"But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ!" (I Corinthians 11:3)
In last week's lesson (on I Corinthians 10:14-11:1) the apostle Paul made a strong plea for the Corinthian believers (and for us!) to "flee idolatry"! And we quoted this verse from the Phillips translation, which gives an even stronger appeal: "The lesson we must learn, my brothers, is for you, at all cost, to avoid worshiping a false god; I'm speaking to you as intelligent men; think over what I am saying!" And so we thought it over--and shared what we found, after searching the Scriptures for other pertinent verses, and drawing from MacArthur and Constable, and other Bible commentators, to get a more exact understanding of what idolatry is really all about and why it's such an "abomination" to the Lord! It's more than bowing down to, or burning incense to a man-made image, we learned, and actually includes anything that grabs, and holds, our attention and becomes the primary loyalty and concern and focus of our lives--whether a habit, philosophy, occupation, sport, or whatever, which to any degree decreases our loyalty to, or trust in, the Lord our God! And because it strikes at the very character of God and says, in effect, that He's not sufficient to satisfy our desires and innermost needs, it's perhaps the most serious and contaminating of sins!
Paul likens it to sharing in the sacrifices and "in communion" with pagans, "by drinking the cup of demons, rather than partaking of the cup of blessing," in the Lord's Supper! And by making it clear that "one cannot drink both from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, or partake at the table of the Lord and the table of demons, without provoking the Lord"!
"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable; all things are lawful, but not all things edify (or build up!)," writes Paul--addressing again the principle of a believer's "liberty in Christ," which was the primary issue Paul addressed in the last several lessons of I Corinthians, and which Rod Turk so deftly summarized; speaking of the "equilibrium" we need to manifest in our lives as followers of Christ, by doing as Scripture commands in balancing our "knowledge with love" (I Corinthians 8), our "authority with discipline" (chapter 9), our "experience with caution" (10:1-22) and, finally, our "freedom with responsibility" (1:23-33)! Then summed up, in verse 31, with the bottom-line response we need to apply in all we do: "And so, "whether, then, you (we!) eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"! And adding (in verse 1 of I Corinthians 11, which fits better with this section), "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ!"
And so that closed out our study of I Corinthians 8-10, with its emphasis on "Christian liberty," and set the tone for last night's lesson on I Corinthians 11:2-16 where Paul introduces a whole new section of his epistle dealing with "public worship"--and specifically about the identity of, and relationship between, a man and a women (and God!), aa established by God's design and "divine order"!
Although the apostle Paul doesn't begin this new section with the words, "Now concerning..." which preceded his response to other issues raised earlier by the Corinthians, the issue of "a woman's rights" must have been raised and become an area of controversy within the church of Corinth, and therefore something that Paul felt necessary for him to address! And so, he begins by first commending the Corinthians for "holding firmly to the traditions" (or teachings of God's Word), which he taught, and then states in clear terms the basic principle of the "divine order" concerning the relationship between a man and a woman, as established by God "in the beginning"! It's likely, in retrospect, that the church was influenced by the "spirit of the age" in that day, just as it is in our day, with a kind of "feminist movement," which was somehow dragged into the church (as is prone to happen!), and which Satan was seeking to use to upset the divine order and thereby disrupt the church! Constable speculates that certain so-called "liberated women" had cut their hair and stopped wearing their head coverings while participating in the church services, and perhaps in the public square as well--thus going against the social custom! "Making a statement" and, in effect, repudiating their origin as women and therefore their calling to function under the authority of men! Indicating that they wanted to look more like, and be treated as, men! Just as in our day where there's a big push in the liberal community to have "women pastors"! MacArthur notes, "simply because this is what's happening in our culture and in our world"! And we can expect that sentiment only to increase as the end of time draw near!
And so Paul gets to the bottom line quickly and directly, in verse 3, by stating in no uncertain terms that "Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ"! And we have to go down to verse 8 to see the basis for, and origin, of this relationship where Paul--making reference to the Genesis account, writes that "man did not originate from woman, but woman from man," and that "man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman was made for man's sake"! Therefore (going back to verse 4), Paul says that "every man who has something on his head while praying and prophesying disgraces his head..." and so (verse 7 says) "ought not to have his head covered since he is the image and glory of God"! On the other hand, "every woman who has her head uncovered while praying and prophesying disgraces her head...and is like a woman whose head is completely shaved" (like a prostitute!) And so (verse 10 says) she "ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels"! The Phillip's translation say, "as an outward sign of man's authority, for all the angels to see"! MacArthur says "so not to offend those holy and submissive creatures who watch over the church"! (Wow! Did you know that we're being watched by angels?)
Paul goes on to say (in verse 10) that "in the Lord, neither is woman independent of the man, nor is man independent of woman; for as the woman originates from man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God"! And so, one can't get along without the other! Constable notes that "there must be a oneness in marriage for the husband and wife to complete one another...and that self-centered individuality destroys unity in marriage! And it's important to realize, as MacArthur notes, that Paul, in this passage "makes no distinction between men and women as far as personal worth, abilities, intellect, or spirituality are concerned, and that God established the principle of male authority and female subordination for the purpose of order and complementation, not on the basis of any innate superiority of males"!
And if the idea of authority and subordination--and of a "divine order"--"rubs anyone the wrong way," he (or she!) needs to realize that it's a principle ordained by God in all creation, and even present in the godhead! "God is the head of Christ!" And a whole lot of Scripture makes it abundantly clear that Christ "submitted Himself to His Father's will," including by going to the Cross! Jesus said, in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me"! And yet, as MacArthur notes, "He has never been--before, during, or after His incarnation--in any way inferior in essence to the Father"! But, in His incarnation, He willingly submitted Himself to the Father in His role as Savior and Redeemer! And He lovingly subjected Himself completely to His Father's will as an act of humble obedience in fulfilling His divine purpose! And so, as Christ is submissive to the Father and Christians are to be submissive to Christ, a wife is to be submissive to her husband! You can't reject one part without rejecting it all!"
So, what's "love" got to do with it, you might ask?
Ephesians 5:22-33 says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything! Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless! So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies..."!
I Peter 3:1-7 says, "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior...(And) you husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered!" (MacArthur calls this "the best relationship life has to offer"!)
So what should be our response, as "men of the Bible" (MOBsters), to this "difficult lesson," way out of line with the thinking of the contemporary world?
May it only reinforce our desire and commitment to hold to the Bible's teaching on this subject regardless of the repercussions it may bring from others in our culture (even from our kids!) about God's "divine order" for a man and a woman!
Go with God, men!
Lowell
In last week's lesson (on I Corinthians 10:14-11:1) the apostle Paul made a strong plea for the Corinthian believers (and for us!) to "flee idolatry"! And we quoted this verse from the Phillips translation, which gives an even stronger appeal: "The lesson we must learn, my brothers, is for you, at all cost, to avoid worshiping a false god; I'm speaking to you as intelligent men; think over what I am saying!" And so we thought it over--and shared what we found, after searching the Scriptures for other pertinent verses, and drawing from MacArthur and Constable, and other Bible commentators, to get a more exact understanding of what idolatry is really all about and why it's such an "abomination" to the Lord! It's more than bowing down to, or burning incense to a man-made image, we learned, and actually includes anything that grabs, and holds, our attention and becomes the primary loyalty and concern and focus of our lives--whether a habit, philosophy, occupation, sport, or whatever, which to any degree decreases our loyalty to, or trust in, the Lord our God! And because it strikes at the very character of God and says, in effect, that He's not sufficient to satisfy our desires and innermost needs, it's perhaps the most serious and contaminating of sins!
Paul likens it to sharing in the sacrifices and "in communion" with pagans, "by drinking the cup of demons, rather than partaking of the cup of blessing," in the Lord's Supper! And by making it clear that "one cannot drink both from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, or partake at the table of the Lord and the table of demons, without provoking the Lord"!
"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable; all things are lawful, but not all things edify (or build up!)," writes Paul--addressing again the principle of a believer's "liberty in Christ," which was the primary issue Paul addressed in the last several lessons of I Corinthians, and which Rod Turk so deftly summarized; speaking of the "equilibrium" we need to manifest in our lives as followers of Christ, by doing as Scripture commands in balancing our "knowledge with love" (I Corinthians 8), our "authority with discipline" (chapter 9), our "experience with caution" (10:1-22) and, finally, our "freedom with responsibility" (1:23-33)! Then summed up, in verse 31, with the bottom-line response we need to apply in all we do: "And so, "whether, then, you (we!) eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"! And adding (in verse 1 of I Corinthians 11, which fits better with this section), "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ!"
And so that closed out our study of I Corinthians 8-10, with its emphasis on "Christian liberty," and set the tone for last night's lesson on I Corinthians 11:2-16 where Paul introduces a whole new section of his epistle dealing with "public worship"--and specifically about the identity of, and relationship between, a man and a women (and God!), aa established by God's design and "divine order"!
Although the apostle Paul doesn't begin this new section with the words, "Now concerning..." which preceded his response to other issues raised earlier by the Corinthians, the issue of "a woman's rights" must have been raised and become an area of controversy within the church of Corinth, and therefore something that Paul felt necessary for him to address! And so, he begins by first commending the Corinthians for "holding firmly to the traditions" (or teachings of God's Word), which he taught, and then states in clear terms the basic principle of the "divine order" concerning the relationship between a man and a woman, as established by God "in the beginning"! It's likely, in retrospect, that the church was influenced by the "spirit of the age" in that day, just as it is in our day, with a kind of "feminist movement," which was somehow dragged into the church (as is prone to happen!), and which Satan was seeking to use to upset the divine order and thereby disrupt the church! Constable speculates that certain so-called "liberated women" had cut their hair and stopped wearing their head coverings while participating in the church services, and perhaps in the public square as well--thus going against the social custom! "Making a statement" and, in effect, repudiating their origin as women and therefore their calling to function under the authority of men! Indicating that they wanted to look more like, and be treated as, men! Just as in our day where there's a big push in the liberal community to have "women pastors"! MacArthur notes, "simply because this is what's happening in our culture and in our world"! And we can expect that sentiment only to increase as the end of time draw near!
And so Paul gets to the bottom line quickly and directly, in verse 3, by stating in no uncertain terms that "Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ"! And we have to go down to verse 8 to see the basis for, and origin, of this relationship where Paul--making reference to the Genesis account, writes that "man did not originate from woman, but woman from man," and that "man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman was made for man's sake"! Therefore (going back to verse 4), Paul says that "every man who has something on his head while praying and prophesying disgraces his head..." and so (verse 7 says) "ought not to have his head covered since he is the image and glory of God"! On the other hand, "every woman who has her head uncovered while praying and prophesying disgraces her head...and is like a woman whose head is completely shaved" (like a prostitute!) And so (verse 10 says) she "ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels"! The Phillip's translation say, "as an outward sign of man's authority, for all the angels to see"! MacArthur says "so not to offend those holy and submissive creatures who watch over the church"! (Wow! Did you know that we're being watched by angels?)
Paul goes on to say (in verse 10) that "in the Lord, neither is woman independent of the man, nor is man independent of woman; for as the woman originates from man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God"! And so, one can't get along without the other! Constable notes that "there must be a oneness in marriage for the husband and wife to complete one another...and that self-centered individuality destroys unity in marriage! And it's important to realize, as MacArthur notes, that Paul, in this passage "makes no distinction between men and women as far as personal worth, abilities, intellect, or spirituality are concerned, and that God established the principle of male authority and female subordination for the purpose of order and complementation, not on the basis of any innate superiority of males"!
And if the idea of authority and subordination--and of a "divine order"--"rubs anyone the wrong way," he (or she!) needs to realize that it's a principle ordained by God in all creation, and even present in the godhead! "God is the head of Christ!" And a whole lot of Scripture makes it abundantly clear that Christ "submitted Himself to His Father's will," including by going to the Cross! Jesus said, in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me"! And yet, as MacArthur notes, "He has never been--before, during, or after His incarnation--in any way inferior in essence to the Father"! But, in His incarnation, He willingly submitted Himself to the Father in His role as Savior and Redeemer! And He lovingly subjected Himself completely to His Father's will as an act of humble obedience in fulfilling His divine purpose! And so, as Christ is submissive to the Father and Christians are to be submissive to Christ, a wife is to be submissive to her husband! You can't reject one part without rejecting it all!"
So, what's "love" got to do with it, you might ask?
Ephesians 5:22-33 says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything! Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless! So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies..."!
I Peter 3:1-7 says, "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior...(And) you husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered!" (MacArthur calls this "the best relationship life has to offer"!)
So what should be our response, as "men of the Bible" (MOBsters), to this "difficult lesson," way out of line with the thinking of the contemporary world?
May it only reinforce our desire and commitment to hold to the Bible's teaching on this subject regardless of the repercussions it may bring from others in our culture (even from our kids!) about God's "divine order" for a man and a woman!
Go with God, men!
Lowell
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