Introduction:
The Creator's purpose defines manhood and womanhood. This purpose allows us to correctly
understand God's will in this time of blurring of gender roles. This blurring violates God's will. I ask the reader to bear
with me in this essay since I will work for good balance in this subject. Bible references
are to the King James Bible. This is because it precedes the more recent, secularism,
naturalism, and unisexism, etc., which influence modern bibles, and because it was not published "for profit." Modern
versions "tone down" or falsely represent some passages on the subject of gender. Also, the KJB is public domain.
See my page -- Why the King James Bible? for more detail.
The origin of gender: In the beginning God ordained manhood and womanhood. These
are not just sexes, but kinds of lives. Manhood and womanhood are defined by the creator's intent and purpose and are expressly
stated and clearly illustrated in the Bible. God ordained manhood and womanhood to be clearly, distinctly, and publicly different,
noncompetitive, and complementary to each other. To confuse or blur these roles
is an insult to the Creator, a smear against his Holy Person, and a sin against his express will. An insult because God is
a perfect, wise, and beautiful Creator. A smear because manhood and womanhood represent aspects of His holy character. A sin
because He expressly created according to his perfect will; His creative act embodies His express will. Manhood and womanhood are neither afterthoughts nor sideline purposes of God, but are absolutely central
to his greatest purposes. They proceed from the nature of the being that he is. Manhood: God expressly created the man to be the image of God, and the woman to be a "help meet" (a helper exactly
suited for - Genesis 2:18) to, and for the man. Proper male and female roles result from God's perfect creative act, NOT
FROM THE FALL in the Garden of Eden. Thus, they are NOT changed with
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament. Feminism is not womanhood. It is rather the rejection of womanhood.
It is the refusal of the Great Creator's will. Genesis 1:31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and
the morning were the sixth day. Revelation
4:11: Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for
thy pleasure they are and were created.
God is a totally masculine being. Jesus,
who is God incarnate, the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person (Hebrews
1:3), is a male person. Hebrews 1:3, is the only Bible verse where the Greek word
"charakter" underlies the English word image. This
word means an exact copy. Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God. HE IS VERY GOD. Luke 2:7: And she brought forth her first-born son. Thus,
it is proved that God must be a masculine person. John 1:18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath declared him. John
14:9: Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.
Colossians 2:9: For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Thus, we should plainly observe that Jesus
Christ is Very God. Who could possibly be the "express image" of God except God Incarnate? Furthermore, it is impossible
that he be the "express image" of God without being, himself, also masculine; because God is masculine. Since Christ
is the "express image" of God, God must be a masculine being because Jesus is a masculine person. He is
also straight.
We cannot come to properly know, nor fittingly worship God except as the masculine being that He really
is. This should not be understood in some abstract or technical sense. The Apostle John was perhaps the one who was closest
to Jesus during his lifetime. He said of Jesus: 1 John 1:1-2: That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of Life... This was a hands-on, true-life,
experiential knowledge of this supreme man. Scripture continually and invariably speaks of God the "Father" and
God the "Son," not of the "mother" and "daughter." Christ is our only pure, visible, "role-model"
of manhood.
Also see my pages -- Father's Day is a Big Deal! and God is a Straight Male ...
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE OF
CAUTION: Genesis 1:26,27 and (5:1,2) are frequently misinterpreted. This verse says, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
The text very succinctly says that God made Adam, to be, "HIM"
- masculine -- in the "image of God," AND God, made the "THEM," Adam AND Eve,
male and female. HE DID NOT MAKE THEM IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. God is a STRAIGHT male!!
So, Eve is the COMPLIMENTARY PERSONAGE TO GOD -- NOT, ANOTHER IMAGE OF HIM!!
This is PROVEN in Genesis 2:7-25 -- this is the EXPANDED explanation!!
You always interpret the brief passage IN LIGHT of the EXTENDED passage, NOT the other way around!! But, a lot
of folks make this exact mistake with Genesis 1:26,27, and 5:1,2.
Genesis 2:7-25 plainly tells us God made the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground,
THEN, he made the Garden of Eden, THEN, he put the man in the Garden, THEN, God gave Adam instructions regarding the use of
the trees of the Garden. THEN, God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet
for him.
THEN, God has Adam name all the animals, and THEN, God makes a woman
out of Adam's rib, and brings her to Adam.
So, the Women was made for the critically important purpose of being Adam's "helpmeet."
SHE WAS NOT MADE TO BE ANOTHER IMAGE OF GOD. THIS IS BECAUSE GOD IS STRAIGHT, NOT GAY, AND
THE WOMAN IS THE COMPLIMENTARY PERSONAGE -- NOT HIS IMAGE, AS IS ADAM.
Womanhood: The woman is certainly a full member of Adam's race. Adam himself said in Genesis 2:23; This is now bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. How easy to overlook, that to the woman alone, God granted that very special privilege of childbearing.
On her alone God bestowed this most precious and miraculous gift. Genesis 3:20; And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
It
is terribly wrong to charge God with inequity and to say that he has endowed men alone with unique privilege. The woman is also like God in that she is a personal, rational, and moral being. She is triune too,
as is God, being body, soul, and spirit. Nevertheless, because God Almighty is
intrinsically, and unchangeably a masculine being, the Holy Bible teaches us that it is the man alone who is created, in the
full sense, the image of God. Womanhood is his compliment.
Womanhood is the complement to God's masculine personality, not the image
of it. God is heterosexual, not homosexual. Homosexuality is an abomination to God. I hasten to add, that in marriage the
woman completes the image of God. The "missing rib" of Adam is restored to its appropriate place. As the Lord mentioned in the Gospels, and as the Apostle Paul also remarks: Ephesians 5:31,32: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Conclusion: Manhood and womanhood
represent the deliberate creative purposes of a wise, wonderful and loving Creator. They are deliberately, differential and
complementary. As nuts and bolts fit together and form a completed purpose, so do manhood and womanhood. The Unisex movement
sabotages God's great purposes making these roles identical and competitive -- and SIN.
Other Information:
Read about Jesus Christ in the New Testament and take him as your own personal
Savior. This is the way to become a Christian, and receive God's gift of eternal life. Send us some e-mail if you have questions
about how to do this.
See my page
-- They Came to Jesus -- three men that came to Jesus for salvation in the New Testament. And also my page -- Why the King James Bible?
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The
concurrence of Christian writers of the past: In checking several Christian writers, I detect substantial concurrence with the doctrinal stance I have taken.
H. A. Ironside in his Addresses
on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, states: "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head,
forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God." God had said, "Let Us make man in Our image. But the woman
is the glory of the man." Before
I comment on his statement, please reconsider the following two verses of Scripture: Genesis
1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion...
1 Corinthians 11:7-9: For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch
as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman: but the woman
of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. Notice how lronside associates these two verses. He regards 1 Corinthians 11:7
as an inspired commentary on the Genesis 1:26 passage. The revealed truth is: it is the man only who is created in the image
of God. Please notice, also, that he is interpreting both Bible passages in a
very literal manner. This is refreshingly typical of "Brethren" expositors! It is also the demonstrated, interpretive
method of Jesus, Paul, Peter, etc. William
Kelly states, in his Notes on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, regarding
the same passages: "Thus the apostle points out man's standing directly as God's
image and glory: woman is man's glory, having no such place of public representation of
God (my emphasis). Whatever she has relatively is mediate and derivative.
Creation is the proof, not of course the ordinary course of things since. It is impossible, therefore, to form a right
estimate without looking to the beginning. If verse seven then refers to the origination of man and woman respectively, verse
eight sets forth the making of the woman for, and subsequently to, the man, as grounds of woman's subordination to man. It is easy to see that, where creation is denied, or even ignored, men naturally reason and labor
for their equality." Please note his view that the woman does not
publicly represent God as does the man, his stress on the fact of creation as determinative, and his consistently literal
approach to Biblical interpretation. My Methodology: My methodology in arriving at the views expressed
in this paper was to pray on the basis of God's promise in 1 John 5:14,15, asking God to show me the answer to the gender
roles question. This promise states in 1
John 5:14,15: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will,
he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
God DID answer me in and through the pages of the Bible, as I thought about
the gender roles question.
Now there are two qualifications in using this New Testament
promise. First, it is clear from the immediate context that the "we", means those who are in fact Christians. Since
I have personally taken, that Jesus Christ of the Bible, as my own Lord and Savior, I do qualify in this regard. Secondly,
one must really pray "according to HIS will." This means that
the objective one is seeking must be in God's will. It also means that one must be willing to accept, in advance,
God's answer, like it or not. One cannot say, "God give me your answer, and then I'll see if I want to accept it
or not." I accepted God's answer, in advance. The Bible tells us that it is very definitely God's will that we should know what he is like and how to properly serve
and worship Him. Thus, I am sure that I prayed "according to his will", thereby qualifying myself for the promise
in 1 John 5:14 & 13.
I was very
happy as I saw God begin to faithfully keep his part of this bargain in giving me "the petition that" I "desired
of Him." In the past 20 years God has given me some dozen or so, solid Biblical answers to my petition. He continues to add more. Not mere human mental ideas mind you, nor feelings, but always as the Holy
Spirit has guided me through the pages of the Bible. |
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Further discussion: Genesis 1:27: God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them. Genesis 5:1,2: In
the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; The following passage is an inspired commentary on the two preceding
Genesis passages. 1 Corinthians 11:7: For a man indeed ought not to cover
his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. Together, these Scriptures succinctly show that the Creator made the "them"
male and female, but only the "him" in the image of God. Genesis chapters 1 through 5 plainly show us that when God was finished creating
the man in the "image of God" that Adam and only Adam was there. The woman did not yet exist. Then,
God made the woman, Eve, to be a "help meet" (a helper exactly suited) for the man. He did NOT
create her to be another image of God. If the woman is the image and glory of God also,
then she should not cover her head either! But, the passage teaches that she should be
covered in certain circumstances.
The
word "image" should not be regarded as a technical term. It simply means a likeness. Like an image in a mirror or
a photograph. But, mere similarity does not always mean Imagery. Although a woman is a personal, rational, and tripartite
being, this does not make her the image of God, because she lacks masculine nature which is an inherent, intrinsic, aspect
of God's person and being.
To diminish or slight manhood or to confuse it with womanhood is an insult to, and a smear against
God himself. Deuteronomy 22:5 warns us against confusing the sexes even in respect to clothing. Deuteronomy 22:5: The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto
a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
Isaiah 3:12, in context, God regards it a national dishonor to have women in leadership
positions. Why? Because the man IS God's image. Isaiah 3:12: As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.
Ephesians 5:33 says a woman is to have "fear" or "reverence" toward
her husband as toward God. This is appropriate because he is the "image of God." She is showing her true reverence
for God himself. Furthermore, this fits the context as it makes the comparison
with Christ and his Church. Ephesians 5:33: Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife, see that she reverence her husband. Note: Modern versions falsify this and other passages.
They wrongly use "respect" in place of "reverence." A wife's
reverence is due the image of God the man bears. In passing, note carefully the differential and complementary nature
of God's commands for the two sexes. The man's deep, and sincere love encourages
his wife's obedience, while her wholehearted obedience inspires her husband to an even deeper and more intimate love for her.
So, God's instructions are differential and complementary, and will produce harmony.
In 1 Timothy 2:12 Paul speaking, as
an apostle, and under the direct commission of Jesus Christ, states that he does not allow a woman to be in a place of authority
over a man because of God's deliberate order in creation, nor to teach, because of a greater or more general proneness to
deception on the part of women. The old English word "suffer" meaning
to allow. 1 Timothy 2:12-15: I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman,
being deceived, was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing. Observe that the context does not limit itself to religious situations
only. Paul bases his teaching on the very nature and purpose of God's creative act, and on events in the Garden of Eden.
The King James word "usurp" correctly connotes the illegitimate nature of this
kind of situation. This is the only place in the Bible it is used.
Let the reader note, also, from chapter
one of Matthew that the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ, heir to the throne of Israel, passes from King David, generation
to generation, only through male persons. There were no legitimate female monarchs on the throne of Israel. 1 Corinthians 14:34-37: Let your women keep silence
in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the
law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual,
let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But why is it a shame? Why should she ask her husband at home? The "image of God" a man bears, is far more important than other considerations. For the woman to speak,
would be as though she presumed to teach God himself. It also openly demonstrates independence from, and insubordination to
her "head," the man, and thus to God himself. The reader may also review I Corinthians 11, and Ephesians 5.
Does the woman's
subordination imply that she is inferior? Many people equate these two words, but God does not! God the Son,
Jesus Christ, is perfectly subordinate to God the Father. AND EQUAL! John 5:17-18: But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore
the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God. John 10:30: I and my father are one.
Hebrews 1:8-10: But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever: a scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation
of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: Here in Hebrews
1 we find God the Father directly addressing God the Son as "O God" and as "Lord." Hebrews 5:8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
None
of us has anything that he has not been given. So, there is no justification for pride or aire of superiority. God takes his "image" very seriously. He prescribes capital punishment for murderers. Why?
Genesis 9:6: Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the Image of God made he man. Murder of a man ISan
attack against God Himself. Murder of women is wrong with God too (1 Timothy 1:9 and other passages). A great aspect of this "image of God" is prominent
in human fatherhood. In the lovely and well-known "Lord's Prayer" --- in Matthew 6:9-15, Jesus teaches us that we
should begin our prayers with Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. My children
will come to know this invisible, infinite, holy, Lord God primarily from me, their earthly father. A solemn
responsibility of a father is to faithfully represent God the Heavenly Father, to his child's young mind. In dealing with our
children, we should ask himself, "how does God deal with me as one of his own children?"
A human father bears the image of God the Father to his
children, and provides the experiential basis for their concept of God. I recall hearing
a very sad story from a man who used to minister in the California prison system. As he would begin to pray with some of the
men, "Our Father.. .etc.," he found that some of these men were loath to view God as their "father." For
many of these men, the only father they had ever known had been a horrible man who came home drunk, and beat them, beat their
mothers, and deserted them. We see how tragically God's image was hurt. We can only imagine how handicapped these men must
have been in their early conception of God.
This doctrine I am teaching is by no means hung on the interpretation of a
few Bible passages. Throughout the entire Bible, God is "he" and Israel is "she." Likewise,
Jesus, "God the Son," is "he," and the Church, the bride of Christ, is "she." God the Father and God the Son are totally masculine as are any Father and Son. There is no part of
either one that is feminine. The same is true of God the Holy Spirit although that is harder to demonstrate. The great love
stories of God the Father and God the Son for their respective women (Israel, Church) occupy huge portions of the Bible. They give us great insight into God's purpose in the institution of manhood, womanhood, marriage,
and family relationships. They provide the Biblical context in which every unclear passage dealing with men and women's gender
roles must be correctly interpreted.
I am convinced that the woman surely plays a most crucial role in this representation of God the Father
and his great purposes. It is her contrasting, complementary, life of true womanhood that gives visibility to, and perfects
God's image. An artist employs the principle of contrast in colors and shades to project his great thoughts to the canvas.
Similarly, the playwright employs the contrast and interaction of his created
characters to introduce his great ideas. And, the Creator, himself, employs the contrast of two distinctly, publicly, different,
kinds of lives to perfect his purposes. If these proper gender roles be neglected or perverted, then the Creator's special
purposes may be damaged or subverted. Our dear God is the consummate artist and master playwright.
As previously noted,
the Bible states, In the image of God created He Him. Then almost immediately: Genesis 2:18: It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
Genesis 2:21-23: 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; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken
from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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. This tells us something rather intimate about God Himself, and explains his own pursuit of an appropriate
"her." The woman is fashioned from the man's rib, a place very near and dear to his heart, and
an item indispensable if he is to be complete, happy and whole.
She is, in a sense, the image of the missing rib in the side of God. She represents, that is, true
womanhood represents, that precious and special being that God himself could fall in love with and marry. The "Pearl
of Great Price" in Matthew 13, takes on new meaning. John 3:16, and a myriad other passages assume so much greater significance.
Matthew 13:45,46: Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went
and sold all that he had, and bought it. John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
We may begin to understand the reason for, or nature of, this
deep love, by contemplating the significance of this missing rib. The woman completes the image of God; She is the missing
rib. Throughout the Bible are verses that hint of this great significance. Example: 1
Peter 3:4: The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price.
Surely womanhood embodies that which God, being the masculine person, treasures in his
"her." What a very high calling and great privilege for the man to be
the image of the Living God. And likewise, what a very high calling and great privilege for a woman to be the complement,
the "helpmeet," and to reflect this precious "missing rib" aspect of God's Holy character. How vile and
dark the unisex philosophy and lifestyle which refuses and rejects these beautiful callings, and mocks at God's perfect, holy,
and lovely ways. May God give us the will, and grant us the courage to use every opportunity to speak out for his most precious
truth. |
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SOME OTHER POINTS: Opposites attract. Nuts and bolts fit together. They must be different to be attractive and complementary, AND, they
must be designed that way. Tea, lemon, and sugar go together in a summertime drink. Male and female
are differential and complementary bodies, being so made by the Creator. Manhood and womanhood are differential complementary
purposes and lives. If God's design and instructions are disregarded, things go wrong. Like things are not be complementary, but competitive. Competition destroys intimacy. You just don't share your deepest
thoughts, hopes and desires, with a competitor. Unisex is sabotage to marriage.
Suppose Congress were to repeal the Law of Gravity. Now that would be absurd you say! Yes, but suppose
they did. Suppose that a bill duly signed by Congressional authorities and by the President, repealing the Law of Gravity,
really did go into full legal effect. Then, suppose that some people believed the government and actually stepped out of upper
stories of buildings, or out of flying airplanes. Obviously they would suffer great harm, because this act of Congress would
be just a lie.
So it is with the current
situation. The distinction between sexes is a God ordained fact. Any law attempting to negate God's natural laws is a lie.
But some people are believing it to be true. One popular female writer and speaker, commenting on the problem, said, "The
rules have changed, but men have not." But truth is that God has NOT changed the rules! Congress has no legitimate authority
nor power whatsoever to alter God's rules! It may be perfectly legal, but it is simply a lie.
Unfortunately our public
schools, forced by just such laws, and even many Christian schools through ignorance, have badly erred in rearing
boys and girls identically. We should rear boys to manhood, and raise girls by distinctly different customs appropriate to
their special calling of womanhood. Satan has laid a trap for us. He knows that if he
can make men and woman as identical as possible, he can destroy or damage marriages, homes, and churches.
Like poles of magnets repel. Opposites attract. You have
sexual opposites, but social unisex. A male, man, unwittingly marries a person who is a female, "man." She is a
female, but has been bred, groomed, and conditioned to be a man on the inside. The pathetic result is a confusing, frustrating,
and conceivably failing marriage. We hear of the love-hate relationship. Like things repel, opposites attract.
In the modern movies boy meets girl, they may even sleep
together, but they cannot seem to live together. Roles must be different to be complementary and attractive. Competition destroys intimacy. You simply don't share your deepest thoughts and secrets with a competitor,
because he or she might use that information against you.
I heard, some years ago, in the news media, regarding a Hollywood movie production; that it was difficult
to find an actor and actress these days who still knew how to play the dramatic, truelove, role that
this movie required. It seems they have played that old love-hate relationship too long. To
raise boys and girls identically makes them naturally competitive, rather than complementary. This ruins intimacy. I fear that competitive athletics for girls ingrains a competitive spirit ruining them for true love.
Our schools, as major social engineers, and pushing the unisex philosophy, actually program children for DIVORCE. Like poles
of repel, opposites attract. |
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