God’s Design for Men and Women Pt.2

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

! Please be seated. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete.

That the man of God and woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That's 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17.

And it's important to remind ourselves of that foundational truth about God's word. Actually, when we come to, as we've been in these two weeks, difficult passages of the Bible, it is important to remind ourselves of that.

That these are God-breathed words, profitable for us and in building up to a complete personhood, man or woman, in Christ.

Remember last week? And I want to say one more thing. It's also important for us. I don't know if it's a comfort to you or not. It is a comfort to me that we are in a church who believe this.

And so because we believe it, we don't avoid any passage of the Bible. We don't, you know, skirt away. Oh, I'm not going to touch that. I mean, I'll be honest with you.

Left to myself, in my own bit of fear and cowardice, I might not come to this. But that's why it's a good practice, as I said last week, to preach through whole swats of God's word.

Old books of the Bible. So that we don't avoid anything. Because all of it is profitable for us. And again, now let's go to our, after that introduction, let's go to our passage this morning.

By the way, I do invite you, as always, to open your Bible to page 1138 in your pew Bible. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I might refer to the earlier verses early on this morning before we go to verse 10 to 16.

Remember that last week, we distinguished between principles and customs. Principles are biblical truths that God gives and makes known to us through his holy word.

They demand our attention, principles do. And they demand our obedience. Customs are the application, applications rather, of these biblical principles in our various cultural contexts.

They are to be applied in ways that glorify God and are in keeping with his divine will. Right? That's the differentiation. And we looked in chapter 11 at the issue of head coverings, specifically.

And I do invite you to please go back and listen to that sermon. It's on the church website from last week, especially if you were not here last week. But one of the things we said was that the cultural application of head covering, as described in 1 Corinthians, does not necessarily apply to us in our cultural setting.

Right? That's why all the women here don't necessarily have a veil covering their head, a kerchief covering their head. Because it's not applicable in our cultural setting.

But women in the Corinthian church were not... The issue is that women in the Corinthian church were not living according to God's prescribed order. The order of men being foremost and the women submitting to his leading in the home and the church.

And they are not living according to this. And this is sin. And this disobedience of God's principle is sin in their church. And you can see it by their refusal to wear the cultural appropriate sort of practice, custom of head coverings, which communicates modesty, fidelity in marriage, and respectability to not just the church and the church, but also in the culture that they live in.

And while this particular custom does not apply to us in our day and age, the principle of headship in God's creational design for human flourishing, that principle does apply to us.

And to live contrary to that principle is to flout God's design in creating us as male and female. And so that's one of the things we talked about last week.

So based upon Paul's argument from the creational pattern in verse 7 and 9, Paul now states in verse 10, that is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels.

Essentially Paul is saying, and he said it earlier in verse 7 to 9, A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.

Neither was man created from woman, but woman for man. Genesis 2, 18. That's where Paul gets that from.

Where God himself says, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him, I will make for him a helper, fit for him.

And Matthew Henry, the great Matthew Henry, so beautifully paraphrases the rest of Genesis 2 in these words. The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam.

Not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him.

Under his arm to be protected and near his heart to be beloved. I love that beautiful summary of Matthew Henry gives.

And so Paul then uses the language of glory. The language of glory that Paul uses in these verses, it shows the beauty of God's intention in creating us as male and female.

Glory denotes, means, it's a sign of honor. And it is in our mutuality, living in our maleness and femaleness as God created us to be, in living as God has created us, male and female, it is in that that we are truly human.

That's part of Paul's argument. And we're living as God intends us to be. And I hope then that you can see what a grievous lie it is.

The notion of same-sex attraction. How contrary to God's design that is. Or transgenderism.

How contrary to God's design that is. It's the opposite of being fruitful and multiplying. In all the fullness that that connotes, that that mandate implies.

Biological fruitfulness and multiplying. Spiritually, relationally. That is true human flourishing. And the culture that we live in currently, that is brought into the lie of transgenderism, sexism, attraction, runs contrary to true human flourishing, as God has designed it.

And it tends it to be. It is not human flourishing. It is the exact opposite. It brings bitterness. It brings pain. It brings ruin. And ultimately, it leads to death.

We, as man and woman, created in God's image to glorify Him, we are not interchangeable in our createdness.

God made you a male. Or God made you a female. According to His divine wisdom. He determines what you are.

And any feelings that is contrary to that, should be seen for what it is. It is a disordered affection. And that is, that is, unfortunately, the result of a fallen world.

We all have disordered affections. You are not accepted from that. Our disordered affection is different from one another.

But any feeling that you are not what God has created you to be, and ordered in the way God has created you to be, is a disordered affection. It's a result of our sinful nature, which is bent away from God, and bent away from God's design.

And so, contrary to the world's message that says, well, these disordered affections are meant to be embraced, and accepted, and celebrated. No, contrary to that, we are to go to God and His Word, to realign ourselves to God's standard.

The Bible says you were born male and female. And it is in that that you will bring glory to your Maker. And so, what's the solution, then, for those who struggled, struggle with disordered affections?

Especially the ones that a culture celebrates, the disordered affection of same-sex attraction, or gender dysphoria. What's the solution? What's the gospel good news for these people?

Especially some of them are brothers and sisters in Christ. Is there any good news for them? There is. The good news is in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The grace that God Himself gives to all who are in Christ, that grace empowers us to live as God has made us.

And it tends for us to live. And therefore, we go to God with all our disordered affections. I'm singling out same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria now, but we all have disordered affections.

Yours may be promiscuity. Yours may be never being able to fix your eyes, and fateful, pornography, lust. That's a disordered affection.

Yours may be stealing. You know, whatever it is. We go to God with our disordered affections. We ask Him to continue His work in changing us.

And we can trust that He will. God will deliver. May deliver you from that disordered affection.

He will, actually. It's not may. He will deliver you. And He may be here. He may deliver you here on this side of eternity. And there are various testimonies of people who God has delivered from such bondages to sin.

And change their affection. And change their orientation. Align it to God's design. There are various testimonies of people like that. But He may not do it on this side of eternity.

But if He does not, and you believe in Christ, there is still hope for you. Because you are to know that His power, the resurrection power of Christ that lives and dwells in you, is made perfect.

Even in your weakness. And as you live for Him. And as you live according to His design. His power is being made perfect.

As you obey His standard. And modify your flesh. And allow the grace of God to continue to perfect you. And perfect and reorient your disordered nature.

His power is being made perfect. In you. Even in your weakness. And here's the hope. Knowing that as that continues.

Knowing that one day. That work that is began. Will be accomplished. As you behold your Savior and Redeemer face to face. Redeemed.

And presented to God the Father. Perfect. And without blemish. Without any disordered affection. True male. Or true female.

As God has created you. Is blood having washed all your sins away. This is true for all of us. This is our hope. And our comfort.

Whatever it is that we struggle with. Persevere. Brothers and sisters. Do not lose hope. And do not give in to the lies of the world.

And then Paul goes here then. Based on this truth. Of God's order. And God's design. He says in verse 10. That is why a wife.

Ought to have a symbol of authority on her head. Because of the angels. Now there are so many speculations. Of what the angels. In verse 10 are. Here. Are they fallen angels?

According to. One of the church brothers. To truly believe that. The angels here are fallen angels. Are they. According to. Augustine. And Aquinas. Are they angels.

That stand before the throne of God. Not fallen angels rather. But. But the righteous angels. The ones who stand before the throne of God. As in Isaiah 6. Who cover their faces.

Paces with wings. So as not to behold. God's glory. Are those the angels. That Paul is referring to here. Now. There is speculations here. And there is no.

One opinion. That rules the day. But my opinion. Is that. It is the latter. Paul is referring here. To the holy angels. God's emissaries.

Who are present. As we come to God. In worship. Do you know that. When we come and gather. Every Lord's day. It's not an earthly thing. We've said this often. Right. This is a.

Mystical. Spiritual. Otherworldly thing. God is present with us. And wherever God is. His messengers. His attendants. The holy angels. Are present. And they are present.

Now. Delighted. In proper worship. And reverent worship. Of God's majesty. And so Paul is saying. Because of the angels. We're beholding you. As you gather to worship.

You must. Order your worship. And live your life. Orderly. As God has designed it. And have reverent and orderly worship. And Paul now goes on. And says.

In verse 11 and 12. Nevertheless. In the Lord. Woman is not independent of man. Nor man of woman. For as woman was made from man. Genesis 2.

18. So man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Now. So far. If you've been reading. From verse 2. To 10.

And you're reading this passage. And maybe you're persuaded. To be a chauvinist. About it. Here's a word for you. That you need to pay close attention to.

What Paul says in verse 11 and 12. Yes indeed. We are different. In our maleness. In our femaleness. We are not interchangeable. Yet.

We are dependent. On each other. Eve. May have been made from Adam. And maybe.

Because of this truth. You may be puffed up. If you're a man. Puffed up about that. All day long. Women come from men. You know. Maybe that's.

The thing. That puffs you up. But. Paul is asking you. A question here. Where did you come from? Through whom.

Did you come into existence? You are puffed up. Yes. You have a mother. To whom you hold your life.

So. Man may have come from. Women may have come from man. But so also. Man is born of woman. And all are from God. That's Paul's argument.

There is humility. And there's mutuality. In our relations. With one another. And this speaks. Of God's design. And God's wisdom. In doing it.

Making it so. And then Paul now moves. After he's. He's made these arguments. To them. He says. He invites them. In verse 13. Judge for yourselves.

Just judge for yourself. Is it proper for a wife. To pray to God. With a head uncovered. Paul. Again. Invites us. To judge.

Or come to a decision. That's what he means by that. Come to a decision. About this matter. Based on God's word. Come to a decision about it.

Based on God's word. Essentially. What he's saying is. We cannot be of two minds. About what God says here. Our answer is. Either. Amen. To his word.

Or it is a rejection of it. There is no fence sitting. When it comes to this. There are. No. Two. Integrities.

To pursue. When God has said something. It is either yes. Or no. In our response to it. The path.

Towards obedience. Is not paved. With. Accolades. In man's praise. What I mean by that. Is that as we obey this. What God says here. As we live.

In obedience to it. As we live into it. It might be. A narrow path. It is not going to be paved. With the world's accolades. And the world's. In man's praise.

Quite the opposite. Is going to be true. It will make you. An enemy. Of the world. They will start calling you names. For believing what God says.

For saying. While God measures male and female. In his own image. To glorify him. And God decides who we are. Well. You're a bigot. Well no.

You're not a bigot. You're just standing on God's word. As revealed. But the world will not see it as that. You will not be celebrated.

But here's the truth. Here's the fundamental truth. It doesn't matter. What the world thinks. Remember we've already seen. The world is perishing.

But the path of obedience. Is the path of human flourishing. True human flourishing. That is the path of life. It is the path we must be on.

As the church. Of God. It is the path we must be on. As Christian families. It is the path we must raise our children. To believe and owe to.

The broad way. That the world. Would have us be on. That broad way. Is riddled with decay. And death. And it's crumbling. Before our very eyes. Look at the world.

And it's confusion. Gender pronouns. I don't know how many there are now. A grown man. I saw this last week. A grown man. Over six feet tall.

With his sailor tattoos. On his arms. From when he was a sailor. In the Navy. Now calls himself. A woman. And he's not allowed to join.

The girls basketball team. Under community college. And you look at the picture. And you said. So look.

Look at the crumbling decay. Of the world's. Wisdom. All around you. Unless you think. Unless you think. That some of this.

Thing that. Some of the. Some of the confusion. And the. The craziness we see. Is. Is only a result. Of the last 15 to 20 years. It isn't. We must confess.

That the. The upending. Of the biblical order. For the church. Has started. Even prior to that. When we start to walk away.

From the biblical mandate. For male elders. And shepherds. In this church. That departure. From God's design. Which was implemented. In the 20th century. Is part of the.

Ongoing confusion. That we're in now. And all that these. Things have been coming. Is this. They're driven.

By the notion. That we know. Better than God. That we have evolved. In our. In our age. And day. Into knowing. What truly makes. For human flourishing.

And so we can leave. God's standard aside. Because we know better. But. If the proof.

Is in the pudding. As they say. We need not. We need only. To look around. At the culture. That we live in. And the result. Of that. Falling away. From God's. Intended design.

We see the rot. In the culture. And we see the rot. Even in the church. The rot. That comes from.

Going away. From God's design. In creation. That goes against. God's design. In families. And Paul.

Now says to us. As he says. To Corinthians. Just for yourselves. Come to a decision. About this. And the invitation. Of course. Is that we will come. To acknowledge.

God's design. And believe it. And hold it. To be the truth. And the standard. For our life. And practice. And now he goes. In the last. In verse 14 to 16.

As he ends this. This section. He gives two concluding points. These two concluding points. He gives. To buttress. His appeals.

For us. To come to a decision. The first appeal. Is to the laws of nature. Or what we might say. Common sense. In verse 14.

He says. Does not nature. Itself. Teach you. That if a man wears long hair. It is disgraceful him. But if a woman has long hair. It is our glory. For our hair.

Is given to her. For covering. Now. We're not to get bogged down. With hair length. Now. We don't want to have a ruler. As for. To measure people's hair.

Before they come into the church. Well. Your hair is long enough. Then you know. You can come in. You know. As a man. You know. You're too long. Too short. You can't come in. You know. That's not the point.

That Paul is making here. Again. Remember the distinction. Between customs. Cultural customs. And principles. Length up hair. Is not the point. But rather.

What they communicate. In Paul's culture. And time. And day. Length up hair. Communicates. Who's a woman. And who's a man.

And the way. In which they wear it. Communicates that too. And that's actually true. To some extent. In our culture as well. You may have long hair.

As a man. But. I'm often able to tell. What a man is. Even with long hair. And you're able to tell. When a woman. What a woman is. Even with long hair. Because it's worn. And. Treated.

It's obviously. A generalization. It's not always true. In all cases. But. It's applicable. Even in our day. While the application. Is culture specific.

Though. The principle. Is iron tight. Essentially. What Paul is saying is. Let me give you an example. If you were to go to Scotland. For example. You wouldn't mistake a man.

Wearing a kilt. For a woman. You wouldn't. And if you were dapting up. To make such a mistake. A black eye. For your troubles. Might be more than you deserve.

For. The point is. No matter the culture. That you're in. There are universal principles.

Of masculinity. And femininity. That transcends. Customs. And reflect. God's design. And creation. That's true.

In every culture. Through our time. For example. I haven't heard of a culture. In which. When something goes bump.

In the night. A man who sends his wife. Or daughters. To check it out. I haven't heard of a culture. Where such a thing happens. And that man is now ridiculed.

And derided. And rightly so. Why is that? It's because. Could it be that God. Designed man to be the protector?

Could it be that. That is part of God's design? Perhaps we should look closer to home. Babies. Think of babies.

Babies. As soon as they come into the world. They know. That there is a difference. Between. Their parents. These two. People. That are.

That are always looking down on them. They know. Innately. Instinctively. Of a difference. The baby knows. That this one. Seems to be very attuned. To my cries. And my feelings.

Better than this one. The baby naturally knows. Who to go to. Actually in young tender age. For comfort.

For sustenance. It is as if God. Made it so. That the woman. Should be a nurturer. That the woman. Should be inclined.

To meet. A child's needs. In real. Tangible ways. It is as if. That is a creational design. And it's contrary.

To the formulaic. You know. Bumbling. Idiots. Dads. That you see on your television. Right? It's not that the man. Is not equally important. To that. The life of that child.

The man is also. Vitally important. But in a different way. In a complementary way. The child instinctively. Looks to the man.

For protection. For order. And the child. Rightly senses. That this other person. Can. And will. Put me in my place.

Physically. If need be. These are instinctive. Creational. Things. That even a child. Is. Readily knows. You naturally knew.

How to relate. To your parents. In distinct. Yet complementary. Ways. You knew that. As a child. No one had to teach you. And you don't have to teach that. To your kids as well.

Here's Paul's point. Nature itself. Bears witness. To the way. We are constituted. As male and female. That it is a creation.

A design. By a maker. A creator. Our biological makeup. Bears witness to it as well. And our societal customs.

No matter what culture we come from. Even that. It bears witness. In its cultural variations. Bears witness. To that truth. That God.

Has made us. Male and female. In his own image. To glorify him. And that is. Contrary to the prevailing madness.

Of our present age. And so Paul makes his argument. From creation. Looks at nature. Look at creation itself. It speaks of this. And now.

He makes. He's made the argument. From custom and distancy. And now. He makes a final implication. From the implication. Of our redeemed nature. That is shaped by the gospel.

Which leads us. Onward to. The final. Glorification. Of who we will be in heaven. In heaven.

You will still be man and woman. True. Full. Human. Flourishing. In your maleness. And your femaleness.

And in your interdependence. As male and female. With one another. Growing. And living together. To glorify God. And to manifest his glory.

In the way God has designed it. And this is what Paul is doing. As redeemed Christians. As the people of God. Start to live. Now.

Even now. In light. Of eternity. You are no longer. Under the rule of the curse. And the fall. To sin. You are redeemed.

You are new creatures. In Christ. You are new creation. Live. As such. As God designed for us to live. That's.

And what might that look like for us. Maybe we might ask. Well. I think it looks like this. In some ways. Men in their maleness. Will lead. And take initiative.

They will not be passive. And silent unlookers. In the church. Or in their families. They will not shirk. From responsibility. They will not settle.

For the easy way out. Ease. But they will be willing. To sacrifice. To be spent.

In serving their family. They will be able to. They will be willing. To be a faithful picture. Of Christ. Sacrificial. Self-giving love.

For his church. As Paul shows us in Ephesians. And women. In their femaleness. Will compliment the man. As a help meet for him.

A strong ally. In living in godly submission. As a faithful picture. Of the church to Christ. And together. In our life.

Together in the church. We will live. Being faithful. Not to take our freedom. In Christ. For granted. Not to be.

As the Corinthians are doing now. While I'm free in Christ. I can do whatever I want. But we will. We will live. Rather. In service. To one another. In the church. In line with God's design.

In the way he created us. That's. That's what it might look like. Lastly. I just. In verse 16.

Paul now appeals. To apostolic tradition. In verse 16. He finally says. If anyone is inclined. To be contentious. We have no such practice. Nor do the churches of God.

Now. If all the arguments. That Paul has presented. Have not resonated. If there is still contention. Among you. Corinthians. Then I must just call you. To submit. To the order.

God has laid out for us. In his church. Through his apostles. Paul appeals to them. By telling them. That this is the practice.

In all the churches. Throughout the world. As the apostles. Establish. Establish them. In as much. As the Corinthians. Deviate.

From that apostolic tradition. When they gather to worship. They're deviating. From the apostolic. From Christ's design. For his church. That's essentially.

What Paul is saying. In verse 16. As I said. When we began. This section. Last week. This teaching.

Runs counter. To our fallen nature. It runs counter. Also. To our present. Cultural mandate. This is why. It's important.

To look to God's word. As our north star. And I. My prayer for us. All of us. Is that as we wrestle. With God's word. The Holy Spirit.

Will give. True interpretation. Will give us. True interpretation. He will teach us. Further. In this matter. And this week.

We will look at the. Continual. Issues. In the Corinthian church. We will look at the abuses. At the Lord's supper. In the Corinthian church. And what Paul says. About how we are to come to the Lord's table.

Let's pray. I I I I I I I I I I I I