Last Sabbath we hiked far down the salt marsh and found a group or muskrat homes surrounded by some very tall reeds. They were well-made with various sizes of reeds and mud creating sturdy homes. The Marsh is frozen now, and the muskrats are safe inside their homes perhaps dreaming of Spring. It has been a very cold week here in Maine, but thanks to Dad and Papa, the house is toasty warm with fires in the mornings and evenings keeping the house really cozy. I was thinking how thankful I was to sleep in my bed and not Mrs. Muskrat's. We along with the Muskrats work hard to keep stay warm and safe, but I was thinking that if our eyes were opened to the spiritual warfare surrounding us, we would see our great need of God's help. There is no safety apart from Him. Nahum 1:7 says " The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him."
mom
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Thoughts on the fall to the Boys
This past Sabbath the lesson at our church was on the Fall of man. Eve according to Paul in 1Timothy 2:14 was deceived into sin whereas Adam sinned undeceived or knowingly. Adam's sin was therefore the greater, as it was a sin of rebellion. His punishment should have been commissurately higher than Eve's. How is it then that he came to rule over Eve?
To ask the question implies that to rule is better than to be in submission but is that the case? First, with authority comes responsibility. Second, Christ said he that is greatest among you shall be servant of all. Adam before the fall (according to Paul) had authority over Eve by virtue of being created first. If this authority meant preiminence one would expect that Adam would lose it after his negligence in allowing Eve to stray from his side.
In the Christian economy Men are called to be leaders. This call to leadership is a call first to death to self, second to servanthood, and third to responsibility. In Ephesians 5:25 Paul calls men to death for their wife's sake even as Christ died for the church. This is first a death to self and if need be a death to life itself for our wives' sake. Adam was charged with provision of sustanence for his family through the sweat of his brow. Men today are called to the service of their families and communities to provide them with the necessities of life. Lastly, as Adam was in a measure responsible for the fall of Eve, so today Men are in a measure responsible for the safety, temporally and eternally, of their wives and children. It is a charge we should not take lightly.
As leaders Men should seek to liberate not subjugate, they should guide not dominate, they should seek to benefit not to be benefitted, they should spend and be spent for those in their charge. We have the highest calling to the lowest position, that of leadership. If we accept it it is likely that the fog of confusion engulfing male/female roles in leadership will burn away as we light the way through imitating the servant leadership of Christ. Love Dad
To ask the question implies that to rule is better than to be in submission but is that the case? First, with authority comes responsibility. Second, Christ said he that is greatest among you shall be servant of all. Adam before the fall (according to Paul) had authority over Eve by virtue of being created first. If this authority meant preiminence one would expect that Adam would lose it after his negligence in allowing Eve to stray from his side.
In the Christian economy Men are called to be leaders. This call to leadership is a call first to death to self, second to servanthood, and third to responsibility. In Ephesians 5:25 Paul calls men to death for their wife's sake even as Christ died for the church. This is first a death to self and if need be a death to life itself for our wives' sake. Adam was charged with provision of sustanence for his family through the sweat of his brow. Men today are called to the service of their families and communities to provide them with the necessities of life. Lastly, as Adam was in a measure responsible for the fall of Eve, so today Men are in a measure responsible for the safety, temporally and eternally, of their wives and children. It is a charge we should not take lightly.
As leaders Men should seek to liberate not subjugate, they should guide not dominate, they should seek to benefit not to be benefitted, they should spend and be spent for those in their charge. We have the highest calling to the lowest position, that of leadership. If we accept it it is likely that the fog of confusion engulfing male/female roles in leadership will burn away as we light the way through imitating the servant leadership of Christ. Love Dad
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