The Divine Order of Authority

Transcript

GR 1334
10-01-06
The Divine Order of Authority
1 Corinthians 11:2-3
Gil Rugh

We have come to 1 Corinthians 11, so turn there in your Bibles. We are fortunate to have a word from God that addresses life in a broad scope of areas. And there are areas which come to be areas of disagreement and contention and they can be resolved often by simply coming to the Word and examining it. We talked recently about how we interpret the Bible. We noted we must be careful to stick with what we call a literal hermeneutic, historical, grammatical hermeneutic. That's interpreting the Bible in its historical context according to the rules of grammar. We have to be careful that we don't come to the Word of God with preconceived theological ideas and then read them into portions of the Word. We have to be very careful that we do not allow the thinking of the world to shape our thinking so that we begin to look for ways to make the Bible fit more consistently with the way the world thinks.

We come to a section of the Word of God that deals with the biblical roles of men and women. And the general thinking of much of the world today is there is no distinction between a man and a woman other than some basic physical distinctions. Other than that, men and women are equal, meaning the same. I would agree they are equal, I would just not agree that they are the same. Any idea that there are basic differences in men and women and there are divinely appointed roles for each can be met with some hostility. In some parts of our society you are not allowed to show preferences on the basis of sex, and we try to blur any role. We try to raise our kids today, when I say we I'm talking about our society generally, but with the idea, you can do whatever you want. And particularly the emphasis is for girls and women, and feminism has become the issue. Women have been suppressed, men have exercised authority, but now women are free and there is no reason a woman can't be just about everything a man can be.]

The Bible says there are clear distinctions between men and women, that God created the man and the woman to function differently. They are equal, they have the same spiritual relationship with the living God, but they are different. They have different roles assigned to them. We have to be careful that our thinking will be grounded in the Word of God on this matter. It's not only the world that has taken a different approach, but as is often the pattern, usually the pattern, you see where the world is in its thinking and then in a few years the church begins to try to adjust its thinking to be like the world. This is true not only in the area of the biblical distinction between men and women, but other areas as well. And we are going to focus on the distinction between men and women.

This has been a battleground from the day of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, since the fall into sin. The roles appointed and determined by God are not a result of the fall into sin, they are part of the created purpose of God in making a man, in making a woman and assigning them different roles. Their roles are determined by God, so we need to be careful. We begin to think, well, maybe a woman can do this better than a man, so why shouldn't the woman do it. Well it depends, if God says she shouldn't, she shouldn't. We have to be careful. Let me use another area that is somewhat inflammatory today, the area of sex, homosexuality. We sometimes hear the argument, well, wouldn't it be better if you have two people of the same sex in a loving, caring relationship than it would be to have two heterosexuals that are married that are in conflict and disagreement and in an unloving relationship. We sometimes think, well yes, it would be better to have a loving, caring relationship. Well the bottom line we have to start with is what has God said is right, what has God said is wrong. And that determines it. It's not a matter of whether a woman might be a better leader than the man, a better teacher than the man, etcetera. It is what has God said the roles are to be.

Turn back to Romans 12 for just a moment. As I mentioned this battleground has gone on from the days of the fall in the Garden of Eden, the distinctions precede the fall, but there is no conflict in the distinctions until the fall occurs. The reason there is a conflict and time of tension and disagreement is because the world, the flesh and the devil are always in consistent, unrelenting opposition to the purposes and plans of God. And God has clearly revealed His purposes and plans for men and women. And the devil, the world, the flesh are in opposition to God's plans and purposes, so it creates conflict. Paul urges the church at Rome in Romans 12:1, therefore, in light of the tremendous theological truth he has taught them through the first 11 chapters, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world. Now our goal as believers is not to make ourselves strange. We don't have to lock ourselves into a certain past period of time with hairstyles, styles of dress and other ways. However, we do have to be careful that we are not allowing the world to shape us, to mold us, to bring us into conformity to that which is contrary to the revealed will of God. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

As we come to this area of the role of women, the role of men, it is of utmost importance that we allow our minds to be shaped by the Word of God. Not by our emotions, not by the influences of the world, but by what God has said. Now, sad, this is one of the areas that is a major issue within the evangelical church today. And I'm using that term evangelical, some people don't like it anymore I understand, but I am using it to refer to those who claim to believe that the Bible is the Word of God and it is the authority for our lives as God's people.

Now feminism started in the secular world. People without any particular religious convictions were just convinced that there are no differences between men and women of any significance, so women ought to be free to do whatever men do. And then it comes into the religious realm and ultimately it begins to influence the evangelical church. Let me note some matters here. There was consistency within the evangelical church on certain things down until recently. Then all of a sudden we have to make changes. One of the things that happens when people want to change Biblical teaching is they say well, we've misunderstood these words. These words don't mean what we thought they meant. I was reading in another area a few weeks ago and it is an area of theology where I would disagree with those in the evangelical church on this point. But they were trying to establish their point by saying, well you have to understand the meaning of this word. Now of course the Greek lexicons haven't defined this word fully enough. Well the Greek lexicons are the Greek dictionaries where you go to find out what the word meant in biblical times and around biblical times. But now all of a sudden they tell you those dictionaries, you can't go by that. It's like saying you can't go to the Oxford dictionary, you can't go to Webster's dictionary, those are dictionaries where you would get the accurate meaning. Wait a minute, you have an ulterior motive in trying to change the meaning of words to fit your preconceived ideas. That's going to be true here. Now all of a sudden the thinking is changed, now we're going to redefine words. We wonder why does it get to be confusing, why doesn't everybody agree. Because sometimes those who profess to be believers have abandoned the historical, grammatical method of interpreting the scripture.

Marilyn came in to see me last night to tell me she was going to be getting in bed and I was, as I usually am on Saturday night, enjoying looking through my material. And I have books stacked around and on the floor and papers, and it's just wonderful. And she said, getting a little bit messy in here, isn't it. Well it depends on who defines messy. I thought it was just getting comfortable. I can't measure, you know the books on the subject that I have just create a couple of stacks, but in my file folders just endless articles. I say, is this really this complicated. How did the Corinthians ever understand what Paul said in verses 2-16 when it takes multiple theological volumes and numerous theological journal articles, all of that that you can pour through, and then some of the commentators who claim to be evangelical say, now since there is such disagreement and confusion on this passage we want to be careful that we don't come to any settled convictions. Which in itself is a settled conviction, is it not? Don't come to any convictions, which is another way of saying, I don't think I like what this passage teaches if I take it historically grammatically, so let's just blow a lot of smoke in the air and say it's confusing and ignore what it says. What it says is, I think, basically clear. We just sometimes don't want to hear that.

Now let me say, having said that, before we go into the passage, I think one of the greatest strengths and blessings of our local church has been the willingness of women and men to function in the roles that God has given them. We are sometimes viewed as the church that puts women down, but I think we have strengthened women. I think the strength of our ministry has been to a large degree the willingness of women to function as God has appointed them and created them to function biblically. And as men and women function in the role that God has ordained for them, created them for, the whole church prospers and is blessed. The men are able to more fully fulfill their roles. There is an article in the paper, may have been the Omaha paper, this weekend on what churches are doing to try to get men in, because the church is being feminized and the overwhelming percentage of church attenders on Sunday are women. And they're glad to have the women but they can't figure out how to get the men. So they're turning the church into football kind of rallies. The pastors now don't want to be called pastor, call me coach. And then they're doing pep-kind of rallies that start out like you were at the football game. And we're going to masculinize our services so men will like to be here. I think they’re missing the point. What has happened to the church is it has failed to recognize and follow through on what the Bible says the distinction is in the roles committed to men and women. And that has resulted in an unhealthy situation for the women and for the men. So I am privileged and blessed at Indian Hills so that I sometimes get involved in preaching, and I think, boy, is there something at Indian Hills. I am very pleased and very thankful for the godly way our women function and that strengthens our overall ministry and that's why we have men able to function more as God intends them.

All right, let's jump into this, and lest you wonder if we're going to run out of time, we're only going to do two verses. And we're going to try to get it all in. I come away amazed at the theology the Spirit has directed Paul to pack into a sentence or two, and the Corinthians are supposed to pick up on it just as it was read to them and act upon it. Verse 2, remember verse 1 of chapter 11 goes to the preceding material. Be imitators of me, just as I am also of Christ. We looked at that in connection with the material in chapter 10.

Then chapter 11 verse 2 begins the new section, now I praise you. Now he's going to move on to another area, and I want to praise you first of all that you are a church that has paid attention to biblical truths that I've taught you. I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. He begins with this note of praise. We sometimes think of the Corinthian church as a problem church, and it has its share of problems. But Paul does praise them. There are many areas in many ways they have paid attention to what they were taught. And to a large extent, that's probably true in the area of roles of men and women, but I want you to understand, verse 3 picks up. In other words, you've been paying attention, doing it, I want to clarify this for you, an issue evidently that they had raised with him. It's part of this section where he is responding to things he has heard and things they have written to him about. But he says I praise you because you remember me in everything. And hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. Foundational for the Corinthian church's life and what is foundational for the church of Jesus Christ, which is the pillar and support of the truth as Paul wrote to Timothy. That is to hold firmly to the Word of God. That's what Paul is talking about here when he says you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Now the word traditions can be used in a negative way in the Bible. Paul warned the Colossians in Colossians 2:8 to not follow the tradition of men, the ideas that men come up with. In fact he gives his own testimony and in Galatians 1:14 he says, before he placed his faith in Jesus Christ he was extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. So before my conversion I was extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions, Paul says. Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, rebuked the Pharisees and the Saducees in Matthew 15:2. He asked them, why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions? Issues don't change. The religious people today are passionate about the traditions of their church. And sometimes they place the traditions of their church above the truth of the Word of God. So the word traditions can be used negatively. When Paul uses the word traditions in the good sense, he is using it of the Word of God as it has been taught, as it has been revealed to him and other apostles and taught to others. And in verse 2, the context here, you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you. What did Paul deliver to them? The Word of God. They are holding firmly to that. When they remember him, they remember what he taught.

Look down in verse 23 of chapter 11, for I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you. What are the traditions that he delivered to them? What he received from the Lord as God's apostle. Turn over to chapter 15 verse 3, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. So the traditions which he delivered to them was the Word of God that he had received from God and communicated to them. I emphasize this because some people read the word traditions and say, well, we have the Word of God and we have our traditions, and our church traditions are to be obeyed because Paul commended them for obeying the traditions. You have to understand that word traditions in its proper context. Paul talks about, he commends them for holding firmly to their traditions which they received from him. He's talking about the Word of God that they received from him.

Turn over to 2 Thessalonians 2:15, so then, brethren, stand firm, hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. So hold fast to the traditions that I taught you, whether I taught them to you when I was with you or in the letters I wrote to you. In other words a letter like 2 Thessalonians, a letter like 1 Thessalonians, the Word of God. In 2 Thessalonians 3:6, now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life, and not according to the tradition which you received from us, which is the Word of God that he received from the Lord and they received it from Paul.

Back up to 1 Thessalonians 2:13, for this reason we also thank God that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, that's the traditions which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is—the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. So when the Corinthians are commended and praised for holding firmly to the traditions they received from Paul, he's talking about holding firmly to the Word of God.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 11. That's foundational. We move into this section, we must be careful that we are holding firmly to the Word of God as it has been communicated to us by the Apostle Paul. Verse 3, but I want you to understand. So I want to clarify some things for you, I want to be sure that you are functioning properly in this key area, the roles of women and men in the church, and beyond the church. But we'll be emphasizing their ministry in the church.

The word head, now I mention one of the things that writers do, commentators do, sometimes those who handle the scripture and claim to be Bible-believers, they come to a portion that is not where they want it to be. It doesn't seem to say what they would like it to say, it doesn't fit what the world is saying has to be. They look for ways to redefine things. The word head becomes key in verses 2-16. It's going to be used three times in verse 3 alone, Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, God is the head of Christ. Until recently it was generally agreed, probably could say was universally agreed that the word translated head here meant to have authority over someone, to rule. However, with the rise of feminism, and particularly evangelical feminism, feminism within the camp of those who claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God, this is within the last 30 years. There has been an attempt to redefine the word head. They want to say it doesn't mean to have authority or to rule, it means to be the source of someone or something. So that Christ is the source of man, and man is the source of woman because the woman was created out of the man. And you say, we talk about the headwaters. We were traveling this summer and I don't remember the river, but we were someplace and this is the headwaters of such-and-such a river, this is where that river begins. We say the headwaters, that's the source, that's where it begins. We say, well, that's beginning to make sense. Maybe we have missed something.

What these people that would give this definition fail to acknowledge is that no one of these new meanings is found in any of the Greek lexicons. In other words, we have created a meaning for a word that's not found in any of the Greek dictionaries or lexicons that would give the meaning of words that are found in the Bible and in related biblical literature. One Greek professor surveyed the use of this word kefalay, translated head, 2,300 uses of this word in Greek texts far beyond the Bible, because the Bible doesn't use it but a few times in these contexts, so 2,300 uses in Greek literature. He came to this conclusion, he's going to stop, he could have kept going, but he said, this survey is probably sufficient to demonstrate that source or origin is nowhere clearly attested as a legitimate meaning for kefalay, head. And that the meaning ruler, authority over, has sufficient attestation to establish it clearly as a legitimate sense for kefalay in Greek literature at the time of the New Testament. Indeed, it was a well-established and recognizable meaning, and it's the meaning that best suits the New Testament text. So he concludes throughout the literature outside the New Testament as well as the New Testament that this is its common, ordinary use. It's never used as a source when it's used of human beings, it's always in the context of having authority or rule.

Why does someone want to change the meaning now? Well I'm looking for a way that I don't have to say that the man has authority over the woman. And if head means authority, then the Bible says the man has authority. I will give some, at least, who use the Bible, they just say they don't believe Paul was right here. This is cultural. Head has to mean the source, you can't deny that. But Paul was writing just to a certain culture, it was a patriarchal culture, men ruled. So he is just writing within the culture, it's not applicable to us today. At least I give them the integrity on one side of allowing the words to mean what they say. But then they cast that integrity away by just saying I don't believe it. Culture. Another excuse to reject the Word of God.

Let's walk through this and look at the word head. I don't think there is any debate here. You go to any of the major Greek lexicons, I don't have them all, I have half a dozen, I can check some of the Greek words. When anybody is saying the dictionary definitions don't count, something is wrong, because now I have to depend on their definition. And then I found out it wasn't used that way. Remember historical, grammatical interpretation? How is this word used in that kind of context in the time in which it was written? And if it's not used that way anywhere then it's not valid to say. Now I have to say some writers are just dishonest. They say that lexicons give this meaning, but they don't. Now they know it doesn't because they know the language, they're just assuming most people who hear me or read what I write won't be able to check it in a lexicon.

I had some people come into my office one time and we were debating a theological passage. And I said what you have written there in the book you have brought is not true. Here is the lexicon they're quoting, let's look at it. They say, well, you must have a different version of the lexicon. They didn't happen to know Greek so I said, why don't you come next week and bring one of your Greek experts and they can bring their lexicon? You know what? They didn't come. There is no other edition of that lexicon, there is no meaning that they were trying to give to that word in that lexicon. So some of it just comes to dishonesty.

So we'll look at it in the context here. I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man. Now if I were going to start this, just with my own thinking, I would have started with the last statement—God is the head of Christ. Then I would have said secondly, Christ is the head of every man; and thirdly, man is the head of the woman. That would have given the order, right? Start with God and then Christ submitted to God, and then man is submissive to Christ, and then the woman is submissive to the man, the order. But he starts out Christ is the head of every man, and then he ends that God is at the head of Christ. He puts Christ on both sides, he brackets or sandwiches the statement which will be the issue—the man is the head of the woman. That's put in the middle. The statement about Christ precedes it and the statement about Christ follows it. It seems to be the purpose, so to put this in its theological context, and there are those points about which there can be no discussion among those who believe in the God of the Bible.

So he starts out, the head of every man is Christ, He is the head of every man, all men, every man, everywhere, in the full sense because He rules over all. Then He is also the head in the special sense of believers and of the church. But no one is free. Men ought to hear this, we start out here. Some men who have become authorities on the fact that man is the head of the woman, that means I am in charge, I'm the authority here, you do what I tell you. And they corrupt the scripture because they skip the first statement—Christ is the head of every man. I am not the sovereign authority over my wife, for example. I have authority over my wife, but not sovereign authority, because I don't have sovereign authority. I have authority that has been delegated to me by the One who is my authority, the One who is the head of every man. Christ is the head of every man. So my first concern is not that my wife learns who is boss, my first concern is my proper submission to the One who is my authority, and my obedience to Him. And that's foundational.

Come over to Colossians, we'll just look at two books. We could obviously make this a whole a sermon. We see in these contexts that head in the very context in which it is used means submissive or subject to. We're just limiting it to these passages where head is used because we could look at the passages where Christ is called Lord and Master and on and on. But Colossians 1:16, for by Him, referring to Christ, all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him. So He's the creator, He's sovereign over all. Now his focus is on men and women, so he draws that out but that doesn't mean Christ is head only over men. But in the context he's drawing the lines of authority established particularly here. His authority over women will come out in the development down the line. He is before all things, in Him all things hold together, He is also head of the body, the church. So there is the head. It's in the context of His sovereign authority over all as the creator of all. And in this he narrows it down, He is also the head of the church. In the context he's talking about whose he is.

Jump down to chapter 2 verse 10. Verse 9, in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, He is completely God. That will come out in a moment later in our discussion. And in Him you have been made complete and He is head over all rule and authority. He is head over the church, He is head over all rule and authority. What does “head” mean there? I mean, He is sovereign over all else. There are angelic authorities and angelic rulers, and there are earthly authorities and earthly rulers. He rules over all. He is the head over all. Down in verse 19, he uses the analogy of the human body, all related to the head because the head is in authority over the body. How does your hand know what to do? Your head tells it. Cut off your hand from the body and it does not function. We all know that. Someone has a stroke, a portion of the head is damaged, a portion of the body ceases to function because that part of the body now is not getting its instructions from the head, which has to rule over the body.

Come back to Ephesians 1, very similar material. Verse 19, we'll pick up in the middle. This is one of Paul's long sentences and they've broken it into a new sentence in the middle of verse 19 just to make it more readable in English and we'll pick up in the middle. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ. So the Father accomplishing something in Christ. When He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named. Not only in this age, but in the age to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him His head over all things to the church, which is His body. I mean, clearly the context we are talking about, sovereign authority, rule. And Christ is head over the church, He is head over all things and rules over all things. Everything is put in subjection under Him. And he pulls out the church, because that is the focus in the letter to the Ephesians, the church at Ephesus, we as the people of God, all people, in functioning properly here. You have in chapter 4 verses 15 that same analogy as the head over the body. Come to chapter 5 verse 22. This will move us to our next point in 1 Corinthians. You have one basic command, verse 18. The command is be filled with the Spirit, that's an imperative command, imperative giving the command. Then that's modified by the following participle. Participles in English usually have “ing,” so you have the command, be filled with the Spirit, which involves speaking to one another in songs, hymns and spiritual songs. Verse 20, always giving thanks. Verse 21, being subject to one another. You get that participial idea, you could have translated this, being subject to one another in the fear of Christ. But some people stop here and say, see we have mutual subjection so men ought to be submissive to women, just like women are submissive to men. And wives should be submissive to their husbands and their husbands ought to be submissive to them. And kids ought to be submissive to their parents and parents ought to be submissive to their kids. And the foolishness goes on. Because read the next verse, being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to your own husbands. You have be subject in italics, that means that verb or participle is not repeated, it's just assumed out of verse 21. We are to be being subject to one another as those who are under the control of the Spirit. This means wives are being subject to their husbands. Down in chapter 6 verse 1, children are obeying their parents. Chapter 6 verse 5, slaves are obeying their masters. It defines it for you.

You know here is another example where we come with a theological presupposition, being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, stop. That means mutual subjection, that means in one way or another we are all subject to one another. It does not. If I tell my grandchild, don't go across the street until I hold your hand. Well we stop that to say, don't go across the street. All right, give me your hand, we're going across the street. He says, no. We're going across the street. No. Why? You told me not to go across the street. That's stupidity. I said don't go across the street until you're holding my hand. Why do people read verse 21 and then cut off verse 23? You know why they do, they want to try to make the Bible say something it doesn't say. Normally read the Bible in its historical grammatical context, diagram it out, those of you who are English or Greek students, and see how it all flows out. Or just take it as it says it, skip the diagramming, which most of you will do.

The husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church. We saw Him earlier in Ephesians and in Colossians, He's the head of the church. The husband is the head of the wife. What does that mean? Verse 24, as the church is subject to Christ, wives be to their husbands. What's the problem with head? Christ is the head of the church as the church is subject to Christ. What is being the head of the church mean? It means the church is subject to Christ. What does it mean when the husband is the head of the wife? It means the wife is subject to the husband. When we get back to 1 Corinthians 11 it says, the woman is subject to the man. What does it mean? The man is the head of the wife. It means the woman is subject to the man. That's the order God has established.

All right come back to 1 Corinthians 11. That's adequate for this point to establish that the head of every man is Christ. If you don't believe that, you are in denial of who Christ is as Lord. We didn't even go into those hundreds of passages that identify Him as Lord. Because He is the head, the church is subject to Him, all creation is subject to Him and will ultimately be brought into subjection.

The second statement here, the man is the head of the woman. And this is the big issue and we're going to spend the least time on this because we'll be involved in this through the rest of the passage. But we do want to make note of it. I take it the principle here, Christ is the head of every man and the man is the head of the woman, that is the order established, that is the creation order. We're not talking about husbands and wives here, we're not just talking about the family. These are general principles established, just like Christ is the head of every man ultimately. Even though He is the head of the church you can narrow that down and you see that He is over all rule and authority. He is head of all men because the context here will talk about His relationship with men and women. He's going to take this back to the creation in Genesis later in this chapter so that we know he is talking about God's plan from the creation of a man and a woman.

The man is the head of the woman, he has authority over a woman. That's God's plan and when we get down to verses 8-9 he'll talk about creation. Turn over to 1 Timothy 2, and this will be enough for now, because I do want to spend a little bit of time on the last statement, which to me is the most remarkable of all. Look at 1 Timothy 2. He's talking about the distinction and roles between men and women. We'll be into this passage as we move through 1 Corinthians 11, but we'll just pick up with verse 11. A woman must receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to be quiet. Clearly, there is order in the relationship, and it's the same. Well, this is a cultural thing. People want to say it's cultural, it was true in that day but now Galatians 3:28 says, in Christ there is neither male nor female. So this order was a result of the fall into sin, but with the coming of Christ and redemption, we've been set free from the effects of the fall so now there is no difference in roles between men and women. Paul says that is partly maybe a correct answer, if you just took verse 14. It was Eve who was deceived and not Adam. But verse 13 says the reason he doesn't allow a woman to be in authority over a man was Adam was created first. You understand that creation precedes the fall. If you don't, go back and read Genesis 1-2, then you will get to Genesis 3. The fall occurs in Genesis 3, creation of a man and a woman and their distinction is in Genesis 2. The woman is not to have authority over the man. And she learns but she doesn't teach or exercise authority.

Come back to 1 Corinthians. I think the passage is clear here and we could go further. We'll be obviously touching some of these things as we develop the passage itself. But Christ is the head of every man, He has sovereign authority, He rules over every man. The man is the head of the woman, he has authority over the woman. Now that doesn't mean I can run around and tell every woman what to do, that could be a literal, fatal mistake. But the principle is established in God's order of creation. The man has authority over the woman.

The third area, where we're going to spend the rest of our time, and to me is a remarkable statement that I want you to follow closely all three areas we're going to talk about. God is the head of the Christ. This becomes very crucial because what he's saying and now we're going to look at here, is God's plan for His creation is a reflection of the order there is within the trinity. There is one God, eternally existing in three persons. The three persons are equal, they are of the same essence and nature, together they comprise the one God. Jesus Christ is the second person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit is the third. We don't have time to do a discussion of the trinity, that would be its own series. But what Paul is establishing here is there is order within the trinity, the persons that comprise the one God. The Son is submissive to the Father, that's what he says here. God is the head of Christ, He has authority over Christ. Now first and most obviously, we being with the most obvious. Christ was submissive to the Father during the incarnation, during His earthly ministry, from the time He was born at Bethlehem until the time He was raised from the dead. We're just going to look at one or two passages in each of these areas for time.

Come back to John 4. During His earthly life, life on this earth, following His birth at Bethlehem, Jesus was submissive to the Father in every way. John 4:34, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. My food, that which gives me my nourishment, that which is what life for me is about is to do the will of my Father, the one who sent me, to accomplish His work. I'm not doing my will, I'm doing His will. Remember when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Father if possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours. Complete submissiveness to the will of the Father. Turn over to John 8:28, Jesus said, when you lift up the Son of Man then you will know that I am He. I do nothing on my own initiative, I speak these things as the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me. Keep in mind these constant references to He who sent me, He who sent me. He who sent me is with me, He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. So Christ was submissive to the Father during His earthly ministry. There can be no debate about that and we'll leave it with those verses.

Secondly, now be sure you track here. Christ, the Son, was submissive to the Father in eternity past. It's important we realize that this relationship of the Son being submissive to the Father did not begin with His birth at Bethlehem. That was true of the relationship of the first person and the second person of the trinity in eternity past. I mention the emphasis on sent. Back up to John 6:38. Some of these verses from John here because that would keep us together and save time. Verse 38, I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. The emphasis that we have seen in several passages, He sent me, He sent me, indicates it was the Father doing this prior to His coming to Bethlehem. Christ came to Bethlehem because it was the will of the Father, the Father sent Him. That precedes the incarnation.

Turn over to Hebrews 1, and this is the only other verse we're going to use on this point for right now also. You know John's gospel began, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. No distinction in their essence and nature as deity. Jesus Christ, the Word, was God. And He was in the beginning with God, and all things were created by Him. But look at Hebrews 1:2, in these last days God has spoken, God from verse 1, picking it up here, has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. You note the order here? In creating the world God the Father made the world through God the Son. Who is the person in the position of greater authority here? God the Father. He appointed the Son as heir of all things, and made the world through Him. That carries us back to the beginning of creation. The Son was functioning submissively to the Father and the Father now is doing His work of creating through the Son.

So in eternity past the Son was submissive to the Father. That's why in the Christophanies of the Old Testament where God manifests Himself, the second person of the trinity, to man, it is sometimes as the angel of Jehovah, the messenger of Jehovah, the One being sent by Jehovah. In some of those passages He is clearly a divine being and accepts worship. It's the second person of the trinity and He comes as the one sent by the Father. The very titles, Father and Son, indicated an order. Sometimes the son in a human relationship could be more intelligent than the father, make more money than the father, have whatever, but in the father/son relationship, there is an order. Now in the persons in the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is complete equality. But there is willing subjection and an order that characterizes the trinity.

Furthermore, not only was the Son submissive to the Father during His incarnation, not only was He submissive to the Father in eternity past, but He will be submissive to the Father in eternity future. It comes out in the very nature of the triune God that there is order within the trinity. We call it the economic trinity, the order within the trinity that these three persons, all God, all equal as God, all the same essence and nature, there is an order within them. Doesn't mean one is inferior to the other. In early church history there was debate over the subordination of the Son to the Father, and many of the church fathers fought against that because those promoting the subordination of the Son were saying He was inferior and thus subordinate. The teaching of scripture is He is submissive to the Father but not inferior in any way.

Look back in 1 Corinthians 15, we'll just take this passage because we will get to this unless the Lord comes or I die. Verse 24, we're talking about the culmination of all things. Then comes the end when he, Christ, hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power, for He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. We are at the climax of the millennium, the thousand-year phase of the eternal kingdom. The last enemy that will be abolished is death, for He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says all things are put in subjection, it is evident that He is accepted, who put all things in subjection to Him. In other words, God the Father doesn't come under subjection to God the Son, because He was the One who put all things in subjection under God the Son. Now note this, when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him. So that God may be all in all. So we move into the eternal phase of the kingdom, you know what? The Son will be subject to the Father, that's eternity future, just as the Son was submissive to the Father in eternity past and just as He was during His earthly ministry.

What is so important about this? It's important we understand, why is this such a battleground? Because Satan ultimately is in an unrelenting opposition to the rule of God. He would like to rule. What does Satan say to Christ in the temptation in Matthew 4? Look at all the kingdoms of the world, I'll give you them all if you will bow down and worship me, if you will submit yourself to me instead of to your Father. What will we have in the coming tribulation? The satanic trinity where Satan will have his antichrist, the false Christ, and you'll have the false prophet promoting worship of the false Christ, who worships the devil. So it's no wonder, what we have here is the action of Satan and the willing agreement of sinful beings to join in rebellion against the order that God has ordained to all His creation, because it is a reflection of the order that exists within God Himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is an order there, authority and submissiveness with complete equality. And God has ordained that for His creation, and any rejection of that is an act of rebellion against God, a denial of who He is, and a following of Satan in his rebellion.

This is a serious matter. We think, these are not major things. We ought to just major on the majors, let's not get caught up in the minors. Now we come to realize that the role of men and women is a major, it has to do with the very being of God and how God functions as a triune being, and the order that exists among the members of the Godhead, and God's intention in creation, that His creation reflect that same order. This is not a minor point. That's why Paul spends the time here first of all emphasizing how important it is that they hold firmly to what he has taught them. And now how important it is that they understand clearly this matter of authority, the authority of the man is Christ, the authority of the woman is the man, the authority of Christ is the Father. And that all is to be worked out throughout His creation, and the church of all places ought to reflect it. When we allow ourselves to be conformed to the world, we join Satan in his rejection of the authority of God the Father, His plan for God the Son and His creative work of human beings. This is not a minor thing. We need to take note of it and function in proper submission to Christ. Women need to take note of this, am I functioning in proper submission to men, to my husband, to the men in this church. If not it is a joining in the rebellion with Satan. This is serious, serious business.

Let me read you what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:18 & 21, now all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. See that emphasis, it is God the Father's work being accomplished through God the Son. He made Him, God the Father made God the Son, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is why our first act of submission is our submission to Jesus Christ and acknowledging He is the only Savior. And I have been a rebellious person, I have been a sinful person, and I am casting myself upon His mercy, seeking His forgiveness, submitting myself to Him as my Savior, my Lord. And now have a life of obedience which reflects His character and His purposes in every area of my life.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for its clarity. Lord, how important it is that we submit ourselves to your truth, that we not allow the world, the flesh and the devil to influence our thinking and think that we can alter your truth, or be loose with the truth and honor you. Lord, we are frail human beings, we are but dust, but by your grace we have experienced redemption, we have your Spirit, we've been entrusted in these earthen vessels with the treasure of your Word. The desire of our hearts is to be faithful to you. We thank you for the beauty of the order that you have revealed that exists within yourself, the persons that comprise the one God. We don't understand, but a fraction of what is entailed of who you are, how you function. But we understand what you have said. We have come to appreciate even more fully the importance of functioning in accord with your will for us that we might reflect clearly what is your purpose and plan as a revelation of who you are. We commit ourselves to you to that end. In Christ's name, amen.