In this Sunday’s message, we looked at what it means to be a biblical man and a biblical woman. If you haven’t listened to the message, I would encourage you to go to iTunes, and under podcast search “Westlake Baptist Church.” The message is titled, “Part 4-Equal Yet Different.” Or you can visit our Facebook page and click on the link there. in this blog, we want to continue the discussion on gender as given in Scripture.
One thing that was briefly mentioned in the sermon was on how the two genders can teach us the true biblical truths of equal yet different. All three members of the Trinity are equal to each other just as men and women are equal. Yet each member of the Trinity has a different role He plays in creation and in redemption. The same is true about gender roles for men and women.
The other aspect that we want to look at here is the difference in God creating mankind from God creating everything else. When God created light, the sun, moon, stars, green grass, herbs, and animals; Scripture says that God spoke it into existence. However, mankind is different. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the LORD God formed man.” Then in Genesis 2:22 it says, “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman.” Both of these words “formed” and “made” indicate a personal creative act of God. This shows us that God was intimately involved in our creation, and it reveals His desire to have a relationship with men and women. Another clue about the intimacy of our creation is seen in the words Moses uses to describe God in Genesis 1 and 2. In Genesis 1, Moses uses the name, God (Elohim). In Hebrew, Elohim, refers to the mighty, powerful, and exceedingly great God. However, in Genesis 2 Moses uses a different name for God. In Genesis 2, Moses uses the name, Yahweh, which is the personal name of God. Yahweh is not describing an attribute of God like Elohim does. Rather, Moses is saying that the all-powerful, all-knowing, and great God of Genesis 1, is also the very personal God that we can know intimately through a relationship with Him. As Elohim, God is the Creator and owner of it all, and we are accountable to Him. As Yahweh, He wants us to know Him, love Him, and worship Him.
Do you know Him as Yahweh? Do you have the relationship He created you for? Or is he simply Elohim, the all-powerful, all-knowing God you are accountable to? Jesus came to earth to die on the cross, and He rose from the dead so that we could have a personal, intimate relationship with God not only once we die, but even while we are living. That is why Jesus said in John 10, “I have come to give you life, and have life more abundantly.” As the words of that beloved hymn, Without Him, says, “Jesus, O Jesus, do you know Him today? Do not turn Him away. O Jesus, O Jesus, without Him, how lost I would be.”
Pastor Justin