So let me just, for those of you who weren't here last week, just briefly review. We talked about the conceptions of manhood and womanhood that are in our culture and that have been in cultures in the past. And we saw that there are a lot of opinions about what manhood and what womanhood is. Then we kind of said why we're doing this study and we then kind of started the study with a look at man and women created in the image of God. And what we said was, is that's kind of the foundation for our discussion, that men and women have both been created in the image of God, which means that men and women are equal and have equal value, dignity, worth. And then right at the end, we kind of teased out some implications from that truth that apply to manhood and womanhood and to our lives. So today we're going to kind of continue that and go a little more in depth with this concept of manhood and womanhood. And this lesson today, I think my goal and my plan is that it will provide us with the foundation to then evaluate different positions we would take and different practices we would espouse. I mean, this today is foundational to manhood and womanhood, what we're going to cover today. So, let's get into that. Most of what I will say is on your handout, so kind of follow along as we go. Letter A there under number five, before we begin to talk about manhood and womanhood specifically, we have to know what men and women were created to be. So before we even get to the roles, we have to get to how God created us. We saw last week, God created male and female. And to do that, we need to open to Genesis 1. So please take your Bible and open to Genesis 1. Genesis 1, we're gonna look at these first three chapters of Genesis today. Someday, if the Lord wills, I'd like to do a series on foundations from these first three chapters because there's so much here in Genesis that really set the foundation for life and existence, if you will. So Genesis 1 through 3 teach us really two things about manhood and womanhood, okay? Genesis 1 through 3 teaches us two things, and these two things are kind of the pillar, the foundation of our discussion today. So, the takeaway as you leave today, I want you to have these two concepts in your mind that I'm going to mention here. And what this does is it forms the foundation of what we call complementarianism. It's a big word, it's what we believe here as a church, and these two pillars form that foundation. So, number one, male-female equality. Men and women are equal in the sense that they bear equal equally in God's image. Okay, that's the first pillar, the first foundation we have to embrace, we have to hold to. The second pillar and foundation is this, number two, male headship. In the partnership of two spiritually equal human beings, man and woman, the man bears the primary responsibility to lead the partnership in a God-glorifying direction. Now that statement hints a little bit at marriage, but as I mentioned last time, manhood and womanhood applies to not just marriage, but to singleness. And as we go on in the study, we're gonna tease out how we live, how we practice manhood and womanhood in all different areas of life, in marriage, in society, and in the church. Okay? So, the pillars, the thing that you need to grasp today is men and women are equal because they're both created in the image of God. And males, men have headship. That's the pillar. So let's look a little bit more at male-female equality. The fact that both men and women are created equally in the image of God is implied in Genesis chapter one. Look at Genesis chapter one, verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, 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 rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So both men and women are created in the image of God and both men and women are called to exercise this dominion, this authority upon the earth as we see in verse 28. So for purposes of this lesson, as we talk about male and female equality, we mean equality in the image of God, okay? That is, men and women are equal in person. And Pastor Jeff even alluded to this today, that we are to submit to the rulers and authorities as the human institutions because they are in the image of God. Same thing here, men and women are equal because they are in the image of God, and so they should be treated equally. But, I'm on letter B here, in another sense, men and women are not equal. They're not equal. What I've done, if you look there, there's a footnote, footnote 11. And footnote 11 talks about the Danvers Statement. And this was a statement that was developed by several evangelical leaders back in the late 1980s. And they came up with this statement. It's 10 propositions, 10 statements on biblical manhood and womanhood. And as we go throughout these lessons, I'm going to footnote these statements because what I want to show you is that what we're teaching here is not something new. It's not something that Grace Community Bible Church holds to. We do, but it's not only our church. This is embraced by hundreds of thousands of churches and Christians throughout the world. this truth stated here in the Danvers Statement. So, that's there for your information to kind of tie what we're saying back to this, I call it a confession statement of biblical manhood and womanhood. Alright, so men and women are equal in the image of God. Now the second pillar is male headship. Male headship. Now the first thing to note when we talk about male headship is we're not talking about male domination. I think a lot of people get scared about this idea of male headship because to them what that means is male domination. And men have abused their headship throughout the history of the world. We're going to get to that here. Male domination is an abuse of male headship. So for examples, number one, women being refused the right to vote, or own property, or work outside of the home. Or women just deemed as inferior to men. Or women who are abused by rape, female infanticide, or polygamy. Those are all abuses of male headship. Okay, so we're not talking about that. That's not male headship. What is male headship? Well, the passage that clues us into male headship is Genesis 2. So look at Genesis 2, and we're gonna look at verses 18 through 25. Genesis 2, 18 through 25. Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was his name. The man gave name to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field, but for Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, upon the man, and he slept. Then he took one of the ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib, which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. The man 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. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So the context of this scene is this. God creates man, he creates man first in Genesis 2 verse 7. And the fact that he creates man first is an indication of male headship. It's not a direct statement of male headship, but it's a pointer to man's headship. And he creates man and he sets them in the garden and he gives them two commands. He says, you can eat of any tree of the garden. That's command number one. Command number two is, you cannot eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They're in verse 17. And then we see verse 18. And then verse 19, what God does is before he makes Eve, he parades all the animals, before Adam, so that Adam can name them. And throughout this parade, I can picture Adam, you know, he's sitting there, he's seeing this parade of animals, he's drinking his lemonade, and he's watching all these animals go by, and he's thinking up names for these things. And he starts to realize something, right? There's no one like me, I mean, this thing has four legs. I have two legs. And he starts to see this thing has wings. I don't have wings, right? So he starts to get the clue that he is alone, that there's no one like him. And so God becomes the first anesthesiologist and surgeon, and he forms the helper out of man. And after Adam awakes, What does he do? He looks at this beautiful creature that he has made and he echoes what is the first words of humanity in verse 23. This is also the first country love song. It's a love poem, and they were in the country. So if you like country music, this is your rationale for it. I marvel at what God is doing here, what he did. He kind of sets Adam up, right? He sets him up. He said, I'm gonna make a helper suitable for man. And then he does this whole parade thing with his animals so that Adam would realize and recognize his aloneness. And, you know, I was thinking about this. What if God created Eve And then said, name all the animals. Then he created all the animals. You know, perhaps Adam would have been too distracted, you know, too distracted to do his work. I don't know. But God had a purpose in what he did. And I marvel at that. And the key verse I'm arguing for headship is here in verse 18. Look at verse 18. Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. So this is the first time we see God saying he's gonna make the woman, Eve. And this verse, there is an immense amount of paradox in this verse, as one writer noted. And I want you to see this. On the one hand, I'm on letter C, number one. On the one hand, the woman alone is suitable for the man. She alone is Adam's equal. A man can have a relationship with an animal, but only on the animal's level, right? There's a limit to the relationship. But with the creation of a woman, man now has a companion on his level. On the other hand, the woman we see here in verse 18 is to help the man. This means that though man and women are equal and they are to love each other as equals, they love each other differently. They love each other in different ways. That's a paradox there. There's this tension of equality and headship right here in this verse. Another way of looking at it here in the context of Genesis 2 is that woman was created from the man, which shows her equality, but she was created for the man, which shows the man's headship. Even still a paradox, Adam says that Eve is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, which implies equality. Yet Adam is the one that names the woman, which is another indication of male headship. Adam naming Eve in verse 23. Nevertheless, the woman, letter D, is to be the helper of man, not the other way around. And this is This is the created order from the all wise, all knowing God established before the fall. And that, when I say established before the fall in letter D, that's important. Why is that important? It's important because here's the rub. Here's the rub. Our friends on the other side, and there are people on the other side, they're called egalitarians. And I believe they're believers and Christians and they're on the other side. And what they say, their argument is, is that the roles of men and women came into play after the fall. That is their big argument. This is the difference. And what I'm arguing, what complementarians would argue, is that we have to hold equality and headship, we have to hold both of those together before the fall. Equality and headship are before the fall, not after the fall. And that's why I'm making this so, trying to make this clear. Now, letter E, does woman's design as a helper, her design from creation, imply inferiority? Well, not at all, and we've kind of already touched on this even last week. The Bible, number one, nowhere implies that different roles imply different worth. Think of God. God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person in the Trinity has different roles. The Son submits to the Father. The Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son. They have different roles, but it does not mean that the Son is less God than the Father or that the Holy Spirit is less God than the son and father. So they're different roles. And secondly, kind of related to this, men and women are superior and inferior to each other in different roles, but this is not a sign of their value as persons. So what I mean here is that there are things that men do better than women. And there are things that women do better than men. And there are roles that in no sense imply inferior or superiority. It's part of the roles that God has given. That's the point of number two. Number three, if you look up, if you look at verse 18, it says, I will make a helper suitable for him. And that word suitable for him, it's one word in the Hebrew, and it means corresponding to him. If you have a New American Standard Bible, you might have a footnote that says literally corresponding to, or equal and adequate to himself. So, being a helper, the point here is being a helper does not imply inferiority. Okay, even if we look at the word suitable for him, it's the same word if you're familiar with the King James. The King James says, I will make a help meet. That word meet is the word suitable for him. So a helper suitable for Adam. Now, let me just point out again, all these, what we've seen so far, these pillars, are pre-fall. They're God's created order. And that's very, very important to see. Now, the question is, what happened with the fall? And that's this last point that I want to get to, because the fall did take place. What happened? What happened in the fall? What effect did the fall have on male headship? That's interesting what happens here. Interesting what happened. Let's look at Genesis three and you're there. So let me read Genesis three. I'm probably gonna read down through verse. I'll just start reading in Genesis three, verse one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, indeed has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden. And let me actually skip down. We know this part here, the devil, he comes and he tempts Eve. Well, let me actually, let me just read verse two. The woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat from it or touch it or you will surely die. The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die. For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw the tree was good for the food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God, and on verse 8, They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you will go and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. To the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your pain and childbirth. In pain, you will bring forth children. Yet your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. Then to Adam, he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil, you will eat of it all the days of your life. both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground because from it you were taken from for you are dust and to dust you shall return so let's just stop there so when we look at the fall We can look at it from two perspectives, man's perspective and God's perspective. From man's perspective, there was corruption from the created order, a distortion from the creation. So I think to highlight this is to look at what didn't happen. What didn't happen? Letter A, Adam being with his wife, he was with his wife most likely at the time of temptation, He lovingly led her not to eat of the fruit. No, that didn't happen that way. Letter B, after Eve ate, the eyes of both of them were open. Nope. Nope, didn't happen. Letter C, God summoned both Adam and Eve to give an account. Nope. Adam takes responsibility for not leading his wife. No. So what did happen? Well, the exact opposite of what I just said. Adam being with his wife at the time of temptation, ate of the fruit too. He sinned too, he didn't leave his wife. She took from it and ate, and she gave to her husband with her and he ate. After Adam ate, of the fruit." This is another, it's a subtle point to Adam's headship. After Adam ate, the eyes of both of them were opened. Then after Adam ate, the eyes of both of them were opened, Genesis 3, 7. Letter C, God summoned only Adam to give an account, not Eve, which is again an implication of male headship. Then the Lord God called to the man and said, where are you? In letter D, Adam blames Eve for his sin. He didn't take responsibility, he blamed Eve. The man said to God, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate. So that's what happened from man's perspective. What happened from God's perspective? We've kind of hinted at this already, but from God's perspective, the creation-based sex roles are still in force. God is still holding Adam accountable. Look at number one. God's rationale for Adam's punishment was because Adam listened to his wife and ate. Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten from the tree. Listen, God doesn't say because you ate. He doesn't say because you ate. He says, because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate, right? In other words, Adam abandoned his headship. which God held Adam accountable for. And number two, God pronounced death on Adam and not Eve. Genesis 3.19. He pronounced death on Adam, though Eve would die too. It was Adam who represented the race. So as he sins, so does the race. And, you know, Paul picks up this argument from Genesis 3 in Romans chapter 5. Adam is blamed for the fall, not Eve. So what are the consequences of the fall for manhood and womanhood? What are the consequences of the fall? So we have male-female equality, we have male headship, and then we have the fall happen. What happens to manhood and womanhood? Well, from womanhood, we see the first consequences that she's going to suffer in childbearing. Genesis 3.16, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children. So childbearing was not the punishment, it was the pain of it. Letter B, she will suffer in relation to her husband. Look at Genesis 3, 16 again. To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children, yet your desire will be for your husband. And most likely this means that a woman will have the desire to usurp authority over her husband. This interpretation defines desire the same way it is used in Genesis four, verse seven, where it is said of Cain, and it's or sin's desire is for you, but you must master it. So just as sin had its desire to have its way with Cain, so Eve will desire to have her way with her husband. Right? So in other words, what I'm saying is women's liberation movements happened at the fall. It's not anything new. It happened at the fall. It started with the fall as a consequence of Adam and Eve's sin. So Eve is gonna seek to rule over her husband and not submit to her husband. What is the consequence for man? Well, he will suffer in his work. We see this in verses 17 through 19. I'm not gonna read that, we already read that. So work was not the punishment, it was the pain of work. That was the punishment. And number two, letter B here, he will suffer in relationship to his wife. Okay, so the fall brought in this relation, relational conflict between man and woman. In verse 16, it says, And I think what this means is that the woman will seek to assert the authority of the man, and the man will counter with ungodly domination, not godly leadership. In other words, male domination and chauvinism began at the fall. And we've seen it throughout the history of the world. Number three, the effects of the fall. Just said that, have been seen throughout the history of the world. Even today, as it relates to the distortions of manhood and womanhood. I've listed some here. Pornography. Seeing women as objects. Distortion of manhood and womanhood. prostitution, polygamy, sex trafficking, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, rape, incest, seduction, on and on we could go. All of these are distortions of biblical manhood and womanhood. And brothers and sisters, we have all been affected to some degree by the fall in our relationships. Some of you come from broken homes. Some of you come from homes where you were abused physically, emotionally, spiritually. You come from broken marriages. All these things are because of the effects of the fall upon manhood and womanhood. But, letter D, this is the good news. In all this mess we find ourselves in, there is hope. There is hope. Through the second Adam, the second man, Jesus Christ, the creation order of male-female equality and male headship is being restored. Turn over to Romans 5. Let's read this together, Romans 5. This is such a marvelous passage. Romans 5, we see Jesus restoring manhood and womanhood. Romans 5, verse 12. Therefore, just as through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. For unto the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over the rest who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who was the type of him who was to come. I know this is really deep, confusing. Look at verse 15. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one man The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand, the judgment arose from the one transgression, resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions, resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. God, listen, God is remaking us. to what we were intended to be before the fall. He's remaking us as men and women in his image. And so what we're gonna do, starting next time, we're gonna look at what does it mean to be a man and not a woman, or a woman and not a man? And I say, what does it mean to be a man and not a woman? Because if I say, what does it mean to be a man And I stop there, you could maybe say, well, I don't know, courage, boldness, bravery. Those things are what it means to be a man. And then, OK, what does it mean to be a woman? And you could say, courage, boldness, bravery. So I'm saying we need to ask the question, what does it mean to be a man and not a woman, right? Or a woman and not a man. And I wanna say that this, when we start to get into this next week, we're gonna spend two lessons on manhood and two lessons on womanhood. It's not an issue of competency or ability at all. There are so many things that my wife is better at than I am. But yet I am called to be the leader of my home in our marriage. The issue is not one of competency. The issue is one of what God intended you to be as a male or a female. Briefly review, we got these two pillars that we've got to hold to. Male-female equality, male headship before the fall. The fall comes, it distorts the headship of man, the roles that God set up, but Jesus is restoring manhood and womanhood. Okay, so what I want to do now, any questions? We only have three