We've discussed 1 Timothy 2 in previous devotions (see below), but we haven't addressed an important reason Paul gives for male leadership in the church in verse 13:
“For Adam was formed first, then Eve.”
This verse proves that the command about male leadership is not based on a cultural problem in Ephesus because Paul links it to creation design.
From the beginning, God designed men and women to be wonderfully different, but Satan wants to minimize and redefine those differences. Instead of trusting God and discovering the beauty and fulfillment of His design, Satan wants men to misuse it and women to reject it.
God could easily have made both Adam and Eve at the same time, but He was establishing a principle by making Adam first.
Satan wants women to be offended by being called “a suitable helper” (Genesis 2:18), even though the same word for helper (ezer) is used to describe God in multiple Scriptures (e.g., Deuteronomy 33:29; Psalm 33:20; Psalm 115:11).
Satan wants women to see submission as inferiority, even though our perfect Lord Jesus willingly submitted to the Father to save us (Hebrews 5:7-10).
Men and women are equal, but they hold different positions in creation design. Whether we fully understand it or not, we can trust God's perfect wisdom and love.
Next week we'll discuss 1 Timothy 2:14. Until then, let's renew our minds by pondering the truth that our roles are part of God's loving design (Romans 12:2).
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Part 1: Think God Needs "Updating"? Think Again!
Part 2: Women in Church Leadership: Complementarian or Egalitarian?
Part 3: When Male Leadership in the Church Is Misused
Part 4: My Response to Male Leadership in the Church
Part 5: Egalitarians Actually Hold a Low View of Women and Scripture. Answering a reader's questions from Part 4.
Part 8: What Do Adam and Eve Have to Do with Male Leadership?
Part 9: Leadership and the Fall of Mankind
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