Women's Silence in the Church
God's Design in Creation
"And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.' Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam 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 a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Gen. 2:18-25).
Here we have the origin of the man-woman relationship as designed by God. We were told earlier that God created Adam from the dust of the earth, and now He creates woman out of man. God takes something out of Adam when He creates Eve, then He brings Eve back to Adam and defines the relationship between them. Eve was created as a "helper comparable to him" and God said that "they shall become one flesh." In my words, what God removed physically from Adam when He created Eve is brought back to Adam in relationship. In this foundational truth we see not only the essential mystery of marriage (see Eph. 5:32), but God's design for how a husband and wife should relate to one another. God created them to function perfectly together as "one flesh."Although the specific statement here is about husbands and wives, I believe the same principle applies generally to how God wants men and women to relate to each other. This needs more expansion, which we will seek to do later. I believe we experience the fullness of God's blessings only as we understand and live in God's plan.
When Paul instructs husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:22-33, he bases it on the Genesis account. He then expands this to apply to the relationship of Christ with the church. Quoting just a part of this: "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Eph. 5:30-32). Notice the central idea of "oneness." The husband and wife become "one flesh," as Christ and the church also become "one flesh." Paul says that as members of the body of Christ, we are "of His flesh and of His bones." We will come back to this later, but seeing the husband and wife as "one" in God's eyes is really the foundational truth that should control everything else. We see "two " (physically) but God sees "one." Accepting God's design and our place in that design brings the fullness of God's purpose and grace into a marriage.
Again, the husband/wife relationship parallels and demonstrates the relationship between Christ and His church (His body). I believe if we can begin to comprehend God's thought in all of this, it will form the basis for answering many other questions. Did God have in mind the final marriage of Christ to His bride (Rev. 21:2) when He created Adam and Eve? I believe He did. God is moving with purpose through the ages, and He will not fail to achieve His goal. He will have a bride for His Son. My point is that God is not affected by culture, or by the ideas and the reasoning of man. His plan for reaching His purpose is fixed, and does not change with time or culture.
What does change is people and their concepts, when they allow the world (which is under the sway of the wicked one) to influence their vision and direct their ways. The church is to be the "pillar and ground of the truth," as it is under the authority of Christ. But when we allow ourselves to be pushed into conformity with the world, we are no longer the "salt and light" that God intends us to be. The enemy is behind this. Satan's ultimate purpose is to rob Christ of His inheritance, and he stops at nothing to achieve it. He struck at God's order in Genesis when he moved past Adam and deceived Eve, and his tactics have never changed. He is out to destroy both the natural family and the family of God. A prime tactic of his is to overturn God's design in the family. If he can do that, he can destroy churches and the individual lives that make up the family of God.
Again, the husband/wife relationship parallels and demonstrates the relationship between Christ and His church (His body). I believe if we can begin to comprehend God's thought in all of this, it will form the basis for answering many other questions. Did God have in mind the final marriage of Christ to His bride (Rev. 21:2) when He created Adam and Eve? I believe He did. God is moving with purpose through the ages, and He will not fail to achieve His goal. He will have a bride for His Son. My point is that God is not affected by culture, or by the ideas and the reasoning of man. His plan for reaching His purpose is fixed, and does not change with time or culture.
What does change is people and their concepts, when they allow the world (which is under the sway of the wicked one) to influence their vision and direct their ways. The church is to be the "pillar and ground of the truth," as it is under the authority of Christ. But when we allow ourselves to be pushed into conformity with the world, we are no longer the "salt and light" that God intends us to be. The enemy is behind this. Satan's ultimate purpose is to rob Christ of His inheritance, and he stops at nothing to achieve it. He struck at God's order in Genesis when he moved past Adam and deceived Eve, and his tactics have never changed. He is out to destroy both the natural family and the family of God. A prime tactic of his is to overturn God's design in the family. If he can do that, he can destroy churches and the individual lives that make up the family of God.