Message

After great presentations by the youth from Pebbles Pathway and the Jr/Sr High Ministry, Pastor Miles continued the Code Breakers study - comparing the claims of the Da Vinci Code with God's Word.

This week Pastor Miles investigated God's plan for women. Throughout society, even in the church, women have historically been "held down". Is this what God really intends? What does the Bible say?

Adam and Eve

When God created man and woman, He said to both Adam and Eve, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis 1:28.

This clearly indicates that man and woman were to share the earth as equals. After they had sinned, however, woman was now man's subordinate as a result of her sin. Genesis 3:16

Jesus' Interaction with Women

Culturally, this subordination continued and at the time of Christ, women were considered very much inferior to man. Jesus elevated the status of women and showed us multiple times that women aren't supposed to be that way.

As a Rabbi, Jesus was not supposed to talk to the inferior woman, and especially not touch them or be touched by the females of the time. However there are a multitude of examples when he did just that:

• Mark 5:34
• Matthew 15:22
• Luke 10:38
• John 8:10
• John 4:27
• Galatians 3:26-29

These are but a few examples of how Jesus spoke to women on the same level as men.

Luke 8:1-3 shows us that women had also traveled with Jesus and his disciples while he preached the good news and that our Lord even assigned women ministry opportunities.

Again, there are too many examples to quote but here are a few:

• Luke 7:44-46
• Matthew 26:10
• Acts 18:24
• Romans 16:1-17
• 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
• Romans 16:1-17

Women in the Old Testament

Women played an important role in the Old Testament as well; God assigned positions of extreme importance to a variety of women.

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at the time. Judges 4:4.

Further examples are Exodus 15:20 and Isaiah 8:3.

Women in Positions of Authority

Jesus not only elevated the status of women, not only gave women ministry opportunities, but also gave women the authority to lead men.

John 20:17 shows Jesus has risen from the dead and giving his first instructions to a woman. A few more examples of women instructing men at God's command are Romans 16:1-2 and Philippians 4:2-3.

After showing all this biblical evidence, Pastor Miles conclude by explaining that the hierarchy of men and woman is due to sin, but Jesus shows us that such differences were based on the culture of man, and not the culture of God. Miles encouraged all of us not to be bound to man's culture as it does not take precedence over God's will.

"When man and woman operate as one, it is glorious to God," says Miles McPherson.