Gods Order of Authority Elaborated

Transcript

GR 1335
10-08-06
God's Order of Authority Elaborated
I Corinthians 11:3
Gil Rugh

We are in I Corinthians 11 and it's going to seem like we're not making any progress, and there is a good reason for that. We are not, not at least as is seen to work through the passage. Now what is happening is we have several matters to address, and once they are clearly set in our minds, the rest of the chapter really is, I don't want to say a non-issue, but it just flows rather simply. So what I want to do is address some of these matters early and we'll be reviewing in time together certain basic matters that will also come up later in this chapter. And then in our next study we have to deal with matters related to prophecy teaching and preaching and how that fits to the content of the passage here which deals with a woman prophesying. So we'll have more to say about that. After that it's just a matter of moving through and dealing with matters of the head covering and so, which are not as complicated as some people would make them.

The Creator had a plan in His creation. The sovereign God who created all things did it with a purpose and a plan. That should not surprise us. And it's wonderful that He has revealed something of those purposes and plans. We are at the heart of His creation, His creating work, human beings, man as male and female. And God created man, male and female, with a divine created purpose. There is a reason He made man as man and woman as woman. He created them distinct and yet He created them to function together as one. And together to complete one another. Now sadly much of what goes on in the world today is to attempt to destroy the uniqueness of a man and the uniqueness of a woman and try to absolve and dissolve any distinctions and differences, and just make us human beings. And physical differences aside, everything else is the same. Why we find delight in destroying or attempting to destroy the beauty of the diversity of the creation is amazing. It would be like if we said, look at all the flowers, the colors, the beauty, but our goal is to have only one flower and one color and have them all alike. You say, what would that accomplish? And yet when it comes to men and women we think if we can destroy any differences and make them as much alike as possible, that will be better. We need to remind ourselves, what is best is always the plan of the Creator. And we don't come with a preconceived idea of what ought to be, we come to find out what He says He created us to be, how He created us to function, and then to live in obedience to His purposes and plans so that we can experience the fullness of His blessings and He can receive the greatest possible honor and glory from His Creation.

We looked last time at I Corinthians 11:2-3, concentrating primarily on verse 3. And it's there the Spirit of God directed Paul to set forth certain basic authority relationships. He began by saying, Christ, verse 3, is the head of every man. Then that the man is the head of a woman, and then that God is the head of Christ. And in each of these we are dealing with the issue of being the head of. And we noted the word basically carries the idea to be the one having authority. We looked at several passages in the New Testament. Some who would want to claim to believe the Bible and submit to its teaching, but are uncomfortable with what the Bible says about the distinction between a man and a woman, and the uniqueness of a woman and the uniqueness of a man, try to change the meanings of some of these terms. Like head, they say it really doesn't mean to have authority, be an authority, it means to be the source of. And we looked through some of the reasons why that is not so.

I want to take you to two passages in the Old Testament, just in addition to what we said from the New Testament. Go back to Deuteronomy 1. Both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament the word head was used to convey the idea of authority, someone who was in charge, someone to whom you must submit. In Deuteronomy 1:15, so I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you, leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and so on. See in the context these are the heads, the leaders of the tribes, and I made them leaders in these various areas. They were your heads, they were the ones with authority, they were the ones to lead you. Turn over to Judges 11:11, then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and the people made him head and chief over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah. So he was made head and chief over them. And the idea in the word head means to have authority over, to rule over someone.

Now come back to I Corinthians 11. We're going to move around a little bit, I just want to draw some things out of this to be sure they are fixed in our minds. We talked about hermeneutics, let me just remind you of what we said about hermeneutics, which means the principles you use to interpret the Bible. The Bible doesn't mean something different to everyone, the Bible means what God intended it to mean when He had it written. So we follow what is called literal hermeneutics, a historical, grammatical hermeneutic. We interpret the passage in its context historically and grammatically. So we come to I Corinthians 11 we want to interpret it in light of its historical, grammatical context. And that's what we're trying to work through here. Keep that in mind as I draw out some principles that come from what he said and are reflected in other passages of scripture.

Let me review what we said about the three statements in verse 3, and I'll take them in a little different order than they're given there and that we looked at. But the first one we'll take as it's given. Christ is the head of every man. We noted on that statement, Christ has authority over every man. Men do not function in their realm with autonomous independent authority. Man as male, men, function under the authority of Jesus Christ. Every man is under the authority of Jesus Christ and obligated to submit to Him. Christ's authority began at the creation and will continue through eternity. There are no exceptions to this. And ultimately every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You'll note here, it is a statement, Christ is the head of every man. It does not say Christ should be the head of every man. Christ is the head of every man.

Turn back to Isaiah 45. These chapters around chapter 45, before and after, emphasize God's sovereign authority as the Creator and the Redeemer. And I want you to note the end of verse 6 and verse 7, I am the Lord and there is no other. The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these. He is sovereign over everything. He creates calamity, a hurricane occurs, where does it come from? The sovereign authority of God. Look at verse 9, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker, an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth. Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? Or the thing you are making say he has no hands. Remember in our previous study we looked at the fact that God the Father created all things through God the Son. John's gospel says in chapter 1, the opening verses, all things were made by Him, by Christ. And apart from Him nothing has come into being that exists. So He has sovereign authority over all men, and particularly we'll talk about man in contrast to woman here. Obviously His authority includes all humanity, but we're breaking that down in I Corinthians 11 as we'll note in a moment. But you'll note, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. Keep that in mind.

So there are only two kinds of men in the world. Those who are in rebellion against the authority of Christ, and those who are submitting to the authority of Christ. There are no men who are not under His authority, because He is the head of every man. Not that He should be, but that He is. So you are either submitting to His authority or rebelling against His authority, but you cannot change the fact you are under His authority and accountable to Him. And ultimately will give an account. We'll say more about that matter in a little bit.

Back in I Corinthians 11. The second statement I want you to look at is the third statement in verse 3. God is the head of Christ. And we looked at the fact that that indicates a permanent relationship within the Godhead. There is one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They all partake of the same essence, nature, being. They are God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, John 1:1. So these three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, together comprise the one true and living God. They are not three Gods, they are three persons, they comprise the one true and living God.

Now we are told that God is the head of Christ. The Father has authority over the Son. And we looked at the fact that was true during the incarnation, during Christ's time on earth. And we looked at passages that said that He always does the will of His Father. We also looked at passages that indicate that Christ was submissive to His Father in eternity past. For example, Hebrews 1:2 said that the Father created the ages through the Son, way back at the beginning of creation. And it's the Father in the position of authority working His purposes through the Son. And other related matters we looked at. So the Son was submissive to the Father in eternity past. We also noted that the Son will be submissive to the Father in eternity future. And we'll get to this in I Corinthians 15:24-28, where we're told when we enter into the eternal phase of God's kingdom, the Son will be submissive to the Father. So that within the trinity, and it has always been and always will be that the Son is submissive to the Father. The Father has authority over the Son, but the Son is equal to the Father in essence and being. That is important because it makes clear that when we talk about being in the role of submissiveness, being the submissive one, that does not imply inferiority, because the Son is in no way inferior to the Father. Otherwise He could not be God. In Him is contained all the fullness of deity. During His earthly life it was contained in bodily form, but all the fullness of deity, everything that God is as God, His very essence. So there is no inferiority of person implied when we talk about submissiveness.

All right, we can move to the third point and it's sandwiched in the middle. We noted the order which seemed to have been that God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the man, and the man is the head of the woman. And that is the logical order, but it's not the order that the Spirit had Paul set down, because the real issue that we battle with and the Corinthian church is battling over is the matter of the woman's submissiveness to the man's authority. So he places that between the statement of Christ's authority over the man, and Christ's submissiveness to the Father. The plan of God that man is the head of the woman.

Now I want you to note that this is stated as a fact. It doesn't say the man should be the head of the woman. The man is the head of the woman. You cannot change that. That is a creation ordained fact, ordained by the Creator that this is the role relationship between a man and a woman. The man is the head of the woman. Now there can be submissiveness to that or rebellion against that, but you cannot avoid the fact of that. Well, it may be true of some, not true of me. It's true of everyone. The Creator established it and that's where we are going. And to reject it is to rebel against the Creator. Keep in mind, woe to him who quarrels with his maker, who has a problem with the sovereign Creator and wants to challenge Him.

Several things I want to draw from that. 1. This is not limited by culture in any way. We could clean up a lot of the empty debate about I Corinthians 11 by simply saying culture is not an issue here. It's not a culturally related matter. It's part of the sovereign plan of God. The authority of God over the Son, God the Father over God the Son, is not related to a certain cultural or social setting. The relationship of Christ as head over every man is not limited to a certain cultural or social situation. So when you come to talk about the man is the head of the woman, has authority over the woman, we're not talking about something which was limited to a time where you had a patriarchal society, it's not limited to Paul making accommodation to the culture of his day and doing what would have been acceptable and viewed as proper in his day. It's to ignore the historical, grammatical context of what is said here.

2. Secondly, and this is important for us to grasp, I'll give you some examples. This order is not limited to certain situations such as church or marriage. They become the prominent places where it is manifested as the scripture unfolds God's plan, but this plan of God is not limited to just certain situations. For example, when it says Christ is the head of every man, he doesn't say, in the church, or every man who is married. Christ is the head of every man, because He is the sovereign Creator and He is the Lord who rules sovereign over all. It's part of the creation plan of God. We'll come to this when we get down to verse 8, the man does not originate from the woman, but woman from the man. We've gone back to Genesis 2, and the order and plan of God in creation. The church didn't exist then, but it's the plan of God and is to be reflected in the church.

Let me give you an example that might clarify what I'm trying to stress. Here is a man that I have great respect for and has written some very helpful material on the roles of men and women, and he would be basically in the position that we hold and that I am teaching. However there is an area here where I think he has an inconsistency that we need to be aware of so we don't fall into it. He says, a Christian woman may be, and he goes on to list various occupations or what we would call the secular realm she may be involved in. Then he goes on, but when the church assembles, men take the lead in teaching and governing the church family. In this way the local church displays God's design for the sexes. Now if it's God's design for the sexes for a woman to function under the authority of a man, why is it okay for a woman not to function that way when you get outside the church? He goes on to say a couple of pages later, this explains why women are not to teach or exercise authority over a man. To do so would contradict God's creation design for the sexes. As the household of God, the local church must model God's principles. I agree that the local church must model God's principles. And the local church is His household. It is to manifest its submissiveness to the authority of Christ as the head of the church. My question is, why is it considered acceptable for a Christian woman to function contrary to God' s creation design for the sexes outside the church? The church didn't come into existence for thousands of years after creation, the church began in Acts 2. God's creation design for the sexes was not limited to how we function in the church, is the point I'm making. This is a creation design of God for men and women in their relationships. The world has manifested this creation design down through history.

Now in our society, the western world particularly, we are trying to annul those differences, but down through history it has been men who have provided the leadership, women have functioned under the authority of men. That's still generally true in our society. Even unbelieving people generally function this way. We would like to turn that around and change it, but that shouldn't surprise us. The world lives in rebellion against God and His authority in their lives. God says that His plan is marriage and in marriage the bed is undefiled. Sex is pure and holy in marriage. But adulterers and fornicators God will judge. Now we want to say, wait a minute, there are alternative lifestyles and who are you to say that these people weren't born this way and so it is acceptable for a man to be with a man and a woman to be with a woman. We say, because God says it, and that wasn't His design from creation when He made a man and a woman to complement the man. It's God's plan, nothing changes. Thousands of years later that's God's plan, the Creator, we can't change that. You can rebel against His plan, but He is still the sovereign authority.

Turn over to I Timothy 2. Paul addresses similar issues and we're just going to pick up this area of authority. We will be talking about the role of women in teaching, in prophesying, in preaching in our next study. But in I Timothy 2:11, a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. Now before we go any further, you all have your Bible open, right? You read that. I didn't write it, I'm not responsible, I'm simply reading it. My role is to relate what God says. It's no big deal to disagree with me, sometimes it's the course of wisdom. But we cannot quarrel with our Maker and the one who has sovereign authority. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. A woman cannot be an authority over a man. Now again there are those who want to say that they are evangelical in the sense they believe the Bible is their authority but they say, you understand, there were different issues. Some prominent people, I'm talking prominent in the sense of being the president of an evangelical seminary, who says the real problem at Ephesus was the women were not educated. And Paul's real point here is uneducated women cannot teach educated men. And so since women in that society did not have the opportunity to be educated, then they shouldn't teach or be in authority over men. But that's not true in our culture and our society, women are educated, so this doesn't apply anymore. Now there is an example of reading your preconceived convictions into what the Bible says. Now as far as I can see it doesn't say anything here about uneducated women should not be an authority or teach. Others say well, there was a particular problem in the church at Ephesus that Paul is addressing. The church at Ephesus had rebellious women who were not functioning in an orderly manner and so that was a unique situation. It's not true of our churches today and churches generally.

Put a marker here and come to Galatians 3:28. Look at verse 26, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. There is only one way to become a child of God, through faith in Christ. Only one way, through faith in Christ. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ. How are you born again? By believing in Christ. How are you regenerated? By believing in Christ. I was reading someone this week, an evangelical writer who says his firm conviction is you must be regenerated before you can believe. I turned to Galatians 3, I thought maybe I had forgotten how it read. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ. He wants to tell me that I have faith in Christ because I'm a son of God. I said, something is wrong here. Look at verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ. I was reading on this subject this week and a couple of writers on this said, this is the defining verse by which all other passages on this subject must be evaluated. Now who said that? I know they said that, but where does the Bible indicate that this is the defining passage and now you read every other passage and decide on the basis of my interpretation of Galatians 3:28, and what they want to say is, the role of submissiveness of a woman was a result of the fall. But Jesus Christ came and redeemed us and washed away the consequences of our sin and made us new and so now we don't live under those same guidelines. We've been redeemed in Christ, we're new, we're all one. There is neither male nor female, so how can you talk about a woman being submissive to a man when in Christ there is neither male nor female? Well we read the context. Remember, we interpret historically, grammatically. And in the context what is Paul talking about? The spiritual relationship we have with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. And it is true, there is no difference spiritually between a slave or a free man, although in the letters of the New Testament there are instructions given to slaves, Christian slaves, how they are to function; Christian masters, how they are to function. But as far as their relationship to God, there is no distinction. I mean, the slave has just as much a relationship with the living God through faith in Christ as the master does. But in the roles they have, it doesn't change the fact that the slave is submissive to the master.

There is neither Jew nor Greek. Paul declared his Jewishness on a number of occasions, but spiritually his relationship with Christ was not determined by His Jewishness. Jew and Gentile come on the same ground when it comes to a spiritual relationship with the living God through faith in Christ. That's what he's talking about with the male and the female. Doesn't mean now there are no distinctions between a man and a woman. Spiritually we are equals, just like the Father and the Son in the trinity are equal. But they function with different roles and the Father has authority over the Son. But as God they are both deity, they are equal.

One other passage before we come back to I Timothy. Come to I Peter 3. Here he is talking about husbands and wives. We have the general principle established that Christ is the head of every man and He exercises His authority over the man directly and over the woman through the man. And these relationships of being submissive to the man will have their various contexts. For example in the church, the woman submits to the leadership of the men, the teachers, the elders and so on. In marriage the woman submits to the leadership of the man as her husband. There are various ways this is worked out, but the principle remains the same. The man is the head of the woman. And it's true in the governmental relationships. It's part of the judgment of God according to Isaiah 3 for Israel, He says I'll give you women to rule over you. That was not part of the creation design, part of the judgment of God. Those who have rebelled against Him, He gives them their way and part of it is God's design when authority and submission are violated.

In I Peter 3:1, the same way you wives be submissive to your own husbands. Peter knows about redemption, read the opening chapters of this letter. Marvelous truth regarding redemption. Peter didn't think that changed the role of a woman and the role of a man. And that includes even if your husband is an unbeliever, because this is the creation design. This is true for believer and unbeliever alike, just like marriage is a creation design. And God will hold men accountable whether they are believers or not. We say, well marriage is only applicable to believers. No, it's a creation design, for men and women. So whether the husband is a believer or not doesn't change the fact that she as a wife is under his authority, she is obedient.

Come down to verse 4 on this godly lifestyle. Let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gently and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God. Then Sarah, verse 6, is the example. Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. So here in this particular realm, the marriage realm, the woman submits with a godly spirit as a godly woman, a quiet and gentle spirit. This is precious in the sight of the Lord. It's not a matter, well I do it, but I don't like it because I delight to do the will of the Lord, I want to do what is precious in His sight. This oh Lord, I want to serve you, I want to honor you, use my life. But then they won't submit to their husbands. You don't desire to do what is precious in the sight of God, you desire to do what you want to do and pretend you're godly. And for men the same thing. I have to submit to the authority of Christ in my life. I can't go around parading like I want to be a godly man but I'm not going to submit to His authority in an area of my life.

So verse 7, you husbands in the same way live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker since she is a woman, show her honor as a fellow-heir of the grace of life. So your prayers will not be hindered. I realize my wife is under my authority, but I also realize she is my spiritual equal, she is a fellow-heir of God's grace and His salvation. That's Galatians 3:28. So if I live as a man under the authority of Christ in obedience to him, I must provide godly leadership for my wife in a loving, respectful way, treating her with understanding and kindness because of who she is. She's a fellow-heir, she's my spiritual equal, even though in the role she functions under my authority, and I function under my Lord's authority.

All right, do you remember where we were? Where did you leave your marker? I had to ask you because I couldn't remember until I thought about it. I Timothy 2, a woman must receive instructions with entire submissiveness. I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. Two reasons given. Verse 13, for it was Adam who was first created, then Eve. You see this has nothing to do with a particular cultural situation at a particular period of time. This goes back to creation. The order of creation established the authority of the man. The second reason, it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. We've looked into the details of these verses when we studied I Timothy years ago. You could go back into that, I don't want to delve into all those reasons, that would become another sermon. But the facts of the fall here, and the order of creation, both are involved. God didn't intend the woman to lead, and He intended the man. That comes from creation, in fact the first three chapters of Genesis establish. Why there is so much talk and writing about the cultural issues and why this is cultural and this is not cultural, I just scratch my head. We have to go back and read Genesis 1-3, we have to have an understanding of the triune God and the order that exists within the Godhead and the sovereign authority of the second person of the triune God, and His authority over men. Now what? Now we function. We bring all this culture, let me tell you there are hundreds of pages written about all this stuff and when all is done a lot of it is just so much smoke being blown out there so that we think well ............... One person came to the conclusion on I Corinthians 11 that this is such a controversial and difficult passage that we must be careful not to build doctrine and practice on this. Well, it seems pretty clear as far as we've gone, doesn't it? The order that is established.

Let me read you what one person has written, and this is another person who would be coming from the perspective that I am teaching, but I think there is a serious conflict here. This is a different person than the previous one. Much misuse of Paul by Christians, now we're talking about Christians who misuse Paul. Much misuse of Paul by Christians and maligning of Paul by non-Christians might be avoided if the primary horizon of Paul's admonitions were recognized. You have to understand the primary horizons of Paul, what ultimately was he writing about? I take it he was writing about what a historical, grammatical evaluation of what he says is what he was writing about. His epistles are addressed to persons in Christ, not in Adam. In other words his epistles are written to Christians, not non-Christians. Women's offices and roles in church and the Christian family as Paul and other biblical writers outline them ought not be treated by the church as automatically and necessarily binding on society at large, though they may well be commended as worthy of respect because grounded in the creation order. In other words, the reason so many people malign what Paul writes is because Christians tell them that God through the Apostle Paul says this is right and this is wrong, and we shouldn't do that. These aren't necessarily binding on society at large, but you could commend them as worthy of respect. Does that mean therefore I shouldn't teach that marriage is God's plan, and sex outside marriage is sin and will bring the judgment of God ultimately? Our society is opposed to that kind of idea, people live together all the time, nobody is embarrassed or ashamed. And sex doesn't have to be limited to a man and woman in a marriage relationship, two men in a love relationship, two women. I'm not going to tell you that Paul said that homosexuality is sin. I mean, where does someone who claims to believe the Bible say that the reason people malign Paul is Christians tell them that the creation order is binding on them. Isn't that what is involved in Isaiah 45, woe to him who quarrels with his maker? Aren't they part of the creation? Doesn't the Creator have sovereign authority over them? By what right do we say, you're guilty of causing people to malign Paul because you say that the creation order is binding for them? Well if the creation order is not binding on them, what is binding on them?

I mean, you know what the problem is? This is such a sensitive, delicate area, we don't want to get into it. We don't have to tell them it's binding on them, but we can tell them it's worthy of respect. What's that mean? I mean, we deny the Bible that we claim we are defending and teaching. It ought not to be so. I don't tell people well if you quit practicing homosexuality you'll go to heaven. No. I tell them your practicing homosexuality is simply one evidence of your rebellion against the living God. A man and a woman having sex outside marriage, I don't tell them quit having sex together or you won't go to heaven. That's just one evidence of your rebellion against God. But it is a rebellion against God, it's a manifestation of your sinful heart that is in rebellion against Him in every area. And that is true of the creation order for the sexes.

All right, in I Timothy 2 there were two reasons given why, we're just limiting it right now to why a woman should not have authority over a man. The order of creation and the facts of the fall. That transcends culture, that transcends social issues. In I Corinthians 11:3 the statement that the man is the head of the woman, has authority over the woman was in the context of two other statements—Christ is the head of all men, every man and God the Father is the head, has authority over God the Son, Christ. So those four reasons—1) the order of creation; 2) the fact of the fall; 3) Christ is the head of all men; 4) the Father is the head of the Son. None of those four reasons is limited by culture or social issues or anything temporal like that. So that sets the pattern and establishes God's plan.

Let me draw some conclusions here, first for the men. Men, you live under the authority of Christ. You cannot escape responsibility to be submissive to Him. You can rebel against His authority or you can submit to His authority. If you want to write on a piece of paper, you put the Father at the top. Then put a line down and put the Son. Then put a line down under the Son and put man. Then you put a line down from man and you put woman. If you want to keep going, then put a line down from woman and put kids. Then under kids put a line down and put dog. And there we go, a line of authority that God has established. In other places we are told that parents have authority over the children. Children ought to obey their parents, both parents, father and mother. So you have the authority. God has chosen and ordained that His authoritative rule over His creation would follow an orderly pattern, that He would exercise His authority, God the Father, through God the Son. Just like He ordained and determined that He would create all things through the Son. Why did He do it that way? I don't know, I wasn't there, He didn't counsel with me. I don't claim to understand the reasons for all that God does. But that's the way He did it. That's His line of authority. That's why Jesus said that if you don't honor the Son, you don't honor the Father. You cannot go around the order that God has established. Those who honor the Son honor the Father. That's clear, right? There is no room for confusion on this.

And then all men are under the authority of Christ, there can be no debate on this. All women are under the authority of Christ. But it's just like men are under the authority ultimately of God the Father, but through God the Son. Women are under the authority of God the Father, through God the Son, through men. That's the order God has established. Now recognizing that, men are responsible to Christ. I cannot escape my accountability to Him, I cannot abdicate my responsibility. If you laid out that chart, I cannot remove myself. That is established by God, the sovereign ruler of all, the Creator of all. That's why I say as a man I can rebel against Christ's authority in my life, but I cannot get out from under that authority. Or I can submit to that authority. Those are the only two options. All unbelieving men are in rebellion against Christ. We as believing men are to live our lives in full obedience to His authority. Adam tried to shirk his responsibility. Remember in the Garden, after Eve and Adam had eaten of the fruit, God came and asked Adam, why did you eat of the fruit that I commanded you not to eat? What did Adam say? The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate. Well, that's true, but you know what? Adam could not abdicate his responsibility. He could rebel against the authority of God and allow his wife to lead, but he could not shirk the responsibility that God had placed upon him. He could not give up his accountability, and so God judges him for his actions. God didn't say, that's not true, that's not the way it happened. That was the way it happened, but Adam was responsible to obey God. As men we have to understand we cannot come up with excuses. I am to be the leader in my home for example, with my wife. That's one of the areas of authority responsibility between a man and a woman, the primary. I cannot abdicate that responsibility. If you don't function as God says you must function under His authority as a man, you are in rebellion against Christ. There is no escaping that. Well my wife wanted to, my wife didn't like that, ................ I'm going over the deep end here. You know the book of Proverbs says it's better to live in the corner of a roof than in a fine house with a contentious woman. What if I have a contentious woman? Get to the corner of the roof, I guess. It doesn't change your responsibility. I can never say, well, I didn't do it. It's like parents, in that authority line I have to have authority over my children, my home. I can't abdicate that. I can give it up and just let the kids do what they want, but I will still be accountable to God.

So as a man I am going to be accountable. I must lead my wife in love, I do it under the authority of Christ. I'm not a tyrant, I'm not the boss in that sense. I am a man under authority and I must do what is right and biblical for the good of those under my authority, including my wife. Then you cannot get away from your responsibility, your accountability. There are no excuses. Every man is under the authority of Christ.

Every woman, so women, you live under the authority of the man. You cannot escape your responsibility. A woman cannot go around and talk about being so godly and so spiritual and yet not be under the authority of a man, whether it's the men in the church, the elders, teachers, whether it's her husband, whatever the context in which God has placed her. You can rebel against the authority God has established, but you cannot go around it. You cannot escape accountability for it. My wife cannot say, I'm going to be submissive to Christ, but I'm not going to be submissive to my husband. Now remember how the submissiveness is to take place—with a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of the Lord. There is no submitting to God the Father apart from submission to God the Son, apart from submission to the man, and the kids to the parents if we were going to carry it beyond where Paul is in I Corinthians 11. I can't tell God how I will carry this out, He tells me. This is the order. I can't say, I want to honor the Father but I don't think submitting to the Son is the best way. The Jews tried that, there is no submission to the Father apart from submission to the Son. And a woman cannot submit to Christ apart from submitting to the male authority that God has placed in her life.

You know we say, I don't know if I like......... You know, the beauty comes from functioning as God intends. But people would say Jesus Christ being the only way is so narrow, so exclusive. They fail to see the beauty of it. He has provided one way, it is the only way necessary, it is the way for everyone, it is given as a free gift. What's the problem? God's plan, this is the way He created you to be. I'm not saying there may not be difficulty, I'm saying the way of blessing is the way of obedience. And in the man's life it is complete submission to Christ. In the woman's life it is complete submission to Christ through submission to her husband or through the man, the elders of the church, whatever the context. And there are varying degrees and things involved in authority. Obviously the authority of a husband over his wife involves certain things, the authority of elders over the women involve other things, and so on. But the order is always the same, and that impacts every area of life. When we're outside a marriage relationship, when we're outside the church, this is God's creation order for the sexes. Are we living in rebellion or are we living in obedience?

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for its clarity. Lord, our struggle is not with the clarity of your Word. Sometimes it's a struggle with our own stubbornness, our own rebelliousness. Lord, we as men need to examine ourselves carefully to see if indeed we are living in submission to the One who has authority over all men. We come to submit ourselves to His salvation. Are we living obediently in every area of our lives, living obediently in the way we treat our wives, living obediently in the way that we lead the women of this church. Are we living obediently in all areas? Lord, for the women of this congregation, the pressures of the world, the distortion of what is considered freedom and liberty, we need to consider their godly character. Have they indeed submitted to you by submitting to your Son and the authority that He exercises, to their husbands, to their elders, to other men who have been placed in this role in their lives. Lord, we praise you that you are a gracious God. You have provided a Savior to bring cleansing, forgiveness and newness of life. We desire to manifest the beauty of the work you have done in us by the obedience that we manifest in this crucial area. We pray in Christ's name, amen.