The first couple was made differently, resulting in an asymmetry of giving rest and making secure. A man is a man in conquering a woman’s fears. A woman is a woman in being home to him.
When we dig into the Bible book, The Song of Songs, we find a lot of gender distinction in the urgings of the Shulammite Bride. In its pages she presents to us a vision of the ideal love, which can help us in our marriages. These practical principles of gender are very similar to those outlined by the Apostle Paul.
This Christmas, ask yourself this: Why a woman and not a man? Why not have Christ come through a man with the wonder of it being that it was done without a woman? I mean, so long as God is doing a miracle, he could certainly have done it the other way.
Christ is the Paragon of Femininity
“Wait, what!?” you exclaim. “That doesn’t sound right. We know that Jesus Christ was incarnate as a man, not a woman, so how can He show us femininity?” Well, you are thinking about gender in isolation again, but the Bible teaches us differently…
In relationship to His Church, Jesus Christ demonstrates the archetype of masculinity in its pure form. (In another context, Christ shows us where femininity came from also.) The apostle Paul calls forth the excellency of Christ becoming our husband in 1Corinthians 11:2-3, while Ephesians 5:22-33 explains it more fully, two examples among others. So if you want to see a …
Another Scenic Overlook from enGendered, from a story given to help us feel the asymmetry of origin. Can you Bible readers guess who they are before the end? She was from the high country and she was a prize. Many had secretly desired her, but didn’t dare go beyond that. They would need to go through her formidable father, …
Sally, a young woman, shifted nervously as she confessed to my wife, Mary K., who was discipling her, her scary question about the Bible. It was about Deuteronomy, chapter 22. Vv28-29 seem to describe a shotgun wedding: 28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 …
A reader writes: “You don’t really tackle the gender of God, why God reveals himself with masculine pronouns.” This is a helpful question. It is also a very necessary one. Because the answer to the question confers something desperately needed by about half of the image-bearers of God. Many women grow up with a sneaking suspicion at the back of …
If you are dating and the relationship has persisted for a while, you reach a point of asking, “Is this the one? Should we be together? Should we go for it, that momentous move called marriage?” It is exciting and dizzy and, yes, scary. Is this the one? Here’s how to tell. The Bible supplies important wisdom on this point. …
(Another Scenic Overlook from enGendered, showing the power of womanliness…) It had been a long time. A long time of dusty desert trails and fearful sprints from danger. He was tired. Tired of running. Tired of not having a home. Most of all, he was tired of maintaining a vision for something that had about as much substance as morning …
