Men and Women are the Bride of Christ

[Obedience]

It's really wonderful.I totally agree with your statement and viewpoint.And I firmly believe that this is God's will.Without a little twist.

 

[Blain]

The text we’ll examine is Ephesians 5:21-23

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church - for we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."


Now, the first clue to uncover the meaning of this passage comes at the end of the passage. Paul wrote “This is a profound mystery…” We should note that Paul first wrote about common things, husbands and wives. This writing would have been easily understood by the readers. But then he caps off the passage with, if I may paraphrase, “I am actually writing about a profound mystery”. Now, there are mysteries and then there are profound mysteries. Paul emphasizes THIS mystery because it speaks of something profound as it relates to Christ, specifically Christ and the church.

Just as an aside: This is the danger of trying to formulate a set of laws from the New Testament writings akin to the laws that were given at Sinai. You will focus on the black and white of the text and miss what is actually meant by the writing. Typically, those who treat the New Testament in such a way are actually stuck in a traditional mindset that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when man and woman had to answer for their sins. But that’s another topic altogether.

Anyway, to continue.

This scripture is normally preached to teach, as a foundation, the relationship of Christian husbands and Christian wives within the body of Christ. But that’s not what Paul wrote. What he's saying is, "This is a profound mystery this relationship between Christ and the church. That's a profound mystery. But I want to use something with which you are already familiar as a means of unlocking and revealing this mystery to you." That's why he says, "But I show you, I am displaying to you, I am presenting to you, this mystery of Christ and the church."

So, to unveil the mystery of Christ and the church, Paul uses a very familiar vehicle to carry the meaning of the passage. This is important: the vehicle, marriage between a man and a woman, is not the point. The point is the passenger of the vehicle: the mystery of Christ and the church. Now, that should be as plain as day. Then, he explains the mystery, specifically, who represents what in this mystery? In other words, he gives us a passage of Scripture that talks about husbands and wives. But he' really not talking about husbands and wives, he's talking about Christ and the church. Therefore, who is the husband? Obviously, Christ. Who is the wife? The church. That is why, throughout the passage, he's saying, "Wives, submit to your husbands as unto the Lord" But if we miss the point, he says, "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, His body." And then he goes on, in case we missed the point. I mean, he's belaboring the point of Christ in the story, or in the analogy. So he says, verse 24, after twice referring to Christ and the church, he says it another way! "Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their own husbands in everything." By now we are bludgeoned with the idea that the wife is the church. And he's telling the wife to submit to her Husband.

Why is he using the relationship between a husband and a wife to talk to the Bride, the church, that is the wife of Christ? Who is he primarily addressing, men or women? Men, of course. He’s saying to the church, "Men, you are the bride of Christ!" A woman knows how to be a bride. She would readily identify with all references to “the bride”. She would get it immediately. Not so with men. Men are not naturally brides of anyone.

But here, Paul is using the “wife” to talk about the whole church: both men and women. Furthermore, when he talks about the husband he’s not talking about the physical role of the husband he is talking about Christ Himself!

So here are the pertinent questions: Why is he doing this? And what is the purpose?

The reason is: men do not know, naturally, how to respond to a husband as a bride.

In case that didn’t offend you, let me write that again so you can be sure that’s what I meant:

Men do not know, naturally, how to respond to a husband as a bride.

The church is the bride of Christ. The church is the bride. Christ is the husband. Men and women make up the church. But men do not know how to submit to a husband, who is Christ.

The bride of Christ is comprised of both men and women. In spiritual relationship to Christ, however, you are a woman, a bride. You are the one who submits to the husband.

How then does a man learn to be a bride? (See? This is much more about who gets to rule over whom- we'll get to that). Christ gives him a wife to instruct him how to be a bride.

Our minds have been contorted and twisted by homosexuality and the teachings and the practice of all kinds of sexual perversion, openly and publicly in our nation today. And, so men have been cultured in our society to refuse and reject the role of being a woman in relationship to the Husband who is the Lord. Because we have rejected that, we have used this passage to teach how men are greater than women, and therefore women must submit to men unconditionally as a condition of being a Christian. That's nonsense. The role of the Christian woman is a vital role. When men reject the role of Christian women, they have no way of learning how to be a wife to Christ.

How do they learn it? Are we, in fact, as men of God, the bride of Christ? We had better be because the bride is the one for whom He is coming. And whoever is in the Bride, He will take with Him to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And if we're not going, we've got more trouble than wondering about pants or dresses. Let me be clear: Christ gave us the Christian woman who, by the Holy Spirit, is equipped to demonstrate submission to Christ without being a doormat. God gives to her, to woman, the spiritual understanding of one of the two principal players in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let me say it another way: In the culmination of the age of man there will be the Bride and there will be Christ. The woman in Christ innately understands the role of the Bride.

Now, some will say “Well, aren’t men to be Christ to their wives?” Of course. Of course. In the role of husband we are to be Christ to the woman, we are to love her, care for her, wash her, etc. In this, the responsibility of care falls directly on the man. In fact, only the husband is instructed to “love the wife” and “give up his life for her”. Why is this so? Because the woman already knows how to do this in the natural. She does not need instruction or reminding. Nevertheless, in relation to Christ, BOTH the man and women are the Bride. They are Christ’s betrothed. dpokee dpoke

More to follow…

I was unable tp read a;; you said duee to my famaged eyes but I felt what ypu spoke I jear you

 

[Aaron56]

Now, what we need to see is a foundation for this reconciliation. And we need, by doing so, to understand what the fundamental problem is. Most people think of reconciliation as simply ensuring that they go to heaven when they die: to be born again so that their destination upon death is Heaven not Hell. That’s a child’s way of thinking about it. We are actually reconciled to God for a purpose while we are still in the earth. Reconciling to God includes not only our salvation from the second death but also our salvation from the culture of this wicked world.

See, we are not reconciled from a neutral place. We tend to think that way: “Well, the US is a Christian nation. So, once I am born again I can continue doing things the way I have always done them. After all, the way we do things here is more or less Christian.” No. We are not rescued out of a neutral place. The kingdom of darkness is not a neutral place. The kingdom of darkness has, as its core, standards and templates that corrupt and destroy. When compared to the Kingdom of the Son of His love, the kingdom of darkness is the antithesis.

My point is, once rescued we should expect sanctification: a process of change that conforms us to the standard of Christ. Without this process we will be unfit to take up the work of our Father in the earth. We should also expect to learn different ways of doing things; different ways of being and different ways of behaving.

Now, in light of this understanding, we can see that the fundamental problem between woman and men began at the Garden of Eden; that’s how ancient this issue is. We can talk about all the advancements we’ve made since that time but God is not impressed with our printing presses and our microwaves. Any limit God puts upon men and women, and standard, has to address that fateful time in the Garden when woman took the fruit and gave some to her husband AND must propel men and woman into the truth that is in Christ. Because after woman took the fruit, this is the crucial part, Adam threw the woman under the bus. When called to account, Adam’s response to God was “The woman you gave me [started all this mess]”. To carry the story further, Eve (woman was given the name ‘Eve’) said over her first-born son “Now God has given me a man!” This was a shot at the legitimate rule of Adam. So, now, 6000 years after the fact, women have no inherent trust of men. And men seek to limit the influence of women in all areas. (As an aside: Why do you think most Influencers on Social Media are women? Because they can do so without the governance of men. That’s this 6000-year issue in full bloom.)

Now, if women do not trust men but women become saved, and they are told that there is this one Jesus who really does love them, a Person whom they really can trust, what is the problem? The problem is: they will fear God, they will obey Jesus, but the hardest thing that I have found in ministry to convey to women is that they need, they can really trust Jesus. They love Jesus but trusting Him is a real problem because many women, even though - and the evidence of this is many women, even though they love Jesus and they know He will never leave or forsake them, they still have serious problems with their image. They still have serious problems with who they are. Why? Because even though Jesus says these things in His word, they still need to see a model that brings that thing from the word to them. That model is the husband. The believing husband. Because you stand, believing husband, in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My wife has a strained relationship with her natural father. Growing up, he was one of those guys everyone liked: he was funny, charming, and somewhat intelligent. He prided himself on these things. At home, however, he was gruff and angry. He was never abusive, but he made it known that family life was mostly a chore. Why? Because this was the way his father was. He learned from the best. And, just like his father, one day, he left his family for another woman. Just left.

Now, my wife is a strong woman. She is a woman of faith but not of the fake kind where she sings hymns at inappropriate times and only wears denim. No. She is of the kind that knows she can approach God on any issue, ask Him anything. She respects me greatly. This humbles me because I respect her greatly. She’s beautiful, amazing, brave, and smart. Anyway, since she can go toe-to-toe with God, you know “boldly before the throne”, she knows there is no question she cannot ask me.

I noticed she was wrestling with an issue between her and her dad. Her dad, even today, likes to measure anyone by his own standards. His standards are as bereft of wisdom from God as you might expect. He is, in my estimate, the most worldly man I know. Anyway, she just got off the phone with her dad (This was some time ago. They do not talk as much as they used to today.) I could see something was chewing on her. She turned to me and asked “Am I like my dad?” She was sincere; she had just shared a professional success with her dad and he took the opportunity to give himself credit for raising her in a certain way. I said to her, “The similarities with your dad end with your appearance and mannerisms. You are not like him in the most important way: you love the Truth and you love the Lord.” There were other words but the point is: she heard THAT in her spirit. And I saw something settle within her. Now, when her dad inserts himself where he doesn’t belong or he just simply is being him, she will often say “Wow! I’m glad I am not like him.”

I recognized that the issue she had with her dad was not simply an emotional one. It was a ploy by the enemy to get her to relinquish her position in the Lord. So, as God’s appointed head over my wife, I was able to speak the truth to her in her time of need. In that moment, as her appointed covering, I could speak to and extinguish the flaming arrow from the enemy. My covering of her didn’t oppress her, it liberated her from the enemy’s scheme and into the Truth of the Lord.

My sheep hear to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me."

Dessert next...

 

[Aaron56]

When we hear the Lord, we hear in the inner man. My sheep, this woman that God gave me, to watch over her and to care for her, when I spoke the truth to her, it went straight into her. Now, one of her friends could have told her the same thing. But it would not have meant the same thing because there is an empowering, by Christ to me, that allows me to wash her with the word. It wasn't my words. It wasn't any specific phrasing of it. It was because I was anointed to disarm the scheme. It's not a matter of who you are or how you say (in King James English or in plain English) it's not how you doctrinalize it. The kingdom of God is not given to institutions; the kingdom of God is given to men! To men!

“He gave gifts to men!”, to people. And when I spoke the truth to my wife, it broke the yoke because, you see, it was the word of God speaking to my wife. This is one of many examples of how, by just speaking what is true, when we are in our places, the kingdom comes into reality.

Now, I'll challenge you with the truth. Isn't it true, men, that you know exactly what to say to hurt your wives? Isn't it true? Nobody could hurt your wife like you. Nobody. Because, to you, she's one flesh. To you, she is vulnerable. Her emotions are open to you. Women don't commit adultery because of sexual excitement. That's not the main reason.
They commit adultery because they need for a man to tell them something about their worth and value. That's the real reason. They don't leave you because somebody's better looking or, or any of that stuff that men think about. See, men think about performance, women think about love and affection. Typically.

I used to be a behavioral health therapist, and I’ve talked to a number of couples in conflict, in the throes of divorce. And without fail, when they would come in, if adultery had taken place on the part of the woman, the man would ask the question, "Was his rival better than him sexually." But you know what the woman would ask if it was the man who committed adultery? She would ask, "Did you love her?" Totally different questions. They're two different frames of reference.

There are two aspects to this, to the kingdom of God in regards to women doing their work. One is the doing of the work, if you like, the helps. The other is the governments: that which watches over us so the work can be done.
Governments is not to prevent the the women from doing their work. Government is to make sure, I'll come to the Scriptures in a moment, that they don't go back under the curse of Eve because there are angels watching them and some of these angels know that they once prevailed against an uncovered woman. They know that they were able to beguile Eve and they're looking for a chance to beguile any woman in the body of Christ.

The Bible say, "She also gave some (of the fruit) to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." So he must have been with her. But he wasn't covering her. Why did Adam not say, "Get behind me, Eve, you stand there and I'll deal with you, Satan." Why did he not do that?

It would seem to me that Adam would have understood “she's of my flesh so, stand behind me, woman, so I can protect you from this deception.” Weak men in the church is the real cause of women in rebellion. Weak men. And by "weak men," I do not mean just men who are mamby-pamby. I mean, men who abandon their headship role either because they're tyrants or because they're wimps. There's nothing Christlike about a tyrant. Equally true is that Christ is not a wimp!

“Washing her with the word” This doesn't mean just he reads the Bible to her. I'll tell you what it means. It means when God is speaking a word, if the husband will hear the word of God for his wife and bring it forth and minister that word to her, it'll wash her and set in order her soul and her circumstances. I can't begin to tell you how many times my wife will come to me and she will say, "Aaron56, I have this problem" or "What do you think the Lord would say about this or that?" Or, "I want to make this decision, what do you think?" And I've learned not to say to her, "Anything you want." When she asks me "What do I think?" I owe it to her to wash her with the word. I owe it to her to intercede on her behalf and ask God, "What would He have me say to the woman that He gave me?" And it has never failed, whenever I have shared the word of God for her in her circumstance.

Whenever I have taken the time to ask God, "What would He want me to say to my wife?" He never fails to give me a word because He knows He holds me accountable. And if I am asking on behalf of what He has given me, He will always equip me for every good work. And, when He tells me what I need to say to her, and I speak it to her, even if it's hard for her to receive, she will wrestle with it until she comes to peace with it. Most of the time, whenever God gives me something for her, it is perfectly what she's been looking for. And I cannot begin to tell you the number of times when just a word spoken to her ministered peace to her.

This is the intention of Christ - that we wash our wives with the word because, you see, it is not about a man ruling over a woman. Just as the woman is given to the man to represent how he ought to be in relationship to the Lord as a bride, in the same way, the husband is given to the wife to teach the wife that she can trust the Lord. Teach the wife that she can trust the Lord. Do you know when a godly women will grow secure in their inward being? They will change when their husbands start presenting Christ to them day by day.

More on the stove...

 

[Cameron143]

When we hear the Lord, we hear in the inner man. My sheep, this woman that God gave me, to watch over her and to care for her, when I spoke the truth to her, it went straight into her. Now, one of her friends could have told her the same thing. But it would not have meant the same thing because there is an empowering, by Christ to me, that allows me to wash her with the word. It wasn't my words. It wasn't any specific phrasing of it. It was because I was anointed to disarm the scheme. It's not a matter of who you are or how you say (in King James English or in plain English) it's not how you doctrinalize it. The kingdom of God is not given to institutions; the kingdom of God is given to men! To men!

“He gave gifts to men!”, to people. And when I spoke the truth to my wife, it broke the yoke because, you see, it was the word of God speaking to my wife. This is one of many examples of how, by just speaking what is true, when we are in our places, the kingdom comes into reality.

Now, I'll challenge you with the truth. Isn't it true, men, that you know exactly what to say to hurt your wives? Isn't it true? Nobody could hurt your wife like you. Nobody. Because, to you, she's one flesh. To you, she is vulnerable. Her emotions are open to you. Women don't commit adultery because of sexual excitement. That's not the main reason.
They commit adultery because they need for a man to tell them something about their worth and value. That's the real reason. They don't leave you because somebody's better looking or, or any of that stuff that men think about. See, men think about performance, women think about love and affection. Typically.

I used to be a behavioral health therapist, and I’ve talked to a number of couples in conflict, in the throes of divorce. And without fail, when they would come in, if adultery had taken place on the part of the woman, the man would ask the question, "Was his rival better than him sexually." But you know what the woman would ask if it was the man who committed adultery? She would ask, "Did you love her?" Totally different questions. They're two different frames of reference.

There are two aspects to this, to the kingdom of God in regards to women doing their work. One is the doing of the work, if you like, the helps. The other is the governments: that which watches over us so the work can be done.
Governments is not to prevent the the women from doing their work. Government is to make sure, I'll come to the Scriptures in a moment, that they don't go back under the curse of Eve because there are angels watching them and some of these angels know that they once prevailed against an uncovered woman. They know that they were able to beguile Eve and they're looking for a chance to beguile any woman in the body of Christ.

The Bible say, "She also gave some (of the fruit) to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." So he must have been with her. But he wasn't covering her. Why did Adam not say, "Get behind me, Eve, you stand there and I'll deal with you, Satan." Why did he not do that?

It would seem to me that Adam would have understood “she's of my flesh so, stand behind me, woman, so I can protect you from this deception.” Weak men in the church is the real cause of women in rebellion. Weak men. And by "weak men," I do not mean just men who are mamby-pamby. I mean, men who abandon their headship role either because they're tyrants or because they're wimps. There's nothing Christlike about a tyrant. Equally true is that Christ is not a wimp!

“Washing her with the word” This doesn't mean just he reads the Bible to her. I'll tell you what it means. It means when God is speaking a word, if the husband will hear the word of God for his wife and bring it forth and minister that word to her, it'll wash her and set in order her soul and her circumstances. I can't begin to tell you how many times my wife will come to me and she will say, "Aaron56, I have this problem" or "What do you think the Lord would say about this or that?" Or, "I want to make this decision, what do you think?" And I've learned not to say to her, "Anything you want." When she asks me "What do I think?" I owe it to her to wash her with the word. I owe it to her to intercede on her behalf and ask God, "What would He have me say to the woman that He gave me?" And it has never failed, whenever I have shared the word of God for her in her circumstance.

Whenever I have taken the time to ask God, "What would He want me to say to my wife?" He never fails to give me a word because He knows He holds me accountable. And if I am asking on behalf of what He has given me, He will always equip me for every good work. And, when He tells me what I need to say to her, and I speak it to her, even if it's hard for her to receive, she will wrestle with it until she comes to peace with it. Most of the time, whenever God gives me something for her, it is perfectly what she's been looking for. And I cannot begin to tell you the number of times when just a word spoken to her ministered peace to her.

This is the intention of Christ - that we wash our wives with the word because, you see, it is not about a man ruling over a woman. Just as the woman is given to the man to represent how he ought to be in relationship to the Lord as a bride, in the same way, the husband is given to the wife to teach the wife that she can trust the Lord. Teach the wife that she can trust the Lord. Do you know when a godly women will grow secure in their inward being? They will change when their husbands start presenting Christ to them day by day.

More on the stove...

Broke the yoke is and interesting choice of words. I don't want to belabor it here because your posts on this subject are amazing and I don't want to rob anyone of the blessing of your current content. But perhaps you will explore this later in another thread.

 

[Aaron56]

Broke the yoke is and interesting choice of words. I don't want to belabor it here because your posts on this subject are amazing and I don't want to rob anyone of the blessing of your current content. But perhaps you will explore this later in another thread.

Ah, my friend, simply the yoke of a heavy burden, one that she is not meant to carry. That’s not a phrase I use often. I could have expounded on that but, for the sake of brevity I just mentioned it.

 

[Cameron143]

Ah, my friend, simply the yoke of a heavy burden, one that she is not meant to carry. That’s not a phrase I use often. I could have expounded on that but, for the sake of brevity I just mentioned it.

A lot deeper subject than people understand. I hope you will share more on it. And don't even get me started on the bands of wickedness. But I digress. Carry on.

 

[Stan_the_Man]

we have the same Husband

This does not mean Christian men are supposed to be effeminate and wear ladies clothes and stuff as some seem to think

 

[Aaron56]

I am leaving for an out-of-town meeting for the rest of the week. I will complete this when I get back this weekend.

Blessings.

 

[Stan_the_Man]

I am staying for an in-town meeting for the rest of the week. I will complete this when I get back this weekend.

Blessings.

 

[Aaron56]

Look with me to the book of 1 Corinthians the 14th chapter. This is one Scripture that has been often used as a means of restricting the role of women.

"As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."

Now, traditionally, it is common for the church to separate between the worship service and the rest of the meeting. Let me ask you this: What is the church? Is it the worship service and is it the Bible class, or is the church the people gathered together? So, if you're going to allow her to ask question in a Bible class, or even teach a Bible class on Sunday morning, but you won't let her do anything in the “sanctuary”, you're contradicting yourself because you've artificially said, "This part is worship but studying the Bible is not."

But that's not what it means. All you have to do to see what he's talking about is go back a few verses and he tells us what he's talking about. Verse 26 says,

"What then shall we say, brothers? When the whole church has come together in one place..."

Do you know what the whole church in Corinth in one place was like? 40,000 plus people. You see, we have this idea in our heads that the whole church is just our group.

Paul wrote this letter, 1 Corinthians, to the church in Corinth. And of this church at this time there were probably close to 40,000 people. So, he not only gives orders concerning the role of women in that type of an assembly, he gives orders concerning a whole bunch of other people. He said, for example, "Only two or three prophets should speak." What if fifteen of them wanted to speak? That's not your meeting. And he said, when they did that, they should speak in turn.

It's in the same passage here. He says, "Each one should speak in turn, no more than two or three…” and “..if there were no interpreter, they should speak at all. And he even restricts, to some degree speaking in tongues in that particular type of assembly. And he gives this tagline, he said, "Let everything be done decently and in order.”

Why does he not permit a woman to speak in that particular setting? You know why? It would be impossible, when all those groups came together as was true in 1 Corinthians, they didn't all know each other. It would have been impossible to have provided a woman with covering under those circumstances. So, he restricts that, he restricts the prophets, he restricts how many people can speak, and how and what order they would. He's giving a whole series of orders concerning the whole church together in one place. So, what we do is we first decide what the whole church is - namely our hundred and fifty, three hundred, two thousand and then we superimpose this Scripture on it and we say, “When we come together like this, we'll divide it between the worship service and we'll divide it between the Bible class. They can speak and ask questions in the Bible class, but they can't speak and ask questions in the worship service.” There is not one indication that this is a Sunday morning worship service.

The difficulty is: How do you cover a woman in that circumstance? Covering is not meant to inhibit the woman from doing her work; it is meant to protect her from attacks by the enemy. That's the point of the restrictions.

Look again at another Scripture: This is the one from 1 Timothy 2:11 Paul writes, "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission." And then he continues: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." And then he goes on to say that a woman "will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety."

Now what does he mean here when he says, "A woman should learn in submission, in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Now, I want - we'll be looking at another Scripture in just a moment, but I want to say this. All of our interpretation of Scripture today seems to be within the context of things that we have made up as how the church ought to be. So, we have made up this idea that to serve God you come together in Sunday morning worship. Right? There really is no Biblical example of the church coming together for quote "Sunday morning worship." There isn't. It just isn't there. You say, "Well, what about 1 Corinthians 16:1?"

It says now, "Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."

What is he talking about? He's talking about the need to provide financial alleviation for the problems up in Jerusalem. And he gives orders to all the churches to which Paul has an apostolic relationship. And he says to them, "Lay by you..." So, If I say to you, "Lay by you in store..." - do I mean take it down to the storehouse? No, I mean "Stick it in your pocket. Put it in your bank account. Lay it by you. You keep it so that when I come you don't give me your spare change."

This is not about giving a collection "at the church." This is talking about providing alms for the church in Jerusalem. He's saying, "Tuck it back and do it on the first day of the week." How could we possibly infer from that that he's talking about Sunday morning worship? Because he said "On the first day of the week..."? That was normally the day when people kept their accounts, those who had enough money to send anywhere. So, Paul was saying, "Regularly tuck it back." And he's certainly not talking about giving it "down at the church." That's an invention in our minds. He's saying,

I'm not saying you shouldn't meet. But we have created a holy day and we have created a high place to do it in. And we call that the church. The problem with the church today - one of the key problems - is that we have created some

ceremonies and some processes and we're substituting the life of God, the life of the body, for those ceremonies. These are the traditions of men and they're making void the law of God.

And here is one of the ways we have allowed that to become a burden and millstone around the necks of women. We say, "You can't preach in the Sunday morning worship." Well, where is the Sunday morning worship preaching even mentioned in Scripture? He's talking about the usurpation of authority. That's what he's talking about. The improper, co-opting of lawful, Biblical authority.

Aquila and Priscilla worked together in instructing Apollos.

"[Apollos] began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately."

And frankly, God does not want a woman teaching a man without her husband. Why not? Have you ever heard of adultery? What is the, what is the source of most of the sexual problems between members of the church today? It's men meeting with women who are not their wives. Are we blind? Or is Sunday morning worship the entire circumstance of our existence. He's saying, "I don't want the women uncovered for their safety. That's why I don't allow you to teach or usurp authority over the man." He's not saying, "You can't teach." He's saying, "I do not want you exposed to unlawful authority."

Why? Because if what I'm saying is true, if the woman has a husband who is neglecting to care for her, and the man is paying her attention and she feels that she has worth and value to him, what is the danger in that situation? This is for the preservation of both the man and the woman. It's not about keeping her from doing her work. It's just saying, "Don't let her do it apart from covering."

Now, let me go to the passage on covering. This is 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter. "I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ..." Now, let me ask you this: What does it mean when it says, "The head of every man is Christ." It means the authority over the man is Christ. Can we all agree on that? Sure. In fact, the Head of the whole church is Christ. That's what Ephesians 5 said: The wife should submit to her husband as unto the Lord because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.") So when it says, "The head of every man is Christ," he is talking about authority.

"...and the head of the woman is man..." The covering of authority over the wife is the husband. The covering of authority over the single woman is her father. The covering of authority over the widow is her mature Christian son. Don't we remember these things? Or have we become so dulled by tradition that even the word of God is of non-effect?

Perhaps one or two more.
Blessings if you have made it this far.

 

[Aaron56]

So, when it says, "The head of every man is Christ and the head of every woman is a man," he's talking about authority. "And the head of Christ is God." That shouldn't surprise us. He submitted to the Father in everything declaring, "I only do what I see the Father doing." When people have problems with submitting to legitimate authority, they're really do not know Christ. He embraced the ultimate of humility. Do you understand what it must be like for a man as powerful and as knowledgeable as He was, to order, to let every step, each next step, be ordered by the commands of heaven? That's a type of humility we haven't grasped in the church.

He chose, deliberately, to limit Himself to whatever, whatever, the Father was doing at the time He was doing it.

Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

And, the point: God highly exalted Him. There's a golden thread throughout the scriptures, I wish I had time to develop it. The thread is about those who offer acceptable sacrifices and those who do not. It includes the priesthood of Melchizedek beginning with the high priest who enters the holy place and gives Himself. All those who are of this order of Melchizedek are required to present their bodies as living sacrifices. That’s Romans 12:1. It’s a one to one correlation to the attitude of Jesus and the attitude of those who claim to follow Him. Perhaps another time.

So, in conclusion, this is not about who is Tarzan and who is Jane. This is about who is like Christ. He was the ultimate example of submission. So, knowing that, can repent about making women wear scarves on their head.

Since I brought it up, let’s look at it: “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head." Now Paul will explain to us what that means. He talks about long hair in a moment. Now, I don't want you to get so hung up on this that you start going around with rulers measuring the lengths of men hair. But he's simply introducing a concept of covering. And he's saying, "Don't wear long hair because hair is a sign of covering and what the covering is about is, if you're a man, wear your head uncovered when you pray or prophesy because you're in the presence of God - and you're acknowledging that you have a head that is covered by heaven." That's all it means. And then he goes on to write, "And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head..." We should notice: Paul writes that she can pray and she can prophesy, but what does she need to do? Have her head covered.

But you say, "Well, does that mean she wears this doily on her head?" Well, let's look at it. It says, if she doesn't do it, "it is just as though her head were shaved." I don't know how you shave a doily off a woman's head, but I do know how you shave what? Hair. “If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head.." and so on. And it goes on to say, "For long hair is given to her as a covering."

Now, if a woman is covered, don't bother her about the length of her hair. If she's under the authority of her husband, if they agree together, don't bother - this is not even about the length of hair, it's a question of covering. If she's in submission to her husband, proper authority, leave her be. The husband, now, he needs to get in there and provide a covering for her so she can do her work.

I want to close on this note. The reason that there's a difference between the doma gifts, which are gifts of government and they are limited to men, is because they are about the authority of Christ represented in the man. But they're not meant to keep the woman from doing her work. She is to do her work. The men have the ability to impart the gift; the women have the ability, like all of the rest of the church, to walk in it and to practice it. Let the women be free to serve the living God, and men, rise up and cover them so that they're free, free in Christ, to do all the works of God.

One final summary: What, what can a woman do in the body of Christ? Under covering, she can do anything that the body of Christ can do because she is a type of the body. And if the body can't do it, then she can't do it. But if she can do it, or if the church can do it, she can do it. In the same way the church has to be covered by Christ, the woman needs to be covered by her husband or the proper Biblical authority.

Grace and Peace

 

[posthuman]

the New Jerusalem come down out of Heaven is to be populated by born again men and women.

Not sure if "to be populated by" or "consists of" / "is" etc

leaning towards "is"

brick by brick, bro
but ja, genau.

 

[posthuman]

This does not mean Christian men are supposed to be effeminate and wear ladies clothes and stuff as some seem to think

we are not gay because Jesus Christ is our Husband.

you need to get over the stigma and embrace the stigmata, imho

 

[posthuman]

@Aaron56 wow, thanks to God

on this subject the Spirit has been really drawing you, yeah? you have so much to say!! and every time the Spirit draws, there is a place and time that drawing is leading to..

for a people, for a purpose, for His glory

praise God!!


amen

 

[Stan_the_Man]

we are not gay because Jesus Christ is our Husband.

you need to get over the stigma and embrace the stigmata, imho

Men should act like men, not like women.

The Bible teaches the Body of Christ is the bride of Christ and makes no mention of men being effeminate as some suppose we should be acting like. The devil has deceived many men into being sissies because he is a sissy.

We are called to act like Jesus and He was a tough guy, a man's Man, and was never effeminate in any way