Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

GCF Core Value # 4

  1. Saying Goodbye to Andrew and Chandra Peaker
  1. Core values sermon number 4
  1. Prayer for illumination
  1. Sermon introduction
  1. What does it mean to be a man?
  2. What does it mean to be a woman?
  1. Listen to this story from Feb 20th 2013 (Fox News website).
  1. “Last week the Massachusetts Department of Education issued directives for handling transgender students – including allowing them to use the bathrooms of their choice or to play on sports teams that correspond to the gender with which they identify.
  2. The 11-page directive also urged schools to eliminate gender-based clothing and gender-based activities – like having boys and girls line up separately to leave the classroom.
  3. Schools will now be required to accept a student’s gender identity on face value.
  4. “A student who says he/she is a girl and wishes to be regarded that way throughout the school day and throughout every, or almost every, other area of her life, should be respected and treated like a girl,” the guidelines stipulate.
  5. According to the Dept. of Education, transgender students are those whose assigned birth sex does not match their “internalized sense of their gender.”
  6. They said gender nonconforming students “range in the ways in which they identify as male, female, some combination of both, or neither.”
  1. Our culture is very confused on this issue. Hopefully our culture’s confusion on what it means to be a man or a woman will not rub off on the church. But the cultural pressure is very strong. Which is why the topic of Biblical manhood and womanhood is one of our six core values. We must take a stand and proclaim the truth of God’s word here since,
  1. the health of marriages and families are at stake.
  2. the happiness of boys and girls is at stake.
  3. the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake.
  1. Our first core value says that we are committed to the glory of God, cross of Christ, pursuing humility, …
  2. Our fourth core value states that “we are committed to Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” What does this mean?
  1. Male and Female are equal invalue but different in function
  2. Male and female are equal in value.
  3. Male and female are different in function.
  1. Explain terms complimentarian and egalitarian
  1. Relying on Grudem’s excellent material on this topic
  1. Male and female are equal in value
  1. Male and female are both image bearers of God indicating that they are equal in value
  2. Genesis 1:27 (ESV) — 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
  1. Male and female are saved the same way indicating that they are equal in value.
  2. Galatians 3:27–28 (ESV) — 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
  1. The husband is called to praise his wife indicating that they are equal in value.
  2. Proverbs 31:28–30 (ESV) — 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
  3. 1 Peter 3:7 (ESV) — 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
  1. Male and female both receive spiritual gifts indicating that they are equal in value.
  2. Acts 2:17–18 (ESV) — 17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
  1. Application
  2. Wherever Christianity goes it liberates women. Wherever Christianity is absent women are oppressed.
  3. Isalm- Saudi Arabia (faces covered, no driving, sequestered at home)
  4. LDS- “under the banner of heaven”
  5. Hinduism
  6. Bhudism
  7. Etc…
  1. Male chauvinism is sinful. Men are called to serve and protect women not suppress them or look down on them. They are equal in God’s eyes…
  1. Not only are male and female equal in value
  1. Male and female are different in their functions/roles.
  1. Different roles in marriage…
  2. A word to singles before we get going! I’m going to talk about marriage this morning.
  1. Before I do listen to these 8 statements on singleness from John Piper…
  2. Marriage, as we know it is not the final destiny of any human
  3. Jesus Christ, the most fully human person who ever lived was not married.
  4. The bible celebrates celibacy because it gives extraordinary opportunity for single- minded investment in ministry for Christ.
  5. The Apostle Paul and a lot of great missionaries after him have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God.
  6. The Apostle Paul calls singleness a gift from God.
  7. Jesus promises that forsaking family for the sake of the kingdom will be repaid with a new family, the church.
  8. God is sovereign over who gets married and who doesn’t. And he can be trusted to do what is good for those who hope in Him.
  9. Mature manhood and womanhood are not dependent on being married.
  1. Marriage is wonderful when done God’s way but being single does not meant that you are a second-class citizen in the kingdom of God.
  1. The role of the female in marriage
  2. I will deal with the role of the female first because in all four of the texts that mention male and female roles in marriage mention the female’s role first.
  1. Ephesians 5:22–33 (ESV) — 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, (as to the Lord). 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
  1. What does submission mean?
  2. (A Greek lexicon definition- obey, be obedient, or be under the control of).
  1. In context biblical submission means that a wife trusts God enough to humbly, gently, and meekly follow the leadership of her husband.
  1. Not so fast… The word for headship in Ephesians 5 means source not authority.
  2. “Head” (Gk. kephalē) here clearly refers to a husband's authority over his wife and cannot mean “source,” as some have argued. In fact, there is no sense in which husbands are the source of their wives either physically or spiritually. In addition, in over 50 examples of kephalē in ancient Greek literature, with the idea “person A is the head of person(s) B,” person A has authority over person(s) B in every case (see also 1: 22; Col. 2: 10; see note on 1 Cor. 11: 3). (ESV Study Bible)
  1. Not so fast… The context for submission in Ephesians 5 is mutual submission.
  2. “Absolute “mutual submission” is popular today, particularly where egalitarian philosophies are the rule. But what Paul meant by submitting “to one another” is explained through the particular examples of family relations (5: 22–6: 4), so it is likely that submitting to one another means “submitting to others according to the authority and order established by God,” as reflected in the examples that Paul gives in the following verses.” (ESV Study Bible)
  1. Not so fast… The different roles in marriage are a result of the fall and not part of God’s good design.
  2. Adam was created first then eve suggesting he had a leadership role (1 Tim 2:13)
  3. Eve was created as a helper for Adam
  4. Adam named Eve
  5. The human race was named man and not women
  6. The serpent came to Eve first subverting roles
  7. After the fall God holds Adam responsible
  8. Adam represent the human race even though Eve sinned first
  9. The fall distorted these relationships
  1. We have looked at the word submission in Eph. 5… but 1 peter 3:1-2 fills this out in more detail… (see also Col 3:18-19, Tit 2:3-5, 1 Cor 11:3)
  1. 1 Peter 3:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
  1. Submission does not mean giving up independent thought
  2. 1Pe 3:1 ESV Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,
  3. Peter knows that some of the women he is writing to have heard the gospel for themselves and responded to it savingly even though their husbands have not. In other words, they are more spiritual than their husbands and they are thinking independently of their husbands.
  4. In fact, many of you women are smarter and more spiritual than the men around including your husband.
  5. It is good for women to think critically, carefully, and independently. If not the women Peter addresses would have never become Christians.
  1. So submission does not mean giving up independent thought…
  1. Submission does not mean a wife should give up efforts to persuade her husband
  2. 1Pe 3:1 ESV Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,
  3. Peter urges women that are married to non-Christian men to persuade them to become Christians by their conduct. He is not saying that they should never use words but he is saying that their conduct is what will win them over to the message they have proclaimed with their words.
  1. Submission does not mean that a wife should do whatever her husband says
  2. In the culture of Peter’s day it was wrong for a wife to have different God’s than the God’s of her husband. This would be considered disobedience to the husband.
  3. The ESV study Bible says “the Greek historian Plutarch (c. a.d. 46–127) said, “A wife should not acquire her own friends, but should make her husband's friends her own. The gods are the first and most significant friends. For this reason, it is proper for a wife to recognize only those gods whom her husband worships”
  4. Peter is essentially telling these women to disobey their husbands in the arena of religion and obey Jesus instead. In fact, they should actually try to persuade their husbands to obey Jesus. A truly radical idea for the time.
  5. A women’s ultimate authority is not her husband but Christ.
  1. Submission does not imply inferiority
  2. Some people think that submission means that a wife is inferior to her husband. This is absolutely not true.
  3. Submission does not imply inferiority because Jesus submitted to his father.
  4. The bible teaches that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are equal in value, equal in worth, equal in power, and equal in overall God-ness.
  5. At the same time the Bible is clear that Jesus submitted to his father when he came to earth. And the Holy Spirit submits to the father and the son.
  1. 1 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV) — 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
  1. Submission is not a part of 1st century culture that we now ignore.
  2. I understand that women were supposed to submit to their husband in Bible times but that was an ancient & backwards culture and we don’t have to abide by those rules anymore.
  3. In response I would ask - where in this passage are we told that submission in marriage is cultural? Nowhere! In fact, the context of this passage indicates that submission in marriage transcends cultural boundaries by pointing us to Christ and the church and all the other areas where we are all called to submit.
  1. We have looked at the role of the female in marriage…
  1. Application
  2. All of us (male and female) are all called to a life style of submission
  3. Bosses (Col and 1 Peter)
  4. Government (Rom 13)
  5. Elders (Heb 13)
  6. Parents
  1. Wives, when submission seems tough look to Christ who submitted to his father in order to secure your salvation. He will give you the grace to follow his example.
  1. Wives you can submit to your husband not because you trust your husband (although hopefully he is trustworthy) but because you trust God.
  1. When you are submitting to your husband you are acting like God! what a noble thing!!!
  1. Single ladies, don’t marry a guy unless you respect him. If you don’t respect the way he spends his time or his money you should probably reconsider being with him. If you don’t respect his commitment to Christ and his church you should probably reconsider… it is going to get harder not easier once you are married.
  1. We have looked at the role of the female in marriage…
  1. The role of the male in marriage.
  1. Ephesians 5:25–33 (ESV) — 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
  1. How did Christ love his bride the church? He suffered and died for her!!! Elaborate.
  1. Pretty amazing that at the core of the most important event in the history of the world we see a paradigm for biblical manhood and womanhood.
  1. What does it look like to love our wives in a similar way?
  2. Changing diapers
  3. Vacuuming the carpets
  4. Discipling the children
  5. Watching less football…
  6. Doing the dishes
  7. Praying with your wife
  8. Leading the family in devotions
  9. Enforcing table manners
  10. Setting the overall vision and trajectory of the family.
  11. Romancing your wife (Reading Random Harvest)
  12. Guys, how are we doing here??? Maybe we should ask our wives over lunch.
  1. A snapshot of biblical manhood (Jason Farley helping his wife)
  1. One of the biggest hindrances to happy Christian marriage is Male passivity (going back to the Garden).
  1. Maybe you have the opposite problem. You micromanage your wife, controlling everything she does… expecting her to make you chicken pot pies while you watch football all day Saturday and Sunday. In the meantime you have not taken her on a date in three months.
  1. Are we making it easy for our wives to submit to us? Are you drawing her out, are you fully considering her needs and desires, are you praying for your wife and with our wife? Are you making sure that you understand your wife’s desires? Are you repeating them back to her to be clear???
  1. Here is a news flash… Just because you are the leader does not mean that you have the right to do everything your way! Don’t forget that you are called to put your wife’s needs and your family’s needs above your own. To balance this you must also remember that you are called to love Christ more than your family which means that sometimes you will be called to make decisions in order to Glorify Christ that your family may not appreciate right away.
  1. Male leadership in the home is summed up in three words
  2. Leadership
  3. Provision
  4. Protection
  1. We have discussed the different roles of male and female in marriage
  1. Male and Female also have different roles in church
  1. If it is true that a husband is called to lead his wife in the home then it makes sense that a men are called to lead in the church.
  1. Think about it this way. If men are called to lead their wives how could a man lead his wife if she is a pastor when he is all called to submit to his pastor (Heb 13)? He would be forced to submit to her thus subverting the order of Eph 5.
  1. Three key texts
  2. 1 Timothy 2:11–14 (ESV) — 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
  1. Qualifications for elders in 1 Tim 3 and Titus one specific that an elder/pastor must be male.
  1. There is not a single example in the Bible of a female pastor or elder.
  1. Summary-
  2. Male and female are equal in value yet different in function…
  3. This will test your doctrine of scripture!!!!
  1. Conclusion-
  2. What would it look like if the church of Jesus Christ applied the principals of Biblical manhood and womanhood as spelled out in Ephesians 5?
  1. We would see joyful,content, well cared for, and romanced, wives.
  2. We would see strong boys and girls secure in their sexuality.
  3. We would see an absence of marriage counseling.
  4. We would see an absence of domestic violence, divorce, and sexual abuse.
  5. We would see singles eager to get married because they saw what their parents had and they want to experience the same thing.
  6. We would watch children grow up to become productive members of society making a difference for the kingdom of God.
  7. We would probably see lost friends and neighbors come to know Christ as they see the fruit of Christian marriage.
  1. God’s plan for Biblical manhood and womanhood is beautiful.