ADAM WHERE ARE YOU?

This past Sunday, my husband preached a sermon about Adam. He very specifically stated that the intent of this message was for the male. It's not very often that men are truly called to the carpet. Well, I must say the Lord used him to really bring light to the subject of men in our Christian culture. He dealt with the first Adam and finished with the second Adam our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He pulled no punches in regard to Adam's lack of leadership in his home (the Garden of Eden). God gave man the responsibility to work the ground, manage his home and not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God saw fit to create a helper for Adam, in Eve. All wonderful things, yet Adam was unwilling to love his wife by teaching and instructing her. He basically left her to manage and handle the serpent while he watched. How many men today are simply watching their wives be responsible to work the ground, manage the home, and fight the serpent? I'd have to say far too many.

Praise God that what was lacking in the first Adam was brought to completion in the second Adam. Phil (husband) made this awesome comparison one I hadn't heard before. God gave the first Adam a wife, by putting him to sleep and pulling her from his side! God gave the second Adam a bride, by putting Him to death (sleep). I just thought that was the coolest thing. God gave Christ a bride (the church) like Adam. However the Lord will not leave his bride to content with life or the serpent alone. In fact He deals with the serpent and encourages His bride the trust in Him, walk with Him, believe in Him.. and He will deliver. Now that was just a micro version of what was shared on Sunday.

Often there is an imbalance between men and women. More often then not men want to rule and dominate without being servants themselves. I hear a lot of man say "don't the Bible say the woman needs to obey the husband". Yes it does sir, but did you also read that the husband is to sacrifice even to his very life for the wife? Or that the husband is to love the wife as his own flesh? What man hates his own flesh or is unwilling to give the best to himself? Maybe not, that doesn't sound so cool! Christ demonstrated this perfectly. As a result man has no excuse! He laid out the example. So I would encourage the men of Faith to serve their families in loving leadership. Please do not call yourself a man of God and leave your wife and children to deal with the concerns and cares of the this life alone. Or worse, the man like the first Adam who does not lead, but follows into sin and then points a finger at the woman when called to account. Now that is a shame!

So I post this blog to say WHERE ARE YOU ADAM? Men have the responsibility to lead as a servant. I want to encourage men born like the first Adam to be born again and look like the Second ADAM!

Submission: A Woman's High Calling!

On July 2 -July 5, 2008 my family and I had the privilege to participate in the first Family Driven Faith family camp hosted by Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr. in Sandia, Texas (Zephyr Baptist Encampment). We gathered as families to worship Christ, fellowship, break bread, encourage, and enjoy each other through a host of activities. These four days were packed full of God’s word in didactic and visual instruction. In this blog I will share a portion of what I learned at this camp as a woman through the Scriptures.
This information will be life changing. What will you do? How do you view yourself as a Christian woman in light of our current culture? I found that more often then not Christian women can’t identify what God says because they believe what the culture says. We tend to believe what we see and not what God says. Why is that? First we don’t read Scripture in its proper context. We superimpose our modern worldview on Scripture, instead of being transformed by the renewing of the mind in Christ to understand the script. So women this is for you!

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that man be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”…But for Adam there was not a helper fit for him….And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:18; 20b; 22 ESV

For man was not from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 ESV

Women were created for the man! Through these two passages of Scripture in the Old and the New Testament, we clearly see that the very creation of the woman was for the man. Woman was a gift to man from the very beginning. The woman is the glory of the husband. (1 Corinthians 11:7) God saw that man needed a helper and provided the woman. This in no way changes the fact that women were made to worship the true and living God. Remember, the woman is a helper to the man created by God! Our worship as women belongs to God and God alone. Our service as women belongs to our husband. If you are not married then your service is to your parents until you are wed.

Women are to BE, submissive, self controlled, humble and quiet. This list speaks of the character of the woman. A woman can only be submissive and quiet if she has self control. The term submission in Scripture is actually a military term that means “rank.” So as a woman, we are to rank ourselves under our husbands. That means whether we think he is right or wrong, we submit to his authority that has been given by the living God. I pulled these character traits because they hit me the hardest. However I will only tackle them one entry at a time.

Submission to our husband is a command given to women by God. Everything has its place. If my knee thought it better to function as the bicep, how would by body maintain motion? My whole body would suffer as a result of that knee functioning a way other than its intended purpose. So I have learned it is best to stay in my place and function how God created me as a woman, wife and mother.

As we dig a litter deeper underneath the surface, we not only need to submit in deed but in our hearts and minds. Many women will submit to their husbands without proper respect in their hearts. Following his instruction while saying to a girlfriend or just in your mind that he is dumb and this is stupid…. IS SIN! I know those are strong words but it is very much the truth. Submission is an action, but more than that it is an attitude of the heart. The Lord says he will give His children a new heart. If you have found yourself in sin concerning this area ask the Lord to give you a new heart, and transform your mind. Please note that this is a daily walk. You will not just be changed and never sin again. The Scripture in 1 John 2:1 teaches us that when we do sin we have an advocate with the Father, who is Jesus Christ. Dear sister run to the Savior daily that you might find joy in who and how He has created you. The humble, quiet, submissive, and self controlled woman who is the crowning glory of her husband.