So I was reading Genesis today, and I wrote down a question that I've had for some time.
God created Adam first. He then created Eve. Eve was the one that was deceived first and ate the apple. When God cursed Eve, He said that Adam would rule over her.
I see the way women are treated in some parts of the world (I'm not saying that God is pleased with that by any means). I see how women get cheated on in marriage and how the obsession with beauty and perfection in the world (or in US especially) cheats many women out of being noticed at all. Men get paid more, men are leaders in the church, men are head of the family, etc.
I am not saying by any means that a woman's life is harder than a man's. LIFE itself is hard, whether you're male or female. I'm also not implying that all men are evil nor am I holding up a huge women's rights flag. I've seen women treat good men like dirt and cheat on them--and there are many of them out there, some I know personally.
All I'm saying is, as a woman, a lot of times I feel like a second wheel. I wonder, big picture wise, how woman is viewed in the eyes of God? Maybe this is a selfish or even sinful question, but:
Is woman considered less important than man in God's eyes?
I don't want to be more powerful than man.
I just want to be as special in the eyes of God as man is.
Oh, sister - if there were ever a time I wanted to give someone a bear hug, it's now. I can't imagine how it would have made you feel to think that way.
Women are not less important to God than men. Look at Galations 3:28 which gives the direct answer to your question: "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians--you are one in Christ Jesus." We are all Christians and belong to the body of Christ.
John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." Everyone. He came for everyone, male and female, and died the most painful death imaginable for everyone. Male and female.
1 Peter 3:7 says, "In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life." Equal partner.
Men and women do have different roles - God made us differently to "fit" together to make one. And remember when you read about Eve - Adam was also punished. Just in a different way.
Psalm 103:13 reads, "As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him." (The Message Bible) Have you ever heard of a father loving his sons more than his daughters? Usually a father is much more protective of his little girls!! That's the way God feels about you. We were in no way an "afterthought." God just made the strong ones who would squish bugs and lift heavy stuff first. :)
I agree with most of what Lynn said above, the only thing was the really bad translation of the 1 Peter scripture.
God assigned us different roles, and punishments. Think about what you were saying and what the Bible says, Eve was deceived, but Adam made his choice knowingly. Which do you think is worse? Adam chose the woman over God. I think that is why the Bible says a woman is not to have authority over a man. Man cannot be trusted in that situation.
You are a child of God, don't forget that. Just because God wants the man to lead, does not take away from His love for you.
Why was the New Living Translation a bad translation of 1 Peter 3:7? You don't agree that we are equal in God's gift of new life? Of salvation? I don't understand what you were saying or where the disagreement came in. :)
"The husbands, in like manner, dwelling with [them], according to knowledge, as to a weaker vessel -- to the wife -- imparting honour, as also being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." - Youngs
"Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered." - RSV
"[Ye] husbands likewise, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, as with a weaker, [even] the female, vessel, giving [them] honour, as also fellow-heirs of [the] grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." - Darby's
I guess they all say the same thing to me - that in love, new life, and salvation, God sees us equally.
I don't care for the translation because it is overly simplified. I like the picture drawn in my mind of being joint heirs with my wife in the promises of God, so that our prayers are not hindered. I think that is a beautiful picture of a Godly union and that the translation you used didn't do it justice.
So that your prayers are not hindered has a very specific meaning I think. Jesus said, "Where two or more are gathered in my name, I will be in their midst". A husband and wife, living as God intended, will always have Jesus in their midst. That is all I was saying, not that it was misleading.
Those who love the Lord are all loved equally by God. About power. If the Lord calls you to a work the Holy Spirit will empower you to accomplish that calling. If that means men need to submit to you then they need to submit to you. But, it is not you who they are submitting to, it is the Lords will and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that they are submitting to and are honoring. We are merely instruments. And the moment we lose sight of that reality we shall become filled with false pride and in time be judged and cast down by the Lord. And trust me I have been cast down a time or two and it is never a pleasant experience.
When God created Adam, He made him in the image of God. It doesn't get any better than that! Eve was in Adam when God formed him from the dust of the earth. Then, God took Eve out of Adam to make him (Adam) a help mate, a companion. So, women were part of the original creation of man (mankind). We were just later formed and fashioned to be helpers along side each other. We are equal, just as everyone else has said, having different roles. For instance, men cannot breast feed a baby or have a child grow and develop inside them.
So, here's something that I have been pondering for several years. The tree that they were not supposed to eat of was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, right? Well, if they didn't have knowledge of the difference between good and evil, when Eve took the fruit and ate she could not have understood what the consequences would be because she didn't know evil. She was deceived by the serpent.
However, she then knowing good and evil took the fruit and offered it to Adam who did not yet know evil. She deceived him.
God told Eve NOT to eat of the fruit of the tree in the garden - she may not have known the difference between good and evil, but God was explicit in his instruction and clear in the consequence of her disobedience. She knew. The problem came in when satan tempted her - and she gave in to that temptation. Being tempted isn't sinful, it's following through with that temptation that can cause us to sin. God may not have given them the knowledge of good an evil, but he did equip them with free will, which includes the ability to obey or disobey.
