Distinctive Sexual Identity, Part 1

Introduction to the Series and the Crucial Issue of Sexual Identity

0:03 This adult Sunday school class was held on April 3, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. For the sake of the visitors who are among us, perhaps just a word of explanation and a brief review of where we have been in our present study would be helpful. We take up today the sixth lesson in a series of studies which I have entitled, Biblical Perspectives and Directives on Crucial Issues. And in the course of this series of studies and guided discussions, we hope to take up everything from such vital matters as we will begin to take up today, our sexual identity and functions in the will and purpose of God. What is it to be a mother? What is it to be a man? What is it to be a woman?

0:59 And hopefully we will range all the way to such very crucial matters as the use and abuse of the television, a biblical perspective on recreation and leisure, and other such very crucial issues to any earnest Christian. And since the Bible has a definite pattern or framework for giving directives to the people of God with reference to their outworking, of the Christian faith, of the Christian life, we have felt it necessary to sketch in that biblical framework. And so for several weeks we studied together Romans 12, 1 and 2, which perhaps at least as clearly as any other passage, if not more clearly than any other, sets forth the heart of that biblical framework, namely that it is God's great provisions to the saints of God in the gospel that forms the basis, the basis of their Christian obligations and the motivation for the performance of them. And then we looked at three very simple statements that must form, as it were, the framework of all of our thinking concerning every facet of life and those three basic biblical concepts I embodied in personal statements. I am dependent upon the will of God for my existence. I am dependent upon the word of God for my directives.

The Magnitude of the Issue: Confusion and Attacks on Biblical Gender

2:30 And I am dependent upon the grace and power of God for my performance. Now this morning we begin to take up together the issue of male and female identity and function. We shall be addressing such issues as are there fundamental differences between men and women beyond the primary sexual function? There are those who assert with a good degree of dogmatism, both within and without the Christian church, that the only basic, fundamental, inherent difference between men and women is to be found in their primary sexual organs. In other words, if an effective way could be found to take a woman's primary sexual organs and somehow exonerate her, and somehow exonerate her, and somehow exonerate her, and somehow exonerate her, and somehow exonerate her, and somehow exonerate her, from a man, his primary sexual organs, and perform this double transplant, then you would have absolutely no difference with what remained, that there are no fundamental differences. All of the differences are either imposed by society or are picked up as baggage along the way in the evolutionary development of man, but God never intended such a thing as

3:52 a distinctive concept of masculinity or femininity, and out of that, of course, there grows the great question, are there distinct and non-reversible and non-exchangeable roles? Is there such a thing as a male role? We often hear a male role model, a female role model, well, should there be any such thing as a concept of distinctive, feminine? And masculine roles?

4:24 Well, as we take up this subject, I cannot emphasize too strongly the magnitude of its importance.

4:35 Confusion exists in the world, and alas, sadly to say, in the church. There are some very well-known, respected, and hitherto very trusted evangelical leaders who are now actually advocating the ordination of women. To the ministry, one has only gone so far as to advocate joint ordination of a husband and a wife, but he has gone that far. Others have gone further.

5:08 There are aggressive attacks on the biblical concepts of masculinity and femininity. One leading so-called Christian feminist, Virginia Ramey Mollenkot, has asserted that Jesus was a man. Jesus was a woman. Jesus was a man.

5:24 Jesus Christ is the great model of humanity, and here I quote her, for all we know, she said, he may have possessed both sets of primary sexual organs, end quote. That there is no such thing as maleness in Jesus Christ. He is perfect humanity. And there would be a blurring, you see, of any concept of distinctive masculinity and femininity.

5:54 And then along with this confusion in the world and the church, the aggressive attacks upon biblical concepts, there are thousands of subtle pressures, oh so subtle, but real pressures, that are constantly seeking to erode any distinct role models, any distinct concept of masculinity and of femininity. So in the midst of all of this, if we are to obey Romans 20. 12, be not conformed to this world. Don't let this age squeeze you into its mold.

6:33 We must indeed be certain of our grounds on this great concern of masculine and feminine identity, masculine and feminine roles and responsibilities. Now, in taking up the subject of male and female identity, functions, roles, and relationships, we must...

Biblical Methodology: Returning to Creation for Understanding Gender Roles

6:54 We must... We must start at the beginning.

6:58 That is, we must go back to the account of creation. And to demonstrate the validity of this method, I want you to look with me at three New Testament passages in which we have precedents set by our Lord and by the Apostle Paul for wrestling with issues of male and female relationships and roles on the basis of the creation of the Lord. Now, you can help me to find these passages. When our Lord was questioned about the subject of marriage, the precise nature of the marital union, its permanence, whether or not divorce was permissible or allowable, our Lord responded by taking people back to the creation account of the first marriage, the institution of marriage by God himself. Now, where did he do this? Did someone raise his hand? Raise your hand and tell us the passage.

7:56 All right, John?

7:59 All right, Matthew chapter 19, verses 5 and 6. Now, what we're trying to do now is not to ascertain the answer of God concerning any practical issue about marriage and divorce, but just to notice our Lord's methodology in addressing such a question. Matthew 19, 3, there came unto him Pharisees, trying him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to marry a woman? Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

8:29 And he answered and said, have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, a reference to Genesis chapter 1, and said, and now a reference from Genesis 2, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become. One flesh, so that they are no more two, but one flesh, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. In other words, our Lord says you should have known from the creation account as given in Genesis 1 and 2 the answer to your question. He expected them to be familiar with the content and to be able to deduce the obvious, obvious implications of what is recorded in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. That's the great principle. Now, the apostle does a similar thing in at least two other places.

9:37 He is dealing with the hierarchical structure that God has established in the created order. He's dealing with the application of that hierarchical structure as it pertained to a very practical issue at the church in Corinth. There were women appearing in public worship in their physical appearance in such a way as to indicate that they were throwing off that hierarchical structure. Now, whether they were doing so in their hearts is another question.

10:11 But the apostle was concerned that they were doing so in their external appearance. It had to do with the general question of head covering. And as Paul is addressing that subject, he goes back to the, the very order of creation for his argument. Now, what chapter in the scriptures am I talking about?

10:33 All right, Doug?

10:36 All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And notice what the apostle does. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 8. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man.

10:53 For neither was the man, now notice the key word, created. Created. We go right back to the original creation account. For neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

11:11 And here is a direct reference to the account of precisely how God created the man and the woman found in Genesis chapter 2. And then notice how he argues all the way from the garden right up to this current problem. There in Corinth, verse 10. For this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head.

11:36 In other words, he's telling the Corinthians, if you're to think properly about this vexing question of how should we women who are in Christ and part of the new humanity appear in public worship, he says if you understand what God has revealed in the very creation, account, you will have the foundation for a proper answer to this very practical, current, burning question. He takes them all the way back to creation and to the very specific details of how the woman was made from the rib of the man. The man was not made of the substance of the woman. He was made of the dust of the earth. But the woman was not made of the dust of the earth. She was made out of the man. Derived from the man.

12:31 Then there is the question of the proper function of women in the ministries of the church. Should a woman in the mixed assembly take the position of an authoritative teacher?

12:44 Should she have the position of rule and government in the church? And Paul, in answering that question or dealing with that subject, again, goes all the way back to the creation account and here, here, he focuses upon what we would call the temporal arrangement of creation. Who was created first? Now someone tell me, what passage am I referring to?

13:09 All right.

13:11 1 Corinthians. Okay. 1 Timothy. Very good.

13:17 1 Timothy chapter 2. Jerry has given us the right passage the second time. We preachers often do that in the midst of your mind is on what you're going to say in the passage and you quote the wrong reference. You look out and people are looking at you with this strange look and flipping through their Bibles.

13:33 That's when I know I've usually done it. And I say, did I say such and such? And they go, no. And then I say, oh, okay.

13:39 All right. 1 Timothy chapter 2.

13:43 He says in verse 12, but I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. Well, Paul, on what basis dare you establish as apostolic rule in the churches, which is nothing less than the rule of Christ? And anyone who would say, well, that's just Paul. Well, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14, 37, if any man among you seemeth to be spiritual or a prophet, let him acknowledge that the things which I say unto you in a similar setting, dealing with order in the church, particularly male, female roles and relationships and functions in the church, the things which I say unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

14:26 The church is built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself, the chief cornerstone. And it is not their persons which constitute the foundation, but their inspired teaching. So on what basis would the apostle for all time establish that a woman in the mixed assembly of the gathered people of God is not to teach or to exercise dominion over a man?

14:56 Verse 13. For he grounds it, all the way back in Eden. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And he founds his argument upon this simple fact extracted from the narrative that there was a primacy given to the man in the order of creation.

15:23 And he says that has tremendous significance in terms of male and female roles and relationships. So, the threefold witness at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I trust looking at these three passages together with you has sufficiently convinced you that if we are thinking as our Lord thinks and as the apostle thought, then it is right for us to go way back to the creation account in order to establish the fundamental building blocks of true godly thinking about maleness and femaleness. About what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman. So, let us go back then to Genesis chapters 1 and 2. And what I hope to accomplish as we study the word of God together and as I seek to draw these things out of you by way of questions as well as make certain observations myself, I hope we can do two things this morning. We may not get that far, but I'm not anxious that we cover X number of yards.

Fundamental Issues in God's Creative Design: Equality of Identity (Genesis 1)

16:34 I'm just anxious that we cover what we cover with understanding and with some degree of corporate awareness of what we see in these passages. But I hope we can cover, first of all, the fundamental issues embedded in God's creative design and action. The fundamental issues embedded in God's creative design and action. And under that major heading, we have two basic categories.

17:06 The major aspects of equality or parallel identity between men and women. Major aspects of equality or parallel identity in the male and in the female. And then secondly, major aspects of diversity or disparate, disparate, D-I-S-P-A-R-E, R-A-T-E. There is disparity.

17:34 It's the best word I know to use. Non-equality. Major aspects of diversity or disparate identity. That is, in what ways are they fundamentally different in terms of creative design and creative activity.

17:54 So what we're going to do is simply observe these major aspects of equality or parallel identity and the major aspects of diversity or disparate identity. All right? Let's turn then to Genesis chapter 1. And I shall read in your hearing these familiar words that Pastor Bob has read and examined with you with reference to other concerns.

18:24 Genesis 1, 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him.

18:54 Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

19:16 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for food and to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps upon the earth wherein there is life I have given every green herb for food and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day.

19:55 Now, from this passage what are what I want to categorize as three of the major aspects of equality or parallel identity between the male and the female according to the creation account in Genesis chapter 1. What is the most obvious thing in terms of their parallel identity? There is equality of what? Elmer?

20:28 All right. They are both created in the image of God so I want to express it this way for those of you taking notes and to try to give you some mental handles in parallel structure that will perhaps be a little bit easier to take hold of. There is equality of dignity as image bearers of God. There is equality of dignity as image bearers of God.

20:58 That which sets man completely in a totally different category from all of the beasts the beast of the highest intelligence and the greatest beauty is that man and man alone is made in the image of God. Now what that means you have learned in recent weeks under Pastor Bob's instruction but suffice it to say that as a creature made in the image of God in complete distinction from the animals man and by man we mean the man and the woman the male and the female were made with the capacity to reflect God to know God to hold communion with God and consciously and deliberately and volitionally to bring glory to God their creator. So there is equality of dignity as the image bearers of God. Now we will see in our study later on that there is an aspect of God's glory that is more fully revealed in the man and that is dealt with in 1 Corinthians 11. God's glory as a ruler is reflected in the man not in the woman.

22:22 So Paul can say and I want you to note that passage lest some of you anticipating it have a problem with it because you may have read down a little bit and we will get into that some weeks down the road 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 7 for a man indeed ought to have his head veiled for as much as he is the image and glory of God but the woman is the glory of the man. It doesn't say she is the image of the man she is the glory of the man. So there is a sense in which the man manifests a dimension of God's glory that the woman does not in reference to headship and rule. But in terms of basically what we are as creatures distinct from all the other created realities man and woman have equal dignity as image bearers of God. Alright? Now what's another area of equality from this passage? Alright Gary?

Equality of Accountability and Stewardship (Genesis 1)

23:27 Alright there is equality in the charge to exercise dominion but not only to exercise dominion but also to do what? Something you can't do by yourself.

23:43 Yeah. To procreate. Alright? So the mandate to procreate and to have dominion are jointly shared and I've got that as my number three so we'll hold off on expressing that but there is something else that even precedes the specifics.

23:59 The moment God begins to speak to them and give them commands what is he assuming about them? Norman?

24:09 Alright. They are able to communicate with him I think we would include that as part of the image-bearing capacity.

24:21 Alright let me give you a little hint. Alright?

24:27 Yes we've already seen that. They bear the likeness of God. What I'm fishing for and I think you'll see at the minute I mention it there is equality of accountability to God as moral agents. Not only equality of dignity as the image-bearers of God but there is equality of accountability to God as moral agents.

24:51 Moral agents both are blessed both are charged to do the will of God and both are culpable if they do not obey God and even with reference to that special command revealed to Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil obviously Adam had conveyed it to Eve and caused her to know that she was equally responsible to God. She was equally responsible to God. She was equally responsible to God. She was equally responsible to God.

25:21 She was equally responsible to God. To keep that prohibition. Notice in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 2 and the woman said unto the serpent of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat it. Well according to chapter 2 God did not speak that directly to Eve but he spoke it directly to Adam before the creation of Eve.

25:50 But Adam passed it on to Eve because he recognized this principle that as surely as they both had equal dignity as the image bearers of God they had equal accountability as moral agents. They had equal accountability as morally accountable to God. They are both charged with responsibilities in the form of precepts and prohibitions and God has left them accountable for their response to those commandments and precepts. Then the third thing in which there is equality I'm going to call it stewardship.

26:34 There is equality of responsibility as stewards before God. Equality of responsibility Equality of responsibility as stewards before God.

26:51 A steward is someone who is given charge over the goods or the property of another and God blesses them and now God gives them this stewardship particularly of procreation. Verse 28 God bless them and said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and then the subjugation of the earth and the things that God had made. Have dominion over , now in this though there was equality of responsibility as stewards before God it was evident from the outset that they could not do so in a framework of equal and interchangeable roles.

27:45 They had equal stewardship but not interchangeable roles in the fulfilling of the stewardship. God said be fruitful in the and multiply. He didn't give breast and a womb to Adam as well as breast and a womb to Eve. Only Eve could conceive seed and carry a child and nurse it at her breast.

28:14 And I don't mean to be coarse but God did not give to Eve any sexual organ with which to inseminate Adam.

28:25 So you see Adam and Eve understood from the outset that though there was equality of responsibility as stewards it would have been nonsense to think in terms of equal and interchangeable roles in the fulfilling of the stewardship.

28:45 And there is even in our day with all the genetic manipulation and steroids and this idolatry of getting the most gold medals at any world event be it Olympics or anything else it is still a fact that men and women are not that men and women are not created physiologically the same. And the first time Adam was rearranging stones in the garden and Eve was helping him they found this out. And when they came to a bigger boulder Adam didn't say well there female Hercules take it on. To subdue that part of the garden and to arrange it Adam had to bring his broad back and the strength of his God endowed physiology to bear. They didn't have equal and interchangeable roles. Some say Pastor Martin you're getting worked up. Yes I am because this is absolutely destroying people's ability to know who they are.

29:50 Though it was a song meant to make us laugh some of you are old enough to remember it. I can do anything better than you can. Remember that song? I can do anything better than you.

30:01 It's a man and a woman. I can sing louder. I can sing higher. I can do this.

30:07 But you see beneath that is a fundamental overturning of what is clear in this passage in Genesis. Equality of responsibility as stewards before God in procreation and subjugation but in a context in which it is clear that there was not identity and interchangeability of roles and functions in the fulfillment of that stewardship. So, here are three areas of parallel identity or equality or to use the term that is the in-term in our day. Here is true egalitarianism.

30:51 This is biblical egalitarianism so that as men and women we stand equally tall in the saddle in terms of our dignity as image bearers, equality of accountability to God and equality of responsibility as stewards before God. Now, if that's the framework of Genesis chapter 1 in the account of creation then you see there can be no demeaning of either sex. Men have no grounds to demean women as being essentially inferior nor do women have grounds to feel threatened by men because they feel that somehow they have pushed and wormed their way into a place of superiority in the fulfillment of distinctive roles and responsibilities. There should be no demeaning of the sexes, no triumphalism and there should be no antagonism.

Major Aspects of Diversity: Distinctive Male Identity and Function (Genesis 2)

31:54 No antagonism because in these areas there is equality or parallel identity. Now, let's look at some of the major aspects of diversity or disparate identity We've seen the areas in which there is equality or parallel identity and some of these and I'm going to use a word that I wouldn't use from the pulpit but in the classroom I can stop long enough to explain it and you ought to know what this word means because you'll find it in your reading if you become a serious reader. Some of these aspects are ontological that is they have to do what men and women are in themselves and some are functional. That is they have to do with how men and women carry out their God-given responsibilities. All right, now let's look at distinctive male identity and function. All right, so we're under large letter B now.

32:58 What are the differences? We've seen wherein they are equal. Now, what are the areas in which there is diversity of identity and we're going to look first of all at distinctive male identity identity and function.

33:20 Okay? And it's here that we now turn to Genesis chapter 2. And you see most feminists have no problem with Genesis 1 if they claim to believe the Bible or even if they don't believe the Bible they don't get too angry at the Bible's fairy tale about creation as they would regard it in Genesis 1. But it's Genesis 2 that gets them upset where God's God as it were takes the zoom lens and blows up in greater detail precisely how he made them male and female and gives us more details about how he assigned them their particular tasks.

34:04 Now let's look at chapter 2 and start with verse we can start with verse 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there now notice he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food and the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted and became four heads and then they are named and now verse 15 and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die and the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone I will make him a help answering to him and out of the ground the

35:33 Lord formed every beast of the field he brings the beast to Adam Adam names them but the end of verse 20 but for man there was not found a help meet or answering to him and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man made he a woman and brought her unto the man and the man said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh and they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed all right now with this passage before you will you try to extract from the passage some of the distinctive male identity and function according to Genesis chapter 2 what's the first one that stands on the surface of the passage as we've read it we'll fish a little bit and then I'll express it in the way I have it in my notes for the sake of clarity what is

37:02 true of the man in this passage that is not true of the woman all right John all right he was to take care of the garden of Eden that task was given specifically and directly to him all right something else yes Bill the dust of the ground by the Lord all right he was formed of the dust of the ground by the Lord himself whereas the woman was formed out of part of his substance a rib from his side all right something else yes Ron all right the man was formed first all right something else all right he was placed into the garden by God all right something else yes George all right he became the direct recipient of special revelation from God all right I think we could fish until we get all of the things but let me suggest these all right number one someone has already suggested this the man was created for his task of dressing the garden and keeping it the man was created or perhaps we should say and given his task of dressing the garden and of keeping it we have the account

38:31 of God creating the man in verse 8 and there he put the man that is in the garden whom he had formed and having put him there the Lord verse 15 the Lord God took the man put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it so he creates the man and then he creates the circumstances in which the man is to carry out his responsibility by the revelation of God's will to him so the man was created for his task secondly the man not the man and the woman was assigned the task of naming all of the creatures and also of naming Eve now that has tremendous significance in the Hebrew context and background notice in chapter 2 verse 9 and middle of the verse and the Lord brought them that is all of the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven brought them unto the man to see what he would call them and whatsoever the man called every living creature that was the name thereof and as he named the animals and the birds so man also named Eve verse 23 and the man

40:00 said this is now bone of my bones flesh of my flesh she shall be called Isha woman because she was taken out of man Ish and then later on he names her Eve for she is the mother of all of the living now in a book that has some very helpful and excellent material I don't endorse every premise and every conclusion that Mr. Hurley makes but this is an excellent book man and woman in biblical perspective and Mr. Hurley comments on this matter of Adam naming the animals in a very helpful way the text of Genesis 1 and 2 make it clear that mankind and the animals were shaped by God mankind however was made to rule over the others and to guard the garden of God his rule is expressed in the naming of the animals now this idea is foreign to modern readers it is therefore worth considering briefly the function of names in the Old Testament for the Hebrew a name was not simply a group of vocables which correspond to a thing or person in other words we're going to name someone Jane that's just a group of vocables we have a J-A-N-E we pronounce it Jane that identifies the person from her sister Harriet

41:29 well in the Hebrew concept the name was more than just that the various names of God for instance described different aspects of his person and of his action Yahweh or Jehovah was his identity as the covenant God who promised his blessing to Abraham and to his seed to know a person or a God for a Hebrew might mean either to know about that one or to have experienced a relationship with him thus when God says to Moses that Abraham Isaac and Jacob knew him as God Almighty but not as Jehovah he was not saying that they had never heard the name of Jehovah he was rather saying they had not experienced his power reflected that they had I'm sorry he was rather saying that they had experienced his power reflected in the name God Almighty but had not experienced his fulfillment of the covenant promises which he had made Moses on the other hand would know him as Jehovah as he and the children of Israel experienced deliverance from Egypt and received the promised land to them he revealed his name that is he acted in accord with his character as indicated in the name now in the 20th century we no longer 20th century western world we no longer give our children proper names reflecting their characteristics we may however do so in people's

42:59 nicknames shorter shorty ginger fatty etc. a friend of mine observed even people who don't name their children according to essence or function name their pets that way our Siamese cat is called idle wild because he is he's both idle and he's wild someone didn't understand and asked bewilderedly why did you name your cat after an airport that's the old name of Kennedy airport it used to be idle wild airport name was associated with function now here's the key part and the power to assign or to change a name was connected with control Jacob whose name meant the supplanter obtained his older brother's birth rate by cunning in his later life he continued to operate by his own cunning rather than by trust in God in Genesis 32 God meets him in the form of an angel and wrestles with him Jacob cannot prevail against his mysterious opponent who ends the match by simply touching Jacob's thigh putting it out of joint having thus shown his power over Jacob God assigns him a new name Israel that is the one who wrestles with God when Jacob asks God's name God declines to give it God is the ruler he names Jacob but he will not be named

44:27 by him nor even inform him of his name within this context we can begin to see the importance of God bringing the animals to the man whom he has appointed to rule the earth in order to see what the man would call them God was not waiting to see what sounds Adam would associate with each animal the prerogative of assigning them names reflects control God was allowing his vice regent that is Adam to express his understanding of and his understanding to exercise his rule over the animals by assigning them names Adam does so and demonstrates his control whatsoever the man called each living creature that was its name and then he goes on to show the significance of this for the naming of Eve so the man not the woman the man was assigned this task of naming the creatures which in Hebrew patterns of thought indicates authority with respect to the person or things named alright then thirdly someone has pointed this out the man was the sole recipient of the direct revelation concerning the terms

45:55 and here the theologians go into a field day what should we call this arrangement whereby Adam's integrity hinged on keeping the commandment about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil well for lack of a better term I'll call it the covenant of life some will get and I'll get shot down but please I don't know what else to say unless you want to put in a big long whole string of words the man was the sole recipient of direct revelation concerning the issue of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil ok there we are now I've made everyone happy ok notice that notice now seriously Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die the woman was not yet created and she would receive the knowledge of that directive from God as mediated through Adam ok now notice now so God had an arrangement in which Adam would be Eve's instructor with reference to this element of direct revelation now there's a fourth thing that we don't find on the surface of the passage but it's made plain in subsequent

47:24 aspects of God's revelation the man Adam not the man and the woman was made the representative or federal head of humanity and so Adam Romans 5 verses 12 and following the whole teaching of that passage is that Adam and Adam alone as the man was constituted the federal head or representative of humanity 1 Corinthians 15 says as in Adam all die wherefore as through one man sin entered into the world very interesting I've never heard the feminists saying they'd like to have equal status with the man when it comes to that issue I've never heard one I've never read one now they may have but I've never yet seen it they're very glad for the man to have that responsibility on his shoulders but only the man now you say why we're just trying to look at the facts that it's clear in the creation account and in subsequent elements of God's revelation that there are areas of inequality there are distinctive male functions and responsibilities and then of course what is so obvious the man was made incomplete without his counterpart in the woman the man was made incomplete without his counterpart in the woman and God allowed him

48:53 apparently to feel that incompleteness as he analyzes all of the different animals and perceives something of their distinct glory in the way God made them and perhaps even their distinct function as he would subdue them to the service of God in subduing the earth though he sees all of the variety of shapes and forms and functions of the beast in none of them is there one answering to his need there was not an helper found answering to his need and God himself says it is not good that the man should be alone I will make a helper answering to him verse 20b but for the man there was not found a helper answering to his need now you see what this tells us it tells us that there was such a thing as male psychology male physiology male hormones male needs inherent in Adam as God made him and what did God do God made a counterpart to Adam that was not another man

50:16 homosexuality as so-called fulfillment of an alternate sexual lifestyle is one of the most blatant aspects of utter defiance of what it means to be a human being God made Adam incomplete without his counterpart and his counterpart was not another man it was a counterpart in the woman so there was a distinct male not only physiology but psychology and all that is bound up in Adam being what he was coming from the hand of God perfect and yet incomplete without his counterpart so here you see are some distinctives of male identity he was created for his task assigned the task of naming the creature , sole recipient of direct revelation he was made the representative or federal head of humanity he was incomplete without his counterpart now when we turn to the woman what are some of the elements of distinctive female identity and function well according to Genesis 2.18 I will make a helper meet or answering to him Genesis 20 2.20 B

Major Aspects of Diversity: Distinctive Female Identity and Function (Genesis 2)

51:46 there was not found a helper meet or answering to him and verses 21 and 22 the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he made the woman and brought her to the man this tells us something immediately about the distinctive female identity and function what's the first thing that's right on the surface of all of this alright Haiti alright she was made for the man as companion counterpart and helper the woman was made for the man the man was made and given his task the woman was made and was given to her man you see that distinction the Lord God did not make the woman and then take her to a part of the garden and say far be it from me to give the impression of inequality and as surely as I have given to the man a task I will now give you an area of the garden to dress and to keep and since I don't want in any way to infer that you have inferior intelligence I've reserved half the beasts for you Eve I will cause them to pass before you and whatever name you give them there's no indication of that none whatsoever the rationale for the woman was found in the incompleteness of the man

53:16 the rationale for the woman was found in the incompleteness of the man and so the woman was created for the man as companion counterpart and helper brought to the man and this is precisely the point that modern feminism gnashes its teeth upon you see the fundamental premise of feminism one of their fundamental premises is this a woman has a identity and she has fulfillment and she has worth and she can know who she is and have complete fulfillment without any reference whatsoever to men and that is the thing that is one of the driving passions of feminism is totally to dissociate woman's identity and function from the man I have independent worth independent identity independent dignity independent therefore I'll prove it independent career independent love life I don't need a man lesbianism and feminism go hand in hand they go hand in hand and even one of the so-called loudest Christian feminists it has finally come out that she's a practicing lesbian I was not surprised I suspected it all along

54:45 I thought she protested too much so the woman was created for the man as companion counterpart helper follower alright second thing in verse 23 and the man said this is now bone of my bones flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman now isn't that interesting Adam started throwing his weight around already he didn't even sit down on a rock and say you know when God gives us children we'll talk about their names so let's start now what would you like to be called now look at that he started throwing his weight around and says you're going to be called Isha did he sin in doing that no he didn't sin until he ate of the fruit he was fulfilling his God given role and there's no indication that Eve looked up and said who in the world think you are it's my personhood that will be forever shadowed by my name and I will not have my personhood under the canopy of something instituted by you had she been a feminist that's what she would have done who in the world are you to give me a name that's pretty personal it's my person I'm not a person I'm not a person I'm not a person I'm not a person I'm not a person well you say your caricature and yes I want the thing to appear in its true light there comes a place for this I believe this is the legitimate use

56:14 of mockery just like Elijah did he said hey you're calling on your gods maybe he's had to go to the toilet that's what he was saying when he said maybe he's gone aside that's a euphemism he said maybe your god doesn't answer he's gone to the toilet you wait on him when he comes out you laugh that's exactly what he wanted them to do to laugh at the folly of God of idolatry and I want you to laugh with holy mockery at some of the so-called intellectual feminism no Eve felt no resentment when the one to whom she was brought gave her a name because in the very name he gave there was such endearment Ish Isha my counterpart the feminized version of the same word you see there's no demeaning there's endearment there's no and she understood that in the very name that was given to her the woman was named by the man and this underscores that in some sense there is diversity even in the image bearing capacity that there is a headship given to the man that is not assigned to the woman and that is not to demean the woman that is for the woman's well-being for she was made for her function not for man's well-being not for man's well-being not for man's well-being not for man's well-being not for man's function

Conclusion: Embracing God's Design for Men and Women

57:43 God put the machinery in the right proportion to the task all right and then thirdly the woman was joyfully received by the man not as a rival but as God's gift answering to his need I told the men in the academy the human voice is a marvelous thing with its range of expression and all the rest but there are certain passages of scripture I feel so frustrated reading them because I don't think anyone can reproduce what they must have been like in their original setting oh my look at the time is that what someone was trying to get me to see it's 1036 folks I've got to stop all right we've got to stop sorry I just lost crack of the time in that little clock we've got a substitute clock up there and it's nowhere near as big as the other one and I just looked up so we've got to stop I'm terribly sorry I'm a man under authority and I have violated it on which side of the clock well let's pray and let me urge you to continue to study these chapters and root around in them and hopefully the Lord will continue to give us light and understanding on what it means to be men and women according to God's purpose let us pray oh our Father what thanks can we give to you that amidst all of the confusion of men's pronouncements

59:11 and all of the pontificating of the experts we can turn to your word and find our true identity as men and women and we need not be tyrannized by the experts and ruined by experiments but that by your grace we can know who we are and take our place in loving submission to you and to your word oh Lord continue to direct our thoughts that we may find great joy in understanding what you have made us to be not merely as image bearers who equally have that dignity but oh God in our distinctive maleness and femaleness help us to embrace all that that means for your glory and for our good we ask in Jesus' name Amen