More Words About the Beginning

I may not feel the need to do this with every sermon in this series, but for many of them I plan to say a little more in writing. I will share some thoughts on things that I either didn’t have the time to address in my sermon, or things that I just felt would distract from the flow of the sermon but still thought would be beneficial to share with you.

First, let me say that there is a plethora of biblical approaches and interpretations to all of the scripture texts I will be focusing on throughout this series. People land all over the spectrum on this particular issue. I don’t have the time, nor do I feel it is necessary, to cover all the different interpretations and conclusions shared by different scholars and theologians. I simply want to take you on my journey, which a lot of different scholars have contributed to. But it would be unfair of me to not acknowledge that there is a lot of differing opinions among scholars related to the different scriptures we will be addressing in this series. Even among our leadership, while we have all come to the same conclusion (men and women are equally gifted to serve and lead in the worship and life of a church), we came to that same conclusion while sometimes holding different interpretations on the same passages. 

I share this simply to suggest that the sheer complexity and diversity of interpretations, in my opinion, makes me think the best approach is one that is covered in grace and love. Jesus often told his harshest critics: “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” The New Testament repeatedly points us to love as being the greatest command we can follow. For Jesus, it is the greatest command. For Paul, love is greater than faith and hope, and he believes that the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. For John, loving our neighbor is showing love to God. If there are questions surrounding a text, I would rather err on the side of loving others and allowing freedom in Christ, as opposed to adhering to a doctrine that would limit someone’s freedom in Christ.

Let’s now focus our attention on my sermon this week (watch the sermon here) that focused on the first three chapters of Genesis. There is a little more I would like to say about this.

First, I pointed out that all of Genesis 3:14-19 is curse language, which means it is all negative language. There are no commands to be followed in these verses, but rather descriptions of what a cursed broken world will look like. As it relates to our topic, I specifically focused on the curse of the woman, Eve. God says, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (3:16). In a sin-cursed world there will be this desire to rule over each other. We were created to rule together over creation, but in a cursed world we will turn on each other and seek to rule over one another. In other words, harmonious relationships break down and turn on each other due to sin.

This plays itself out pretty much immediately. The title heading above Genesis 4 in my Bible says, “Cain Murders Abel.” The story immediately following the curse language of Genesis 3 is a story about one of Eve’s sons murdering her other son. The family dynamic is already under threat due to the curse. And to top it off, it is an argument over worship. There is jealousy over the types of sacrifices being offered to God, and God’s response to those sacrifices. In anger, one brother kills the others.

A few chapters later we read these words: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). This is the story of Noah and the flood. Notice that what God saw was the violence of humanity. Humans created in the image and likeness of God, purposed to share dominion over the rest of creation, have turned on one another. They now seek to exercise dominion over one another. This grieves God to the point of regretting the very creation of humans.

The curse of sin spreads throughout all humanity. To use the language of Paul, “dividing walls of hostility” (Eph. 2:14) that exists between different humans are the direct result of a sin-cursed world. The work of Christ was to overcome that curse. On the cross, Christ tore down those “dividing walls of hostility” that exists between humans. This is why Paul finds it so important to emphasize that in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Those are all dividing walls of hostility: ethnicity, economic status, sex. In Christ, those walls have been torn down. Christ overcomes the curse.

Perhaps this is also why Paul begins an entire section on relationships in the home by saying, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). No more ruling over one another or domineering over one another. In Christ, we equally submit to one another. We return to God’s intended purpose of creation by sharing dominion together through our mutual submission to one another.

A Different Approach (Just to muddy up the waters a bit!)

Some scholars believe that the Adam and Eve story (Genesis 2-3) has no relevance to men and women in general, but is more specifically relevant to the marriage relationship. In other words, Adam does not represent all males and Even does not represent all females. Rather, they each represent men and women who have entered into a marriage covenant with one another.

These same scholars then suggest that any New Testament text addressing men and women that points back to the Adam and Eve story is talking specifically about husbands and wives. In the Greek language one word is used for both male and husband. The same is true of female and wife. Only the context of the passage lets the reader know if the word is referring to men and women in general or husbands and wives specifically. Therefore, passages like 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and 1 Timothy 2:8-15, according to these scholars, are addressing matters confined to the marriage relationship, which means they are only relevant to social situations involving husbands and wives, not men and women in general.

This is not how I approach the Genesis story and its relevance to our specific topic, but I can’t rule it out as a possibility. If this approach is the correct one, that means there is no scripture found in the Bible that addresses the relationship and roles between the male sex and the female sex in the world. In other words, if this approach is correct, there is no scripture that teaches universal male headship, in the world or in the church.

Back to Genesis 1-3

Whether the story of Adam and Eve is relevant to all males and females or just husbands and wives, the fact still remains that the curse of sin distorted the original relationship of shared dominion and equality. Genesis 3 is not our starting off point. Genesis 1 is.