What Christ and Creation Reveal About Spiritual Leadership

God intended for males to be spiritual leaders in both the church and in their respective families. Wives are told to submit to their own husband’s authority in the home (Ephesians 5:22-24); women are told to submit to male leadership in the church. They do the latter by not taking positions of teaching or authority over men in religious gatherings (1 Timothy 2:12).

This is an incredibly hard teaching in our culture because our culture sees submission as an act of inequality. Women who are tempted to view submission this way would do well to reflect on the comparison that Paul makes when he says, “I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). In the Divine family, Jesus submits to His Father as Head. Does that make Him unequal to God? If not, how can women be seen as being unequal for submitting to male leadership in the home and in the church?

When Paul presents the case for female submission, he doesn’t tie his arguments primarily to culture but rather to creation (1 Corinthians 11:8-9; 1 Timothy 2:12-14). In creation, we see an established order: 1) God was (and is) Creator and the spiritual Head of creation; 2) Man, created in God’s image, was tasked with leadership over creation (Genesis 1:26) and guardianship over the garden (Genesis 2:15 – “keep” is the same word translated “guard” in Genesis 3:24); 3) Woman, also created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), was placed in the garden as a helper to man (Genesis 2:18); 4) the serpent, like all the beasts, was subject to mankind’s authority, both male and female (Genesis 1:26-27).

When sin entered into the picture, God’s order was totally upended. The serpent, who was supposed to be beneath mankind, challenged God’s authority by challenging His Word (Genesis 3:1-5). The woman set aside God as her authority and allowed Satan to take His place by accepting his word over God’s and by not consulting her husband. Her husband, who was with her while all of this was happening (Genesis 3:6) not only submitted himself to Satan but to his wife, whose voice he “heeded,” or listened to obediently (Genesis 3:17). Through all of this, God was effectively dethroned in humanity’s heart and placed at the level of beasts, where Satan should have been. The order of creation was totally upended.

All of the pain, suffering, and death in this world can be traced to the decisions that Adam and Eve made that day (Genesis 3:14-19). Before we set aside God’s will for male leadership, let’s try to reflect upon both Christ and creation.
-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Recent

Archive

 2024
 2023

Categories

Tags

1 Corinthians 12:29 1 Corinthians 12 1 Corinthians 14:15 1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 1 Corinthians 1:14 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 1 Corinthians 4 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 1 Corinthians 7 1 Peter 1:3-5 1 Peter 1:6-12 1 Peter 2:17 1 Peter 2:9 1 Peter 3 1 Peter 5:6-7 1 Peter 1 Samuel 4 1 Thessalonians 5:18 1 Timothy 4:1-3 2 Corinthians 5:10 2 Corinthians 6 2 John 1:9 2 John 9 2 Kings 5 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 2 Peter 3 2 Peter 2 Samuel Abel Abraham Absalom Acts 17 Acts 19 Acts 20:28 Acts 22:16 Acts 2 Acts 8 Acts Alcohol Alleged Contradictions Apostles Ark of the Covenant Attitude Authority Autonomy Autumn Awesome Awe Balance Baptismal Regeneration Baptism Barnabas Benevolence Bible Contradictions Bible Questions and Answers Bible Study Bible Time Bible Biblical Interpretation Bishop Body of Christ Borrowing Broad Way Brotherhood Cain and Abel Cain Calling on the Name of the Lord Calvinism Catholicism Catholic Celibacy Challenges Children Christian Living Christmas Church Funds Church Growth Church Leadership Church Membership Church of Christ Church Circumspection Citations Citizenship Colossians 3:16 Communication Communion Community Church Community Confidence Congregations Contend for the Faith Contentment Counting the Cost Covetousness Creation Credit Current Events Dating David Debt Forgivness Deconstruction Degrees of Punishment Deity Deliverance Denominationalism Devil Difference Different Discipleship Divine Nature Doctrine Dragon Drinking Easter Ecclesiastes 7:10 Ecclesia Eldership Elders Elder Elijah Elisha Encouragement Enoch Ephesians 2:8-9 Ephesians 4:11-16 Ephesians 5:15 Ephesians 5:16 Ephesians 5:18 Ephesians 5:19 Ephesians 5:5 Ephesians 5 Esther 4:14 Evangelism Ezekiel 36 Ezekiel 6 Faith Alone Faith Only Faithfulness Faith Falling Away Fall False Teachers False Teaching Family Worship Family Fathers Favor Fear Feeding of the 5000 Fornication Free Will Fundamentals Galatians 4:9-10 Galatians 6:2 Gender Roles Generosity Genesis 22 Genesis 4 Genesis Gift of Tongues Gifts Giving God's Grace God\'s Grace Godhead Godhood God Gospel Meeting Gospel Grace Grammar Gratitude Greater Sin Greed Grief Grieving Hallelujah Praise Jehovah Hallelujah Hebrews 10:25 Hebrews 13:4 Hebrews 5:12 Help Hermeneutics Holidays Holy Bread Holy Spirit's Deity Home Devotionals Home Husbands Hymns Hypotheticals Idolatry Immutability Imperatives Influence Insomnia Instrumental Music Instruments in Worship Intertextuality Isaac Isaiah 2 Isaiah 6 James 1:16: James 1:19 James 1:27 James 1 James 3:1 James Jehovah Witnesses Jehovah Jerome Jesus Temptation Jesus' Deity Jesus\' Deity Jesus Job John 11 John 19:11 John 1:1 John 3:16 John 3:36 John 3 John 4:24 John Calvin John the Baptist Joshua 24:15 Jude 1:11 Jude 3 Jude Judgement Judging Judgment Kindness Lamb of God Lamech Lazarus Leadership Leaven Lemuel Lending Levites Life Lessons Limited Atonement Living Sacrifice Local Church Lord's Supper Losing Salvation Love of God Luke 13:22-30 Luke 13:23 Luke 1:28 Luke 5:1-11 Mariolatry Mark 1:12-13 Mark Marriage Martin Luther Mary Matthew 16:18 Matthew 5:13-16 Matthew 5:3-12 Matthew 5 Matthew 6:19-20 Matthew 7:13-14 Matthew 7:1 Maturity Melchizedek Men's Business Meeting Men\'s Business Meeting Men\\\'s Business Meeting Men Metaphors Minor Prophets Miracles Miraculous Gifts Money Monotheism Mormonism Mothers Mount of Olives Mountain of the Lord's House Mountains of Israel Mountains Murder Music Mutual Submission Narrow Gate Narrow Way New Creation Nicodemus No Elders Non-Denominational OSAS Olive Trees Olives Olivet Olive Once Saved Always Saved One Another Parenting Pastor Patience Patriarchs Pattern Paul Peace Pentecostalism Persecution Perseverance of the Saints Perseverance Perseverence Perspective Pharisees Philippians 3:20 Philippians 4:6 Plagiarism Plan of Salvation Poetic Language Politics Pop Music Prayer Praying to Saints Praying Pray Preacher Preaching Priesthood Priests Proverbs 23 Proverbs 31:6 Proverbs Providence Psalm 148 Psalm 33 Quotations Reader Response Redeeming the Time Relationships Relationship Religion Religious Pluralism Religious Syncretism Remission of Sins Respect Restoration Movement Restoration Revelation 12:9 Riches Roman Catholic Church Romans 10:1-13 Romans 10:13 Romans 10:9-10 Romans 12:1-8 Romans 12:10 Romans 12:15 Romans 12:1 Romans 12:3-8 Romans 12 Romans Sabbath Sacrifice Saints Only Salvation Issue Salvation Satan Saved Scarecrows Sermon on the Mount Serving Others Sexual Sin Shewbread Showbread Silence of the Scriptures Singing Sin Situation Ethics Sleep Sobriety Song Studies Sons Soul Winning Sovereignty of God Spending Spirit and Truth Spiritual Death Spiritual Gifts Spiritual Leadership Steal Stephen Stolen Straight Gate Stress Student Debt Submission Suffering Syncretism TULIP Teachers Teaching Temptations Thankfulness The Beatitudes The Problem of Evil The Problem of Pain and Suffering The Problem of Suffering The Way of Cain The Way Thievery Thieves Titus 2:11-12 Titus 2 Tongue Speaking Total Hereditary Depravity Tradition Translation Trials Trinity Types and Antitypes Unchanging Nature Uncleanness Unconditional Election Understanding Unity Universalism Unknown Tongue Unmerited Favor Vulgate Wealth Wide Gate Will of God William Kirkpatrick Wives Women in the Church Women's Roles Word Study Work Worship Youth Zechariah clergy death sickness