Part 4: Gender & the Gospel

Welcome back where we're studying what it means to be made male and female in God's image. What is the same? What is distinct? Genesis 1, the hymn of God, we saw how male and female are in the same image, which means they have the same position of dignity, the same purpose to know God, to be known by God, and to make Him known as representatives working together. They have to do that together. It's not just image of God singular. It's also united. And then two things we haven't talked about yet, but I'm going to bring in here, and that is they're same in soul. The soul of male and female, I believe, are the same. We see this teaching throughout the early church fathers that they're actually same in soul and different in body. And then Paul makes the point in 1 Corinthians 11, that female was made from the rib of man, but man is born of woman, and so there's a mutual dependence between them. The differences, well, there's body differences. The female was created to fit with man. There's a difference in order of creation and then there's a difference in roles. Headship for man, keeping, watching specifically for man even though women do as well, helper specifically for a woman, and she bears other image bearers. She gives birth to other image bearers. And then we see the consequence of sin from Genesis 3. Unwilling to remain in their position that God had given them, they wanted to see something better than God and there just isn't anything better. Their eyes were open and they were disappointed. and had shame. The woman's desire to undermine rather than being helpful, the way she was designed. Man's rule is harsh and ungodly rather than being watchful and caring. We looked at Genesis 3.16 and how that's to be interpreted last time. Now we're going to look and consider how the gospel changes things for human beings, made in His image, and how the gospel changes things for male and female. Our key text is Galatians 3.28, but I want to make sure we have context because we're going from creation, what's good, corruption, Genesis 3, and then there's a lot going on in the Old Testament, and a lot there is going on with the law. And there's three things that are distinct about women regarding the Old Testament law. The first is this, women did not receive the sign of the covenant. The sign of the covenant was for males, circumcision at the eight days old. And so there's something important there, I believe, as we think about how the covenant worked in the Old Testament, going from Abraham to his son and his sons on. Women would not have been able to receive that sign of the covenant. Second, women were distant in worship. And the whole focus of the Old Testament is really to show the holiness of God. There's a grand theology of space in the Old Testament, where really the Holy of Holies is the close place with God, and only one person can go there once a year, and then you've got the priests and the Israelites, and then out in the outer courts is women. They're distant in their worship. They're farther away in coming. And distance in worship has a teaching tool to it. There's something pedagogical about it because on Mount Sinai, Moses was the only one that could go up to the mountain. There was a barrier around the whole mountain because it's fearful to approach the holy God. They were afraid when he revealed himself. And the last one is women were not given the privilege of the firstborn son rights of inheritance. There are ways in which a daughter could inherit through marriage and other things, but for the most part, the handing over of inheritance went to firstborn and other sons, not daughters. Those three things are significant for what we're gonna see happen in Galatians. Now, we do have to ask this question. How were women saved in the Old Testament? Well, that's simple and easy, the same way men were by faith. It's very clear throughout the Old Testament that you were saved by believing in the promises of God and today we're saved by believing that he's actually fulfilled those promises in Jesus Christ. To be a child of Abraham is to be a child of faith. So we're going to look now to Galatians 3. A key verse is 328. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free. There is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But to appreciate what's actually happening there, we're going to read the context, and that's Galatians 323 through 47. And here's the key question. What is new about the new covenant? What is so new about the New Covenant, because men and women actually both get better privileges in positions in the New Covenant than they did the old. And women are actually given a higher position than the one they had specifically. That's what we're looking at. So Galatians 3.23. Now, before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, and we are no longer under guardian, for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Now, let me just highlight something here with these verses. Faith came, verse 23. We were imprisoned until the coming faith, verse 23. Verse 24, until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith, and now that faith has come. Now, you're saved by faith in the Old Testament. I just said that earlier, and that's still true. Faith isn't something new. What's actually new here is that it's faith in Jesus Christ. What's come and is new is not you used to be saved by obedience to a law. No, now we have faith in Christ who's fulfilled that law. So that's the newness that Paul is making clear there in verses 23 to 26. And the conclusion is a bold statement. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. This is a new position, a new job, a new privilege, a new blessing, and we're gonna see how that fleshes out here in a moment. Verse 27, for as many as of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Now, the Israelites, they thought they were heirs of Abraham, his offspring, because of circumcision. Paul in Romans 4 makes it very clear, no, it's being a person of faith that makes you a child of Abraham, because that's what was most distinctive about him. Faith comes before circumcision. It's a sign of faith. So let's just pause and just ask some of the things, what's new about the new covenant. One, we can see from verse 28, that controlling verse for us, Male and female are all one in Christ. That means male and female are united with Christ. That's a grand theme of salvation that is worthy of all your time and energy to study. Anytime you see in Christ, with Christ, you're looking at a way in which God is explaining what your benefits are by being united with Christ in a covenant relationship. And the way you enter that covenant relationship is by faith. We're either in our sin, connected to Adam, the head, or we're in Christ, the new head of a new humanity that gives us salvation. Male and female are united with Christ, receiving all the same benefits and privileges. Now, we mentioned earlier women were not able to receive the sign of circumcision in the Old Testament, but verse 27, something that's new about the New Covenant, It's assumed women are baptized into Christ. Because it's not about a tribal religion. It's not about the bloodline of Abraham anymore. It's now about the blood of Christ. And if you believe in Him, male or female, Jew, Gentile, slave or free, you're united with Him. And so what's new with the New Covenant? Men and women are both united with Christ. Men and women are both baptized in Christ, having put on his righteousness, having put on his forgiveness, having put on the new resurrected life he's provided. We keep going, verse 28, you are all one in Christ, and if you are Christ and you're Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he's a child, is no different than a slave, though he is the owner of everything. But he's under guardians and managers until the day set by his father. In that way, the law was a temporary period to watch over us until Christ came, the real promise fulfilled. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Now, this is interesting. So a female, a mom, a daughter, a woman, now has a unique position of being adopted as a son. And because you are sons, God sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, I'm a father. There's a theology of adoption. United with Christ, we're adopted into Christ. And it's not a generic adoption. We're actually given the sonship of the true son himself, the son who was eternally with the father, the son who has been loved by the father forever in a perfect way, the son who loved the father forever in a perfect way. We are given his rights and privileges of knowing God the father as father. We see it right here. Men and women have the same indwelling spirit of the son. Verse six, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. And that spirit is saying something very powerful. Abba, father. The same father adopts male and female. The same Son dies on the cross for male and female to redeem them of their sins. The same Spirit indwells their hearts, giving them full access to go back and pray to God as Father. Distance is removed from male and female. Women are not farther off anymore. Women have the same indwelling Spirit. There is something wonderful about the way the curse is reversed by Jesus Christ for male and female that gives women an equal position in Christ that they did not seem to appear to have in the Old Covenant. They're united with Christ, they're baptized in Christ, they're able to put on Christ, they're co-heirs with Christ, they're indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, they have equal access to God the Father in the name of Christ, and then we can conclude they are to be making disciples of Christ. Women are called to the same position in Christ. They're called to the same good works of Christ. They're called to the same fruit of the Spirit of Christ. They're called to the same virtue. They're equal in dignity, good works, and judgment. So when you think about how this applies, men and women now, all united in Christ by faith, right? Not all creatures have that same salvation, but by faith, men and women have the same position. Let's think about what this means application-wise. One, God renews a right view of ourselves. As we come to Christ, we come to see our sin. We come to see the way we see ourselves wrongly. We have a wrong self-identities. We have wrong self-images. Our hearts are bent inwards, is what Calvin says. And God begins to show us how we're not loving ourselves well. And that newness of how we're actually supposed to see ourselves truly in Christ and what He says about us, we're forgiven and free. We're now called to be image bearers again, being built up into Christ. The gospel renews a right view of ourselves. Secondly, it renews us as image bearers. That purpose is brought back to fill the earth with the good works of Jesus Christ, proclaiming him who can renew others. And finally, the gospel renews a right relationship with God. It's even better than Adam. Adam did not get to call God dad. He got to see him face to face. In John 1 17, no one has ever seen God, but the only begotten God has made him known. There's a way in which we can know God personally while we still wait for Jesus to come back to give us eyes to truly see that aren't tainted by sin, but there's a way in which we know God better than Adam did. One, we can't lose our relationship because it's secured in Jesus. Two, what Jesus introduced when he said, this is how you pray, is to the father. There's no prayer to the father in the Old Testament. That was something men and women neither had. But now we all have this new relationship that's right because of Christ's sacrifice. It's better and more personal because we can know him as dad because of the son and the spirit of the son. And we see that we're all united in Christ. We look to think, we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourself. That takes on new meaning now because as we look around to creation, we see that everyone is still made in the image of God. And as Christians, we must look around and say we love each other because we're like each other, every human being. We need to think about also, Christ gives a new commandment. Love one another as I have loved you. Love one another as I have loved you. That's from John 13, 34. Now, there's a heightening of love, because if you ask yourself, who loves me more, myself or Jesus? I hope the answer is Jesus. He has a greater love than I could ever possess. He loves me better than I could ever love myself. And so there's a heightened love. If you love our neighbor, that's everybody, every other human being, as I love myself. That's a certain kind of love. But Christ's love is a sacrificial giving of oneself. The bar for Christians loving one another, male and female, loving other male and female brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, there's a high bar now. As we just think about that, we think about our relationships, we're really brothers and sisters. There's a family of God now, and there's an equal inheritance that's all shared from the one son to all of us, male and female. So again, let's just pause and step back. We've been asking the question, what does it mean to be made in the image of God? What does it mean to be male, female? What's distinct? What does it mean to be saved in the gospel? We still haven't gotten to hardly any distinctions. The distinctions we've had are hinted at with headship. The distinctions are hinted at with the call to work and the call to be a helper. But we haven't actually seen a lot of distinctions because the main truth of what we've seen so far is we're the same in the image of God. We're the same in the reuniting to God in Christ, being reconciled and restored to the image that we were meant to be. Next week, next time we get together, we'll be looking at marriage, and that's where we're gonna see some of these distinctions played out with a little more clarity.