Genesis chapter 1. Last week we were in Genesis chapter 50 and concluded our series on the book of Genesis as we had gone through it verse by verse and chapter by chapter. And I want to give you some idea of what I'm now doing, why I'm doing it, and where we're going. We're in a little bit of an interim period between now and Advent season, which is December prior to Christmas, the four Sundays prior to Christmas. Historically, over the course of our 13 years, we have done an Advent series here, and I expect to do so as well. So the question is what to preach between now and then. In the new year, I'm going to preach a few sermons by way of introduction in the year. The elders have asked me to do this on our mission, on our vision as a church, and on our mission statement, which is in the bulletin for you. So I will be doing that, and we are hoping to, in our question and answer session after worship, Have that be an interactive time between us as leadership and you as congregation, where we can mutually encourage and exhort one another to be about fulfilling this mission. So hopefully that will be something that is not only edifying, but stimulating, encouraging, and equipping, actually helpful to you. After that, my intention is to preach through the whole Bible. For those of you that have been here for any amount of time, you might respond, it sounds like you do that no matter what you do. Well, that may well be. But what I'm planning on is actually preaching a sermon on each book of the Bible and going through, we've done Exodus now, beginning with Exodus and go through Revelation, so the remaining 65 books of the Bible, which would take us well into 2017. So you have the preaching. layout or program for this pulpit all the way into 2017. You know where we're going. But that brings us to today. Why are we looking back at Genesis chapter 1? Well, the task of a preacher is to exegete his audience as well as exegete the text. And while it is certainly the practice and the conviction that the pope ought to preach through the Bible, books of the Bible, serially, that is, verse by verse, and if you've been here any amount of time, you know that that is what we have done here, as we did in the book of Genesis. At times, there have been warrant, at times in the history of our congregation, to pause for a series that is more topical in nature. And having exegeted this congregation and seeing the needs of the hour in this congregation, While not wanting to be dictated by every need that presents itself in the life of God's people in the congregation, I do think it's appropriate, given our composition, to preach on the subject of relationships. And I do this with the intention of preaching on it. I do not want the pulpit to be turned into a lectern to just teach on it, and you can judge for yourselves after this morning's sermon as to whether I have done that adequately. But I am intended to preach on relationships, and the reason why in exegeting our congregation There are a number of people in our congregation that are in a variety of different relationships. Many are young and single. Many are desirous of being married. Many are at later stages of singleness. Many may or may not be married. Many have been married and are not now married. And we need a clear word from God on how to address that. Early on in the life of our congregation, we emphasized, because we had a lot of young men, we emphasized that the men needed to get married and have kids. Well, a lot of people did that, and we have a lot of children running around the congregation today, and I'm very thankful that God has answered our prayers in that way. And that may be what God has in the future for some, if not many, of you. But I want to provide some direction to you from the pulpit in preaching on this. So I'm going to be preaching a foundational sermon this morning, Relationships and Biblical Perspective. Next week, looking at Viva La Difference, in Ephesians chapter 5, the difference between men and women in relationship. Then looking at singles, all right? What does the Bible have to say to those that are in a state of singleness? And there are a variety of states of singleness, right? There are those who have been married and aren't, either by death or by divorce. There are those that are not married who have the gift of singleness. There are those who are not married and desire to be married. There are those that are young and single. There are those that are old and single. And we want to have a word from God with respect to all of this. So some idea of where we're going in the remaining weeks between now and Advent. But if you would with now turn to God with me and ask for his blessing on his word this morning. Lord God and Heavenly Father, we turn to you and we know that we need a word from you for the life that we live. And we pray now that you would give clarity to your servant and that you would give clarity of your word to your people, that it might be a lamp unto their feet and might guide them in these times in this place. And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Genesis chapter 1 then we'll read verses 26 through 31. Then 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 birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And 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 heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth. thus far the reading of God's Word. Three points to the sermon this morning. First of all, men and women are equal. Men and women are equal. Secondly, men and women are different. And thirdly, God, the gospel, and relationships. Men and women are equal. Men and women are different. God, the gospel, and relationships. And sorry, I couldn't come up with alliteration, so I usually do. All right, first of all, men and women are equal. Let there be no mistake that the Bible teaches the full equality of men and women. And yet it does so without falling prey to what we have as the predominant, prevalent philosophical teaching in our day of egalitarianism. All right? So, men and women are equal. Look at me at just three things here. First of all, verses 26 and 27, where God says, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Men and women are equally the image of God. Men and women are equally the image of God. Verse 26, Let us make man in our image and our likeness. Verse 27, So God created man in his own image, and the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. All right? Men and women are equally the image of God. I hope this doesn't insult your intelligence, but it needs to be said. Secondly, verse 28, men and women are equally given the cultural mandate, otherwise known as the dominion mandate. Look at verse 28, and God blessed them. That is, male and female, those whom he had made in his own image. God blessed them. And God said to them, male and female, they are both equally given this mandate. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heaven, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. This is familiarly known as the cultural mandate, all right, that man was to be productive in his created task. He was to develop the the creation that God had put him in, and to produce or develop culture. Now, just to be clear on what we're talking about here, that's a very freighted term. It's one which could be explained at some length, but let me try to make it simple for you. Tomatoes are created. Pizza sauce is culture. So it's what you make out of what's created. So you have creation and you have culture. But the dominion mandate, or the cultural mandate, was to do this. But it was given to both of them. Male and female was created in the image of God. So they're equally the image of God. Men and women are equally given the cultural mandate then don't turn to this, but in 1st Peter chapter 3, men and women are equal in salvation. In 1st Peter 3, where Peter is talking to Christian husbands about their responsibility as husbands, he says, likewise, husbands live with your wives in an understanding way. It's very important, and we'll have cause to comment on this later. Very important, men, that you understand your wife. All right? For those of us that have been married a little bit of a while, that's not an easy task. All right? It's not easy for women to understand men, men to understand women. But men are enjoying particularly to live with wives in an understanding way. All right? More on that another time. Showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life or of eternal life. So men and women are equally created by God, equal the image of God, equally entrusted with the cultural mandate, and men and women are joint heirs of eternal life, are equal in salvation as well. Let there be no misunderstanding with respect to the teaching of the Bible that men and women are considered equal in the eyes of God. Now, this is critically important if I might digress for a brief moment to show you why this is important and why it has been important historically. Christianity is responsible for raising the status of women wherever it has gone. And feminists, women's fib, like to say that Christianity is oppressive and it crushes women. This is seeking to rewrite history. The fact that men and women, the teaching of the Bible, are equal in creation, equally given the cultural mandate, equal in salvation, has raised the status of women wherever Christianity has gone. And the result has been freedom and dignity for women. Contrast this with Islam, if you will. Some of you who pay attention to cultural matters uh... might have uh... heard uh... this uh... muslim woman who lives under a fatwa that is a threat of death uh... by uh... islamic teachers uh... she was in the netherlands and she was advocating for the freedom and dignity of women in muslim lands and she was threatened with death She wrote a book titled Caged Virgin, an emancipation proclamation for woman and Islam. Having lived in Saudi Arabia for three years, I can tell you from personal experience and personal testimony that women are not considered equal in Islamic countries. And I read to you from Mr. Schmidt, whose book Under the Influence, How Christianity Transformed civilization writes on women as a result of Christianity receiving freedom and dignity. He says in Saudi Arabia women are barred from driving an automobile. They're also largely barred from education. In one news report, women in Iran are forbidden to wear lipstick, and if they do, they can be arrested and jailed. Whether in Saudi Arabia or in many other Arab countries where the Islamic religion is adhered to strongly, a man has the right to beat and sexually desert his wife, all with full support of the Koran, which says, and I quote, Surah 438. Men stand superior to women, but those whose perverseness ye fear, admonish them and remove them into bedchambers and beat them. But if they submit to you, then do not seek a way against them." Sura 4, 38. This command is the polar opposite of what the New Testament says regarding a man's relationship with his wife. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and sacrificed himself for her. One scholar of ancient Rome has aptly said, the conversion of the Roman world to Christianity brought a great change in women's status. Another scholar has expressed that even more succinctly, the birth of Jesus was the turning point in the history of women in history. Christianity has resulted in the freedom and dignity of women wherever its influence has gone. Just think of John chapter 4, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. That is a cultural no-no in Jesus' day. You did not talk to a woman alone, and yet Jesus talk to her, and a Samaritan woman at that. Or Martha, who is taught by Jesus. This was unheard of prior to the influence of Christianity. Women were witnesses to the resurrection and the first evangelists. who were told to go and tell, which was shocking in Bible times. And you have throughout the New Testament women followers of Paul, women followers of Jesus, and the prominence of women in the early church. It is no small thing to say that in the Bible men and women are entirely equal by God, considered entirely equal by God. No small thing. But the Bible also teaches that men and women are different. Now, here's where you may begin to have a little bit of a knot in your brain. How can this be so? How can A and B both be so, right? Well, we'll look at that momentarily. The Bible teaches that men and women are different with respect to their roles and their responsibilities. Look back at Genesis, and we couldn't read all the verses, but look at Genesis 2 and verse 18, if you're open to that. Genesis 2 and verse 18. Then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone." By the way, he's not talking about how Adam felt here. He's not talking about loneliness. Okay? Many have thought that. Okay? He's not talking about loneliness. He's not talking about Adam's emotional composition. All right? But notice it says, I will make him a helper fit for him. Now, we concluded reading Genesis chapter 1 verse 31 noting that God saw everything he had made and behold it was very good and yet in a perfect creation where there was no sin in a perfect harmonious relationship between God and Adam and Eve as image bearers of God there was one thing that was not good in Genesis chapter 2 was not good that man should be alone was not good that man should be alone and God said, I will make him a helper fit for him. And of course that's going to be Eve. Notice significantly the two terms here. Helper All right? And fit for. Fit for is the key word. I'll have more to say about helper in a moment. What was not good in a perfectly good creation about Adam being alone? Now, I'm asking you to put your thinking caps on, but if you think about that, remember that Adam and Eve were equally given the creation mandate or the cultural mandate to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Well, if Adam is alone, what could he not do? Yeah, he couldn't be fruitful and multiply. He couldn't be fruitful and multiply. That's what's not good. God says, I'll make a helper fit for him. Adam couldn't fulfill that mandate alone. Men can't have children, all right? bear with me here, we see something further about the respective roles and responsibilities of men in creation by looking at Genesis chapter 3, and look at that with me if you will. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, we have the Proto-Evangelion, or the first announcement of the Gospel. The Gospel isn't something that begins in Matthew in the New Testament, it's something that begins in Genesis. And in our series on Genesis, we spent some time looking at this, so I don't want to repeat everything that was said. Suffice it to say that because Adam and Eve had fallen into sin, God here promises to bring a Savior from sin. a descendant of Eve, the seed of the woman who will crush the seed of the serpent in order to bring freedom from the power and the penalty of sin. to Adam, Eve, and all their descendants, and all who trust in him. And we know that that seed is Jesus Christ. So that's verse 15, all right? But we learn something about the respective roles and responsibilities of women in the respective curses which God places on them in verses 16 and following, which are gender-specific. They are gender specific. In other words, they're not the same. They're different according to their gender. Look with me at verse 16. To the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Now if you want to know what it means, your desire shall be for your husband, you can look at the same phrase in Hebrew, which is found in Genesis chapter 4, where it talks about sin, desires to master you. So actually what we have here is somewhat of the battle of the sexes, all right? that a woman will try to control a man, or rule over, all right? Anyway, I can't explain that now. You can go back to the sermon on Genesis 3 and look at that, but you see that the curse has to do with her gender, her childbearing, all right? Now, if you keep in mind what was said in Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2, we're beginning to get a picture formed here, all right? We're beginning to have a picture formed. They're given the cultural mandate, be fruitful and multiply. In a perfectly good creation, there's one thing that's not good for Adam to be alone. Why? Because he can't have children. God will bring a helper fit for him. Fit for in what way? To have children. And when God comes to curse, God curses the woman in her childbearing. Gender specific. Read on verse 17. If you're single and beginning to wonder, don't worry, I got thoughts for you coming up, all right? Verse 17, and to Adam, the man, he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I have commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. You shall eat of the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, and for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Gender-specific curse. What's the role and responsibility of Adam in being fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the creatures, is that he's going to have to work the ground. We see this in Genesis 2 verse 15, the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And then the curse comes on Adam in his specific role and responsibility in the cultural mandate. It has to do with his work, all right? So we're beginning to get a picture here of roles and responsibilities for men and women that are different. Given their complete equality, their roles and their responsibilities, as seen in The Nature of the Curse, looking back on what they're given in Chapter 1 and 2, have to do with their specific gender designations. If you look at a couple of other passages, you can see this. Let's try to move through the canon sequentially. Look at Proverbs chapter 31. Proverbs chapter 31. Most if not all of you know that Proverbs 31 is not talking about a woman, it's not talking about some woman, it's not talking about any woman. It's talking about an ideal woman, all right? So if you've ever heard a sermon on you should be a Proverbs 31 woman, that preacher should repent, all right? Cuz it's not talking about a woman, it's talking about an ideal that's to be aspired to, all right? Now, this is a little bit complicated. Again, I've already asked you to have your thinking caps on, so I hope you're still with me, all right? Proverbs, like Psalms, are poetry in many respects, and Proverbs 31 is an acrostic, all right? Now, I don't know if you're up on Hebrew poetry, you're probably not, but let me tell you what an acrostic is. An acrostic is something where the first verse matches the last verse, the second verse matches the next-to-last verse, the third verse matches the next-to-next-to-last verse, and so on. which is a literary device that is to draw the eye of the reader to focus on the center of that acrostic, which is the main emphasis and the main point of which he's directing your attention to. Now, if I had an overhead projector here, I could show you this and how the Hebrew poetry is laid out, but I don't, so I hope that's a sufficient explanation. What is the focus or the attention of this acrostic poem that the author of Proverbs is seeking to focus on and draw your attention to as he talks about the ideal woman, all right? Not the ideal, but a woman's ideal, right? It's verse 23. Look at verse 23, "...her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land." That is that if you look at verse 10 and following, in the ESV you can see verse 12 is she, 13 she, 14 she, she, she, she, she, she, all the way down to 22. It changes in 23, look at 24. She, 25, strength of her, 26, she, 27, she, right? You get the idea, this is Hebrew poetry, right? 23 is different. In an acrostic, it's what is focused on. It's what your eye and your attention is being drawn to. What is it that the ideal woman, a wise woman, does? Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. One more text, 1 Corinthians 11. If you women are beginning to get upset with me, hold on to your horses, alright? 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Because you'll get more upset after this. So, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 8 and 9. A very interesting passage here talks about head coverings, one thing or the other. It's talking about what goes on in worship in the Corinthian congregation, and there's all kinds of chaos going on, some of which has to do with men and women, all right? And if you look up at verse 3, it says, I want you to understand the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, the head of Christ is God. Well, that has to do with husbands and wives, right? Look down at verse 8. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man, referring back to Genesis. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. Men and women are fully equal in the sight of God. Men and women are different before God as well. Egalitarianism, that is, that there are no differences between the sexes, is not the teaching of the Bible, and in fact is an attack on the Bible, which is an attack on the God of the Bible and the religion of the Bible, as I hope to make clear in a moment. Now, let's deal with some thoughts here, all right? all the way back to Genesis and the term helper. Of course, helper, you may think, has the connotation of being inferior. That is not true. As a matter of fact, the term for helper here in Genesis 2.18 is in the Bible most often used of God. Think of the hymn we often sing, help in ages past. That's the same word here, which is used for Eve. In his book, Beyond Sex Roles, Gilbert Billizikian writes this, and I quote, it is now a matter of general knowledge that this Hebrew word for helper is not used in the Bible with reference to a subordinate person such as a servant or an underling. It's generally attributed to God when he is engaged in activities of relief and rescue among his people. Consequently, the word helper may not be used to draw inferences about inferior female roles. If anything, the word points to the inadequacy and helplessness of man who was bereft of the woman in Eden. I was in a store yesterday and there were two women behind the counter and a guy purchased something and for some reason, I hadn't paid attention to the whole conversation, he said, yeah, that guy was a real scoots. means he was a mess up, right? And the woman said, yeah, like all men. But there's some truth to that. That's why it's funny, right? You see what he says? The inadequacy and helplessness of men. Men need women. A man needs a woman. If the Bible teaches that the man is the head of the home, the woman is the neck and turns the head wherever it goes. Ask any married couple and they'll tell you that. Critically important, not inferior in any way, in any way, all right? Secondly, all right, I intend to devote an entire sermon to singles. And let it be said by way of preview here. Singles are not broken. Singles are not half people. Singles are not defective because they're not married. Yes, the norm in the Bible is marriage. All right? Yes, that's the norm. As a matter of fact, John Stott, who's approaching 90 years of age, a famous Christian theologian, been single his entire life. I just read an interview with him, and he said, yeah, marriage is the norm. But for reasons that he explained in that interview, he said, I chose not to be married. But singles are not defective. They're not broken. They're not half people because they're not married. And let it be said, Christians are not on hold either. So we'll have a whole sermon on that. I just don't want you to feel any unease as we're trying to sort through this in a foundational matter. But suffice it to say that despite the Bible's teaching that men and women are completely equal, it equally, no pun intended, teaches that men and women are different. Men, given what we've looked at in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, as a generalization are external. Women are more internal. We see this even in our biological composition. Men, all right, are conquerors. Women are nurturers. You don't believe me? Check out any couple going on a Friday night date and the discussions that go on about what movie they're going to see. Right? Guys want to go see Arnold Schwarzenegger, right? I've got to break things and conquer. Right? Women go, yuck. And then the women say, no, no, no, no. Let's go see, what is it? You've Got Mail. Right? A chick flick. And the guys say, gag me with the spoon. Right? Men and women are different. And, of course, the men sacrifice for the women and they go see the chick flick, right? Okay, very good. Men and women are different. Men are conquerors, all right? And women are nurturers, all right? Men, all right, and women, let me be clear here, because I don't want to be misunderstood as I have been in the past, all right? Ultimately, and ideally, whether male or female, we find our identity in Christ, our security in Jesus Christ. There's no other foundation that can be laid except that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. All other ground is sinking sand. So we need to find our identity in Jesus Christ as the one who has paid for the penalty for our sins, the one who knows all our sins past, present, and future, who knows the wickedness of our hearts, and yet has loved us and sacrificed himself for us, and paid the penalty for those sins, and freed us from the power of the devil, right? And the power of sin. We find our identity in Christ. But on a horizontal level, man finds his identity in his work. When we go down and we have coffee and bagels, it's very interesting. There's often some sex segregation that goes on. All the gals are over there and all the guys are over here. And if we have men that are visiting, what's ordinarily the first question a visiting man gets asked? What do you do? And of course, down throughout history, last names have actually been the occupation of the person. Baker, for example, or Klompien was a shoemaker in Dutch. Klomp in their shoes. Klompien, right? Or shoemaker in English, right? A man finds his identity in his work. Now, this is very important, all right? If you don't have your identity in Christ, you can become a workaholic. So if you're not doing your work under God and unto God, all right, then you've lost your identity in Christ and work has become your God, and then you become a workaholic. That's a real problem. So let's not use the idea of identity in Christ, all right? But a man ordinarily finds his identity in terms of his work. A woman ordinarily finds her identity in terms of her husband. That's why in marriage, women take the man's name. Julie walked down the aisle, Julie Mote. She walked up the aisle, Julie Murphy, Mrs. Paul Murphy. You can see then that you begin to understand, I hope, how egalitarianism is an attack upon the faith of the Bible and upon God, all right, to reverse the order that we're given in the Bible. Men and women are different. Now, the differences are fundamental, foundational, inherent, and innate, and they are denied at great danger. Feminism, women's fib, egalitarianism are attacks on these things. And of course, we live in a day and age where we are experiencing rampant cultural confusion over gender blending. Facebook has 51 gender designations that you can give yourself, 51. Perhaps with all the stuff that's been going on recently, you heard of LBGT, right? LBGT? lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, right, LBGT. Well, somebody got in the car the other day and said to me that they were talking about this and they said, no, no, no, it's LGBTQA, B, D, C, D, what, and on for the whole length of the alphabet. I was like, oh, no, LGBT doesn't exhaust it anymore. We got to have a whole alphabet after LGBT. We live in a day and age that is experiencing confusion about these things. But as Christians, we ought not to be confused. We need to be clear. Men and women are equal. Men and women are different. Roles, responsibilities, composition, makeup, orientation, and relationships are seen and approached differently and ought to be. A woman ought not to act like a man in a relationship, whether married or unmarried. And a man ought not to act like a woman. All right? And the power of a woman, okay, is indirect. It's not breaking the glass ceiling. The power of a woman is indirect. All right? It's the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Not everybody's called to be a marrier. We'll talk about singles and serving God and one thing or the other, all right? The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. We don't give that much esteem and value in our day. Those women who raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord are serving God's church and serving God's kingdom and are going to have an influence and an impact by the grace of God and the accompanying work of the Holy Spirit that somebody who's a corporate executive will never have, even if they're Steve Jobs. Never. That's power. That's power. It's indirect. It's not direct. That's why the power in a marriage of a woman is not ruling and not calling the shots and not being the head of the man. That's a distortion. The head, excuse me, the power of a woman is being the neck that turns the head. Can I tell you a little secret? The secret is this. You want to know the power of a woman? Men want to please you. Men want to please you. Think about that. Do you realize how much power that gives you over a man? No small thing. All right, well let's hasten to a conclusion here this morning. I said the third point is God, the gospel, and relationships. I want this to be preaching, not just teaching. Turn back to Genesis chapter 1, verse 27. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27, God said, let us make man in the image of, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, male and female, he created them. How can men and women be fully equal and yet be functionally different? Well, because of God himself. The three persons of the Trinity are equal in power, substance, and glory. This is the confession of the Christian Church down throughout history. There is no subordination in terms of their being. The Son is fully God, the Spirit is fully God, just like the Father is fully God. Equal in power, substance, and glory. The same way that men and women are fully equal ontologically in their being. But in the economy of God's working Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Son subordinates Himself to the Father, and the Spirit subordinates Himself to the Father and the Son. so that there is complete equality and at the same time there is differentiation, distinction, subordination. This is what is called a difference between the ontological trinity and the economic trinity. Let me read to you from a theologian. The persons of the trinity voluntarily subordinate themselves to one another in the roles they perform in respect to creation. The father sends the son, and the son joyfully obeys his father's will. On earth, the son does only what his father gives him to do, and even knows only what the father gives him to know. In the end, he delivers up the kingdom to his father and himself becomes one of the subjects in his father's kingdom. When the Spirit enters the world, He does not speak of Himself, but only what He hears, presumably from the Father and the Son. And as I pointed out in a previous section, the Father also defers to the Son and the Spirit in various ways. We can say that men and women are equal and different. We can say that men and women are equal and yet different in function and not have a contradiction there because God is equal and the three persons of the Trinity are different in their function as well. Now you see, this is what gives feminism such a problem. They say once you say that women are different than men and have different roles and responsibilities than men, you're saying they're inferior. That is not true any more than saying that the Son and the Spirit are inferior to the Father. So God. The gospel. Where's the gospel in all of this? Well, I promised it to you. Look at Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2, verse 24. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. In Ephesians chapter 5, The Apostle Paul quotes this verse as he talks about the roles of husband and wife in a marriage. And he says, this is a profound mystery, but I'm talking about Christ and the church. The roles and responsibilities of a husband and a wife in marriage are analogous to the, or a copy of, a reflection of, the relationship of Jesus Christ in his church. For Jesus Christ is the one who left his father's home to come and to purchase a bride for himself with his own precious blood. And so consummate that relationship by uniting them to himself in love and taking them to be his bride. The church. That's the gospel. And do you see what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5? Look at Ephesians 5, just quickly as we close here. Ephesians chapter 5, or maybe you got it memorized, you don't have to look there, but sorry, just Ephesians chapter 5. He's talking about this, and of course this is the second half of the epistle of Paul. In the first half he presents the gospel, in the second half he explains how it applies in one's day-to-day life. Right? And here he talks about Christ in the church, and he quotes Genesis 2, 24, and verse 31, and he says, this mystery is profound. I'm saying it refers to Christ in the church. He's saying the gospel is to be reflected in your relationships. Wow! That's a game changer for a marriage, isn't it? It is for mine, because I'm a sinner. I'm selfish. I don't want to sacrifice. And my wife, as much as I love her and I know you love her, is equally selfish. And she wants to control. And she wants to manipulate. At times. Very rarely. And she wants to call the shots. And she doesn't want to submit. And we need the gospel. Not only for forgiveness of those sins, but to reorient us as to what it means to be a Christian husband and wife for our relationship. The gospel is not fire insurance. It's not pie in the sky when you die. It has rubber hits the road reality and day-to-day life in relationships. for marriage, as well as for those of you outside marriage. How? Well, look. Look at the text, if you're in Ephesians 5, verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. And it goes on to talk about spiritual warfare. If you've been here on Thursday nights, and I know most of you haven't, and that's okay, all right, I encourage you to listen, perhaps, to the Bible studies, but you know that it's a mistake to think that Paul only talks about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6.10 and following. Rather, he's talking about principalities and powers, all right, and Christ's lordship over those principalities and powers from chapter 1 through chapter 6. And in the context of spiritual warfare, he lays out the directions for relationships. Are you beginning to get it? You're in a war. We're in the midst of spiritual warfare in New York City. in our culture, in our society, redefinitions of marriage, gender blending, confusion. Nobody knows who they are, where they're going, what they do, what their responsibilities are, how many husbands, how many wives, can you marry a dolphin or a snake? Nobody knows. This is not news to be watched on Fox or CNN with some detached, objective curiosity. This is spiritual warfare going on. And we have the Word of God to direct us in this matter. We're not left without direction. And this is important for the Church, lastly, and I conclude with this. Leon Podols wrote an interesting book I read many years ago. It's called The Church Impotent. in which he lamented the absence of men in the Protestant church. The absence of men in the Protestant church. And by and large, if you look at the church in New York City, it's predominantly, overwhelmingly women. Overwhelmingly women. And you single women know this because the question you always ask me is, where are the men, right? So you know that. But this is the church impotent. The church impotent is because we've not paid attention to what the Bible has to say about men, and about women, and about roles, and about responsibilities, and about singleness, and about marriage. And the church is compromised. And the church suffers. And the cause of Christ ultimately suffers. So God, the gospel, and relationships. May God bless us, may God guide us by his word and spirit as we consider these matters together in weeks to come. Let's pray.