1 00:00:04,973 --> 00:00:07,819 My topic over the next five days will be 2 00:00:07,819 --> 00:00:10,627 revolving around biblical manhood 3 00:00:10,627 --> 00:00:11,992 and biblical womanhood. 4 00:00:11,992 --> 00:00:14,596 Marriage, singleness, manhood, 5 00:00:14,596 --> 00:00:18,407 womanhood, raising children. 6 00:00:18,407 --> 00:00:23,180 And I thought before I began to think about those subjects 7 00:00:23,180 --> 00:00:26,189 that I might tell you a little bit about me. 8 00:00:26,189 --> 00:00:28,355 Not to put the focus on me, 9 00:00:28,355 --> 00:00:31,695 but because really I think the Lord commands us to do this. 10 00:00:31,695 --> 00:00:33,165 He tells us to remember 11 00:00:33,165 --> 00:00:36,257 that we were once dead in trespasses and sins, 12 00:00:36,257 --> 00:00:38,432 and now we've been made alive. 13 00:00:38,432 --> 00:00:41,862 And He actually commands in Ephesians 2 14 00:00:41,862 --> 00:00:43,595 that we remember that we were once 15 00:00:43,595 --> 00:00:45,088 alienated from God, 16 00:00:45,088 --> 00:00:47,246 and how we have been brought near. 17 00:00:47,246 --> 00:00:49,074 And then Paul models that for us 18 00:00:49,074 --> 00:00:51,042 in 1 Timothy 1, 19 00:00:51,042 --> 00:00:53,799 and he actually spells out his own testimony 20 00:00:53,799 --> 00:00:57,351 of how he was even a persecutor of the church, 21 00:00:57,351 --> 00:01:00,072 and though he was once a persecutor of the church, 22 00:01:00,072 --> 00:01:01,958 God gave him mercy, 23 00:01:01,958 --> 00:01:04,359 so that he might become saved 24 00:01:04,359 --> 00:01:07,863 and a minister of the Gospel. 25 00:01:07,863 --> 00:01:10,901 And so, I can't help but think 26 00:01:10,901 --> 00:01:14,720 it's a total miracle that I'm here. 27 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,142 I am a total product of the early 1970's in which I was born. 28 00:01:18,142 --> 00:01:20,691 Some of you are like, ok, I can't listen anymore. 29 00:01:20,691 --> 00:01:25,193 But, I was born and my parents 30 00:01:25,193 --> 00:01:27,752 were both studying psychology at university, 31 00:01:27,752 --> 00:01:30,468 and so I called my parents Pam and Tim 32 00:01:30,468 --> 00:01:33,421 when I was first born. 33 00:01:33,421 --> 00:01:37,012 And then I got a fever 34 00:01:37,012 --> 00:01:39,156 and I began to have hallucinations, 35 00:01:39,156 --> 00:01:41,828 and I began to call for my mom. 36 00:01:41,828 --> 00:01:42,775 And she came to me. 37 00:01:42,775 --> 00:01:44,517 I have a deeply maternal mom. 38 00:01:44,517 --> 00:01:45,938 She's a wonderful woman, 39 00:01:45,938 --> 00:01:48,312 but she came to me and began to care for me 40 00:01:48,312 --> 00:01:49,180 and I said, 41 00:01:49,180 --> 00:01:51,332 "Well, you're not my mom. You're Pam." 42 00:01:51,332 --> 00:01:52,661 And that ended right there. 43 00:01:52,661 --> 00:01:55,641 That was the last time she ever had me call her Pam. 44 00:01:55,641 --> 00:01:58,476 Again, so you see, how these lies 45 00:01:58,476 --> 00:02:00,536 that pervert biblical manhood and womanhood 46 00:02:00,536 --> 00:02:02,116 get rid of gender roles: 47 00:02:02,116 --> 00:02:06,077 mom, dad - just be Pam and Tim. 48 00:02:06,077 --> 00:02:09,086 The truth always though bursts out from it, right? 49 00:02:09,086 --> 00:02:10,777 Every mom doesn't want her child 50 00:02:10,777 --> 00:02:19,361 calling her Pam when he's got a fever. 51 00:02:19,361 --> 00:02:24,429 As I grew up, first of all, I went on like that, 52 00:02:24,429 --> 00:02:28,918 but then was just a product of the culture 53 00:02:28,918 --> 00:02:30,793 that really leaves children alone, 54 00:02:30,793 --> 00:02:33,582 and was involved in sexual experimentation 55 00:02:33,582 --> 00:02:35,644 when I was 8 or 9 years old 56 00:02:35,644 --> 00:02:37,813 because there was no one watching; 57 00:02:37,813 --> 00:02:40,573 no one looking. 58 00:02:40,573 --> 00:02:42,982 I can't remember a time when I wasn't 59 00:02:42,982 --> 00:02:44,872 exposed to pornography 60 00:02:44,872 --> 00:02:47,274 from just the earliest of ages - 61 00:02:47,274 --> 00:02:50,335 really from before I had hit puberty, 62 00:02:50,335 --> 00:02:52,096 pornography was a reality, 63 00:02:52,096 --> 00:02:56,190 and I'm that generation that just missed the Internet 64 00:02:56,190 --> 00:02:58,094 being part of my teen years 65 00:02:58,094 --> 00:02:59,328 and college years. 66 00:02:59,328 --> 00:03:01,407 And it's even a harder battle 67 00:03:01,407 --> 00:03:03,552 for many who are here today. 68 00:03:03,552 --> 00:03:06,224 But I don't remember a time 69 00:03:06,224 --> 00:03:08,392 not being exposed to some sort 70 00:03:08,392 --> 00:03:12,035 of sexual perversion. 71 00:03:12,035 --> 00:03:15,154 My parents are divorced. 72 00:03:15,154 --> 00:03:17,163 Multiple adulteries 73 00:03:17,163 --> 00:03:19,462 is part of the cause of that. 74 00:03:19,462 --> 00:03:21,439 And so the breakdown of manhood 75 00:03:21,439 --> 00:03:24,870 and womanhood affected me there again. 76 00:03:24,870 --> 00:03:26,361 I dropped out of high school 77 00:03:26,361 --> 00:03:29,006 when I was 16 or 17 years old. 78 00:03:29,006 --> 00:03:30,760 I left home when I was 17 79 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,784 and moved in with my best friend's mom 80 00:03:33,784 --> 00:03:34,913 and her partner - 81 00:03:34,913 --> 00:03:38,753 these lesbian witches who were into white magic 82 00:03:38,753 --> 00:03:40,761 which seemed harmless to me. 83 00:03:40,761 --> 00:03:44,434 And that's where I spent my time 84 00:03:44,434 --> 00:03:47,633 when I was 17, 18 years old. 85 00:03:47,633 --> 00:03:50,910 I was immersed into promiscuity 86 00:03:50,910 --> 00:03:52,578 and all kinds of sexual immorality. 87 00:03:52,578 --> 00:03:55,329 I eventually left these smaller cities 88 00:03:55,329 --> 00:03:57,056 of Western Canada where I grew up 89 00:03:57,056 --> 00:03:59,127 and went to the big city of Vancouver. 90 00:03:59,127 --> 00:04:01,487 And it was really, for me, a prodigal son year. 91 00:04:01,487 --> 00:04:06,816 And I became involved in all kinds of debauchery 92 00:04:06,816 --> 00:04:09,167 to the point where I was basically 93 00:04:09,167 --> 00:04:13,981 living under a porch - 94 00:04:13,981 --> 00:04:17,040 renting the underneath of a porch - 95 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,410 to live on. 96 00:04:19,410 --> 00:04:23,696 And just absolutely depressed. 97 00:04:23,696 --> 00:04:27,537 I would walk 100 blocks a day. 98 00:04:27,537 --> 00:04:29,344 I felt more normal on drugs 99 00:04:29,344 --> 00:04:31,790 than I did sober. 100 00:04:31,790 --> 00:04:35,474 I remember putting my name in the paper 101 00:04:35,474 --> 00:04:38,476 as a kid to support homosexual rights. 102 00:04:38,476 --> 00:04:43,211 And you name it in terms of the effects 103 00:04:43,211 --> 00:04:45,978 of sexual perversion, 104 00:04:45,978 --> 00:04:47,559 they've affected my life. 105 00:04:47,559 --> 00:04:51,794 And they've affected your life as well. 106 00:04:51,794 --> 00:04:53,443 Maybe not in some of those ways, 107 00:04:53,443 --> 00:04:58,210 but it's just simply not possible to escape 108 00:04:58,210 --> 00:05:00,015 what I'm describing at some level, 109 00:05:00,015 --> 00:05:01,820 whether it's a cousin who's into this 110 00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:04,431 or my son who was exposed to that. 111 00:05:04,431 --> 00:05:07,576 The sexual dementia 112 00:05:07,576 --> 00:05:09,378 that has really affected this culture 113 00:05:09,378 --> 00:05:11,644 touches everyone. 114 00:05:11,644 --> 00:05:13,904 Anyway, what I was trying to get at though 115 00:05:13,904 --> 00:05:15,742 is that then when I turned 21, 116 00:05:15,742 --> 00:05:17,373 I moved to a small town 117 00:05:17,373 --> 00:05:19,780 and my step-mom started witnessing to me, 118 00:05:19,780 --> 00:05:21,684 and I said there's no absolute truth, 119 00:05:21,684 --> 00:05:24,512 and she said are you absolutely right about that? 120 00:05:24,512 --> 00:05:27,484 And then I said there's no right and wrong. 121 00:05:27,484 --> 00:05:31,295 And she said do you think you're right about that? 122 00:05:31,295 --> 00:05:34,472 And I began to read the book of Ecclesiastes. 123 00:05:34,472 --> 00:05:35,428 I knew the Bible. 124 00:05:35,428 --> 00:05:37,378 I have three uncles who are ministers 125 00:05:37,378 --> 00:05:39,039 I grew up a little bit in church. 126 00:05:39,039 --> 00:05:40,309 I knew the Bible a little bit. 127 00:05:40,309 --> 00:05:42,691 I found the book of the Bible I didn't know the most. 128 00:05:42,691 --> 00:05:45,177 It was the book of Ecclesiastes. 129 00:05:45,177 --> 00:05:47,821 And there sexuality had a part there too. 130 00:05:47,821 --> 00:05:50,557 Solomon was saying he had had women, 131 00:05:50,557 --> 00:05:53,768 but vanity, vanity, all is vanity. 132 00:05:53,768 --> 00:05:55,099 And I thought, that's me. 133 00:05:55,099 --> 00:05:56,089 All was vanity. 134 00:05:56,089 --> 00:05:57,438 I've had all those pleasures 135 00:05:57,438 --> 00:05:59,318 and it's all meaningless, meaningless. 136 00:05:59,318 --> 00:06:02,771 All is meaningless and searching after wind. 137 00:06:02,771 --> 00:06:04,336 And then I read the Proverbs. 138 00:06:04,336 --> 00:06:07,371 I was not convinced the Bible was true. 139 00:06:07,371 --> 00:06:10,222 And as I read the book of Proverbs, 140 00:06:10,222 --> 00:06:12,481 and it began to warn against the immoral woman. 141 00:06:12,481 --> 00:06:13,585 Here's sexuality again. 142 00:06:13,585 --> 00:06:15,657 It began to warn against the immoral woman. 143 00:06:15,657 --> 00:06:18,627 I thought to myself, the Jews were wise. 144 00:06:18,627 --> 00:06:21,327 So I didn't think the Bible was true, 145 00:06:21,327 --> 00:06:22,881 but the Jews now were up there 146 00:06:22,881 --> 00:06:25,089 with the Buddhists and the Hindus in my mind, 147 00:06:25,089 --> 00:06:27,457 in terms of being a wise ancient religion. 148 00:06:27,457 --> 00:06:31,794 And then I began to read the minor prophets, 149 00:06:31,794 --> 00:06:33,313 and hear them rail against sin 150 00:06:33,313 --> 00:06:37,334 and this idea that the Bible is the opioid of the masses 151 00:06:37,334 --> 00:06:38,976 just didn't square 152 00:06:38,976 --> 00:06:41,761 with what I was actually reading in the Scriptures. 153 00:06:41,761 --> 00:06:44,282 And then I began to read the Sermon on the Mount. 154 00:06:44,282 --> 00:06:45,474 And what did Jesus say? 155 00:06:45,474 --> 00:06:48,630 He said if you even lust after a woman - 156 00:06:48,630 --> 00:06:49,686 there is sexuality 157 00:06:49,686 --> 00:06:51,790 and biblical manhood and womanhood again - 158 00:06:51,790 --> 00:06:53,666 if you even lust for a woman, 159 00:06:53,666 --> 00:06:55,081 you've committed adultery. 160 00:06:55,081 --> 00:06:57,115 And all of a sudden, it wasn't just about 161 00:06:57,115 --> 00:06:58,223 the Jews being wise, 162 00:06:58,223 --> 00:07:00,797 but it was about my sin. 163 00:07:00,797 --> 00:07:03,461 And the Lord began to convict me. 164 00:07:03,461 --> 00:07:06,713 And I got ahold of a book of apologetics. 165 00:07:06,713 --> 00:07:08,038 I began to read through it. 166 00:07:08,038 --> 00:07:14,137 On the back of this apologetics book, 167 00:07:14,137 --> 00:07:15,597 there was this testimony 168 00:07:15,597 --> 00:07:18,021 saying within 40 minutes of reading this book, 169 00:07:18,021 --> 00:07:20,233 I became a Christian, 170 00:07:20,233 --> 00:07:22,124 and I actually cursed and said 171 00:07:22,124 --> 00:07:24,673 I know that's exactly what's going to happen to me. 172 00:07:24,673 --> 00:07:26,220 And so I read for 20 minutes 173 00:07:26,220 --> 00:07:30,521 and went outside and gave my life to the Lord. 174 00:07:30,521 --> 00:07:32,716 I'm married. I have four kids. 175 00:07:32,716 --> 00:07:34,494 And I'm a Baptist pastor. 176 00:07:34,494 --> 00:07:37,825 I don't know how this happened. 177 00:07:37,825 --> 00:07:41,313 God intervenes. 178 00:07:41,313 --> 00:07:44,178 He comes in and He changes lives. 179 00:07:44,178 --> 00:07:46,123 We think, oh, the culture's so hard. 180 00:07:46,123 --> 00:07:47,365 My friends are so hard. 181 00:07:47,365 --> 00:07:49,798 They don't seem affected by their sin. 182 00:07:49,798 --> 00:07:51,922 They don't care about biblical manhood. 183 00:07:51,922 --> 00:07:54,240 That can't ever work in this generation. 184 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,624 All of that - we need to sing that hymn: 185 00:07:56,624 --> 00:07:59,166 we stand against the devil's lies. 186 00:07:59,166 --> 00:08:01,166 That's all lies. That's all lies. 187 00:08:01,166 --> 00:08:02,651 The Word of God is living 188 00:08:02,651 --> 00:08:04,508 and active and powerful, 189 00:08:04,508 --> 00:08:06,577 and it's absolutely able to break through 190 00:08:06,577 --> 00:08:09,202 into any human heart - 191 00:08:09,202 --> 00:08:11,515 the most sheltered, secluded, 192 00:08:11,515 --> 00:08:14,771 home-schooled, cared for heart, 193 00:08:14,771 --> 00:08:17,394 and the most debauched and debased 194 00:08:17,394 --> 00:08:18,489 and out on the streets 195 00:08:18,489 --> 00:08:20,771 and exposed to everything hearts 196 00:08:20,771 --> 00:08:23,776 are equally dead before they're born again 197 00:08:23,776 --> 00:08:25,395 and equally made alive 198 00:08:25,395 --> 00:08:27,659 when the grace of God comes home 199 00:08:27,659 --> 00:08:29,888 through the cross of Jesus Christ. 200 00:08:29,888 --> 00:08:31,851 And He changes people. 201 00:08:31,851 --> 00:08:36,281 And so when we talk about biblical manhood and womanhood, 202 00:08:36,281 --> 00:08:37,672 what we're talking about 203 00:08:37,672 --> 00:08:42,437 is we're talking about the idol of this culture. 204 00:08:42,437 --> 00:08:46,395 Ok? We could get up and give a scholarly lecture this evening 205 00:08:46,395 --> 00:08:49,072 on Buddhism, and that would be valuable to some degree. 206 00:08:49,072 --> 00:08:51,986 Or, a scholarly lecture on Hinduism to some degree. 207 00:08:51,986 --> 00:08:55,484 And there's increasing numbers of Buddhists and Hindus in North America. 208 00:08:55,484 --> 00:08:59,621 But if you want to know the real idolatrous religion of this culture, 209 00:08:59,621 --> 00:09:01,638 it is not Buddhism; it is not Hinduism; 210 00:09:01,638 --> 00:09:05,548 it is a constant lustful craving 211 00:09:05,548 --> 00:09:07,359 after sexual immorality, 212 00:09:07,359 --> 00:09:10,747 that people are willing to kill 50 million babies 213 00:09:10,747 --> 00:09:14,186 to support their sexual immorality since 1973. 214 00:09:14,186 --> 00:09:17,053 They are willing to slaughter their marriages 215 00:09:17,053 --> 00:09:18,931 to have adulterous relationships. 216 00:09:18,931 --> 00:09:20,770 They are willing to get online 217 00:09:20,770 --> 00:09:23,000 and just run their credit card bills up 218 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,956 to engage in sexual immorality online. 219 00:09:26,956 --> 00:09:28,983 They are willing to abuse children. 220 00:09:28,983 --> 00:09:31,367 Fathers in this country and others 221 00:09:31,367 --> 00:09:34,387 are willing to leave their daughters unprotected 222 00:09:34,387 --> 00:09:36,268 so they wind up in the sex trade 223 00:09:36,268 --> 00:09:37,412 all over the world. 224 00:09:37,412 --> 00:09:39,022 We were in Moldova this year 225 00:09:39,022 --> 00:09:40,156 and listening to this: 226 00:09:40,156 --> 00:09:42,524 More women and men have been sold 227 00:09:42,524 --> 00:09:44,197 into sex trafficking in Moldova 228 00:09:44,197 --> 00:09:48,581 than people died in the Afghan War. 229 00:09:48,581 --> 00:09:50,726 All of that revolves around what? 230 00:09:50,726 --> 00:09:52,618 The sin of sexual immorality. 231 00:09:52,618 --> 00:09:56,043 The sin of not understanding what a godly man is 232 00:09:56,043 --> 00:09:59,704 and not what a godly woman is. 233 00:09:59,704 --> 00:10:01,151 The breakdown of the family. 234 00:10:01,151 --> 00:10:03,422 You could spend all night 235 00:10:03,422 --> 00:10:04,972 thinking about these things. 236 00:10:04,972 --> 00:10:08,654 It's my belief that when we preach the Gospel, 237 00:10:08,654 --> 00:10:10,628 and we think about the Gospel, 238 00:10:10,628 --> 00:10:11,957 we have to think about it 239 00:10:11,957 --> 00:10:15,986 as it relates not to sin in general - 240 00:10:15,986 --> 00:10:17,195 that's important - 241 00:10:17,195 --> 00:10:21,521 but to sin as it touches our lives. 242 00:10:21,521 --> 00:10:23,606 To the sins that we are locked in. 243 00:10:23,606 --> 00:10:25,792 Listen to John the Baptist in Luke 3. 244 00:10:25,792 --> 00:10:26,861 How did he preach? 245 00:10:26,861 --> 00:10:28,403 Did he walk around saying, 246 00:10:28,403 --> 00:10:29,942 there's sin in general. 247 00:10:29,942 --> 00:10:32,097 We need to repent of sin in general. 248 00:10:32,097 --> 00:10:34,553 No, he went right for the jugular of his day, 249 00:10:34,553 --> 00:10:37,781 which was - you who are hoarding, quit hoarding. 250 00:10:37,781 --> 00:10:41,280 He said you who are extorting, quit extorting. 251 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,795 And you who are collecting too much taxes, quit that. 252 00:10:44,795 --> 00:10:47,824 He went right for what was happening in this day 253 00:10:47,824 --> 00:10:50,100 and what was happening were those things. 254 00:10:50,100 --> 00:10:51,443 What's happening in our day 255 00:10:51,443 --> 00:10:54,311 is a complete abandonment 256 00:10:54,311 --> 00:10:57,360 of God's call on our lives 257 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,675 to be men like Jesus, 258 00:10:59,675 --> 00:11:01,783 to be women with the character of Jesus 259 00:11:01,783 --> 00:11:04,419 who reflect the church, 260 00:11:04,419 --> 00:11:08,036 and to be people who reflect the glory of God 261 00:11:08,036 --> 00:11:10,286 in every area of our lives 262 00:11:10,286 --> 00:11:12,763 instead of pursuing whatever lust 263 00:11:12,763 --> 00:11:17,057 strikes our fancy at that moment. 264 00:11:17,057 --> 00:11:18,838 And so I want to speak to you about 265 00:11:18,838 --> 00:11:21,493 biblical manhood and womanhood 266 00:11:21,493 --> 00:11:24,302 in these days. 267 00:11:24,302 --> 00:11:25,737 These things all affect us. 268 00:11:25,737 --> 00:11:28,581 All of us have uncles and bosses 269 00:11:28,581 --> 00:11:32,160 and husbands and fathers, 270 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,116 and these men affect us as men. 271 00:11:36,116 --> 00:11:38,813 And each of us have sisters 272 00:11:38,813 --> 00:11:40,691 and mothers and grandmothers 273 00:11:40,691 --> 00:11:43,051 and aunts and wives 274 00:11:43,051 --> 00:11:46,199 and these women affect us as women. 275 00:11:46,199 --> 00:11:47,532 And learning how to live out 276 00:11:47,532 --> 00:11:50,131 what God has called us to 277 00:11:50,131 --> 00:11:53,397 in our roles that God has given us 278 00:11:53,397 --> 00:11:57,243 is vital to reflecting the Gospel 279 00:11:57,243 --> 00:11:59,730 in our lives. 280 00:11:59,730 --> 00:12:01,605 So where do you start? 281 00:12:01,605 --> 00:12:04,540 Where on earth do you start? 282 00:12:04,540 --> 00:12:05,932 Do you start with singleness? 283 00:12:05,932 --> 00:12:07,866 That's where we start when we're born. 284 00:12:07,866 --> 00:12:09,204 We start single. 285 00:12:09,204 --> 00:12:11,373 Or do you start with marriage? 286 00:12:11,373 --> 00:12:15,204 That's where many of us wind up is married. 287 00:12:15,204 --> 00:12:18,353 Do we start with teaching on child raising? 288 00:12:18,353 --> 00:12:20,341 That's how you get at kids the earliest 289 00:12:20,341 --> 00:12:22,333 and get to do some preventative maintenance, 290 00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:25,210 Lord willing. 291 00:12:25,210 --> 00:12:26,959 Do you start with manhood? 292 00:12:26,959 --> 00:12:28,888 We know men are to lead. 293 00:12:28,888 --> 00:12:30,291 Do you start with womanhood? 294 00:12:30,291 --> 00:12:33,405 Each of us started from a woman Paul says. 295 00:12:33,405 --> 00:12:36,358 Where do you start? 296 00:12:36,358 --> 00:12:38,729 Someone said creation - that's exactly right. 297 00:12:38,729 --> 00:12:40,330 We need to start with creation. 298 00:12:40,330 --> 00:12:42,611 Right answer. 299 00:12:42,611 --> 00:12:45,420 What I want to do is back right up to: 300 00:12:45,420 --> 00:12:47,460 who are we? 301 00:12:47,460 --> 00:12:49,258 Before you get into the details, 302 00:12:49,258 --> 00:12:52,909 the question is who are we? 303 00:12:52,909 --> 00:12:57,205 Just as people made in the image of God 304 00:12:57,205 --> 00:12:59,625 and made with genders; 305 00:12:59,625 --> 00:13:04,964 made as male and made as female - 306 00:13:04,964 --> 00:13:06,515 who are we? 307 00:13:06,515 --> 00:13:07,803 So I just want to make 308 00:13:07,803 --> 00:13:10,118 four simple points this evening. 309 00:13:10,118 --> 00:13:15,234 We were created by God male and female. 310 00:13:15,234 --> 00:13:16,703 Second point is going to be: 311 00:13:16,703 --> 00:13:19,770 We were created different as male and female 312 00:13:19,770 --> 00:13:21,940 with different roles. 313 00:13:21,940 --> 00:13:24,800 Third, we fell into sin and were cursed 314 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:26,695 as male and female 315 00:13:26,695 --> 00:13:28,978 in our original roles. 316 00:13:28,978 --> 00:13:31,759 And lastly, in Jesus, we are being recreated 317 00:13:31,759 --> 00:13:38,010 into those original roles and better. 318 00:13:38,010 --> 00:13:40,839 Let me begin by reading to you from Genesis 1. 319 00:13:40,839 --> 00:13:43,526 And maybe if you have a copy of the Scriptures, 320 00:13:43,526 --> 00:13:51,360 you can open there. 321 00:13:51,360 --> 00:14:01,501 Genesis 1:24-28. 322 00:14:01,501 --> 00:14:07,766 This is the account of how God made the world. 323 00:14:07,766 --> 00:14:13,387 And on the sixth day, He made man. 324 00:14:13,387 --> 00:14:18,649 We read this, v. 24. 325 00:14:18,649 --> 00:14:20,343 "And God said, 326 00:14:20,343 --> 00:14:23,513 Let the earth bring forth living creatures 327 00:14:23,513 --> 00:14:25,042 according to their kinds, 328 00:14:25,042 --> 00:14:27,255 livestock and creeping things 329 00:14:27,255 --> 00:14:28,968 and beasts of the earth 330 00:14:28,968 --> 00:14:30,244 according to their kinds,' 331 00:14:30,244 --> 00:14:31,893 and it was so. 332 00:14:31,893 --> 00:14:33,719 And God made the beasts of the earth 333 00:14:33,719 --> 00:14:35,088 according to their kinds 334 00:14:35,088 --> 00:14:37,242 and the livestock according to their kinds 335 00:14:37,242 --> 00:14:39,270 and everything that creeps on the ground 336 00:14:39,270 --> 00:14:40,518 according to its kind 337 00:14:40,518 --> 00:14:43,669 and God sawthat it was good. 338 00:14:43,669 --> 00:14:46,697 Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, 339 00:14:46,697 --> 00:14:49,609 after our likeness, and let them have dominion 340 00:14:49,609 --> 00:14:51,106 over the fish of the sea, 341 00:14:51,106 --> 00:14:52,851 and over the birds of the heavens 342 00:14:52,851 --> 00:14:54,135 and over the livestock 343 00:14:54,135 --> 00:14:55,652 and over all the earth 344 00:14:55,652 --> 00:14:57,225 and over every creeping thing 345 00:14:57,225 --> 00:15:00,894 that creeps on the earth.' 346 00:15:00,894 --> 00:15:04,759 So God created man in His own image; 347 00:15:04,759 --> 00:15:07,937 in the image of God, He created him; 348 00:15:07,937 --> 00:15:11,731 male and female He created them, 349 00:15:11,731 --> 00:15:12,923 and God blessed them 350 00:15:12,923 --> 00:15:14,352 and God said to them, 351 00:15:14,352 --> 00:15:17,428 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth 352 00:15:17,428 --> 00:15:18,935 and subdue it and have dominion 353 00:15:18,935 --> 00:15:20,524 over the fish of the sea, 354 00:15:20,524 --> 00:15:22,559 and over the birds of the heavens, 355 00:15:22,559 --> 00:15:25,622 and over every living thing that moves 356 00:15:25,622 --> 00:15:26,567 on the earth.'" 357 00:15:26,567 --> 00:15:28,368 Now I want you to look, if you would, 358 00:15:28,368 --> 00:15:33,925 at Genesis 2 where the biblical story 359 00:15:33,925 --> 00:15:36,913 now zooms in and focuses in 360 00:15:36,913 --> 00:15:39,372 on that creation of that first couple. 361 00:15:39,372 --> 00:15:42,697 We get a broad panorama in Genesis 1, 362 00:15:42,697 --> 00:15:45,526 but now we zoom in and we focus in 363 00:15:45,526 --> 00:15:48,141 on the creation of the first man 364 00:15:48,141 --> 00:15:52,105 and the first woman in Genesis 2. 365 00:15:52,105 --> 00:15:55,467 And I'll begin reading in v. 15. 366 00:15:55,467 --> 00:15:57,398 "The Lord God took the man 367 00:15:57,398 --> 00:15:59,112 and put him in the garden of Eden 368 00:15:59,112 --> 00:16:01,454 to work it and keep it, 369 00:16:01,454 --> 00:16:03,577 and the Lord God commanded the man, 370 00:16:03,577 --> 00:16:05,933 saying, 'You may surely eat 371 00:16:05,933 --> 00:16:08,494 of every tree of the garden, 372 00:16:08,494 --> 00:16:11,111 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 373 00:16:11,111 --> 00:16:12,218 you shall not eat, 374 00:16:12,218 --> 00:16:13,859 for in the day that you eat of it, 375 00:16:13,859 --> 00:16:16,477 you shall surely die.' 376 00:16:16,477 --> 00:16:17,969 Then the Lord God said, 377 00:16:17,969 --> 00:16:23,108 'It is not good that man should be alone. 378 00:16:23,108 --> 00:16:26,247 I will make him a helper fit for him.' 379 00:16:26,247 --> 00:16:27,964 Now out of the ground, the Lord God 380 00:16:27,964 --> 00:16:29,981 had formed every beast of the field 381 00:16:29,981 --> 00:16:31,467 and every bird of the heavens, 382 00:16:31,467 --> 00:16:32,907 and brought them to the man 383 00:16:32,907 --> 00:16:34,421 to see what he would call them, 384 00:16:34,421 --> 00:16:37,022 and whatever the man called every living creature, 385 00:16:37,022 --> 00:16:38,560 that was its name. 386 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,957 The man gave names to all livestock 387 00:16:40,957 --> 00:16:42,825 and to the birds of the heavens 388 00:16:42,825 --> 00:16:44,587 and every beast of the field, 389 00:16:44,587 --> 00:16:46,575 but for Adam there was not found 390 00:16:46,575 --> 00:16:49,232 a helper fit for him. 391 00:16:49,232 --> 00:16:53,337 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep 392 00:16:53,337 --> 00:16:54,836 to fall upon the man, 393 00:16:54,836 --> 00:16:57,292 and while he slept, took one of his ribs, 394 00:16:57,292 --> 00:17:00,254 and closed up its place with flesh, 395 00:17:00,254 --> 00:17:01,870 and the rib that the Lord God 396 00:17:01,870 --> 00:17:04,144 had taken from the man, 397 00:17:04,144 --> 00:17:05,931 He made into a woman 398 00:17:05,931 --> 00:17:07,422 and brought her to the man. 399 00:17:07,422 --> 00:17:10,976 Then the man said, 'This at last, 400 00:17:10,976 --> 00:17:14,072 is bone of my bones 401 00:17:14,072 --> 00:17:16,437 and flesh of my flesh. 402 00:17:16,437 --> 00:17:19,046 She shall be called woman, 403 00:17:19,046 --> 00:17:21,682 because she was taken out of man. 404 00:17:21,682 --> 00:17:23,997 Therefore a man shall leave his father 405 00:17:23,997 --> 00:17:27,029 and his mother and hold fast to his wife 406 00:17:27,029 --> 00:17:30,048 and they shall become one flesh.' 407 00:17:30,048 --> 00:17:32,948 And the man and his wife were both naked 408 00:17:32,948 --> 00:17:34,326 and were not ashamed." 409 00:17:34,326 --> 00:17:36,341 And so we've seen in Genesis 1, 410 00:17:36,341 --> 00:17:39,095 the creation of man and woman. 411 00:17:39,095 --> 00:17:41,388 They were made to have dominion over the earth. 412 00:17:41,388 --> 00:17:42,986 They were made in God's image. 413 00:17:42,986 --> 00:17:45,205 Now, in Genesis 2, we focus in 414 00:17:45,205 --> 00:17:48,086 and see that it's not good for man to be alone. 415 00:17:48,086 --> 00:17:50,574 But Eve is made as a helper for him. 416 00:17:50,574 --> 00:17:52,571 And now I want you to look if you will 417 00:17:52,571 --> 00:17:59,346 at Genesis 3 where their marriage 418 00:17:59,346 --> 00:18:02,650 and all humanity along with them 419 00:18:02,650 --> 00:18:07,225 fall into sin and misery. 420 00:18:07,225 --> 00:18:10,348 And I want to read to you 421 00:18:10,348 --> 00:18:12,555 from beginning at the cursing 422 00:18:12,555 --> 00:18:15,157 of the woman. 423 00:18:15,157 --> 00:18:16,367 "To the woman he said, 424 00:18:16,367 --> 00:18:19,292 'I will surely multiply your pain 425 00:18:19,292 --> 00:18:21,047 in childbearing. 426 00:18:21,047 --> 00:18:23,553 In pain you shall bring forth children. 427 00:18:23,553 --> 00:18:25,645 Your desire shall be for your husband 428 00:18:25,645 --> 00:18:27,317 and he shall rule over you.' 429 00:18:27,317 --> 00:18:28,467 And to Adam, He said, 430 00:18:28,467 --> 00:18:30,351 'Because you have listened to the voice 431 00:18:30,351 --> 00:18:32,414 of your wife and have eaten of the tree 432 00:18:32,414 --> 00:18:34,594 of which I commanded you, 433 00:18:34,594 --> 00:18:39,678 you shall not eat of it, 434 00:18:39,678 --> 00:18:43,027 cursed is the ground because of you. 435 00:18:43,027 --> 00:18:44,467 In pain, you shall eat of it 436 00:18:44,467 --> 00:18:46,461 all the days of your life. 437 00:18:46,461 --> 00:18:49,515 Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, 438 00:18:49,515 --> 00:18:53,076 and you shall eat the plants of the field. 439 00:18:53,076 --> 00:18:55,838 By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread 440 00:18:55,838 --> 00:18:57,740 till you return to the ground. 441 00:18:57,740 --> 00:18:59,950 For out of it you were taken. 442 00:18:59,950 --> 00:19:06,577 For you are dust and to dust you shall return." 443 00:19:06,577 --> 00:19:11,528 The first point I want to make this evening 444 00:19:11,528 --> 00:19:15,774 is that we were created by God 445 00:19:15,774 --> 00:19:16,735 male and female. 446 00:19:16,735 --> 00:19:18,641 And I want you to notice my first point 447 00:19:18,641 --> 00:19:21,098 is not Christians believe we were made 448 00:19:21,098 --> 00:19:24,003 male and female. 449 00:19:24,003 --> 00:19:26,265 It's not that Christians believe it. 450 00:19:26,265 --> 00:19:28,394 It's that it's true. 451 00:19:28,394 --> 00:19:30,536 Every perversion we're going to notice 452 00:19:30,536 --> 00:19:32,506 over these coming days 453 00:19:32,506 --> 00:19:36,918 is not a perversion from the Christian worldview. 454 00:19:36,918 --> 00:19:40,374 It's rebellion against God who is there. 455 00:19:40,374 --> 00:19:44,708 It's that you can't live in another world 456 00:19:44,708 --> 00:19:47,999 other than God's world. 457 00:19:47,999 --> 00:19:50,824 And so when you rebel in God's world, 458 00:19:50,824 --> 00:19:56,455 it always twists what He made good. 459 00:19:56,455 --> 00:20:02,644 And we were created by God 460 00:20:02,644 --> 00:20:05,063 male and female. 461 00:20:05,063 --> 00:20:08,740 Genesis 1 gives us the most amazing view 462 00:20:08,740 --> 00:20:12,382 of humanity that you can ever have. 463 00:20:12,382 --> 00:20:14,388 It shows us that we were created by God. 464 00:20:14,388 --> 00:20:16,213 And not only were we created by God, 465 00:20:16,213 --> 00:20:19,069 but we were personally created by God. 466 00:20:19,069 --> 00:20:21,828 Notice in v. 24 that the animals 467 00:20:21,828 --> 00:20:23,761 come up out of the ground. 468 00:20:23,761 --> 00:20:25,867 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth 469 00:20:25,867 --> 00:20:28,688 living creatures according to their kind." 470 00:20:28,688 --> 00:20:30,384 Some of you have read C. S. Lewis' 471 00:20:30,384 --> 00:20:31,628 "The Magician's Nephew," 472 00:20:31,628 --> 00:20:33,449 and seen the animals burrowing up 473 00:20:33,449 --> 00:20:34,511 out of the ground. 474 00:20:34,511 --> 00:20:38,308 And of course, Lewis got the idea from Genesis. 475 00:20:38,308 --> 00:20:41,733 But notice that the creation of man and woman 476 00:20:41,733 --> 00:20:43,978 is different than the creation of the animals. 477 00:20:43,978 --> 00:20:46,696 We don't just pop up out of the ground. 478 00:20:46,696 --> 00:20:50,042 We are personally made by God. 479 00:20:50,042 --> 00:20:52,507 He says in v. 24 let the earth do that. 480 00:20:52,507 --> 00:20:58,504 In v. 26 He says, "Let us make man in our image." 481 00:20:58,504 --> 00:21:01,529 Listen to this, every single human being 482 00:21:01,529 --> 00:21:07,679 who has ever lived was God's personal handiwork. 483 00:21:07,679 --> 00:21:11,271 Psalm 139:14 says that each person 484 00:21:11,271 --> 00:21:14,806 is fearfully and wonderfully made, 485 00:21:14,806 --> 00:21:17,029 knitted together in their mother's womb. 486 00:21:17,029 --> 00:21:20,051 In my family, we have lots of blankets. 487 00:21:20,051 --> 00:21:22,100 We never have any shortage of blankets. 488 00:21:22,100 --> 00:21:23,744 We have a chest full of blankets. 489 00:21:23,744 --> 00:21:25,255 It's always wrecking the hinges 490 00:21:25,255 --> 00:21:28,030 because the blankets push the lid open. 491 00:21:28,030 --> 00:21:29,334 There's lots of blankets. 492 00:21:29,334 --> 00:21:35,032 But there's only a few that my mom quilted. 493 00:21:35,032 --> 00:21:38,565 And those ones are the most special in the house. 494 00:21:38,565 --> 00:21:40,061 Because my mother made them 495 00:21:40,061 --> 00:21:42,195 for each of her grandchildren. 496 00:21:42,195 --> 00:21:48,180 And you, even if you don't like your body type, 497 00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:52,681 even if you wish you had your body type from 10 years ago, 498 00:21:52,681 --> 00:21:58,678 you were knitted just the way you are 499 00:21:58,678 --> 00:22:01,250 by a personal God 500 00:22:01,250 --> 00:22:05,173 who was personally active in the formation of you 501 00:22:05,173 --> 00:22:08,113 in the womb. 502 00:22:08,113 --> 00:22:10,323 You were made by God. 503 00:22:10,323 --> 00:22:15,779 And unbelievably, we are the pinnacle 504 00:22:15,779 --> 00:22:19,697 of God's creation. 505 00:22:19,697 --> 00:22:22,182 In Genesis 1, God creates the light, 506 00:22:22,182 --> 00:22:24,091 the greater light, the lesser light, 507 00:22:24,091 --> 00:22:26,058 the plants, the stars, the fish, 508 00:22:26,058 --> 00:22:28,560 the birds, the animals of the ground, 509 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,747 and of all of it, He says it's good. 510 00:22:30,747 --> 00:22:32,633 It's good. It's good. 511 00:22:32,633 --> 00:22:35,306 But when He makes man, He says, 512 00:22:35,306 --> 00:22:37,969 it's very good now. 513 00:22:37,969 --> 00:22:40,033 The pinnacle of creation 514 00:22:40,033 --> 00:22:43,056 is now on the scene. 515 00:22:43,056 --> 00:22:45,538 People go to see whales in Sea World. 516 00:22:45,538 --> 00:22:47,111 They go to see mountains. 517 00:22:47,111 --> 00:22:50,840 But the most glorious thing on the planet 518 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,428 is right in front of me in the dozens. 519 00:22:54,428 --> 00:22:56,032 People. 520 00:22:56,032 --> 00:22:57,461 One preacher pointed out, 521 00:22:57,461 --> 00:23:01,283 no engineer could design these things, 522 00:23:01,283 --> 00:23:03,644 that have a coiling motion 523 00:23:03,644 --> 00:23:06,040 and a grasping strength, 524 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,830 and a coordination. 525 00:23:07,830 --> 00:23:11,751 And you have one on the end of each arm. 526 00:23:11,751 --> 00:23:14,425 That's amazing! 527 00:23:14,425 --> 00:23:17,549 That's God's good gift to you. 528 00:23:17,549 --> 00:23:20,791 You are God's good gift to you. 529 00:23:20,791 --> 00:23:23,936 And really ultimately to Himself. 530 00:23:23,936 --> 00:23:27,426 We are by virtue of creation; 531 00:23:27,426 --> 00:23:29,410 by virtue of what God did, 532 00:23:29,410 --> 00:23:31,883 the pinnacle of creation. 533 00:23:31,883 --> 00:23:34,351 And we are the creation - 534 00:23:34,351 --> 00:23:36,449 this is important - 535 00:23:36,449 --> 00:23:44,813 we are the creation of a Triune relational God. 536 00:23:44,813 --> 00:23:47,733 It says in Genesis 1:26, 537 00:23:47,733 --> 00:23:51,151 "Let us make man in our image." 538 00:23:51,151 --> 00:23:52,327 Now, someone would say 539 00:23:52,327 --> 00:23:54,246 that's not a reference to the Trinity. 540 00:23:54,246 --> 00:23:56,155 God's just speaking to the angels. 541 00:23:56,155 --> 00:23:58,969 Well, let me tell you this, when God looks at the angels, 542 00:23:58,969 --> 00:24:01,346 he doesn't see ones that were made in His image. 543 00:24:01,346 --> 00:24:02,892 So He can't say to the angels, 544 00:24:02,892 --> 00:24:05,298 "Let us make man in our image." 545 00:24:05,298 --> 00:24:08,601 The only person - the only people - 546 00:24:08,601 --> 00:24:11,575 in all eternity that God can say that to 547 00:24:11,575 --> 00:24:14,281 is God the Father can say that to God the Son 548 00:24:14,281 --> 00:24:16,002 and God the Holy Spirit, 549 00:24:16,002 --> 00:24:18,194 so we have here even a hinting 550 00:24:18,194 --> 00:24:21,038 of what will become abundantly clear in the New Testament, 551 00:24:21,038 --> 00:24:24,745 that God is a triune God. 552 00:24:24,745 --> 00:24:27,713 Why can't Allah be true? 553 00:24:27,713 --> 00:24:30,733 Because Allah is not a relational being. 554 00:24:30,733 --> 00:24:32,428 Allah is alone and lonely 555 00:24:32,428 --> 00:24:34,182 and the best he can do is offer you 556 00:24:34,182 --> 00:24:36,386 celestial virgins in paradise. 557 00:24:36,386 --> 00:24:37,984 That's the best he can do. 558 00:24:37,984 --> 00:24:39,109 It's all he's got. 559 00:24:39,109 --> 00:24:41,335 He doesn't have anything - he's just a demon. 560 00:24:41,335 --> 00:24:42,551 He's false. Fake. 561 00:24:42,551 --> 00:24:47,909 But the lie of Allah never would account for this world. 562 00:24:47,909 --> 00:24:49,651 Because if there was an alone god - 563 00:24:49,651 --> 00:24:50,948 all alone forever - 564 00:24:50,948 --> 00:24:54,905 he wouldn't make relational beings like you. 565 00:24:54,905 --> 00:24:59,094 You were made in the image of a relational being. 566 00:24:59,094 --> 00:25:01,644 Why do you like people so much? 567 00:25:01,644 --> 00:25:03,806 Or why do you struggle with people so much? 568 00:25:03,806 --> 00:25:06,387 It's either because you're embracing what God loves 569 00:25:06,387 --> 00:25:08,771 or rejecting it. 570 00:25:08,771 --> 00:25:11,000 But you can't avoid it. 571 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,721 You were made in the image of a God 572 00:25:13,721 --> 00:25:16,003 who has never known a millisecond 573 00:25:16,003 --> 00:25:19,343 outside the context of a relationship. 574 00:25:19,343 --> 00:25:22,833 He has always been one God in three Persons: 575 00:25:22,833 --> 00:25:25,673 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 576 00:25:25,673 --> 00:25:30,097 And we are made in His image. 577 00:25:30,097 --> 00:25:32,864 Now, you think about that. 578 00:25:32,864 --> 00:25:35,310 And people in our day and age would say 579 00:25:35,310 --> 00:25:37,493 that sounds like mythology - 580 00:25:37,493 --> 00:25:39,841 just some god saying let there be light 581 00:25:39,841 --> 00:25:41,041 and there was light. 582 00:25:41,041 --> 00:25:43,003 We need something much more rational 583 00:25:43,003 --> 00:25:46,568 like there was a ball of matter 584 00:25:46,568 --> 00:25:49,948 all compressed and alone in the universe. 585 00:25:49,948 --> 00:25:51,726 And then suddenly it blew up 586 00:25:51,726 --> 00:25:53,287 and it splattered out all across 587 00:25:53,287 --> 00:25:57,009 the infinite whatever, 588 00:25:57,009 --> 00:26:01,047 and one of those places had a really good puddle, 589 00:26:01,047 --> 00:26:03,491 really condusive to lightning striking it, 590 00:26:03,491 --> 00:26:04,770 and life coming out of it, 591 00:26:04,770 --> 00:26:06,930 and then you know the amoebas came out of the water, 592 00:26:06,930 --> 00:26:09,486 and then from them the fish, and then they grew legs, 593 00:26:09,486 --> 00:26:12,457 and then you've got the monkeys, and here we are. 594 00:26:12,457 --> 00:26:15,859 Made in the image of? 595 00:26:15,859 --> 00:26:17,011 Nothing. An accident. 596 00:26:17,011 --> 00:26:18,847 Made in the image of an accident. 597 00:26:18,847 --> 00:26:28,628 You better treat me with respect. 598 00:26:28,628 --> 00:26:33,265 The world wants dignity. 599 00:26:33,265 --> 00:26:36,588 The world wants esteem. 600 00:26:36,588 --> 00:26:39,280 The world wants meaning. 601 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:40,758 And they've embraced a lie 602 00:26:40,758 --> 00:26:42,548 for a worldview that will give them 603 00:26:42,548 --> 00:26:44,775 no foundation for the very thing 604 00:26:44,775 --> 00:26:46,917 they know they need, 605 00:26:46,917 --> 00:26:49,023 which is what it is to be lost. 606 00:26:49,023 --> 00:26:51,442 To be lost is to know there's somewhere to go 607 00:26:51,442 --> 00:26:54,058 and to know that you're not there. 608 00:26:54,058 --> 00:26:56,610 And the world is lost. 609 00:26:56,610 --> 00:26:58,287 Getting little glimmers of truth 610 00:26:58,287 --> 00:27:00,728 and covering them up 611 00:27:00,728 --> 00:27:03,410 with all kinds of lies. 612 00:27:03,410 --> 00:27:05,343 But we as believers, 613 00:27:05,343 --> 00:27:07,390 and those of you that are believers, 614 00:27:07,390 --> 00:27:13,176 there ought to be a dignity about you. 615 00:27:13,176 --> 00:27:15,676 There ought to be a dignity about me, 616 00:27:15,676 --> 00:27:19,192 just from this one fact. 617 00:27:19,192 --> 00:27:23,236 That we were made in the image of God. 618 00:27:23,236 --> 00:27:25,212 It's amazing how quickly this can change. 619 00:27:25,212 --> 00:27:26,495 Before I was a Christian, 620 00:27:26,495 --> 00:27:29,270 I always walked around like this. 621 00:27:29,270 --> 00:27:32,636 And my hair was usually hanging in front of my face. 622 00:27:32,636 --> 00:27:34,775 And one time, just a few weeks after 623 00:27:34,775 --> 00:27:36,318 I became a believer, 624 00:27:36,318 --> 00:27:41,529 my dad said, "Stand up. You were made in the image of God." 625 00:27:41,529 --> 00:27:43,441 Isn't that amazing? 626 00:27:43,441 --> 00:27:45,170 Just one truth. 627 00:27:45,170 --> 00:27:46,544 Just stand up. 628 00:27:46,544 --> 00:27:48,233 You're not a worthless descendent. 629 00:27:48,233 --> 00:27:51,317 You're not a bag of chemicals just bouncing around on each other; 630 00:27:51,317 --> 00:27:52,879 just having chemical reactions 631 00:27:52,879 --> 00:27:55,483 that make you depressed one day and happy the next. 632 00:27:55,483 --> 00:27:59,966 You are made in the image of God. 633 00:27:59,966 --> 00:28:00,855 But notice this, 634 00:28:00,855 --> 00:28:06,679 male and female, He created them. 635 00:28:06,679 --> 00:28:11,803 The image of God was not portrayed 636 00:28:11,803 --> 00:28:15,531 in one sex. 637 00:28:15,531 --> 00:28:19,551 Male and female, He created them. 638 00:28:19,551 --> 00:28:20,931 So look at that. V. 27. 639 00:28:20,931 --> 00:28:22,951 So God created man (singular) 640 00:28:22,951 --> 00:28:24,043 in His own image. 641 00:28:24,043 --> 00:28:26,191 In the image of God, He created him. 642 00:28:26,191 --> 00:28:30,114 Male and female, He created them. 643 00:28:30,114 --> 00:28:31,747 The world has always struggled 644 00:28:31,747 --> 00:28:33,690 with what to do with women. 645 00:28:33,690 --> 00:28:35,810 Always. 646 00:28:35,810 --> 00:28:38,675 And the world either paints women 647 00:28:38,675 --> 00:28:40,784 as these pure angels, 648 00:28:40,784 --> 00:28:42,268 or it paints women 649 00:28:42,268 --> 00:28:47,785 as immoral and ungodly. 650 00:28:47,785 --> 00:28:51,570 Or, it devalues women. 651 00:28:51,570 --> 00:28:53,164 One person said recently, 652 00:28:53,164 --> 00:28:56,302 the most dangerous words in the world right now are: 653 00:28:56,302 --> 00:28:58,253 it's a girl. 654 00:28:58,253 --> 00:29:00,547 Because as soon as they find out it's a girl, 655 00:29:00,547 --> 00:29:02,937 you're way more likely to be aborted 656 00:29:02,937 --> 00:29:06,160 in China, in India. 657 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:09,424 The world devalues women. 658 00:29:09,424 --> 00:29:10,779 Devalues them utterly. 659 00:29:10,779 --> 00:29:13,083 It says you can be the CEO of a major company 660 00:29:13,083 --> 00:29:15,679 as long as you don't mind that we strip you half-naked 661 00:29:15,679 --> 00:29:18,259 and put you on the front of a magazine 662 00:29:18,259 --> 00:29:21,312 to rape with our eyes. 663 00:29:21,312 --> 00:29:25,811 Just degrades women everywhere. 664 00:29:25,811 --> 00:29:27,577 And the Bible alone comes along 665 00:29:27,577 --> 00:29:31,027 and says utter equal value. 666 00:29:31,027 --> 00:29:34,474 And not just equal to man, 667 00:29:34,474 --> 00:29:37,126 in the image of God. 668 00:29:37,126 --> 00:29:39,403 That's what a woman is. 669 00:29:39,403 --> 00:29:41,064 There's no greater foundation. 670 00:29:41,064 --> 00:29:44,050 And sisters are constantly struggling 671 00:29:44,050 --> 00:29:46,954 with perceptions of themselves 672 00:29:46,954 --> 00:29:48,765 and depression over themselves 673 00:29:48,765 --> 00:29:52,216 and self-hatred and self- loathing over themselves. 674 00:29:52,216 --> 00:29:53,698 And you need to know this: 675 00:29:53,698 --> 00:29:56,526 No matter how far you sink in sin, 676 00:29:56,526 --> 00:29:58,758 you cannot erase this about you. 677 00:29:58,758 --> 00:30:03,195 You were made in the image of God. 678 00:30:03,195 --> 00:30:07,931 It's amazing. 679 00:30:07,931 --> 00:30:10,488 In the image of God, He created them. 680 00:30:10,488 --> 00:30:12,142 Now in the ancient Near East, 681 00:30:12,142 --> 00:30:15,131 where the book of Genesis was written, 682 00:30:15,131 --> 00:30:17,567 the way you marked off your land 683 00:30:17,567 --> 00:30:20,980 was you put a statue of you in your land, 684 00:30:20,980 --> 00:30:23,131 so think sphinx in Egypt. 685 00:30:23,131 --> 00:30:24,963 How do you know Pharaoh's in charge? 686 00:30:24,963 --> 00:30:26,378 He puts a sphinx there 687 00:30:26,378 --> 00:30:27,823 and says this here is mine. 688 00:30:27,823 --> 00:30:29,303 You want a more modern example? 689 00:30:29,303 --> 00:30:30,235 Saddam Hussein. 690 00:30:30,235 --> 00:30:31,908 What was all over Iraq? 691 00:30:31,908 --> 00:30:33,789 Big statues of Saddam Hussein. 692 00:30:33,789 --> 00:30:36,041 They say Saddam's in charge here. 693 00:30:36,041 --> 00:30:37,634 Well, what was God doing 694 00:30:37,634 --> 00:30:40,343 putting people in His image 695 00:30:40,343 --> 00:30:43,678 and saying cover the planet? 696 00:30:43,678 --> 00:30:46,144 Saying "this is Mine." 697 00:30:46,144 --> 00:30:48,751 Which means that what you are, 698 00:30:48,751 --> 00:30:50,600 at the very fabric of your being, 699 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,999 is you are the best medium, 700 00:30:52,999 --> 00:30:56,594 the best canvas possible to display 701 00:30:56,594 --> 00:30:58,549 the glory of God. 702 00:30:58,549 --> 00:31:01,156 I don't know about you, I don't go to art galleries a lot, 703 00:31:01,156 --> 00:31:03,683 but when I do go to art galleries, what I notice is that there's 704 00:31:03,683 --> 00:31:05,135 those little white tags under the picture, 705 00:31:05,137 --> 00:31:08,406 and that's your only hope of making sense of what's on the wall. 706 00:31:08,406 --> 00:31:09,777 And so you read that 707 00:31:09,777 --> 00:31:12,940 and it says there, 708 00:31:12,940 --> 00:31:18,295 "fire." 709 00:31:18,295 --> 00:31:20,811 "Mixed medium." 710 00:31:20,811 --> 00:31:22,799 "Pottery." 711 00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:25,009 "Bronze." 712 00:31:25,009 --> 00:31:27,415 "Oil on canvas." 713 00:31:27,415 --> 00:31:28,653 "Pastels on paper." 714 00:31:28,653 --> 00:31:31,656 It tells you what the artist used 715 00:31:31,656 --> 00:31:34,868 to display the idea that was in their soul. 716 00:31:34,868 --> 00:31:36,633 Well, when God wanted to stretch out 717 00:31:36,633 --> 00:31:40,762 the perfect canvas to display His glory, 718 00:31:40,762 --> 00:31:42,574 He did not use pastels; 719 00:31:42,574 --> 00:31:43,951 He did not use paint; 720 00:31:43,951 --> 00:31:46,374 He did not use a canvas at all. 721 00:31:46,374 --> 00:31:47,914 He said I want five fingers 722 00:31:47,914 --> 00:31:49,015 and I want five toes 723 00:31:49,015 --> 00:31:50,936 and I want two ears and I want two eyes. 724 00:31:50,936 --> 00:31:52,432 I want a mind. 725 00:31:52,432 --> 00:31:53,750 I want a chest. 726 00:31:53,750 --> 00:31:54,797 I want legs. 727 00:31:54,797 --> 00:31:58,893 That's where I'm going to paint a picture of Me. 728 00:31:58,893 --> 00:32:00,008 You say, wait a second! 729 00:32:00,008 --> 00:32:04,886 Can my person really be the best place 730 00:32:04,886 --> 00:32:08,105 to display the glory of God? 731 00:32:08,105 --> 00:32:11,639 You bet it is and that's why Jesus came as a man. 732 00:32:11,639 --> 00:32:15,037 And He is the image of the invisible God. 733 00:32:15,037 --> 00:32:18,935 The exact - the exact representation 734 00:32:18,935 --> 00:32:23,130 of His nature. 735 00:32:23,130 --> 00:32:27,716 To be a person is to be the kind of being 736 00:32:27,716 --> 00:32:35,129 it would take to display the glory of God. 737 00:32:35,129 --> 00:32:36,495 What does that mean? 738 00:32:36,495 --> 00:32:39,938 What does that mean to be made in the image of God? 739 00:32:39,938 --> 00:32:41,888 Are you beginning to get a little bit 740 00:32:41,888 --> 00:32:44,872 of a taste of what it is to be human? 741 00:32:44,872 --> 00:32:46,241 Sometimes we go through life 742 00:32:46,241 --> 00:32:47,719 assuming the basics. 743 00:32:47,719 --> 00:32:49,414 We say we want to see people saved, 744 00:32:49,414 --> 00:32:52,555 and we never think: what is a people? 745 00:32:52,555 --> 00:32:55,802 We want to see men saved. What are men? 746 00:32:55,802 --> 00:32:58,696 We want to see souls saved. What's a soul? 747 00:32:58,696 --> 00:33:00,613 And as soon as you start to think about 748 00:33:00,613 --> 00:33:02,674 what a soul is, then you even more 749 00:33:02,674 --> 00:33:05,367 want to say I want to see people saved. 750 00:33:05,367 --> 00:33:08,423 These people made in the image of God. 751 00:33:08,423 --> 00:33:10,981 What is the image of God? 752 00:33:10,981 --> 00:33:13,963 Well, it's what we do 753 00:33:13,963 --> 00:33:16,736 and it's how we're made. 754 00:33:16,736 --> 00:33:17,693 It's two things. 755 00:33:17,693 --> 00:33:20,093 It's what we do - that's our function. 756 00:33:20,093 --> 00:33:23,168 And it's how we're made - 757 00:33:23,168 --> 00:33:25,674 that's our structure. 758 00:33:25,674 --> 00:33:27,927 Both of those are key to understanding 759 00:33:27,927 --> 00:33:32,061 what it is to be made in the image of God. 760 00:33:32,061 --> 00:33:33,277 What do I mean by that? 761 00:33:33,277 --> 00:33:35,270 Well, think about the way you're made. 762 00:33:35,270 --> 00:33:38,244 You're made with a mind. 763 00:33:38,244 --> 00:33:40,804 Which is why God can say to you, 764 00:33:40,804 --> 00:33:44,549 "Come, let us reason together." 765 00:33:44,549 --> 00:33:46,845 He has a mind and you have a mind. 766 00:33:46,845 --> 00:33:48,232 You're made in His image. 767 00:33:48,232 --> 00:33:53,276 There's a correspondence between you and Him. 768 00:33:53,276 --> 00:33:55,385 He can make moral distinctions. 769 00:33:55,385 --> 00:33:56,860 He says it is good, it is good, 770 00:33:56,860 --> 00:33:58,268 it is very good. 771 00:33:58,268 --> 00:34:00,078 He says some things are not good. 772 00:34:00,078 --> 00:34:02,239 And you walk through life just involuntarily 773 00:34:02,239 --> 00:34:04,991 making those kind of distinctions all the time. 774 00:34:04,991 --> 00:34:07,251 We're able to make these moral distinctions. 775 00:34:07,251 --> 00:34:10,294 It's what it is to be made in the image of God 776 00:34:10,294 --> 00:34:11,800 is to notice what's good 777 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:13,075 and what's not good. 778 00:34:13,075 --> 00:34:17,098 And to notice what's right and what's wrong. 779 00:34:17,098 --> 00:34:18,548 To be made in the image of God 780 00:34:18,548 --> 00:34:20,333 is to be able to act. 781 00:34:20,333 --> 00:34:21,928 There's a big difference here. 782 00:34:21,928 --> 00:34:23,634 He gets to act without hands. 783 00:34:23,634 --> 00:34:25,422 He says "Red Sea part," and it parts. 784 00:34:25,422 --> 00:34:27,057 We have to build Hoover Dam. 785 00:34:27,057 --> 00:34:30,204 But nonetheless, in doing so, 786 00:34:30,204 --> 00:34:34,669 we are displaying the image of God. 787 00:34:34,669 --> 00:34:38,129 I was flying above Missouri in a Cessna today. 788 00:34:38,129 --> 00:34:39,418 It was just a great gift 789 00:34:39,418 --> 00:34:41,756 to be able to fly at a low altitude 790 00:34:41,756 --> 00:34:43,735 and just to be able to look out 791 00:34:43,735 --> 00:34:44,852 over God's creation. 792 00:34:44,852 --> 00:34:47,447 God is able to be in all places at all times, 793 00:34:47,447 --> 00:34:49,211 but He's given us the ability to walk 794 00:34:49,211 --> 00:34:50,805 and to run and to build cars 795 00:34:50,805 --> 00:34:52,609 and to build airplanes and to move. 796 00:34:52,609 --> 00:34:54,132 He's the God who acts 797 00:34:54,132 --> 00:34:56,819 and we are people who act. 798 00:34:56,819 --> 00:34:58,117 Being in the image of God 799 00:34:58,117 --> 00:35:00,955 is right into our structure. 800 00:35:00,955 --> 00:35:06,654 It's how we're made. 801 00:35:06,654 --> 00:35:09,167 But it's not just how we're made. 802 00:35:09,167 --> 00:35:11,973 It's what we're called to do. 803 00:35:11,973 --> 00:35:14,505 What does He call Adam and Eve to do? 804 00:35:14,505 --> 00:35:18,257 Go have dominion and subdue the earth. 805 00:35:18,257 --> 00:35:21,112 So what does it take to subdue the earth? 806 00:35:21,112 --> 00:35:23,361 You've got to have a mind. 807 00:35:23,361 --> 00:35:25,097 You've got to know what's right. 808 00:35:25,097 --> 00:35:27,288 And you've got to be able to act. 809 00:35:27,288 --> 00:35:29,534 And so He makes man and woman 810 00:35:29,534 --> 00:35:33,356 equally able to reflect Him 811 00:35:33,356 --> 00:35:40,464 and to be a display of His glory. 812 00:35:40,464 --> 00:35:43,322 Second point. 813 00:35:43,322 --> 00:35:46,300 We were both created in the image of God, 814 00:35:46,300 --> 00:35:47,648 male and female. 815 00:35:47,648 --> 00:35:51,437 The second point is we were both created in the image of God, 816 00:35:51,437 --> 00:35:53,107 male and female with different roles. 817 00:35:53,107 --> 00:35:54,955 Now this is a mystery. 818 00:35:54,955 --> 00:35:58,038 We were both made totally equal 819 00:35:58,038 --> 00:36:03,010 in the image of God for something different. 820 00:36:03,010 --> 00:36:05,025 And if you want to unravel the mystery 821 00:36:05,025 --> 00:36:07,475 of how you can be equal and for something different 822 00:36:07,475 --> 00:36:10,626 you need go no further than the Trinity. 823 00:36:10,626 --> 00:36:13,214 That's where we get the unity of the one and the many. 824 00:36:13,214 --> 00:36:14,747 That's how we can understand how 825 00:36:14,747 --> 00:36:17,523 someone can be utterly equal 826 00:36:17,523 --> 00:36:20,125 and yet in a different place. 827 00:36:20,125 --> 00:36:22,634 The Son - totally equal with the Father. 828 00:36:22,634 --> 00:36:25,963 Totally willing to submit to the Father. 829 00:36:25,963 --> 00:36:28,064 The Holy Spirit - totally equal to the Son. 830 00:36:28,064 --> 00:36:32,219 Wants nothing more than to glorify the Son. 831 00:36:32,219 --> 00:36:36,976 And we are totally equal - male and female, 832 00:36:36,976 --> 00:36:39,201 brothers and sisters in creation 833 00:36:39,201 --> 00:36:40,900 and for those who are Christians, 834 00:36:40,900 --> 00:36:42,462 in the Lord. 835 00:36:42,462 --> 00:36:46,981 And yet with different roles. 836 00:36:46,981 --> 00:36:49,527 Now in Genesis 2, we see this, 837 00:36:49,527 --> 00:36:51,483 but we have to be careful that we know 838 00:36:51,483 --> 00:36:54,584 how to read Genesis 2. 839 00:36:54,584 --> 00:36:56,903 Because Genesis 2 does not talk like Romans. 840 00:36:56,903 --> 00:36:58,562 People like Romans because Romans 841 00:36:58,562 --> 00:37:00,547 just comes out and says it. 842 00:37:00,547 --> 00:37:01,596 Romans will say: 843 00:37:01,596 --> 00:37:04,209 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 844 00:37:04,209 --> 00:37:06,023 Genesis 2 will just tell you stories 845 00:37:06,023 --> 00:37:08,765 about really sinful people. 846 00:37:08,765 --> 00:37:11,024 Or, Romans 6 will say, 847 00:37:11,024 --> 00:37:12,304 the wages of sin is death. 848 00:37:12,304 --> 00:37:13,713 Genesis 5 will just tell you: 849 00:37:13,713 --> 00:37:17,229 "and he died, and he died, and he died..." 850 00:37:17,229 --> 00:37:19,484 So the book of Genesis and the book of Romans 851 00:37:19,484 --> 00:37:20,741 are both written by God; 852 00:37:20,741 --> 00:37:22,639 both inspired by the Holy Spirit; 853 00:37:22,639 --> 00:37:24,166 and yet, one makes its teachings 854 00:37:24,166 --> 00:37:26,339 in a teaching way, a didactic way; 855 00:37:26,339 --> 00:37:28,352 the other teaches in a narrative way 856 00:37:28,352 --> 00:37:30,591 through story. 857 00:37:30,591 --> 00:37:32,661 And you've got to learn how to read story. 858 00:37:32,661 --> 00:37:34,475 And when you learn how to read story, 859 00:37:34,475 --> 00:37:36,221 the points of different roles 860 00:37:36,221 --> 00:37:39,843 begin to come out real easily. 861 00:37:39,843 --> 00:37:41,886 The first way that we see role in Genesis 862 00:37:41,886 --> 00:37:45,059 is that men were created first. 863 00:37:45,059 --> 00:37:46,497 Men were created first. 864 00:37:46,497 --> 00:37:48,740 How do you know men have a different role? 865 00:37:48,740 --> 00:37:50,819 How do you know they're called to lead? 866 00:37:50,819 --> 00:37:53,947 It's because they were created first. 867 00:37:53,947 --> 00:37:55,164 Genesis 2:15 868 00:37:55,164 --> 00:37:56,429 "The Lord God took the man 869 00:37:56,429 --> 00:37:58,081 and put him in the garden of Eden 870 00:37:58,081 --> 00:37:59,308 to work it and keep it, 871 00:37:59,308 --> 00:38:00,851 and the Lord commanded the man 872 00:38:00,851 --> 00:38:02,799 saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree 873 00:38:02,799 --> 00:38:05,114 of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge 874 00:38:05,114 --> 00:38:06,907 of good and evil, you shall not eat, 875 00:38:06,907 --> 00:38:08,661 for in the day that you eat of it, 876 00:38:08,661 --> 00:38:09,994 you shall surely die.'" 877 00:38:09,994 --> 00:38:13,923 Adam is all alone and he has a place to be. 878 00:38:13,923 --> 00:38:16,659 He has a place to work and keep. 879 00:38:16,659 --> 00:38:19,023 He has the Word of God. 880 00:38:19,023 --> 00:38:21,547 He has the promise of God. 881 00:38:21,547 --> 00:38:23,945 All when he's utterly alone. 882 00:38:23,945 --> 00:38:26,261 And the fact that he comes on the scene first 883 00:38:26,261 --> 00:38:27,842 means that he is called to lead. 884 00:38:27,842 --> 00:38:30,402 You say, wait a second, you're reading into the text. 885 00:38:30,402 --> 00:38:33,739 Well, I'm not reading into the text, because it's just what Paul says 886 00:38:33,739 --> 00:38:37,543 in 1 Timothy 2:13. 887 00:38:37,543 --> 00:38:43,358 1 Timothy 2:13 888 00:38:43,358 --> 00:38:48,108 In 1 Timothy 2:13, Paul speaking about 889 00:38:48,108 --> 00:38:50,997 the context of the church says, 890 00:38:50,997 --> 00:38:55,939 "I do not (v. 12) permit a woman to teach 891 00:38:55,939 --> 00:38:59,008 or exercise authority over a man. 892 00:38:59,008 --> 00:39:01,996 Rather she is to remain quiet." 893 00:39:01,996 --> 00:39:06,138 Why? Why? Why this order? 894 00:39:06,138 --> 00:39:08,185 Well, because of the culture in Ephesus. 895 00:39:08,185 --> 00:39:10,120 It just demanded that. 896 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,131 That's the argument for why you would 897 00:39:12,131 --> 00:39:14,431 ignore this verse. 898 00:39:14,431 --> 00:39:17,886 But that's not the reason Paul gives. 899 00:39:17,886 --> 00:39:19,732 What Paul says is, 900 00:39:19,732 --> 00:39:23,108 "For Adam was formed first, then Eve." 901 00:39:23,108 --> 00:39:25,252 This order of leadership 902 00:39:25,252 --> 00:39:27,528 is not because he's smarter. 903 00:39:27,528 --> 00:39:30,026 It's not because of the culture in Ephesus. 904 00:39:30,026 --> 00:39:32,672 It's because of the order of creation. 905 00:39:32,672 --> 00:39:34,371 That he was formed first. 906 00:39:34,371 --> 00:39:36,394 And Paul understood that to mean 907 00:39:36,394 --> 00:39:39,483 he was called to lead. 908 00:39:39,483 --> 00:39:42,200 Now, it goes on and makes this in more ways too. 909 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:43,939 In the ancient Near East, 910 00:39:43,939 --> 00:39:45,771 and really in our own day today, 911 00:39:45,771 --> 00:39:48,965 to name someone was a sign of authority. 912 00:39:48,965 --> 00:39:52,575 I mean, when my firstborn daughter was named, 913 00:39:52,575 --> 00:39:53,807 I named her Jordana. 914 00:39:53,807 --> 00:39:55,701 I didn't wait till she was 10 and say, 915 00:39:55,701 --> 00:39:57,553 well, what do you want? 916 00:39:57,553 --> 00:39:59,857 And if she came to me and said at 15, 917 00:39:59,857 --> 00:40:01,766 and told me she wanted a different name, 918 00:40:01,766 --> 00:40:04,136 I would tell her she wasn't getting another name, 919 00:40:04,136 --> 00:40:07,066 because I gave her her name. 920 00:40:07,066 --> 00:40:09,561 I'm her father and I have authority over her. 921 00:40:09,561 --> 00:40:11,466 For her to reject the name I gave her 922 00:40:11,466 --> 00:40:14,270 would be a rejection of authority. 923 00:40:14,270 --> 00:40:16,393 And in the book of Genesis, what do we find? 924 00:40:16,393 --> 00:40:20,243 We find Adam naming the animals. 925 00:40:20,243 --> 00:40:24,186 He determines what their names will be. 926 00:40:24,186 --> 00:40:26,112 And then twice it's pointed out to us 927 00:40:26,112 --> 00:40:29,646 that he names Eve. 928 00:40:29,646 --> 00:40:35,349 Specifically we can see that in Genesis 3:20. 929 00:40:35,349 --> 00:40:37,900 "The man called his wife's name Eve 930 00:40:37,900 --> 00:40:40,017 because she was the mother of all living." 931 00:40:40,017 --> 00:40:41,840 So he was created first, 932 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:46,044 and then he is also given the ability to name, 933 00:40:46,044 --> 00:40:47,508 and he names his wife, 934 00:40:47,508 --> 00:40:49,009 which was a sign of authority. 935 00:40:49,009 --> 00:40:51,229 And then also, when the serpent 936 00:40:51,229 --> 00:40:56,882 deceived Eve, where did God go? 937 00:40:56,882 --> 00:40:58,798 He went to the man. 938 00:40:58,798 --> 00:41:00,519 The book of Genesis - 939 00:41:00,519 --> 00:41:02,824 fascinating is too light a word - 940 00:41:02,824 --> 00:41:05,120 but it's really quite amazing. 941 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:06,998 The order of creation was to be 942 00:41:06,998 --> 00:41:11,518 God, man, woman, animals. 943 00:41:11,518 --> 00:41:14,140 And in the fall, the animal leads the woman 944 00:41:14,140 --> 00:41:19,030 over the man over God. 945 00:41:19,030 --> 00:41:21,213 But they might have invented their own world, 946 00:41:21,213 --> 00:41:22,917 but they were still in God's world, 947 00:41:22,917 --> 00:41:26,008 and when they sinned, He came for the man. 948 00:41:26,008 --> 00:41:27,880 Do you see what I was saying earlier? 949 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,033 You can be in rebellion against God's world, 950 00:41:30,033 --> 00:41:31,690 but you're still in God's world 951 00:41:31,690 --> 00:41:34,149 while you're in your rebellion. 952 00:41:34,149 --> 00:41:36,404 And He came for man. 953 00:41:36,404 --> 00:41:38,552 He came to talk to Adam 954 00:41:38,552 --> 00:41:41,981 when Eve fell into sin. 955 00:41:41,981 --> 00:41:43,736 And Adam blame-shifted and said, 956 00:41:43,736 --> 00:41:45,690 "This woman You gave me." 957 00:41:45,690 --> 00:41:48,876 But God didn't take that. 958 00:41:48,876 --> 00:41:51,095 Adam is a leader because he was created first. 959 00:41:51,095 --> 00:41:52,434 He's a leader because he was 960 00:41:52,434 --> 00:41:55,457 given authority to name. 961 00:41:55,457 --> 00:41:59,160 And he was given accountability (Genesis 3:9). 962 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:01,167 When sin came into the world, 963 00:42:01,167 --> 00:42:04,273 Adam was held accountable. 964 00:42:04,273 --> 00:42:08,062 He should lead. 965 00:42:08,062 --> 00:42:10,311 What we see about Eve - 966 00:42:10,311 --> 00:42:12,267 now this is key - 967 00:42:12,267 --> 00:42:18,008 she is actually created to be a helper. 968 00:42:18,008 --> 00:42:21,190 She's created to be a helper. 969 00:42:21,190 --> 00:42:26,770 Genesis 2:18 970 00:42:26,770 --> 00:42:31,255 "It is not good that a man should be alone. 971 00:42:31,255 --> 00:42:37,021 I will make a helper fit for him." 972 00:42:37,021 --> 00:42:38,682 Now, this is amazing. 973 00:42:38,682 --> 00:42:39,801 Listen to those words. 974 00:42:39,801 --> 00:42:41,956 We hear the word "helper," 975 00:42:41,956 --> 00:42:43,807 and it demeans women in our eyes. 976 00:42:43,807 --> 00:42:46,059 Helper? 977 00:42:46,059 --> 00:42:48,729 It's like "junior varsity." 978 00:42:48,729 --> 00:42:52,515 This is demeaning. 979 00:42:52,515 --> 00:42:54,327 But we don't listen. 980 00:42:54,327 --> 00:42:57,179 A helper fit for him. 981 00:42:57,179 --> 00:43:02,573 Who's he? He is made in the image of God. 982 00:43:02,573 --> 00:43:06,953 He is the ultimate creation on the planet. 983 00:43:06,953 --> 00:43:09,292 And it's going to take somebody special 984 00:43:09,292 --> 00:43:11,029 to help him. 985 00:43:11,029 --> 00:43:14,076 It's not a position of being demeaned. 986 00:43:14,076 --> 00:43:15,300 If someone called you - 987 00:43:15,300 --> 00:43:18,372 and forget the current president and your feelings about him - 988 00:43:18,372 --> 00:43:20,092 but if someone called you and said 989 00:43:20,092 --> 00:43:22,654 you are going to be the helper to the president, 990 00:43:22,654 --> 00:43:27,548 you would not feel demeaned. 991 00:43:27,548 --> 00:43:29,409 Right? 992 00:43:29,409 --> 00:43:34,435 I didn't think so. 993 00:43:34,435 --> 00:43:36,954 And God proves this by parading every animal 994 00:43:36,954 --> 00:43:38,515 on earth in front of Adam 995 00:43:38,515 --> 00:43:42,806 and none of them are good enough. 996 00:43:42,806 --> 00:43:46,180 "Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field 997 00:43:46,180 --> 00:43:48,368 and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man 998 00:43:48,368 --> 00:43:49,888 to see what he would call them. 999 00:43:49,888 --> 00:43:52,290 And whatever the man called every living creature, 1000 00:43:52,290 --> 00:43:53,460 that was its name. 1001 00:43:53,460 --> 00:43:55,174 The man gave names to all livestock 1002 00:43:55,174 --> 00:43:58,502 and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field, 1003 00:43:58,502 --> 00:44:01,212 but for Adam there was not found 1004 00:44:01,212 --> 00:44:02,785 (here's those three words again) 1005 00:44:02,785 --> 00:44:04,628 a helper fit for him." 1006 00:44:04,628 --> 00:44:06,602 There's no helper fit for him. 1007 00:44:06,602 --> 00:44:08,349 You can take a dog for a walk. 1008 00:44:08,349 --> 00:44:11,242 You can ride a horse at a gallop. 1009 00:44:11,242 --> 00:44:13,939 A monkey can get your bananas out of the tree, 1010 00:44:13,939 --> 00:44:15,140 if you're in Eden, 1011 00:44:15,140 --> 00:44:19,870 but a monkey doesn't have a mind to fellowship with. 1012 00:44:19,870 --> 00:44:21,869 Can't make the same moral judgments: 1013 00:44:21,869 --> 00:44:24,810 good, very good, not good. 1014 00:44:24,810 --> 00:44:28,419 Can't act and do with the same dexterity 1015 00:44:28,419 --> 00:44:31,313 and the same mental control 1016 00:44:31,313 --> 00:44:32,696 as a man. 1017 00:44:32,696 --> 00:44:35,591 There's only one creature on the planet 1018 00:44:35,591 --> 00:44:39,859 that can fellowship with a man, 1019 00:44:39,859 --> 00:44:41,900 and that's a woman. 1020 00:44:41,900 --> 00:44:45,009 There's only one creature that can help a man, 1021 00:44:45,009 --> 00:44:48,326 and that is a woman. 1022 00:44:48,326 --> 00:44:50,563 We'll probably get into this more tomorrow, 1023 00:44:50,563 --> 00:44:52,151 but this idea that helper is demeaning, 1024 00:44:52,151 --> 00:44:53,869 we need to do away with this completely. 1025 00:44:53,869 --> 00:44:55,584 In the Bible, God is called a Helper. 1026 00:44:55,584 --> 00:44:57,128 The Holy Spirit is called a Helper. 1027 00:44:57,128 --> 00:44:59,574 And the Lord Jesus Christ is called a Helper. 1028 00:44:59,574 --> 00:45:06,547 None of them are feeling demeaned. 1029 00:45:06,547 --> 00:45:09,526 But at the same time, we don't want to get rid of this idea. 1030 00:45:09,526 --> 00:45:17,399 She really is called to help. 1031 00:45:17,399 --> 00:45:19,708 They tease me at the church I pastor 1032 00:45:19,708 --> 00:45:23,184 because I've had every job there is to have. 1033 00:45:23,184 --> 00:45:24,987 I was a carpenter's helper, 1034 00:45:24,987 --> 00:45:26,474 an electrician's helper. 1035 00:45:26,474 --> 00:45:28,761 I've been a welder's helper. 1036 00:45:28,761 --> 00:45:31,571 And just helped everybody. 1037 00:45:31,571 --> 00:45:34,875 And when I helped them, 1038 00:45:34,875 --> 00:45:38,214 it was very clear they were to lead, 1039 00:45:38,214 --> 00:45:41,486 and I was to follow. 1040 00:45:41,486 --> 00:45:44,258 They couldn't do their work without me, 1041 00:45:44,258 --> 00:45:47,669 but my work was not to do their work. 1042 00:45:47,669 --> 00:45:49,813 They were called to lead. 1043 00:45:49,813 --> 00:45:54,189 I was called to follow. 1044 00:45:54,189 --> 00:45:56,405 Now some of us get scared of this teaching. 1045 00:45:56,405 --> 00:45:58,956 Man's called to lead. Woman's called to be a helper. 1046 00:45:58,956 --> 00:46:00,576 It all sounds good in the church, 1047 00:46:00,576 --> 00:46:02,523 but when you go talk about it out there, 1048 00:46:02,523 --> 00:46:05,995 it makes people a little more nervous. 1049 00:46:05,995 --> 00:46:07,773 But you need to be careful. 1050 00:46:07,773 --> 00:46:10,495 If this teaching that man is called to lead 1051 00:46:10,495 --> 00:46:12,027 and a woman is called to help 1052 00:46:12,027 --> 00:46:13,874 does not attract you or seems foolish 1053 00:46:13,874 --> 00:46:15,776 to the eyes of the world, 1054 00:46:15,776 --> 00:46:18,093 let me ask you this. 1055 00:46:18,093 --> 00:46:21,971 What else seems foolish to the eyes of the world? 1056 00:46:21,971 --> 00:46:26,520 Jesus Christ died to save sinners seems foolish to the world. 1057 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:28,523 You don't go to the world for your ideas 1058 00:46:28,523 --> 00:46:29,812 of what is foolish. 1059 00:46:29,812 --> 00:46:32,380 They'd get rid of your Savior too. 1060 00:46:32,380 --> 00:46:41,090 Not just get rid of the Bible's gender roles. 1061 00:46:41,090 --> 00:46:43,497 Third point. 1062 00:46:43,497 --> 00:46:47,494 We fell into sin and were cursed as male and female 1063 00:46:47,494 --> 00:46:50,069 in our original roles. 1064 00:46:50,069 --> 00:46:51,584 Now this is key. 1065 00:46:51,584 --> 00:46:54,360 This helped my wife and I in marriage 1066 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:55,336 a great deal. 1067 00:46:55,336 --> 00:46:56,610 It's helped me at least. 1068 00:46:56,610 --> 00:46:58,439 Lots of other things have helped her. 1069 00:46:58,439 --> 00:47:04,837 I didn't mean it like that. Sorry, honey. 1070 00:47:04,837 --> 00:47:08,589 It's helped me immensely in marriage 1071 00:47:08,589 --> 00:47:12,110 to notice that the curse 1072 00:47:12,110 --> 00:47:15,564 put on Adam and Eve for their sin 1073 00:47:15,564 --> 00:47:16,993 is not a generic curse. 1074 00:47:16,993 --> 00:47:19,125 It's not just like you're generally cursed. 1075 00:47:19,125 --> 00:47:21,352 Life's going to be hard. 1076 00:47:21,352 --> 00:47:23,755 It's a specific curse that touches 1077 00:47:23,755 --> 00:47:27,072 their gender roles. 1078 00:47:27,072 --> 00:47:30,819 So Genesis 3:16, 1079 00:47:30,819 --> 00:47:34,038 "To the woman He said, 1080 00:47:34,038 --> 00:47:38,095 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. 1081 00:47:38,095 --> 00:47:41,304 In pain you shall bring forth children.'" 1082 00:47:41,304 --> 00:47:44,661 So, it's not just pain in general. 1083 00:47:44,661 --> 00:47:47,827 It's pain as related to her role 1084 00:47:47,827 --> 00:47:51,482 of being the mother of all living. 1085 00:47:51,482 --> 00:47:54,270 And then in Genesis 3:18, 1086 00:47:54,270 --> 00:47:57,916 it's not just difficulty in general, 1087 00:47:57,916 --> 00:47:59,650 it's that Adam will have difficulty 1088 00:47:59,650 --> 00:48:02,605 with work and providing. 1089 00:48:02,605 --> 00:48:04,725 Halfway through v. 17, 1090 00:48:04,725 --> 00:48:06,807 "Cursed is the ground because of you. 1091 00:48:06,807 --> 00:48:08,200 In pain you shall eat of it 1092 00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:09,476 all the days of your life. 1093 00:48:09,476 --> 00:48:11,479 Thorns and thistles 1094 00:48:11,479 --> 00:48:13,123 it shall bring forth for you, 1095 00:48:13,123 --> 00:48:17,245 and you shall eat the plants of the field." 1096 00:48:17,245 --> 00:48:19,206 So, very specific curses. 1097 00:48:19,206 --> 00:48:21,467 But I want you to notice one part of the curse 1098 00:48:21,467 --> 00:48:23,247 that specifically touches 1099 00:48:23,247 --> 00:48:25,633 the way we relate to one another 1100 00:48:25,633 --> 00:48:27,422 as male and female. 1101 00:48:27,422 --> 00:48:29,536 Notice v. 16. 1102 00:48:29,536 --> 00:48:34,662 God says to the woman, 1103 00:48:34,662 --> 00:48:40,929 "Your desire shall be for your husband." 1104 00:48:40,929 --> 00:48:44,205 Now this is a curse, so what is the curse? 1105 00:48:44,205 --> 00:48:49,700 Is it: "I curse you and you will really, really want your husband?" 1106 00:48:49,700 --> 00:48:53,383 I don't think that's what is being said here. 1107 00:48:53,383 --> 00:48:56,046 If you look at Genesis 4:7, we get the same word: 1108 00:48:56,046 --> 00:48:58,833 desire. 1109 00:48:58,833 --> 00:49:01,618 Now we're in the context of Cain and Abel 1110 00:49:01,618 --> 00:49:05,424 and the first murder in the world. 1111 00:49:05,424 --> 00:49:06,874 And God says to Cain, 1112 00:49:06,874 --> 00:49:08,977 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? 1113 00:49:08,977 --> 00:49:10,336 And if you do not do well, 1114 00:49:10,336 --> 00:49:11,949 sin is crouching at the door. 1115 00:49:11,949 --> 00:49:14,459 It's (same word) desire is for you, 1116 00:49:14,459 --> 00:49:15,828 but you must rule over it." 1117 00:49:15,828 --> 00:49:19,410 Sin's desire is to rule over you, Cain. 1118 00:49:19,410 --> 00:49:21,729 It wants to rule over you. 1119 00:49:21,729 --> 00:49:24,933 What's it saying in Genesis 3:16 of the woman? 1120 00:49:24,933 --> 00:49:28,062 "Your desire shall be for your husband." 1121 00:49:28,062 --> 00:49:30,282 No longer will you be content being a helper. 1122 00:49:30,282 --> 00:49:33,590 No longer will you be content submitting. 1123 00:49:33,590 --> 00:49:35,452 Why is it so hard for me to submit? 1124 00:49:35,452 --> 00:49:38,002 It's because I was born in this feminist culture. 1125 00:49:38,002 --> 00:49:42,951 No, it's not. It goes way deeper than that. 1126 00:49:42,951 --> 00:49:45,299 The reason it's so hard to submit 1127 00:49:45,299 --> 00:49:48,112 is because we were cursed with an unsubmissive spirit - 1128 00:49:48,112 --> 00:49:50,235 women specifically. 1129 00:49:50,235 --> 00:49:53,391 We're cursed with a desire to be in charge 1130 00:49:53,391 --> 00:49:55,495 where they were once called to submit. 1131 00:49:55,495 --> 00:49:59,917 But then you go on and it says, 1132 00:49:59,917 --> 00:50:02,874 "And he shall rule over you." 1133 00:50:02,874 --> 00:50:05,176 And this word "rule" according to Wayne Grudem 1134 00:50:05,176 --> 00:50:08,461 is not a shepherding, a loving rule; 1135 00:50:08,461 --> 00:50:12,088 it's that he's going to be a harsh ruler. 1136 00:50:12,088 --> 00:50:14,113 So you've got the battles of the sexes 1137 00:50:14,113 --> 00:50:16,561 born in Genesis 3. 1138 00:50:16,561 --> 00:50:19,289 She's going to want to rule, and he's not going to rule 1139 00:50:19,289 --> 00:50:21,529 in a loving shepherding Christ-like way. 1140 00:50:21,529 --> 00:50:23,419 They both want to be in charge. 1141 00:50:23,419 --> 00:50:25,435 She's not supposed to be in charge. 1142 00:50:25,435 --> 00:50:29,157 And he's not supposed to in charge like that. 1143 00:50:29,157 --> 00:50:30,842 But he's in charge like that, 1144 00:50:30,842 --> 00:50:32,535 and she's trying to be in charge, 1145 00:50:32,535 --> 00:50:34,726 and they can't get along. 1146 00:50:34,726 --> 00:50:36,867 And they get divorced, 1147 00:50:36,867 --> 00:50:38,810 and he starts looking at pornography, 1148 00:50:38,810 --> 00:50:41,405 and she starts reading romance novels. 1149 00:50:41,405 --> 00:50:49,302 And it goes downhill from there. 1150 00:50:49,302 --> 00:51:05,020 That's the way we've been cursed. 1151 00:51:05,020 --> 00:51:08,162 You need to know that if you can't 1152 00:51:08,162 --> 00:51:12,208 overcome a harshness towards your wife, 1153 00:51:12,208 --> 00:51:14,950 it's because you are in Adam 1154 00:51:14,950 --> 00:51:17,906 and you need to be born again. 1155 00:51:17,906 --> 00:51:21,715 You're under a curse. 1156 00:51:21,715 --> 00:51:24,091 And you need to know that if you're a Christian 1157 00:51:24,091 --> 00:51:28,453 and it's a struggle to be kind, 1158 00:51:28,453 --> 00:51:31,416 to be loving, 1159 00:51:31,416 --> 00:51:35,228 it's because the flesh is strong. 1160 00:51:35,228 --> 00:51:38,739 You need to grow in the Spirit. 1161 00:51:38,739 --> 00:51:40,114 And you need to know 1162 00:51:40,114 --> 00:51:42,868 that if you're a woman that has trouble submitting, 1163 00:51:42,868 --> 00:51:44,186 trouble coming up under, 1164 00:51:44,186 --> 00:51:45,649 and you can never do it - 1165 00:51:45,649 --> 00:51:48,021 you can never bring yourself to submit at all - 1166 00:51:48,021 --> 00:51:50,654 you need to be born again. 1167 00:51:50,654 --> 00:51:53,603 You need a new heart within you. 1168 00:51:53,603 --> 00:51:55,169 One that loves what God loves. 1169 00:51:55,169 --> 00:51:57,665 But if you're a Christian 1170 00:51:57,665 --> 00:51:59,360 that struggles to submit, 1171 00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:01,398 you need to know you're not alone. 1172 00:52:01,398 --> 00:52:03,718 It's not some accident. 1173 00:52:03,718 --> 00:52:09,771 This is what it means to be bent in the flesh. 1174 00:52:09,771 --> 00:52:12,390 And this really ought to create a lot of compassion 1175 00:52:12,390 --> 00:52:15,518 towards married people in marriage right? 1176 00:52:15,518 --> 00:52:18,993 Why does my husband have such a hard time being nice? 1177 00:52:18,993 --> 00:52:23,894 He's nice to everyone out in the world. 1178 00:52:23,894 --> 00:52:30,347 Why does he have such a hard time with me? 1179 00:52:30,347 --> 00:52:34,779 It ought to create compassion owards your husband. 1180 00:52:34,779 --> 00:52:39,005 In Adam, he's under a curse. 1181 00:52:39,005 --> 00:52:41,079 And towards your wives - 1182 00:52:41,079 --> 00:52:43,833 there ought to be compassion towards your wives. 1183 00:52:43,833 --> 00:52:45,792 Why is it such a struggle? 1184 00:52:45,792 --> 00:52:48,063 It is because she's so particularly bad? 1185 00:52:48,063 --> 00:52:53,020 No, it's because we're all so particularly bad. 1186 00:52:53,020 --> 00:52:55,716 And there ought to be compassion 1187 00:52:55,716 --> 00:52:57,712 in marriage towards the struggles 1188 00:52:57,712 --> 00:53:03,556 that we all bear in the infirmity of the flesh. 1189 00:53:03,556 --> 00:53:06,366 Now, here's my last point. 1190 00:53:06,366 --> 00:53:11,510 And I think it's glorious. 1191 00:53:11,510 --> 00:53:15,387 In Jesus, we are being recreated 1192 00:53:15,387 --> 00:53:21,345 into those original roles. 1193 00:53:21,345 --> 00:53:25,980 Every time I ask the women of the congregation, 1194 00:53:25,980 --> 00:53:27,487 they all know. 1195 00:53:27,487 --> 00:53:32,283 What's the one thing Paul has to say to you in the New Testament? 1196 00:53:32,283 --> 00:53:34,131 He just keeps saying it doesn't he? 1197 00:53:34,131 --> 00:53:36,515 Every chance he gets. 1198 00:53:36,515 --> 00:53:38,056 Ephesians 5, 1199 00:53:38,056 --> 00:53:39,163 Colossians 3, 1200 00:53:39,163 --> 00:53:40,405 1 Peter 3, 1201 00:53:40,405 --> 00:53:42,287 Titus 2. 1202 00:53:42,287 --> 00:53:46,489 Submit to your husband. 1203 00:53:46,489 --> 00:53:48,286 We look at that and we're like why? 1204 00:53:48,286 --> 00:53:50,613 Why not, "don't lie to your husband?" 1205 00:53:50,613 --> 00:53:52,591 Or, "be forgiving to your husband." 1206 00:53:52,591 --> 00:53:55,897 Why always submit? 1207 00:53:55,897 --> 00:54:00,441 Because in Jesus Christ, the fall is being undone. 1208 00:54:00,441 --> 00:54:03,405 Paul knew his Bible. 1209 00:54:03,405 --> 00:54:05,654 Paul wasn't just picking one random command. 1210 00:54:05,654 --> 00:54:07,175 Paul wasn't just jumping around. 1211 00:54:07,175 --> 00:54:09,039 He was like ok, listen, 1212 00:54:09,039 --> 00:54:11,332 when man fell into sin, 1213 00:54:11,332 --> 00:54:14,191 it touched women in a particular way. 1214 00:54:14,191 --> 00:54:17,093 It made them want to rule over their husband, 1215 00:54:17,093 --> 00:54:19,357 and their desire was to conquer him. 1216 00:54:19,357 --> 00:54:21,396 And now in Jesus, they've been made new. 1217 00:54:21,396 --> 00:54:22,891 They've been given new hearts. 1218 00:54:22,891 --> 00:54:25,006 They've got the law written on their heart. 1219 00:54:25,006 --> 00:54:27,865 They want to bow their knees to Jesus. 1220 00:54:27,865 --> 00:54:29,728 They have a submissive spirit in them. 1221 00:54:29,728 --> 00:54:32,052 And now he touches where it's the most hard 1222 00:54:32,052 --> 00:54:35,350 and he says do it there. 1223 00:54:35,350 --> 00:54:39,762 Submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. 1224 00:54:39,762 --> 00:54:41,363 Why is it fitting in the Lord? 1225 00:54:41,363 --> 00:54:44,437 Because Jesus is making all things right. 1226 00:54:44,437 --> 00:54:47,084 Because Jesus is bringing all things 1227 00:54:47,084 --> 00:54:48,898 into union with Himself. 1228 00:54:48,898 --> 00:54:50,743 Which means He's taking all the ways 1229 00:54:50,743 --> 00:54:52,245 you're disjointed from Him, 1230 00:54:52,245 --> 00:54:54,241 and He's setting you straight with Him, 1231 00:54:54,241 --> 00:54:57,490 and that means restoring that submissive spirit 1232 00:54:57,490 --> 00:55:00,132 that wants to affirm not all male leadership, 1233 00:55:00,132 --> 00:55:02,161 but godly male leadership 1234 00:55:02,161 --> 00:55:04,814 and sometimes in a suffering context (1 Peter 3) 1235 00:55:04,814 --> 00:55:11,752 ungodly male leadership. 1236 00:55:11,752 --> 00:55:13,301 But men, have you noticed? 1237 00:55:13,301 --> 00:55:15,429 He does the same thing with us. 1238 00:55:15,429 --> 00:55:18,190 It's always the same thing. 1239 00:55:18,190 --> 00:55:22,893 Husbands, love your wives. 1240 00:55:22,893 --> 00:55:24,605 I mean if only he had just said, 1241 00:55:24,605 --> 00:55:27,547 do your duty for your wives. 1242 00:55:27,547 --> 00:55:32,177 We'd all be fine, right? 1243 00:55:32,177 --> 00:55:35,580 But wives have got this sixth sense 1244 00:55:35,580 --> 00:55:38,541 that knows the difference between duty and love 1245 00:55:38,541 --> 00:55:45,838 like nobody else, right? 1246 00:55:45,838 --> 00:55:49,064 Husbands, love your wives. 1247 00:55:49,064 --> 00:55:51,308 Colossians: Husbands love your wives 1248 00:55:51,308 --> 00:55:54,989 and do not be harsh with them. 1249 00:55:54,989 --> 00:55:58,019 1 Peter 3: Dwell with your wives 1250 00:55:58,019 --> 00:56:00,329 in an understanding way, 1251 00:56:00,329 --> 00:56:04,958 showing honor to the weaker vessel. 1252 00:56:04,958 --> 00:56:05,890 Why the same thing? 1253 00:56:05,890 --> 00:56:07,676 Because this is where men struggle. 1254 00:56:07,676 --> 00:56:11,162 Men are not naturally nice to their wives. 1255 00:56:11,162 --> 00:56:17,356 They're naturally nice to the girls they're courting. 1256 00:56:17,356 --> 00:56:19,936 But then they get married to them, 1257 00:56:19,936 --> 00:56:26,443 and the battle with the flesh begins in earnest. 1258 00:56:26,443 --> 00:56:30,469 And the Spirit of God is not interested 1259 00:56:30,469 --> 00:56:34,476 in sanctifying a people in general. 1260 00:56:34,476 --> 00:56:40,105 He does not sanctify a people in the abstract. 1261 00:56:40,105 --> 00:56:42,357 He sanctifies a people in the particulars 1262 00:56:42,357 --> 00:56:44,102 of who they are; 1263 00:56:44,102 --> 00:56:45,849 in the particulars of their gender, 1264 00:56:45,849 --> 00:56:47,982 in the particulars of their sexuality, 1265 00:56:47,982 --> 00:56:51,687 and he says: "Let the Word of Christ 1266 00:56:51,687 --> 00:56:53,111 dwell in you richly." 1267 00:56:53,111 --> 00:56:55,907 Get the Gospel in you richly. 1268 00:56:55,907 --> 00:56:58,528 Let the Word of Christ that says you're forgiven, 1269 00:56:58,528 --> 00:57:00,567 you are atoned for, 1270 00:57:00,567 --> 00:57:03,283 you are redeemed, you are loved, 1271 00:57:03,283 --> 00:57:05,011 you are a child of God, 1272 00:57:05,011 --> 00:57:06,677 you have His Holy Spirit - 1273 00:57:06,677 --> 00:57:08,827 let that dwell in you richly, 1274 00:57:08,827 --> 00:57:10,914 singing to one another in psalms 1275 00:57:10,914 --> 00:57:12,708 and hymns and spiritual songs. 1276 00:57:12,708 --> 00:57:15,101 Get that in you and then what? 1277 00:57:15,101 --> 00:57:17,305 Wives, submit to your husbands 1278 00:57:17,305 --> 00:57:20,302 as is fitting in the Lord. 1279 00:57:20,302 --> 00:57:22,939 And husbands, love your wives, 1280 00:57:22,939 --> 00:57:26,831 and do not be harsh with them. 1281 00:57:26,831 --> 00:57:29,399 The Spirit of God is redeeming us 1282 00:57:29,399 --> 00:57:31,665 through the blood of Jesus 1283 00:57:31,665 --> 00:57:34,236 in our genders 1284 00:57:34,236 --> 00:57:39,424 and in the relationships that those genders bring us into. 1285 00:57:39,424 --> 00:57:44,466 Which means the church is not for Sundays, is it? 1286 00:57:44,466 --> 00:57:47,623 It means that the Gospel is for Monday and Tuesday 1287 00:57:47,623 --> 00:57:50,590 and when the baby's crying at 4 in the morning 1288 00:57:50,590 --> 00:57:52,344 and you know you should get up, man, 1289 00:57:52,344 --> 00:57:53,745 to go take care of the baby, 1290 00:57:53,745 --> 00:57:55,313 but you just want to lay there 1291 00:57:55,313 --> 00:57:58,211 and let her do it again. 1292 00:57:58,211 --> 00:58:00,211 But the Spirit of God's touching there. 1293 00:58:00,211 --> 00:58:06,109 Do not be harsh. Go help out. 1294 00:58:06,109 --> 00:58:07,406 And it means that wives, 1295 00:58:07,406 --> 00:58:11,378 it's not just that you're to submit to Jesus in general, 1296 00:58:11,378 --> 00:58:15,973 but there's also this guy. 1297 00:58:15,973 --> 00:58:24,817 And his ideas are never quite as wise as Jesus'. 1298 00:58:24,817 --> 00:58:28,770 But Jesus doesn't want your submission 1299 00:58:28,770 --> 00:58:31,959 if it ignores him. 1300 00:58:31,959 --> 00:58:34,453 That's a false submission. 1301 00:58:34,453 --> 00:58:37,368 To think you're submitting to Jesus 1302 00:58:37,368 --> 00:58:45,946 while ignoring the one Jesus put over you. 1303 00:58:45,946 --> 00:58:48,928 May God help us all. 1304 00:58:48,928 --> 00:58:55,952 Let's pray. 1305 00:58:55,952 --> 00:58:58,922 Father, we praise You for Your tremendous 1306 00:58:58,922 --> 00:59:02,520 and mighty and glorious work of redemption. 1307 00:59:02,520 --> 00:59:04,678 Lord, that though we were yet sinners - 1308 00:59:04,678 --> 00:59:06,310 first, made in the image of God; 1309 00:59:06,310 --> 00:59:09,439 first, made glorious, made to display You, 1310 00:59:09,439 --> 00:59:10,811 and then to sin in that, 1311 00:59:10,811 --> 00:59:13,868 to glorify lust and immorality 1312 00:59:13,868 --> 00:59:18,004 and all kinds of fantasy instead of You. 1313 00:59:18,004 --> 00:59:19,967 And then, Lord, to have You redeem us 1314 00:59:19,967 --> 00:59:21,342 and shed Your blood for us 1315 00:59:21,342 --> 00:59:22,441 and forgive us. 1316 00:59:22,441 --> 00:59:23,936 And then to call us back 1317 00:59:23,936 --> 00:59:27,489 to what Adam and Eve fell from. 1318 00:59:27,489 --> 00:59:30,515 And to give us Your Holy Spirit to do it. 1319 00:59:30,515 --> 00:59:34,174 Lord, I pray You'd do these things in Jesus' name, 1320 00:59:34,174 --> 00:59:35,938 Amen.