and divine
grace; that it is indeed the whole Christian life seen from one particular angle”. C.S Lewis.-The Four Loves, p. 114-115.
Wise men respect the view of their wives and
respect their wives' talents, and when they listen to their wives' talents they
gain better perspectives and often gain superior understanding. It is also
important that husbands speak to their wives in softer tone and even when
spoken in kindness loud words can be misconstrued and they seem heavier to a
women’s heart than men. This is how they are wired and the Bible says they are
weaker vessels. In the subjective realm of imagination and speculation their
roles are reversed. Men in general have the God given capacity and
responsibility to be a sponge that diffuses the speculation of their wives.
Some times when the husband says to his wife we will wait on the Lord, it will
be wiser and safer for her to respectfully listen to him. Below are some quotes
from C.S Lewis to think through for God’s glory and for the blessing of
humanity.
“Christian writers (notably Milton) have sometimes spoken of the
husband's headship with a complacency to make the blood run cold. We must go
back to our Bibles. The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is
to her what Christ is to the Church. He is to love her as Christ loved the
Church—read on—and give his life for her” (Eph. V, 25).- C.S Lewis. -The Four Loves, p. 105
“The sternest feminist need not grudge my sex the crown offered to it
either in the Pagan or in the Christian mystery. For the one is of paper and
the other of thorns”. - C.S Lewis. -The Four Loves, p. 106
If we look at the world we often can tremble at the
things which are happening and both believers and non-believers are equally
shocked and divided over gender roles and there is a craving for everyone for a
safety net. When the Word of God talks about gender roles it is focused on
Church and the family and that is my focus here. Starting from business, to
politics, healthcare, law enforcement, science, research and development, art
and education, there is no safety net for repentance and forgiveness when one hurt
the other. There is no covenantal commitment outside the church and the family
and indeed church and family offers that safety net which will free us. Because
of Christ and Church relationship as is written in the Word of God and in Eph:
5:21-33; the safety net will free us to swing this trapeze with confidence. If
one member falls, the body of believers will be there to catch us and will help
those who are weak to climb up and move forward once again.
Men and
women are a team of separate but necessary for smooth functioning and if they
would dance together for the common goal that will be amazing. This is almost
like two wings of an aeroplane not the same but corresponding beautifully and
taking people to different destinations. My question here would be which wing
is more important? I would say we need them both to play their separate roles
for the common cause.
“In regular society we are all people, citizens, soldiers, employees,
gender neutral descriptions. We march in lockstep wearing the uniforms of
our social or political status. What a gift it is, then, to come into the
home or the church and done our ball gowns and tuxedos. Some of us dance
forward, some of us dance backward. This is a gift from God not to be
despised or to be taken lightly”. - C.S. Lewis.
Book
Reference:
1. Allender, Dan and
Tremper Longman III. Intimate Allies. Carol Stream.: Tyndale House
publishers, 1995.
2. Jay E. Adams. Critical Stages of Biblical
Counseling, Finishing Well, Breaking Through, Getting Started. New Jersey: Zondervan, 2002.
3. Jay E. Adams. How to Help People Change, The Four-step Biblical Process. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.
4. John F. MacArthur, JR. Wayne A. Mack & The Master’s College Faculty. Introduction To Biblical Counseling, A Basic Guide To The Principles And Practice Of Counseling. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994.
5. Jay E. Adams. Lectures on Counseling. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978, p.192-203.
3. Jay E. Adams. How to Help People Change, The Four-step Biblical Process. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.
4. John F. MacArthur, JR. Wayne A. Mack & The Master’s College Faculty. Introduction To Biblical Counseling, A Basic Guide To The Principles And Practice Of Counseling. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994.
5. Jay E. Adams. Lectures on Counseling. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978, p.192-203.
6. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Women of
Destiny Bible. Women Mentoring women Through the Scriptures, A Spirit Filled
Life Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982.
7. Allender, Dan and Tremper Longman III. Intimate Allies. Carol Stream: Tyndale House publishers, 1995; pgs, 301, 346.
7. Allender, Dan and Tremper Longman III. Intimate Allies. Carol Stream: Tyndale House publishers, 1995; pgs, 301, 346.
8. Allender, Dan and
Tremper Longman III. Intimate Allies. Carol Stream: Tyndale House
publishers, 1995; pg331.
9. David A. Norris. Lasting
Success; Quality Decisions, Relationships and Untamed Emotions. Ames, Iowa:
Alpha Heartland Press, 2003.
Website
Reference:
williamsofield.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/gender-roles-in-the-bible
2007-11-02 · When the Bible talks about gender roles, it only talks about them
in the context of family and church. ... think that from a biblical perspective, ...
Gender
Roles In A Biblical Perspective For The Orthodox Christians In The American Context.
Written By: Fr. Dr. Jacob Mathew on Jun 12th, 2010 and filed under ...
Gender Issues from a Biblical Perspective: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. When dealing with
the historical relationships between the church and gender, ...
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