Five Aspects of Woman Series ~ Post #6
As we saw in the previous post in this series, God saved the crown jewel of all His Creation for last when He made the woman from the man and for the man. Finally, He pronounced His work to be "very good" and satisfied, He rested from His labors.
One detail that can be easily overlooked in the Biblical account of Creation is that even before the first woman was made from man's side, God had placed Adam in the midst of the Garden of Eden and gave him freedom to eat anything there with the one exception -- the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The command not to eat of that one tree was given directly to Adam, and Adam ultimately would be accountable for the keeping of God's command. (Gen. 2:15-18)
We know what happened next. The woman that God made to be a blessing for Adam was deceived by the cunning serpent, and Adam chose to go along with disobedience to their Creator rather than to be the strong, ruling head of the woman and put a stop to what was about to happen. While both Adam and Eve sinned, Adam bore the responsibility. Judgment and death now entered the world, and they both were banished from the beautiful garden, left to be on their own to eke out their existence apart from the constant fellowship of God their Creator.
God's judgment was swift and devastating. A number of curses fell upon all of God's creation because of one man's sin. Nothing would ever be the same again. The beautiful ideal of the woman being created to complement and complete the man was now corrupted. Before the curse, woman felt protected and happy with the man being her head. She was pleased to be his beloved, and it was his love for her that gave her contentment in her role.
The woman is no longer content to be the crown of the head; now she battles to be the head. Men now struggle to maintain headship, and woman is constantly rebellious and manipulative. Everything is in disorder compared to what God intended in the beginning.
Ever since the curse, woman has fixed in her unredeemed heart the ambiguity of wanting the companionship of the man, yet at the same time wanting to control him. Though she was fashioned to be his perfect helper, instead she seeks to dominate him.
The fallen helper-completer is not only at odds with the man for whom she was made, but she is at odds with herself and with her Creator. Instead of embracing her complementary role in the male-female relationship, the woman is intent on competing with the man. In this cursed and fallen state, she is completely deceived and doesn't realize that she cuts herself off from the very thing her heart desires the most -- intimate fellowship with her help-mate and with her God.
Next ~ The Redeemed Helper-Completer
*All content of this series is based on what I learned from the study "Five Aspects of Woman" by Barbara Mouser, and taught by Helga Gross at the Hudson Community Chapel. While this summary is my own, the entire study was developed by Mrs. Mouser, and can be purchased through the International Council for Gender Studies website.
2 comments:
Let us not forget the power in our role as helper-completer! In the Old Testatment, the Hebrew word for helper (ezer) is used primarily to refer to God as our Helper. A role of richness and strength, not flimsy weakness. A woman's helper ministry is one of defense, comfort and compassion!
Welcome Kathy, thanks for stopping by and commenting. This post was about the "fallen" helper-completer..still in bondage to the curse. The next one will illustrate the powerful redeemed helper-completer who seeks to live out her calling as a woman created in the image of God, as you referred to! You are so right, it is a role of richness and strength, defense, comfort and compassion...GREAT words to describe her!
Post a Comment