Biblical Manhood: Seeking to undo the effects of the fall
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One of the favorite buzz words used in our culture today is the phrase, “toxic masculinity.” This is the idea that to be a man is to be toxic. It is the idea that we must, in our understanding and according to our own pleasures and lusts, redefine what it means to be a man. In fact, that line of reasoning, taken to its inevitable conclusions is that gender, that is being male or female, is nothing but a social construct or social labels put upon us by our oppressors, therefore, manhood and womanhood should be thrown off entirely. And so we are told that we should recreate ourselves into whatever we want to be. Make yourself according to your own image and after your own likeness. Be your own god. And start by either redefining masculinity or femininity to whatever suites your fancy. Or, better yet throw off the oppressive labels altogether and be whatever makes you happy. (Terrible advice by the way).
Friends the Bible has a different message. And not surprisingly, the message of God’s Word is the exact opposite of the message of our culture. Why? Because the message of our world is a message corrupted by sinful rebellion and by Satan himself. When God made mankind he made us male and female. Equal in terms of our essence, but different in terms of our function. That function, put in us by God, created into us by God in the beginning is what we mean when we talk about manhood and womanhood. And understanding these differences is essential because it goes directly to our personhood. So, friends, we must begin to sharpen our understanding of what the bible teaches about manhood and womanhood. To put it simply, we must be able to articulate well from God’s word an answer for our children when they ask, “daddy, what does it mean to be a man and not a woman?” or “mommy, what does it mean to be a woman and not a man?” We must be able to show them from the Scriptures the answers to these questions.
Now, because it is Father’s Day I want to spend a little bit of time articulating from the Scriptures about what it means to be a man. What is biblical manhood. How do we undo the effects of the fall? How do we avoid the idea of toxic masculinity shoved down our throats by our ungodly world? And equally of importance how do we avoid the ungodly push back? How do we avoid the macho manliness that values control and abuse to prove you are a man? What does the Bible say about what it means to be manly?
Let me note from the onset that I will not have time to say everything that needs to be said about biblical manhood or womanhood. There are many refutations and careful definitions that I will not have time to expound upon. The unsympathetic ear will seek to twist and degrade what I am about to say. So let me encourage you to listen with an open ear. And, let me encourage you to be Berean like Christians and engage in further study once we are finished this morning. To that end I have included at the end of your outline recommended resources for further study and I would encourage you to dig deeper.
With that being said this morning I want to give you several observations about biblical manhood.
It has been said, “all good theology starts in Genesis.” So we are going to go back to Genesis 1 to begin with this morning.
Observation #1: Both men and women were created equally, in terms of their value, as image bearers of God.
Observation #1: Both men and women were created equally, in terms of their value, as image bearers of God.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Observation #2: Both men and women were given joint-rule over creation.
Observation #2: Both men and women were given joint-rule over creation.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Observation #3: Neither men nor women can rule over creation alone. They were given different tasks to compliment each other in fulfilling the creation mandate.
Observation #3: Neither men nor women can rule over creation alone. They were given different tasks to compliment each other in fulfilling the creation mandate.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Observation #4: This complimentary difference between men and women was designed by God before the fall and was pronounced very good.
Observation #4: This complimentary difference between men and women was designed by God before the fall and was pronounced very good.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The functional differences between men and women were not created by the fall, rather they were corrupted by the fall. God intended men and women to be equal in terms of their essence. Men and women posses equal worthy and value. But, functionally, God designed us differently from one another and as a complement to one another. This difference is God intended and is very good. Therefore, we should not seek to eliminate or distort the God created differences between men and woman. These differences, manhood and womanhood, are inherent by design to our very persons.
Observation #5: The creative intent of God gave the functional role of leadership to men.
Observation #5: The creative intent of God gave the functional role of leadership to men.
In other words one of the God intended designs of creation that speaks to what it means to be a man is the idea of leadership. Biblical manhood involves, at its core, the idea of leading.
Where do we find that in Genesis?
Observation #5a: The man was created before the woman.
Observation #5a: The man was created before the woman.
In Genesis 1 we have an overview of the first six days of creation. In Genesis chapter two we are brought back to day six of creation and instead of seeing a panorama view we zoom in and see the day in much more detail.
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So were do you get the idea of leadership from the order of creation. Aren’t you making an interpretive leap by saying that since man was created first, then that implies leadership?
It would, if we didn’t have other Scripture to compare and interpret with. We must always allow Scripture to interpret Scriptures.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
Why is it that woman cannot teach or exercise AUTHORITY over a man within the local church. Because Adam was formed first, then Eve.
What about the animals? Weren’t they created first, before Adam? Shouldn’t they have priority over him? This misses Paul’s point that Adam was formed first. Paul is relating the created order of Adam to the idea of the OT concept of the firstborn. The firstborn was accorded special rights because he was the firstborn son in the family. Animals had not part in this special position.
Because God created Adam first, Paul argues that within the church and within the marriage relationship, the man has the position of leadership.
Observation #5b: The man was given the priest-like task of worship and obedience.
Observation #5b: The man was given the priest-like task of worship and obedience.
Genesis 2:15 (ESV)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
There is a textual problem here in v. 15.
First of all how were the original Hebrew manuscripts written down? Or I should as this, what was not written down in the original Hebrew manuscripts? Vowels. Only the consonants were written down. Why? To save space and for a Hebrew speaker they were unnecessary.
Later on a group of scribes added what we call vowel pointing to the text to indicate the vowel sounds.
Next question- in this verse what does the “it” refer to? work IT and keep IT? Obviously, the IT refers to the garden of Eden. Here is where the textual problem lies. The Hebrew word for garden, gan, is masculine. Hebrew words have masculine or feminine endings.
Work it and keep it are feminine.
You cannot have a feminine pronoun (it) be the antecedent of a masculine noun (garden).
Then what does the “it” refer to? Nothing within the immediate context to which the “it” can refer to.
Cassuto: Take the mapiek out of the final he, no longer have infinitive with pronoun, but have a noun with lamed suffix.
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Chapter 2
לְעָבְדָ֖הּ
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to serve/worship and to guard.
The word to serve/worship is a priestly term used of Levite priests in the service to God.
The idea of both worshiping and guarding make sense by the command that follows.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Not created to be farmers or agriculturalists but to be priests.
God created us for the purpose of worshiping Him and Obeying Him.
Worship is hardwired into us. And God placed the man in the garden to serve and to guard. To the man alone was given the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In serving and protecting, the man was responsible for establishing God’s command on the earth and guarding God’s moral boundaries. His obedience to this task would mean blessing, while his disobedience would mean death.
The man was given the leadership role of carrying out this priest like function before God.
Observation # 6: The woman was given as a helper to the man.
Observation # 6: The woman was given as a helper to the man.
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
First time something is “not good” in the bible. God knew it was not good, but Adam didn’t know it yet.
God knew that Adam needed a helper.
19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
Hebrew concept of naming is not to put a label on something, but to reflect something of what it is. This is a rigorous activity of defining and classifying. That is like this, this is like that.
20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
In the process of doing this he discovers that there is nothing like him. And all of a sudden Adam makes the discovery that he is all alone. So now what God knew to be not good, Adam now knows what is not good.
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
Genesis 2:22 (ESV)
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Eve was created from man (Gen. 2:22)—equal in worth—
Genesis 2:20 (ESV)
20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
But she was also created for man (2:20)—different in function.
She was designed by God to be helper for him. Being a helper sometimes is looked down on in our culture, but this idea does not carry with it the implications of diminished worth or status.
Exodus 18:4 (ESV)
4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
Psalm 33:20 (ESV)
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Psalm 146:5 (ESV)
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Helper is a function term, not a demeaning one. Just like God at time comes along side of us and helps us, so the role of the woman in relationship to her husband is that of a helper. She was made for him.
8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
Man was given the leadership role in serving God and protecting. He has two mandates to lead. One: Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Protect that part of the garden. And two: exercise dominion over the earth- be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.
“It was not good for man to be alone because by himself he could not “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28). Here again we see the ordered complementarity of male and female. Another man could have helped Adam till the soil. Another man could have provided relational respite and energy for Adam. God could have gifted Adam a plow or a team of oxen or a fraternity of manly friends—all of which would have been useful, even delightful. But none would have been a helper fit for the crucial task of producing and rearing children. If mankind is to have dominion on the earth, there must be a man to work the garden and a woman to be his helpmate.”— DeYoung, Kevin. Men and Women in the Church (p. 28).
Observation #7: The sin of the garden was a direct reversal of the creation roles for Adam and Eve.
Observation #7: The sin of the garden was a direct reversal of the creation roles for Adam and Eve.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Why did Satan question the woman? Why did he go to Eve and not Adam? Because, Satan is crafty, he seeks to subvert! He knew the best way to get both Adam and Eve to rebel against God, and that was by going outside of God’s created functional roles. It was Adam’s role to be the leader in serving and protecting!
Genesis 3:2–6 (ESV)
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
God’s functional roles were reversed and disregarded.
Eve was designed as a helper for the man- she was to help and support his leadership. Yet, here in the temptation she acted independently of the man.
Paul brings out this point in I Timothy 2.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Eve, should have consulted and supported Adam’s decision in either eating the fruit or not eating the fruit. But, because she went outside of the created order she was deceived. This does not mean that women are somehow less intelligent that men, but that when you rebel and subvert God’s intended order you also forfeit God’s intended blessing. No one is able to, outside of God’s help and blessing, overcome the deception of Satan.
The point is that Eve’s sin was not just in eating the fruit, but in acting independently of Adam.
Adam is not innocent either!
Genesis 3:6 (ESV)
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Adam’s sin was not just in eating the fruit either. Adam was with her. He was right there standing with her. And what did Adam do? Nothing! Adam was designed by God for leadership! His job was to serve and to protect. And he stood there and abandoned his responsibilities as a leader! He stood idly by while Eve sinned! And then he follower her into sin!
Adam also rebelled and disregarded the functional roles of God’s design for biblical manhood. He did not lead, he did not protect, he did not love.
Observation #8: Adam is held accountable as the head and representative of the couple.
Observation #8: Adam is held accountable as the head and representative of the couple.
Who was alone given the initial responsibility to serve and to protect? Adam
Who was alone given the initial command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Adam
Who was the first one to eat the fruit? Not Adam, but Eve.
Yet, look who God addresses first after the fall.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Who did Satan approach first? Eve. Why? Because his goal was to subvert the God intended functional order of creation.
Who does God approach first? Adam. Even though Eve sinned first. Why? Because God’s goal is to affirm His intended functional order of creation. Adam was the designated leader and representation and therefore Adam is the one God held primarily responsible for the sin in the garden.
This is undeniably clear in the NT.
Romans 5:12 (ESV)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Men, this ought to make you sit up and take notice. Biblical manhood involves, at its core, the idea of leading. If you abdicate your responsibility for leadership as the head of your home, or men if you abdicate your responsibility for leadership within the church—God will hold you primarily responsible for the deception and sin that ensues.
Observation #9: The functional design of biblical manhood and womanhood has been corrupted by the curse.
Observation #9: The functional design of biblical manhood and womanhood has been corrupted by the curse.
The functional difference between manhood and womanhood were originally designed by God to be mutually beneficial. Both headship and helping were intended by God as very good, and were complimentary to each other. God designed man and woman for each other, but because of the corruption of sin these functional differences are now opposed to each other.
Genesis 3:16 (ESV)
16 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
Ladies, I want you to see how sin has corrupted the God designed function of helping your husband. God tells Eve, because of the curse of sin, instead of helping your husband now your desire will now be for mastery over your husband.
The word “desire” here is a desire for mastery. The same word is used of Cain and Able in Gen 4:7.
Genesis 4:7 (ESV)
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
3:16b. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
4:7b. It desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
Just as sin desired to have mastery over Cain, so the woman, tainted by sin, desires to have mastery over her husband.
That is how sin has affected the ladies, but men we are not exempt from the corruption of sin either.
Genesis 3:16 (ESV)
16 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
God is not saying that male headship is part of the curse. God’s design, as we have seen, has always been male headship within the marriage relationship.
What God is saying is that now because of the curse instead of man exercising benevolent headship, husbands will instead seek dominate and abuse their wives. Their rule will become tyrannical. Men it is important to understand this, whenever you become domineering or abusive toward your wives you are not reflecting God’s design for leadership but rather a sinister perversion of it.
“The marriage relationship, which was supposed to be marked by mutually beneficial headship and helping, becomes a fight over sinful rebellion and ruling. God designed sexual difference for one another; sin takes sexual difference and makes it opposed to one another.” —Kevin DeYoung.
Observation #10: The New Testament imperatives for manhood and womanhood, that are rooted in the transforming power of the gospel, seek to undo the corrupting effects of the curse of sin.
Observation #10: The New Testament imperatives for manhood and womanhood, that are rooted in the transforming power of the gospel, seek to undo the corrupting effects of the curse of sin.
Even back in the Garden the hope for undoing the curse was promised.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Paul’s commands in Col 3 18-19 and Ephesians 5:22-24, 33 are the direct counter to the effects of the fall as given in Gen 3 16.
Genesis 3:16 (ESV)
16 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
As a result of the fall wives will have a desire to dominate or to control their husbands.
God’s command rooted in the transforming power of the gospel to undo the effects of the curse:
Colossians 3:18 (ESV)
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
I know the word “submit” is a dirty word in our culture. But it is a biblical word. I love Piper’s definition of godly submission.
“This can be seen best if we define submission not in terms of specific behaviors, but as a disposition to yield to the husband’s authority and an inclination to follow his leadership.” —John Piper
“At the heart of mature femininity is a freeing disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman’s differing relationships.” —John Piper
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Read it for yourself!)
Ladies, sin corrupts and seeks to pervert and destroy your functional roles as designed by God at creation. The gospel breaks the power of sin in your life and progressively seeks to transform your disposition and inclination back to God’s original intent for biblical womanhood. This is a battle you must fight within you, but it is a battle that God’s grace can and will win through you.
Men what about you?
Genesis 3:16 (ESV)
16 Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
As a result of the fall husbands will have a desire to dominate or control their wives. In today’s culture manhood has been equated with being macho and controlling. Somehow being a man has come to mean dominating one’s wife through physical and emotional abuse. This kind of “masculinity” what our culture now refers to as “toxic masculinity” is a mockery of biblical manhood.
Yet real biblical masculinity is not toxic. SIN is toxic. And God’s commands rooted in the transforming power of the gospel seek to undo the toxic effects of the curse.
Colossians 3:19 (ESV)
19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
1 Peter 3:7 (ESV)
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
“At the heart of mature masculinity is a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man’s differing relationships.” —John Piper
“The first thing to notice from the text is how the overarching commands for husbands and wives are given at their specific point of fallenness. The commands to submit and love are intended to reverse the curse inflicted in the garden of Eden. God’s plan from the beginning was for the wife to help and the husband to lead. But sin corrupted God’s design.
According to Genesis 3:16, the marriage relationship after the fall became one of mutual struggle and frustration. The inclination of a sinful wife is to rebel against her husband’s authority and try to control him. Paul’s command aims to reverse the effects of the curse and have Christian wives submit rather than usurp. Likewise, men, who are supposed to lead and protect and provide for their wives, now, tainted by sin, treat their wives harshly. The inclination of the sinful man is to exercise ungodly rule over his wife. Paul’s command aims to reverse the effects of the curse and have Christian husbands love rather than domineer.” —Kevin DeYoung
Practical Ways of Reversing the Curse
Practical Ways of Reversing the Curse
Kevin DeYong, Men and Women in the Church
“It may sound archaic, if not fundamentally sinister, but God’s design for the home is a thoughtful, intelligent, gentle, submissive wife and a loving, godly, self-sacrificing, leading husband.” —DeYoung
The Submissive Wife: Support, Respect, Follow
The Submissive Wife: Support, Respect, Follow
Wives, in submitting to their husbands, ought to support, respect, and follow them as to the Lord.
Wives, support your husbands. God made you to be a helper for your husband (Gen. 2:18). Do what you can to encourage him as a husband, father, and worker. Come alongside him, not to control him or to be recognized for your service (but your husband should recognize it), but to help him.
Wives, respect your husbands. A man may get built up or torn down at work, but the words that can really make him or break him are the ones from his wife.
Illustration: “I’m so proud of you.”
Especially in public ladies use words that respect rather than rip down.
And wives, follow your husbands. Respond to his initiative. Don’t second-guess him all the time. You can certainly have an opinion and should not be afraid to voice it, but don’t try to undermine his properly exercised authority. Provided he’s not sinning against you or leading you into sin, follow him.
When I suggest we pray or sing a hymn or read a book together or work our way through the Bible or go to church. What a blessing to have a wife who gladly follows my stumbling attempts at spiritual leadership.
The Loving Husband: Lead, Sacrifice, Care
The Loving Husband: Lead, Sacrifice, Care
We could summarize the man’s responsibilities in marriage this way: Husbands, in loving your wives, lead, sacrifice, and care for them as Christ does for the church.
Husbands, lead your wives. I remember hearing John Piper say on more than one occasion that the husband should be the one who most often says, “let’s.” That simple piece of advice has always stuck with me. “Honey, let’s go on a walk.” “Let’s pray together.” “Let’s get the kids ready for bed.” Take the initiative, men. This isn’t about making every decision or believing that listening to your wife is a sign of weakness.
Good leaders sometimes follow, and insightful followers sometimes are given the opportunity to lead. The point about “let’s” is the man’s posture, his eagerness to make plans, take risks, and be fully engaged in the marital relationship.
This is especially true when it comes to spiritual leadership. Christian husbands can be aggressive and assertive when it comes to making money, tackling problems at work, or pursuing their hobbies, but when it comes to loving leadership in the home, too often they’re doormats. They take zero responsibility for the spiritual well-being of their household.
Husbands, sacrifice for your wives. Perhaps the most important thing for your marriage is that you understand the doctrine of the atonement. Jesus died for the church. Your leadership as a husband is a self-sacrificing leadership. This can mean little things: coming home early, taking care of the kids, participating joyfully in something she likes to do, overlooking an offense, running errands, fixing something around the house, cleaning up the house. Loving your wife can also entail bigger sacrifices. You may need to forfeit climbing the corporate ladder in order to be a decent husband. You may be called upon to give up your hopes and dreams in order to take care of your wife after she falls ill or is injured. You may sacrifice the big house or the best neighborhood and live at a lower lifestyle so your wife can stay home with the kids.
“Yea, even if it shall be needful for thee to give thy life for her, yea, and to be cut into pieces ten thousand times, yea, and to endure and undergo any suffering whatever,—refuse it not. Though thou shouldest undergo all this, yet wilt thou not, no not even then, have done anything like Christ.” —Chrysostom
Finally, husbands, care for your wives. Cherish her as your own body (Eph. 5:28). She is not merely your partner. She is your other half, your own flesh and bone. You don’t abuse your body; you build up, protect, and nourish it. Likewise, cherish and care for your wife. “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them” (Col. 3:19). You should just as easily treat your wife harshly as you should punch yourself in the face. “The man who does not love his wife,” Calvin says, “is a monster.”5
Women are to be protected, not exploited, defended, not demeaned, and treated with special honor instead of nothing special whatsoever.
Conclusion: Biblical manhood and womanhood are vital and essential topics to grasp and implement in our sin darkened culture of today.
When we submit to and joyfully obey God’s commands that are rooted in the saving power of the gospel, that seek to undo the effects of the curse we show the watching world the wonderful saving power of Christ.
You shine most brightly in the world when you work out your own salvation in the areas of manhood and womanhood.
Ladies you shine most brightly when you adopt a disposition to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in ways appropriate to a woman’s differing relationships. You put on display God’s grace when you joyfully choose to support, respect, and follow.
Men you shine most brightly when you shoulder the benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to a man’s differing relationships. You put on display God’s grace when you joyfully choose to lead, sacrifice, and care.
May God be most glorified when we joyfully obey these gospel imperatives that undo the effects of the curse and magnify His grace and the power of the gospel!