GOD’S IDEA OF A
MAN
What is your idea of a man? Is it a male with bulging muscles, tattoos, beard, hairy chest, wearing a cap/hat, chewing tobacco, drinking liquor, driving a truck or hot rod, lusting after and probably having illicit sex with good-looking women, or what? And what is God’s idea of a man? Let’s see:
Gen. 2:15 For what purpose did God put man (Adam)
in the garden of Eden?
What
two qualities/characteristics is God seeming to stress
as being part of man’s role?
Is work/service rather than laziness and self-centeredness
characteristic of your life?
How did you come to your
conclusion?
And is responsibleness/leadership/taking charge rather than
irresponsibility and passivity characteristic of your life?
How did you arrive at your conclusion?
Gen. 2:19, 20a For what reason did God
bring the animals and birds before Adam?
What
quality or role do you think God was trying to draw out of man (Adam)?
How
does giving animal’s names and having those names remain draw out and establish
his leadership?
Are initiative, creativity, being imaginative, thinking
logically, and having authority all part of being a leader? Why?
Does the fact that Satan tempted
the woman (Eve), not the man (Adam), and that the woman was
deceived, not the man (Gen. 3:1-6; 1 Tim.
Gen. 2:18 Why did God create/make woman?
Are the women/wives of today (including
most Christian wives), in your observation, helpers to their husbands (assisting
and encouraging their husbands in their God-given purpose and calling – Matt.
28:19, 20 – in life)?
Why
do you think this is?
1 Cor. 11:8, 9 Why were women created?
How
does the feminist movement (i.e., Women’s Liberation) feel about this, and
why?
How has the liberal media (TV,
radio, newspaper, etc.) used this feminist philosophy to brainwash our
society, including most Christians?
How do
you feel about what God says in verse 9? Why?
1 Tim. 2:11-14 Why are women not to (spiritually)
teach or exercise authority over men, but instead are to quietly receive
instruction with entire submissiveness?
Is God
fair to women (see Rom.
[In
the Old Testament priesthood, only males from the family of Aaron were to
officiate at public worship (Ex. 28:1-3; Num.
[This doesn’t mean that women are inferior, but simply
that women have a different role designed by God. Spiritual leadership and
authority over God’s people (whether in OT times, NT times – 1 Tim. 2:1-10, 12;
Titus 1:5, 6 – or now) is reserved for men, unless women are teaching other
women or children (Titus 2:3-5; Prov. 1:8;
Does 1 Cor. 14:33b-35 also support this view?
Gen. 3:16 What does God tell Eve that Adam’s
position/relationship to her is to be?
[Just
because man (husband) is to rule over woman (wife) does not mean that men are
superior to/better than women. It simply means that God’s purpose/role for
man/husband is different than for the woman/wife. Man/husband is to rule
over/be the head of the woman/wife.].
In your observation of most marriages, including
Christian ones, are the husbands ruling over their wives,
or are the wives wearing the pants in the family (i.e., ruling)?
Why do
you think this is?
Could it be because a lot of men
today are insecure, have bad or no role models for fathers, and/or are
brainwashed by Satanically-influenced media (TV, movies, videos, books,
newspapers, magazines) and educational institutions?
Gen. 3:17 What was the result of man (Adam) listening
to/following/obeying the woman (Eve) instead of him leading/ruling her?
Can you
see how role reversal leads to problems/sin?
[When women/wives take the leadership and
initiative to head the relationship and management of the family rather than
the man/husband, sin sets in and serious problems too.].
Do you know of passive
men/husbands where the women/wives run/lead the marriage and the man takes
orders from the woman, or abdicates his leadership responsibility because of
passivity?
Why do
you think this happens?
[If the man is not the leader during the dating and courtship period,
he is going to have serious problems in marriage. God’s design is for the man to be the
leader.].
Eph. 5:22-24;
What
comparison does Paul use to show that the husband is to be the head/leader of
the wife?
And to
what extent/degree is the husband to be the head of/leader/ruler of his wife (vs.
24)?
Does
this mean that the wife can pick-and-choose what she
wants to obey her husband in? Why?
What is
the only exception for a wife not obeying her husband (see Acts
[If a husband asks or demands his wife to commit a sin, she should not
obey him but rather God, as the man/husband overstepped his boundary of
authority.].
What
attitude is the husband to have toward his wife (vss. 25, 28)?
And to what extent/degree?
In your observation of most
marriages, Christians included, are husbands loving (seeking the best for)
their wives as Christ loves the church or as they love their own bodies? Why?
1 Pet. 3:1, 4-6 Since wives are to be submissive to their husbands, even
non-Christian ones, what role/position does that make/put the husband in?
How did the holy women of the
Old Testament adorn themselves/make themselves
beautiful, and recognize their husband’s leadership position?
[“gentle” is an inner attitude of acceptance
of God’s dealings with us without complaint or resisting; and patient
submission toward husbands rather than self-assertive. Not creating disturbances; calm;
co-operative; not proud.].
[“quiet” in word
and action. Peaceable;
not rebellious, nagging, fussing, or resentful.].
How did
Sarah, a godly woman, respond to her husband Abraham?
Are
today’s wives to respond in a similar way as Sarah did (vs. 6)? Why?
1 Cor. 11:3 What is man’s role or position to
woman?
Men, are
you exercising your headship (superior position) in either a family
situation and/or spiritual setting, and why?
Remember
that one’s positional superiority does not mean that one is personally superior
or worth more to God.