The Gender Question

UV 3451/10000 The Gender Question
Then Adam said, “ This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.”

Genesis 2 v 23

Woman was created to be a helper and suitable companion for man. Man was to regard woman as a complement or part of him. But due to the fall of man came the separation not only of man from God but also man from woman. The power struggle began between man and woman, egged on by the serpent leader. The Servant Leader, Jesus in contrast, did not make a difference between men and women. His most devout followers were women who did not abandon Him at the cross even when His disciples fled.

From that early genesis, the gulf between man and woman grew wider and wider. Women were increasingly looked upon as a possession, a property of man. The commodification of woman in modern times is another conspiracy of the serpent leader with woman projected only as an object of sexual desire. Men are to provide Christ-like leadership in their homes and not dominate, oppress, suppress or harass women in any way. The Servant Leader dealt with an even hand when it came to men or women. For instance, when they brought a woman who was caught in adultery, He reminded the men of their own adulterous thought life.

Men and women were created to complement and not to compete or supplement each other. Either have responsibilities that the other cannot fulfill adequately. Husbands are to serve their wives even as Christ served the body of believers by being a sacrifice for them. It implies that men are to make sacrifices of their time, efforts, attention in order to manifest their love for their wives. The relationship is based on mutual trust and forgiveness. No couple can live with each other unless they learn to forgive even as Jesus forgave. Just as a man or a woman does not regard his own bones or flesh as different or separated from self and tries to feed, nourish these, we are expected to be mutually inseparable, supportive and dependent on each other.