God's View Of Women

God's View Of Women Pt 2 of 3
God's View of Women Pt 3 of 3


Women are not inferior to men, however, their role is often very misunderstood. In the beginning, God made everything good, but God clearly saw that something wasn't good. What was that something? Genesis 2:18 clearly identifies what wasn't good when God says, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him." The Hebrew word for helper that is used in this verse is ezer . It is pretty cut and dry that Adam was not complete and God blessed him with Eve. God was very strategic in designing women. The word used for "fit" is kenegdo, meaning "the opposite of him." God did not create women as inferior to men; He made them to be the perfect complement, an ideal match.

If God had created women to be less than men, then the Bible made a mistake when it describes two becoming one flesh (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5). If God had meant for women to be lesser than men, I think that verse, and the verses mentioning the creation of women, would read much differently. And though what the Bible says about women is often taken out of context or misconstrued, women truly are man's perfect complement. Truth is, the Bible is pretty clear that creation is not complete without women ,in the beginning of time, as well as today.

Ephesians 5:31-32 addresses the mystery of the oneness/uniqueness of man and women. We are separate and very different, but we become one. It is a mystery that is hard to grasp, but it was designed by God himself. I like The Living Bible Translation of Ephesians 5:31-32:

     That the husband and wife are one body is proved by the Scripture, which says, “A man must 

      leave his father and mother when he marries so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the

  two shall be one.” 

 

I know that concept is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way we are parts of the body of Christ.

 

Verse 32 is of particular interest to me. The union of man and women is an illustration of how we are the member's of the body of Christ.  This is difficult to understand, or as some translations put it, it is a mystery. God has revealed that mystery to us if we study His word. To understand how important women really are, we should understand just how important every believer is to God's kingdom (remember, marriage is an illustration of the body of Christ). Paul describes the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:26-27

          

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the

         members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

 

If God designed marriage to illustrate the way we are parts of the body of Christ, it is pretty clear that all of the body is equally important  and valued, and we are to respect and honor it all. That means it is impossible for the wife to be of lesser value. That view is simply not compatible with Scripture.

 

I've heard a lot about Ephesians 5:25. It is an important verse that instructs husbands to love their wives sacrificially like Christ loves the Church. But, similar to what often happens, the follow-up verse is neglected and gets deemphasized. In this case, when verse 26 is left out, we miss the whole context. Verse 26 tells us that we are to love our wives like Christ loves the church "So that He might sanctify her."  Woh dudes! That's quite the responsibility to have placed upon us.  When we as men accept our role and the responsibilities that come with it, we can begin to love our wives like Christ commands us to, and through that example sanctify her.  But the first step if we want to be men of God is that we have got to start understanding what is required of us. It's all in God's word. Let's start opening it up and fine tuning our understanding of His beautiful creation.