Retracing Our Footsteps, Part 2

When looking through the lens of God's word.

Are there any true differences between men and women and their roles as an American problem. It is the Cretan problem.

It's a problem with humanity, but many were made in the image of God's headship in marriage was established before the fall of man and the sin distinctions of masculinity-femininity or enhance their ordained by God as part of the greater order which means they go out there in reviewing our outdated and irrelevant in modern culture.

Problem with that belief is that God's view of family roles isn't based on culture. God's word transcends culture and doesn't change with the times. What's your view on the role of women in the home to think that mothers should stay home with their kids. Should they pursue a career today Stephen Davey tells us what God's word has to say on the subject in a message that he's calling retracing our footsteps thought was interesting to read the national Institute of Child health and human development. They been conducting a $100 million investigation they've tracked 1100 children from birth through preschool to track and identify behavioral issues and and maturity developmental issues and all that for those children that have been in day care, the level of 30 to 40 hours a week they found that over 30 hours brings on significant issues, but here's a secular organization writing and I quote, we have found that the total number of hours a child is without apparent primarily their mother from birth through preschool.

The number of hours away or without apparent matters hundred million dollars to find out it meant I would've been willing to tell them that for only $1 million. Paul is teaching but even even a secular society can pick up your priorities first and foremost the home especially when it matters most is another study I came across dealing with college-age girls for tracking now development will issues going all the way through high school and in the college.

This article a couple years ago, was published in psychology today, so you know it's gonna be right. It caught my attention. Talked about that the pressure young girls are facing concerning their image and they write and I quote get a secular source deprived of an internal compass girls are competing to be everything because this other mothers try to be everything there. Turning colleges into incubators for eating disorders, and numerous unrealistic self-imposed expectations. I get this.

I quote those who are not mentored by parents are not inoculated against peer pressure and wind up turning to their peers and the media for guidance and in the article quotes from an article from an article from Harvard University which says quote, it blames the girls image obsession on the culture of neglect kids. They write are effectively raising each other.

It sounds like there are some people in our culture that are beginning to say. The Emperor has no cloud the culture at large continues to disparage homemaking and motherhood. Paul tells these believers.

In the first century and the 21st century. The opposite effect.

He says what we need to do is we need to focus the spotlight stop a little bit to applaud and praise these subjects. Cold motherhood.

In marriage we have to do is retrace our steps back home but does not refer to not only the priorities young wives and mothers in the home of their mentality. He adds this mentality to pursue the middle of verse five silly drops in another attribute is the word kindness comes from a word that can be translated, and often is in the New Testament goodness used of God as a goal obviously for these women. All these are goals, just as first Timothy three and Titus one are goals for godly men in our language you can understand this word to refer to good heartedness.

It means that her desire is to do whatever is good for her children to do whatever is good for her husband. Her mentality then has this filter. She asks herself the question is this good for my children.

Is this good for my husband is this good for me. Is this a good thing to do a good thing to say. A good way to act whatever a good way to provide. So this is her mentality it's geared toward goodness, which is an attribute of the character of God that Paul goes on to refer not just to her priority and her mentality, but I want to spend the balance of the time been with her humility, he writes further in verse five being subject to their own husband's so that the word of God will not be dishonored. In other words, a secular culture knows that someone who claims to be a believer believing wife who dishonors her husband can lead them knowing how she ought to be acting to dishonor the word of God's got an interesting visit, Paul is saying the world is watching us and it is what you need to know here is that Paul is using the original language what's called the middle voice for this burden. That's significant because Paul is not telling men. This is your new theme verse for merit.

He's not telling men to go home and commanded that they be subject to you, it's the middle voice.

What that means is he's telling the women to voluntarily be submissive to their husbands and he's commending them to do it is a God ordained role she could render this phrase to continually place themselves under the authority of their own husbands.

Now if you been a believer for any period of time. You know that Paul expands on this idea. Bringing man into his list of subjects in Ephesians chapter 5 in his letter to the Colossian church and he refers to the wife as the church's analogy and she is to respond to her husband as the church responds in submission to Jesus Christ and he also tells the husband to be a loving representative. In fact, to act toward her as Jesus Christ acts toward the church is to love his wife as Christ loves the church and I can tell you from personal experience that my wife would also have a much easier time submitting to me if I acted more like Jesus. But still this idea of submission that there some kind of order and arrangement is like drinking sour milk today, but I want to think for a moment before you throw the milk everyone in a well ordered society is submitting to somebody. Ephesians 5 tells us all to submit to each other in unique ways. We submit one another. We got is ordered arrangements for that kind of authority and submission thing. This way children submit to parent students submit the teachers basketball players submit to referee citizens submit to town councils when you drive out here is got a policeman out there on Trianon and out here on always be running away.

Granted, and you're gonna get a more than likely I would hope submit to him and I will not have anything to do with kind of person he is, you're not gonna roll down your window and say you know why should I follow your direction on the water just came from church you skipped we paid in the skipped church that I'll get on to your obedience doesn't have anything to do with New Year's.

It has to do with what kind of authority he's been given there's nothing to do with.

He's a better person than me or he superior to me.

He just happens to have authority that I don't have is a good idea to submit to. By way authority is in the privilege to be exploited to build up your ego. It's a responsibility to be carried out for the benefit of those under your care and authority happens to be the arrangement I got for a life according to God's design.

The wife is under the authority of her husband who ultimately give an account for the husband is under the authority of the elders as well as everyone else in the family, the church family. The elders are under the authority of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is under the authority of God the father Jesus Christ is equal to the father.

Philippians 2 in essence equally divine it he subordinates himself willingly to the will of the father she read about a gospel singer come to do the will of my father. Paul wrote to the Corinthians. This places I want you to understand that Christ is the head, that is, the authority of every man and the man is the head of a woman and God the father is the head of Christ for screenings 11 three the part of the problem with this concept of headship and submission runs counter culture to everything. Women may been reasonably which is why Titus needed older women to practically teach younger women, wives and mothers as new believers in Christ and part of our problem. I know is going on for center, but I know part of our problem are the buzzwords that are created buzzwords like equality and equal rights why giving any thought to me. We got is it we got heavy like I don't have an equal right to live in the White House. If I wanted to. I couldn't, they would throw me out, but I'm equal in essence, but on that equal and that authority. The word equality can be deceptive, depending on how you're using it affect our lives or poinsettia one of his books on this issue of feminist have extended the definition of equality beyond equal treatment and equal value to now embrace equal roles for men and women that is the place of women should be interchangeable with the place of men, whatever men do. Women should be free to do and all gender-based roles should be abolished." Even the church now is growing more and more divided on whether or not a woman can preach, or pastor.

Surely they have equal rights to the highest level of authority in the body. We aren't we all equal. So we gotta take the prohibition of all the livers. The women do not teach men, we gotta mean that something that then. Or maybe just as a reference to them, teaching their husband. I guess anything can sit in the audience. But aren't we all equal. Yes, we are equal in our essence, we are both male and female created in the image of God, we are equal in in in the plan of salvation, we are equal in our individual priesthood before God.

A woman doesn't need to pray through a man to reach God. We are equal in our accountability before God.

Adam will not be there saying let's talk about that woman again. We try that one time it didn't work.

Even as he got to say what about that snake know we are individually and entirely accountable to God, but equality in that sense does not mean equality in function or I could move into the White House. We now inherited from 40 years of worldly feminism in about a decade of evangelical feminism is not only losing the governing structure for the home and the family. Now the church, but a tragic failure to glory in and embrace the distinctions of men and women and to find contentment as we submit to the Holy Spirit in his arrangement and contentment and satisfaction in what he's created in an order. The lines are all just sort of you color now wherever you want to color but you need to understand.

I want to spend a minute or two on the fact that this problem is just 40 years old. You got all the way back to the original home. It began in the Garden of Eden. If you want to look you could turn it to Genesis chapter 3 verse 16 Williams for just a moment here, but I want I want to show you that this is where it all started is an American problem.

It is the Cretan problem it's it's a problem with humanity. Both Adam and he were made in the image of God. Adams headship in marriage was established before the fall of man and the sin. In fact, it wasn't until Adam ate the fruit to go back and look at it. It wasn't Joanna made the fruit that their eyes were open her eyes were open until you send because he's her head authority, distinctions of masculinity and femininity are enhanced there ordained by God as part of the creator order which means they echo out there in every human heart that is been stamped on her. The man on act like a man and a woman on a woman, but the fall of man in sin introduce distortions in relationships.

It distorted and twisted sexual relationship. It distorted and twisted and diminished the marriage and every other relationship part of the curse that God pronounced on Adam and Eve had to do with her own relationship and every marriage that would come after the and so before they were exiled from the garden, God told Eve that now is a result of her seven as part of our fallen nature, but she would have this desire for her husband that I sound like a good thing and that's a great thing. Well were given a nuance of what that means is, it appears for the first time it appears again in Genesis chapter 4 verse seven which helps us understand the Hebrew language means is repeated as God is warning Cain, who was about to murder his brother Abel. He says to came, listen, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you. Same phrase and you must master in other words, Cain sin wants to control your life. Sin wants to dominate your life and wants to master you. But you must master it. So God is telling Eve before she's exiled with Adam and the daughters of Eve, by the way, which includes every female in the Saudi that a woman now because of the fall will need to depend on the off of the Holy Spirit in the power of God, because by nature, which is now fallen, she will have a desire that will no longer naturally default to willingly delight in responding to the leadership of men, especially her husband but her natural default will now be to manipulate him to dominate him to master him and then got turns on as Oksana. The last part of verse 16 he says that for Adam's eyes out with his wife Adam and you because of the curse now upon the following human rights.

You will rule over her. What he means there is an Adams default desire will no longer be to provide loving and nurturing leadership but exploitation and self-centered, self promoting, self pleasing rule over the woman see God created Eve to be an Adams side pictured by the fact he created from one of Adam's rib.

But I miss now that I have the natural fallen desire to put her under his feet and you go, it will culture ladies and gentlemen without the gospel and that's where women are there under the feet of men and the woman is going to do or not, just to not just get back data beside but the rule over his head so the battle began back in the garden and that's the reason we have the battle today. We have to submit to the Holy Spirit. Now comes along anybody believers and that comes along the gospel and this is an is and that was that was the old have set that of any throw cholecystitis to teach the older women to teach the younger women that the gospel with the gospel does is return you to the kind of relationship to God intended for you to have before the fall of man were man picks up the woman from the dust under his feet and places her at his side and leads her and cares for her, and provides for her by the power of the Holy Spirit and she by means of submission ultimately to the Holy Spirit lovingly serves him and respects him follows. This is the restoration of relationships. This is the gospel. This is what the world is watching to see what we can do if God really does make a difference are the really distinctives that God is ordained are their roles or will we like them, diminish them and twist them and distort them and deny them and rewrite the know God wants his in many ways a return back to the original home that he intended where men are men and women or women or men are superior to women in being men and women are superior to men and being women in the differences in the nuances and the distinctives are enhanced and enjoy, and reveled in as we honor the unique creation of God and man and woman are 24-year-old daughter is currently serving as a missionary in Santiago, Chile, and she's teaching five-year-old general blog came across it, I thought I'd use this as an illustration as we wrap up at she's teaching these little boys and girls in a different culture. She's learning Spanish. Is that so she can and in the distinctives and become very apparent to her between the boys and the girls probably because it's different culture. She says it's fascinating how transcultural these distinctives are just listed a bunch of them and I thought I'd read them to you. I vetted them for time sake. She said that the boys in my classroom and she speaking in general terms, the boys want to color pictures of superheroes and if it is a superhero. It's a dog or a big scary animal girls want to color pictures of castles and princesses and flowers and rain boys Dodge my hugs but pick me endless amounts of flowers girls pick flowers to keep for themselves, but they hug me throughout the day, boys take their school work like a competition. Girls want to offer help to whomever needs it.

Now that's was a look at each other's papers which made the assessment tests this week. Very interesting boys flax in the bathroom mirror and tried jumping the furthest off the bench as possible.

Girls pose in front of the mirror and use the bench or twirling boys want to play ball with the older boys on the playground and truly believe they could keep up. Girls hover around the swingset not giving a cured allowable game going on a few feet away, boys always want to be first and fastest girls hold hands and walk around the boys play in the dirt on the playground and always have to be reminded to clean up girls play with the dirt on the playground and volunteered to wash up while playing at their place inside the classroom. The boys always go for the big cars and trucks and the car sounds railroad tracks out of any naming find the girls find the princes in the Prince and the big minivan and while the boys are creating railroad tracks and battlegrounds. The girls are rearranging the insides of their dollhouses. Boys stick with the same thing for maybe 10 minutes or board and ready to conquer something different.

Girls can do the same play activity the entire afternoon simply perfecting it or changing it all up boys tell me that I'm pretty. The girls asked me I'm not married because were father.

That's the why are they in general terms.

That way, because of the one who made them that we know these are these are obvious generic distinctions and I'm speaking in general terms. I know girls they can beat the socks off guys in basketball and golf. I know some guys they can arrange flowers and cook another role that I grew up next to a girl named Susan from toddlerhood till we went away to college same age and I really naming up to the age of 13, 14, you can find me in her garage with her playing Barbies.

It was a secret until now, but don't tell anybody.

I mean how creative is that stuff. The doors open any yellow hangers you kinda stop and I was absolutely fascinated by the creativity of all that didn't want anybody to know in general terms.

In fact, these general terms or wanting by our world is so twisted to be erased got is arrange them for benefit and well-being.

When we hear rights of the universe. Five. Live like this.

The word of God will not be dishonored. In other words, the world is watching the German philosopher Heinrich Hein who said this, he said show me, and in the 19th century show me your redeemed life and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer.

Are you really different from me. We don't strive to live like this, the Christian doesn't care about the word of God.

If we don't follow his word we rewrite his word. If we deny his word.

If we ignore the implications of his work. Why should they out there. We, as Christians, we were here together right. We love the assembly. We love the worship we love the joy we share as we approach God together. We love his word and even the reminders of how totally fall and we are entirely dependent we are upon the Holy Spirit to get anything right. Even these reminders of a redeemed priority in a redeemed mentality and redeem sense of humility. We beloved all or all all over again encouraged to submit to the spirit of God calls us and prods us and pushes us and pursues us back to God's created design by his strength.

We are literally retracing our steps back kind of he intended. Thanks for joining us here on wisdom for the hard with Stephen Devi Stevens working his way through a series entitled family talk the message you just heard is entitled retracing our footsteps home if you joined us late or if you'd like to listen to this lesson again. You'll find it posted to our website wisdom online.org you can listen to the audio of this message or you can read Stephen's printed manuscript. Those resources are available free of charge on our website.

Wisdom online.org you can send Stephen a card or letter. If you address it to wisdom for the heart PO Box 37297 Raleigh, NC 27627. Please join us again tomorrow as we continue through this series here on wisdom for the heart