Sunday, May 9, 2021
Honoring our mothers should be one of the easiest things we do in this life. Not one of us would be here without our mother. The entire human race would not exist without mothers. God made the first woman and called her “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).
When we open the pages of the Bible, we learn very quickly God’s view of women and motherhood is not the same as what we see in our human societies. Generally speaking, throughout history, men have regarded women as inferior when compared to themselves. This has led some to treat women with disrespect, and worse, as property to be abused. The more atrocities we see against women, both in secular and religious circles (i.e. Islam), the greater contrast there is between the way men view women and the view of the Creator. God has placed great value on the female side of humanity. He wants us to treat them with respect, dignity, fairness, and equality.
Concerning men and women, they have different roles given in creation. These are unique. Men were given the responsibility to be the head of the marriage, family, and home (Ephesians 5:22-24), but again, there is no difference in equality. Women are just as valuable as men. Both were made in God’s image. Moses wrote, “God said, "Let Us make man (humankind CES) in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, & over the cattle, over all the earth & over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male & female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). Having dominion over all of God’s creation included women.
Eve was called man’s “helper” (Genesis 2:18, 20). God said, “I will make him a helper comparable to him." God made her from Adam’s rib. She was his physical counterpart, as well as his spiritual and intellectual equal. The woman was in every sense man’s perfect mate and companion.
Jesus shed some light on the value of the “helper” idea in (John 15:26) when he spoke of the Holy Spirit. Would anyone suggest the Holy Spirit was inferior to Jesus Christ or the Father, because He is called a helper? All three are God. (Ephesians 1:3; Hebrews 1:8; Acts 5:3-4). Men and women were made equal but different. The woman may have been created to assist the man, but they were made to complement one another.
God’s view of women is seen repeatedly in the stories of great women in scripture. None is more significant than Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. When the angel announced how she was chosen to bear the Son of God, he said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28). Paul recorded, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). Just before this, Paul wrote, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many 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 neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26–28).
How blessed we all are to have mothers. We owe our lives to our mothers. How fortunate we are to find salvation in Christ. We all owe our spiritual lives to the Lord. How grateful we all are for His making no distinction between male and female. We all are one. We all are equal. We all are saved! —Chris
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