“So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created them.”
Turning to the Bible, God has revealed very clearly his purpose in creating man
and woman, and that neither one is more important than the other. Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The climax of God’s creation—the creation of human beings— includes both man and woman. The coexistence of man and woman, their harmonious relationship, and how they complement each other are good reflections of the image and glory of God. Most misconceptions about this subject have stemmed from an incorrect interpretation of Genesis 2:18, in which God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Many people think that man was the centerpiece of creation and that the purpose of woman is to assist him and to be his subordinate, meaning woman is not as important as man. In fact, the verb “help” here, as used in the native Hebrew, does not imply that one is in a subordinate position serving a master or superior. On the contrary, this word is used many times in the Old Testament to describe the strong helping the weak, including God helping His people. Indeed, when God created a helper for man, He wasn’t giving man an assistant or maid to serve or work for him. Instead, God gave man a partner equal to him, and a good complement, so that they can live and journey together and help each other to strive for the best in life. Thus, as far as marriage is concerned, man is not supposed to find a wife to suit his own taste or for his possession, nor is woman called to find a husband to be superior to herself and dominate in everything. Some might use the order of creation to support their argument that man is superior because he was created before woman. However, this argument is faulty because animals were created before man but we know that God has given man dominion over the animals and land. God loves man and woman the same.
In summary, we should hold neither man nor woman higher than the other.
Both are created to complement each other by making the best use of their gifts and talents; both are called to be submissive to one another. With regard to men’s and women’s roles and responsibilities in a family, we should not let ourselves be limited by traditional views about gender. We know that in modern families, it is fairly common to break the traditional model of the husband as breadwinner and the wife as homemaker. For instance, Dr. Pao mentioned that, at the seminary where he teaches, in the past it was mostly the husbands who were studying and being equipped for ministry while wives stayed at home with the kids. Today, there are more and more wives attending seminary, while husbands play the supportive role of caring for the family and children. Unfortunately, there are not many resources or support networks from churches or other social institutions to meet the needs of these stay-at-home dads. Therefore, oftentimes the needs of this demographic are neglected. This is something worth our attention. * Due to space limitations, we can only briefly touch on this issue. If you are interested in the topic of women in ministry, please refer to an interview with Dr. David Pao by Dr. Cecilia Yao: http://
David W. Pao (PhD Harvard University) is Professor of New Testament and Chair of the New Testament Department at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (USA). His English publications include Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus (Mohr Siebeck/ Baker, 2002), Thanksgiving: An Investigation of a Pauline Theme (InterVarsity, 2002), Early Christian Voices: In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols (coeditor, Brill, 2003), After Imperialism: Christian Identity in China and the Global Evangelical Movement (coeditor, Pickwick, 2011), Commentary on Colossians and Philemon (Zondervan, 2012). He has contributed to a number of collections of essays and reference works, including The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (vol. 10; Zondervan, 2007), Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Baker, 2007), and The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary (Baker, 2012). He has also written a number of books for the Chinese-reading audience: Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, 2 vols. (TienDao, 2008, 2009), Subversive Christian Faith: A Lukan Perspective (TienDao, 2015), Sola Scriptura: From Interpretation to Application (TienDao, 2016). He is involved in a number of Bible translation projects, and he is currently serving as the New Testament editor of the Tien Dao Bible Commentary series and the consulting editor of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series.
ficfellowship.org/interview-BaoWeiJun.html
Presence Family Magazine September 2016 |
7