God’s Good Design of Femininity

He was sent

in prison doors,.

He parted the raging seas,.

My God, there's joy in

the house of the Lord,.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today,.

We won't be quiet, we shout out your praise,.

There's joy in the house of the Lord,.

Our God is surely in this place,.

We won't be quiet, we

shout

out your praise,.

We sing to the God who always makes a way,.

Upon that cross,.

Then he rose up from that grave,.

My God, still rolling stones away,.

There's joy in the house of the Lord,.

Our God is

surely in this

place,.

We won't be quiet,

we shout out

your

praise,.

Now we're royalty,.

We were the prisoners,.

Now we're running free,.

We are forgiven, accepted and redeemed by his grace,.

Let the house of the Lord sing

praise,.

Now we're

royalty,.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today,.

We won't be quiet,.

We shout out your praise,.

There's joy in the house of the Lord,.

Our God is surely in this place,.

We shout out

your

praise.

Well I want to thank the praise team, boy great job they do, you just don't imagine the sacrifice they make and the time

that they spend rehearsing and putting this together and coming early, so we're really appreciative of what they do.

Before you're seated I have one question, is there joy in the house of the Lord today?

Alright, that's a good enough answer, y 'all can be seated.

I want to welcome everybody here today, of course members, guests, repeat guests, and most of all if you're a

first time attender we want to welcome you here.

We're so glad that the Lord has brought you here today to worship with us, and I wanted to address something that really hasn't been addressed

in a while, and most of y 'all are going to know this, but we're 12 -5 church, how did we come up with that

name?

12 -5, and of course that comes from Romans 12 -5 where it says, So we

though many are one body in Christ, and individually

members one of another.

And this verse really describes what we're about, what we put priority on, how

we conduct ourselves, when we do anything in this church, this is

the blueprint we go by.

We are in Christ, and that's what we've been learning as we've been going through Ephesians, what does being

in Christ mean?

It means we have the spirit of wisdom, and the knowledge of Him within us.

We have Christ in us.

You know before we go to heaven, heaven has come down to us, and dwells

within us.

We are one body, we gather as one, sharing our

life and growth in Christ with one another.

Lifting each other up, and we are members one of another.

And that speaks of love, love for one another.

We're adopted into Christ, we're adopted by God, we're

adopted into the kingdom of God.

We are brothers and sisters, literally one family.

So that's what I just want us to dwell on today.

That's why we gather, to praise Him, to worship Him, to live in Him.

Well a few announcements today, and usually we don't have very many, but we have a couple today.

Starting Wednesday, May 22nd, that's our Wednesday night, it'll be going on while we usually

have our Wednesday night service.

At 6 .30 we're going to be starting another round of our new member classes.

And there's four classes, it'll go over four weeks.

So if you're interested in what it means to be a member, it doesn't mean that you're thinking about joining,

but what does it really mean to be a member of this church?

We invite you to come, and sit through that, and learn all about who we are, and what we

believe, and what we do.

The second announcement is we've been going through Everyone's a Theologian by R .C.

Sproul on Wednesday nights.

And we're getting towards the end of that.

I think we have like four or five more chapters to go.

And we're going to be starting a new curriculum on Wednesday, July 3rd.

And that curriculum will be, we're going to be covering the doctrines of grace.

What a wonderful subject for us to learn and really sink into, and see what the Bible says

about these doctrines of grace.

There will be a curriculum, and that will be provided to everybody.

So please come if you want to learn more about the doctrines of grace.

So that brings us now to a time of prayer.

We want to pray for a local church as we do every week.

And the church we're praying for this week is Mercy Hill Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

So if you'd bow your heads with me, please.

Father, we're so thankful for your church.

We're thankful for what you gave that we could have a church body, that we could meet,

and to praise you, to learn more about your word, to proclaim your word, to live your word, to speak

your word to one another.

And we lift up Mercy Hill to you, Father.

First, I want to pray for the leadership of Mercy Hill, that you would give them wisdom, understanding, directing them

in your purpose, in your direction for their church.

Guard them.

Guard them from the wolves that want to come and tear them apart and speak evil into their lives.

Father, pray for the members, that they would love one another, that they'd grow in one and grow in you.

I pray this in Christ's name.

Okay, now we come to a part of the service.

We always love this.

We're going to have new member recognition.

Nathan's going to come and do that.

All righty.

Well, you know, as Pastor Keith was just mentioning, you know, we are a body.

We are a family.

And we are a family with every saint that has ever lived and ever will live.

We're a part of the universal church.

Praise God.

But we see in the New Testament that God has prescribed for us to live the life out in that body

in a local covenant body of believers, such as this here today.

And they're in Olive Branch, Mississippi, with that church.

This is a particular body of brothers and sisters that have covenanted together for ministry.

And so quite often here we see that Christ Jesus is growing this particular

body.

And so Chris and Christy, if y 'all wouldn't mind coming on up here.

This is always an exciting time for us as a family.

Y 'all, pretty much everyone in here, if you've been here at all, you've gotten to know Chris and Christy.

And they have extended family with Meredith and Marcus and the kids.

And y 'all have been coming for a few months now, haven't you?

Y 'all were coming at the other building and then coming here when we got in here.

And they have shared a desire to say, hey, we see God working.

We feel the draw to come and be a part of this covenant body of believers at 12

.5.

They've gone through the membership classes.

We had to do some makeup classes with work and whatnot.

But we were able to walk through all of that.

They have signed the membership covenants.

We have heard what we believe to be a credible profession of faith that they believe

and they affirm the truths that we believe to be true in God's Word here

at 12 .5 Church.

Is that a correct assumption?

All right.

So the elders would like to present Chris and Christy as becoming official

covenant members of this body.

All covenant members that affirm them to be brought in, please stand.

Unity, the unity of the faith.

This is an exciting time.

I'm so excited to see how God works in y 'all.

Every individual that's brought in here has a gift from Christ.

And we get to see Christ use that gift and for that gift to flourish for the encouragement,

for the benefit, for the betterment of this body, for kingdom purposes.

And we pray that all the gifts that are standing in here will benefit you, encourage you, and challenge you

so that we can continue to be obedient to King Jesus.

Amen.

Would you bow with me in prayer for them?

Lord, we thank you for Chris and Christy.

We thank you for drawing them here.

First of all, we thank you for saving them, redeeming them, and bringing them into unity with the

triune God by the blood of Christ.

And Lord, we thank you for their heart for you.

We thank you for their desire to serve you.

And Lord, we pray that they would flourish here.

We pray that they would grow in the fear and knowledge of you, that they would be used mightily for your kingdom purpose.

Lord, help us as a church to come alongside them.

Lord, that the gifts that are here would be used to mold and to sanctify

them through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We thank you in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Every time we bring a new individual or a new family in, we do not gift you something.

We commission you with something.

This is a brand -new ESV study Bible.

We've signed the inside with your names.

This is from 12 -5 with the date of your membership here.

And this is a reminder of what it is that we're about here.

Like, we don't come up with some ideas.

The pastors don't just come up with ideas as to what the church is supposed to look like and how the Christian life is supposed to be lived.

We have to abide by this.

And this, this helps you keep us accountable.

This helps you keep each other accountable.

This is what we're about here, and I want to commission y 'all's family with this, and y 'all have to fight over who gets it.

And the husband lays down his life for his wife, right?

Oh, he already has one.

Okay.

Well, praise God.

This is an exciting time.

Thank y 'all.

Hey.

What a wonderful time for the church.

We see God working.

We see us growing in Him.

Now, I hate to play stand and sit, but if you would all stand now for the call to worship, which will be from

Psalm 4.

And this is a responsive reading.

Answer us when we call, O God, of our righteousness.

Be gracious to us and hear our prayer.

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself.

Be angry and do not sin.

Offer right sacrifices.

There are many who say, who will show us some good?

You have put more joy in our hearts.

In peace, we will both lie down and sleep.

Amen.

If you would bow your heads in prayer, please.

This is a prayer of adoration.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, Your greatness is unsearchable.

As we sing and pray, we commend Your works to one another and declare

Your mighty acts.

We speak of the splendor of Your majesty and of Your perfect attributes and

promises, Your promises.

We meditate on.

We declare Your greatness.

We speak to each other of the glory of Your kingdom and marvel at the power of

Your word.

For Your kingdom is everlasting and Your dominion endures through all

generations.

Amen.

Praise

the

Lord.

Scripture reading today will be from Proverbs, chapter 31, verses 10 through

31.

And this section is entitled, The Woman Who Fears the Lord.

An excellent wife who can find.

She is far more precious than jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her.

And he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not harm.

All the days of her life, she seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands.

She is like the ships of a merchant.

She brings her food from far.

She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and

portions for her maidens.

She considers a field and buys it.

With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle.

She opens her hand to the poor.

She reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of snow for her household.

For all her household are clothed in scarlet.

She makes bed coverings for herself.

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them.

She delivers sashes to the merchants.

Strength and dignity are her clothing.

And she laughs at the time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed.

Her husband also and he praises her.

Many women have done excellent, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the

Lord is to be praised.

Give her the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.

We all seek wisdom and understanding knowing that wisdom and understanding comes from the Lord.

And that is the pastoral prayer today is for wisdom.

If you'd bow your heads with me, please.

Father in heaven, we lift up our heads to you seeking wisdom and understanding.

For it is in you and your word alone that we trust.

Lead us in your truth and give understanding as to what is false.

Instruct us in your way and lead us down your path.

Remember us in your mercy and in your steadfast love leading us in the ways of

righteousness.

Good and upright is our Lord.

He instructs sinners in the way of steadfast love and faithfulness.

Thank

you

for

this

time

of

worship.

Everybody knows this song, sing it with me.

Great is thy faithfulness.

We praise you for this opportunity we have.

Lord, I pray that you would be...

Lord, I pray that you would just...

Lord, I pray that you would just be with Pastor Nathan, Lord, as he prepares to come

before us.

Lord, I pray that you would just bless the offering this morning.

Lord, we love you.

We praise you.

We ask all these things in your son, Jesus' precious and holy name.

His great faithfulness.

It's his great faithfulness that has given us breath this morning to wake up.

It's his great faithfulness that has allowed us the opportunity to come and gather with the saints,

other brothers and sisters.

It's his great faithfulness that has kept his word pure and true and clear.

And it is his great faithfulness that has allowed us to have access to his word.

It is his great faithfulness, every molecule of

this universe moving by the sovereign providential hand of

a faithful God that does all things well.

Amen?

Amen.

Well, go ahead and open up your copy of God's word.

That copy that God's faithfulness allowed you to have to Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians chapter 5, we're gonna start reading in verse 22.

Today is week three, of course, of our series, God's Design for the Family.

And as we've come to this portion in Ephesians where Paul gives us, as we said last week, just

a glimpse of this design.

And as we've done the last two weeks, we are going to read this entire section

as a whole up through the beginning of chapter six to have it fresh in our minds.

So that as we're going through this series, we understand and we see it.

However, if you've been with us, of course, thus far, you know that we are not yet

ready to jump in and exegete this particular text because we are laying

groundwork over the past two weeks.

And then today is groundwork as to a bigger biblical

picture regarding the why and the goodness of what Paul is laying

out here in these few verses.

And so if you would look with me there at Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul says,

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is

himself its savior.

Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their

husbands.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the

washing of the water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in

splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.

He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but

nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are

members of his body.

Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become

one flesh.

Now, this mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she

respects her husband.

Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother.

This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the

land.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in

the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

This is the reading of God's perfect, inspired Word.

Let's stop once more.

Let's bow our heads.

Let's ask that the Holy Spirit would illuminate our hearts and minds to this truth, particularly today, but

over the next few weeks.

Lord, we come before you once again, and we just want to acknowledge our frailty.

We want to acknowledge our propensity to distort your good, clear,

precise words.

Lord, help us.

Help us to see them for what they are.

Lord, we have the distorted version of the family design

that is residue from this broken world, our sinful flesh, and the enemy that is trying

to completely distort what you have designed and made good.

And Lord, we pray that we would be able to see it with clarity.

Lord, we ask that today you would tear down barriers in our hearts and in our minds, that your Word would renew

us.

That we would see things as you see them.

That we would be willing to burn all of the bridges and foundations that we think we've built

upon, that are just on sand here in this worldly perspective, and build upon your

truth.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Last week, we were able to look at God's good design of masculinity.

And we saw how the evil one has used our sin nature

combined with our created nature to blur the lines

of what is good and natural in our created nature, and what is

evil and unnatural in our sin natures.

Specifically, in the good and natural design of masculinity that is built into

men.

God's creation.

Strength is both physical and emotional.

And man is built in such a way.

He's built with strength to lead.

He's built with strength to provide.

He's built with strength to protect.

But, as the enemy does, he distorted this, then used our sin natures,

and it leads men to either thoroughly abandon that strength and become like

women, as we saw in some of those Old Testament references, or to use

that strength for selfish motives and ambition, leading them to

oppress and objectify women and those around them.

And as I've said over the past couple of weeks, the evil one realized that, hey, I'm not able to

completely destroy God's good created design.

I can't destroy it.

So, he has now set out to simply distort it and use our

sin natures to do so.

And today, we are going to see this very thing in God's good design of femininity.

Say that five times fast.

I think of the cartoon, The Finding Nemo, the anemonemity.

Femininity.

If God's good design of masculinity is that of strength, then God's good

design of femininity is that of beauty.

But not just a physical, external beauty, which, of course, is a reality, as

every man in this room can attest.

Can I get an amen, men?

Yes.

There is obvious a physical beauty.

It's built into the very fabric of who you are, women.

But it's the very essence of who you are as a woman that exudes and creates beauty in

every sphere of life.

If this world was to be just all of us guys, which we wouldn't be here, of course,

but let's say somehow, someway we were here, it would be a bland, ugly, and brutal landscape,

wouldn't it?

Thank God for the beautiful gift of women.

Amen.

Amen.

Men may be designed and called to lead, but they are wantonly inadequate at creating

homes and cultures worth leading.

I'm going to say that again.

Men may be designed and called to lead, but we are totally and completely

inadequate at creating homes and cultures that are worth leading.

Two weeks ago, we looked briefly at Genesis chapter 2, verses 20 through 24, and I told you that we'd be

coming back to that.

Now is that time.

Well, turn with me in your Bibles all the way back to the very beginning, Genesis chapter

2, starting in verse 20.

And I want us to start reading in verse 20, but we're going to primarily focus on 23 today.

There in Genesis chapter 2, verse 20, we see that

God has brought all of the creation to him to name.

We see there that the man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of

the field.

God had brought every created thing to the man, because the man was, remember, the

man was the one that was placed in the garden and given the responsibility to

oversee the whole of creation.

He bears the image of God, and he is called to lead.

And he is naming everything.

And it says,.

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

Out of all the creatures made that were brought to him, not one was fit to help him.

Verse 21, So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept he took

one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

Let me just stop there for a second.

If you deny the literal understanding

of this, you're throwing a lot of Christianity out the window.

This is not figurative.

This is literal.

God opened Adam, put him to sleep, opened him, and literally took one of his ribs.

Okay?

And closed up that place with flesh.

Verse 22, And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man,

he used that rib, and he does what with it?

He made it into a woman.

And then what does he do with that woman?

We talked about this two weeks ago.

If you were here, you'll remember.

What's he do with her?

It says it right there.

He brings her to the man.

Remember, God has brought every created thing to the man for the man to name, because the man is to

lead and the head of all of creation.

And he brings her to the man in order that he might name her.

Look at verse 23.

Then the man said, and this is where Adam breaks out into a poem.

I can only imagine the first time he sees a woman, right before him, the first response to him

is poem.

It's like this poetic response.

He says, this at last, this bone of my bone and flesh of my

flesh, she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of a man.

And he goes on and it says, therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall

become one flesh.

Just as Paul quoted there in Ephesians 5 that we read a moment ago.

I recently heard a pastor by the name of Toby Sumter break down this poem by Adam here in a

way, quite honestly, I had never really heard.

It sounded great and I had heard bits and pieces of kind of the language study that goes along with this.

But since I had never put it in this way, I personally spent the last probably month going and

checking on his sources and double checking and revisiting the language study here.

And I was astounded that I had never read or heard it expressed in this particular

way.

You see, I knew that this poem that is written, that is said by Adam, it's

not written by Adam, but it's said by Adam, is a Hebrew superlative.

But I guess I'd never truly thought about its significance at this level.

And I wanted to share that with you.

Most of you, if you went through grade school, you're familiar with what a superlative is.

It's a grammatical way of denoting levels and comparisons.

For example, I might say to you that five guys, burgers and fries,

hamburgers are good.

They're good, right?

Can I get an amen?

That's a good burger, right?

I'm a hamburger guy.

Five guys is a good burger.

But then I say to you, oh, it's a good one.

But J Towns Grill up here, their burger is better, right?

Yep.

Oh, but guess what?

If you've ever been to my house and I've grilled you a burger, you know good and well, my

burgers are best, right?

You see it?

Yeah, I know this example is bias and pride comes before the fall.

But this is an example of a superlative in the English language.

You have good, better, best, great, greater,

greatest.

This is a superlative.

But in the Hebrew language, it's written different.

The Hebrew language denotes this comparison in a very different way.

To say that something is great, it would simply say great.

Well, we're on the same page now, right?

But next would be expressed as great of great, which

signifies that the thing that it is referring to is greater.

You tracking with me?

And then we have in the Hebrew language, great of thee or great

of my great.

See the difference?

Great of great, but great of my great, this indicates that this thing is

greatest.

It's the greatest of the great, okay?

And this is precisely what Adam is doing in verse 23.

This creature that you have brought to me,

I've seen all the others.

I've seen all the other creatures and they are magnificent.

They are beautiful.

They are amazing, created by the hand of God.

Oh, but this at last, and here's our

Hebrew superlative, is bone of my bones,

flesh of my flesh.

You see, Adam is not just identifying that she came from his rib.

He's declaring in poetic form, she's me,

but better.

She is the best of me.

This is what Adam's saying here.

And this is why Paul wrote later on in 1 Corinthians 11, in verse 7, which is

typically a very misunderstood passage, and kind of insulting to a lot of people, if you don't understand

this principle.

When he's talking about head coverings, he says, for a man ought not cover his head, right?

Since he is the image of the glory of God.

Great, he is the image.

He's an image bearer of God.

He is the image of the glory of God.

But, Paul says, woman is the glory of man.

Some will read that and go, man, isn't that a lesser position?

Why does man get to be the glory of God, and then woman's kind of the glory of man?

Paul's not saying that women are not made in the image of God.

We know that can't be true, because of Genesis 1 .27, where it says, God created them in his own image,

after his own likeness, male and female, he created them.

Both image bearers.

Paul is simply pointing to the truth that Adam proclaimed, that she is the glory of the

glory.

She is glory glorified.

That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

As Pastor Toby Sumter says, she makes the human race shine.

That's good, isn't it?

And we see it all around us.

We see this in Adam's next phrase.

He says, she shall be called woman, because she was

taken out of man.

You know, there's meaning in a name.

We name our kids because we like a particular name.

We typically don't name for meaning.

But there is meaning in names, particularly in Scripture.

And just as Adam had named all living things, based upon what he felt that name would be appropriate for, he

was tasked with naming her, and the name that he gives her is woman, translated into English, but in the

Hebrew, it's Isha.

Isha.

This word is related to the Hebrew word for fire, Esh.

I'm not sure how it's related.

We just know that these two words are connected.

It's almost as if Adam is saying, whoa, she's smoking hot,

right?

It's Isha.

But Isha means glory.

This is what it means.

It means glory.

He's naming her.

He's calling her glory.

But not only does he name her, it doesn't just stop there.

He actually gives himself a new name here.

Up to this point, any time we see Adam referenced, we see the name, we see Adam.

It's Adam, really, in the Hebrew.

But we see Adam, and Adam is derived from Adamah, which is the word for

ground.

Okay?

The word for ground.

Because remember, Adam was made from the dirt.

So his name, of course, is Adam, ground.

But here, he refers to himself as something different.

For the first time, in these two chapters, we see something new.

He refers to himself as Ish.

We have a translated man.

He had called her Isha, glory.

And now he refers to himself as Ish, glory man.

This suitable helpmate has now changed him forever.

He is not essentially anymore dirt man.

He is glory man.

Because she is glory.

She has made him beautiful.

The brightness of her beauty reflects off of him in a way that makes him shine, just like

everything else in creation.

He may have strength, oh, but she brings glory and beauty to that strength.

That's why the writer of Proverbs says, an excellent wife is the crown of her husband.

She is the glory of the glory.

That's why Paul had said that woman is the glory of man.

It's not a downgrade.

It's actually a compliment.

Masculinity was insufficient.

It required its counterpart of femininity.

It absolutely demanded it in order for the creation mandate to go forward.

In verse 24 there of Genesis 2, as we read a moment ago, where it says, therefore a man

shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife.

I think this is a principle ongoing for us because, of course, Adam and Eve didn't have a father and mother.

They have no one to leave, but we see the foundation of marriage that is established in this

very moment with the relationship between Adam and Eve.

They are the picture of what that's to be.

And it says, and they shall become that one flesh.

They are created as a pair.

Masculinity and femininity.

One flesh.

This is God's good design.

It's a good thing.

Think of the obvious physical design.

Because God has purpose and reason in every single molecule of

his creation, both spiritual and physical.

But think of the physical design.

Man is created first, tasked with the oversight of creation, as we've said.

He's created lead, provide, and protect, and given the strength to do so.

The woman created as the ideal helpmate.

The perfect helpmate for that.

Physically designed to benefit from and multiply that strength.

Physically designed to benefit from and multiply that strength.

Even at a physiological level.

Look at procreation.

I don't have to go into any great detail, but think of it for just a moment.

Man is designed to give.

Woman, to receive.

And then multiplies.

It's in the DNA.

It's in our created order.

And that often results in what?

Are you trekking with me?

Or am I losing you here?

Offspring.

It results in multiplication.

It results in being able to.

The husband gives.

The woman receives.

And then multiplies.

When you look at the face of your child, if any parents in here, you'll know

exactly what I mean.

The very first time you saw any of your children.

I have four kids, and the very first time I remember seeing any of their faces, I thought, is there anything more beautiful?

What unbelievable beauty.

That is phenomenal.

And God designed her body to create that?

She brings beauty into this world.

Even at a physiological level.

Not only did God use her body to form that human being, that image bearer within her,

right?

God's the one forming it, but he's using the means, the physical means.

He also used her very body as a safe haven.

A home.

You and I, every single human that's ever lived, our very first home was where?

Mama. A woman.

That was our first home.

A place where beauty and goodness can be formed and cultivated.

A comforting, warm, inviting home.

A woman's physical DNA, her physical design of softness and nurturing, is

a perfect pairing with her spiritual design.

You cannot detach them.

They go hand in hand.

We see the spiritual played out within the physical.

And this, sisters, is where you can find great hope and comfort

for those women who are suffering under the results of the fall.

We live in a broken world that sin has distorted.

Sin has brought about sickness.

Sin brings out death.

And this has infiltrated that physical reality in such a way that there are women who physically

cannot produce children.

So I want to make sure to address this.

I have to say this.

There are women who cannot in this broken world.

There are those who have lost children in the process of trying to bring forth children.

Sister, you are not a defect.

By no means.

You are not a defect.

Your Heavenly Father has purpose in it.

This broken, broken world did not catch Him off guard.

He is sovereign in your life, and He is good.

Your natural design is still very much feminine.

And you are still able to honor the Lord with your design.

Just some practical ways, as I was thinking.

Some in this very room have adopted.

Oh man, praise God for that.

Praise God for adoption.

Where these women are able to be mothers.

And you, mother of an adopted child, you are truly their mother in every single way.

Every single way.

But you see, this penetrates into even more areas of life than physical motherhood.

This design reaches deeper into other areas.

Your design of femininity is meant to carry those principles into every sphere of life.

Just because you don't have children, or just because you may not be married, does

not mean that your natural design isn't bringing about beauty.

And it definitely doesn't mean that your natural design is bringing about less beauty.

You are still Eshah.

Glory.

Because your design and your nature is that of a homemaker.

Did you know that?

That's kind of a bad word today, isn't it?

I guarantee you there are people in this world that don't even know what that phrase means.

And there are those who would look at that position and think, Well, that's a sad life.

A homemaker.

The home is a place where beauty and goodness can be formed and cultivated.

Just as the womb of a mother creates beauty and cultivates beauty within her,

the home also creates this.

If you left it up to me, I would move homes every two years.

I'm a bit of a nomad, I know.

I'd move in, I'd fix it up, and I'd sell that sucker and move on.

I'd upgrade every couple of years, and I don't because I don't want to crush the soul of my wife.

Her natural inclination is to nest.

Is to create memories.

To have a comfortable place that's familiar.

It allows my children and her to flourish.

Praise the Lord.

A place where she knows where everything is and can invite others into so that they too

may flourish.

And see beauty.

And receive beauty.

Giving those brothers and sisters and even neighbors or anyone willing

to come into our home, and if you've ever been to our home at any given time, there's always somebody at our home.

But giving them a comfortable, inviting space where she feeds them.

That's probably why they keep coming.

It's like stray cats.

This is where communities are built.

This is where society is built in the home.

Why do you think the evil one attacks the home so often and so aggressively?

Because this is where beauty is cultivated and created, and cultures are built on the

shoulders of women homemakers that are cultivating it.

And yes, as we said last week, men are called to stand the watchtower in order to guard that home,

but the women are the ones in that home bringing about life.

It's even their created natural design.

It's their created spiritual design.

Making it a home worthy of watching.

This is vital.

This is why Paul told Titus, and Titus too, when he tells older women to disciple

younger women, he tells the older women to encourage the younger women to be working at

home.

To be working at home.

You may ask, well what about pastor, what about single women who may live alone?

What does that look like?

Well remember, this principle doesn't just apply in one area of your life.

It permeates in every other sphere of life that you are in.

Because it's coming from your very created nature.

So what does that look like?

Well practically, in some cases, it might look like you caring for your aging parents.

As they get older and can't care for themselves, that you take care of them.

Not to be their provider, but to be a caretaker, to be a mother.

One that brings about beauty in that home.

To care for her aging parents.

Praise God for women who are willing to do such a thing.

But what does apply to every woman, whether single, married, with or without children,

old and young, I have to put this caveat in there, if you're in Christ.

Because remember, I've said this over the past couple weeks, for an unbeliever, everything that I'm teaching here

is impossible.

You are enslaved to sin, and all of that natural design will show in bits and pieces

in areas of your life, but it is thoroughly impossible for you not to distort it.

So when I say, when I'm speaking to you, I'm speaking to assumed Christians who are in

Christ right now.

For those of you, women who are in Christ, your natural gifted design

benefits the household of faith in the similar vein to the home.

That's why it's called the household of faith.

There are overseers that lead the household of faith, and there are those

that are parts of that body within, just like in a home.

Men were created to lead, but women, you were created to make it shine.

And I would like to point out three ways that your design does this.

This design in three ways, in the home, in the church, in every other area of your life, and each

of these three ways will come with a warning of how sin distorts it and makes

everything ugly instead of beautiful.

Being created as a suitable helpmate for men instinctively implies

relational design.

It implies relational design to be a helpmate.

Man has a task, woman is designed to help accomplish that task.

There's relationship.

She must be gifted and driven to that relationship in order to accomplish this God -given

design.

And relationship is built upon, ladies, you know, relationships are built upon

communa.

Communication. Communication.

Everyone knows you're better at this than we are.

Am I wrong?

Come on.

Everyone knows you're better at communication than we are.

And of course, in all of this, I'm speaking in generalities.

There are some men that are going to be better at communication than some women, but of course, that

is the exception, not the rule.

In general, we know this to be true.

You are good communicators.

You're built to communicate.

And so the first thing I want us to point out is her words either bring about beauty or ugliness.

God's design of femininity and the

sin nature that has distorted God's good design can either bring about her words

with beauty or ugliness.

This is true about everyone, but we see it especially in women.

I'm sorry.

That's why Proverbs 21, 19 says, it is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful

woman.

Proverbs 27, 15, and 16, a continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike.

To restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand.

Paul telling Timothy not to enroll younger women into being cared for by the church, but that they should

marry instead.

Younger women aren't to be a burden upon the church.

They should find a husband.

Find a godly man and marry him.

Quit being so picky, right?

But he says in 1 Timothy 5, 13, because of this propensity, it is to

be going about from house to house and not only idlers, but also gossips and

busybodies saying what they should not.

Now again, just as I said a couple weeks ago, don't shoot the messenger, right?

I'm literally reading it verbatim here, guys.

Women are designed for deep relationship.

They are relational creatures.

Relationships that create homes and communities.

But then, your sin nature tears apart those homes and communities through

gossip and idle talk.

That's why it'll be better to live in a desert wasteland than a quarrelsome woman.

Because it brings either beauty or it brings ugliness.

God -honoring, uplifting, encouraging words bring about beauty.

And godly women are so good at this.

I've read the benefits of it.

Wives, your encouraging words to your husband, even the slightest

encouragement to your husband makes him feel like Superman.

You realize that, right?

Like, the power of your words are unbelievable because of how relational you are.

He feels as though he can stand on the front lines or in that watchtower, ten foot tall and

bulletproof from your relational verbal encouragement.

That's powerful.

You see it played out before you.

Every husband in this room can attest to this, right?

Your wife truly gives you verbal encouragement?

Man, you can run through a block wall, can't you?

But when your buddy gives you encouragement, it's like, oh, thanks.

It was awesome.

Appreciate that.

There's something unique about it.

Sisters, your kind words towards your brothers and sisters in the faith lift up their spirits in a way that

I cannot from this pulpit.

You know that, right?

You have power in your words.

You are relational.

I'm emotionally detached from you in ways.

I can say all the things, and I say hard things, and I even try and say good things to encourage your

spirit, and I hope they do, but a sister in this room coming to you personally in relationship and

speaking, encouraging, God -honoring words lifts your spirit in a way that I cannot.

Am I wrong?

God's design.

Mothers, your loving, encouraging words to your children will carry into the rest of their life.

It will embolden them to storm the gates of hell with a pitchfork.

But in contrast, just as sin often does, distorts good things,

your tongue is capable of decimating your husband's confidence.

You could come up to me after church and call me every bad name in the book and tell me how bad a preacher I

am and tell me how my sermon's dead wrong.

You can run me up one side and the other and you can tell me every bad thing you've ever thought about me,

and that won't scratch the surface of just how deep even the slightest

discouraging phrase from my wife does.

Not even close.

Why is that?

Because God has designed you in a way that is relational and meant to use

your words for good and beauty.

But sin brings ugliness.

Your tongue is capable of discouraging your brother and sister to the point of despair.

They can hear me say hard things and just shrug it off and go, that's Pastor Nathan, he's extreme.

But you say it, it carries weight.

It's relational.

Your tongue is capable of dismantling the entire future of your child.

That's a deep responsibility, isn't it?

That's heavy, sisters.

You were designed for this.

And women, you are good with these words.

You guys are professionals with words.

I don't know how you do it.

You talk circles around this.

You use far more words than we do and you use them more precisely usually.

Here's the problem.

You're even capable of saying nice words in a hurtful way.

That's how good you are.

And you're able to say hurtful words in a nice way.

I don't get it.

I don't know how you do it.

But you're good with words.

You were designed for it.

You were designed for relationship.

You were designed.

When you get hurt, because you're so relational, by someone else, you feel it deeply, don't you, women?

Someone hurts you, you feel it.

You really feel it deep within you.

Men don't feel so deeply.

We get over things quickly.

Chase, you say something mean to me today and literally we will be over it by tonight.

Will we not?

Right?

We will be over it.

We'll just move on.

We might have to duke it out a little bit, but it'll be alright.

It's over quick.

We were just designed like that.

But you don't, women.

You don't get over things easily because you feel them deeper because you're so relational.

And your sinful nature can't let go of it.

Instead of showing Christ -likeness and turning the other cheek like your Savior told you to and forgiving your

debtors as you have been forgiven, you can't help but address it and use your words to twist

the knife a little.

Because you need them to feel what you feel.

Because you feel so deeply.

You see how damaging it can be?

You were designed like this but sin has distorted it.

It can either bring about beauty or it can bring about ugliness.

And a lot of times it's a combination of all of it just thrown into a pile here.

And we call it the body.

This brings about disunity.

The sin nature brings about disunity in the home.

Brings about disunity in the church.

Brings about disunity in a community and in a culture.

But when you are looking to Christ, when you are looking to your ultimate

example, you see what he has forgiven you of and your

words can once again bring about beauty.

What's in the heart comes out the mouth, doesn't it?

And so when your words are used to harm and to bring about ugliness, it

means that your heart is not set on the beauties of Christ.

Every single time.

It all goes back to looking to Christ, doesn't it?

Every single time.

Her words either bring about beauty or ugliness.

The second thing I want us to see is her beauty is either used for

selfishness or selflessness.

Selflessness or selfishness, I think is what I have in order.

Oh, I had it right.

All right.

Her beauty is either used for selfishness or selflessness.

In 1 Peter 3, in verses 3 and 4, Peter says, do not let your

adorning be external.

The braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewelry or the clothing you wear, but

let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a

gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight, is very precious.

Notice scripture never gives such a command to men.

The scripture doesn't address that to men.

We weren't made for beauty.

Our glory is our strength.

We weren't designed for beauty.

And unfortunately in our culture, we often times see men that are trying to be beautiful.

I don't even mean in the feminine way, but even they put a little too much emphasis on their beauty and they completely ignore what

they were designed for, strength.

But we were not made for this.

The world has learned to use this beauty in women as a weapon.

Your sin nature has learned to use beauty as a weapon.

The men are too strong to overpower.

They rule the world.

The men are just too strong.

So they think they must use their beauty to protect themselves.

Drawing attention to themselves with how they dress.

How they carry themselves.

How they're loud and boisterous.

Inappropriate.

And it draws attention and it seems to give them power.

Seems to give them attention.

Because after all, they're just not strong enough to overpower the men.

We must use the tools we've been given.

And in the world, that's all they got.

They don't have any inner beauty.

All they have is external beauty that will fade.

But they use what they have.

But we in the church, sisters, often times will use this with their sinful nature.

And Peter warns against this.

He's not telling women to be homely.

That's not the point.

We're not the type of church here that says put your hair up in a bun and don't wear your makeup.

Please wear your makeup.

I didn't mean that.

What Peter's saying is to adorn themselves with a greater beauty.

To adorn themselves with a greater beauty.

The outside should represent the inside.

It's just as Jesus warned the Pharisees.

He's like, you're so busy washing the outside and the inside of the cup's filthy.

And that's what women are doing when they're using their external beauty for power and control and selfish purposes.

Is they're washing the outside.

They're getting all their makeup done.

They're working out in the gym.

And they're using it for selfish motives because the inside is just filthy as a mess.

They haven't washed the inside.

It's never been washed.

And that's what Peter's saying.

There's something more important.

And when the inside is clean, when you're truly being what you were designed to be, which is

feminine and beautiful, then it will shine on the outside no matter what you look like.

It will be carried and your adorning will be, as he says, the hidden person of the heart.

With the imperishable beauty.

Women, you know you're going to get old.

Young girls, sorry, you're going to get old.

Wrinkles are coming.

Guys, you know this.

The gut happens.

Can't seem to get rid of that.

But it's inevitable.

Right?

But there's an imperishable beauty.

And what is that?

He says of a gentle and quiet spirit.

The inside.

The beauty of a woman.

The contrast to the wayward woman in Proverbs.

Remember Proverbs 7?

It says, and behold the woman meets him dressed as a prostitute.

Willy of heart.

Doesn't have a care in the world.

Doesn't want to take anything serious.

She is loud and wayward.

Her feet do not stay at home.

Teach young women to work at home, right?

But the wayward woman doesn't stay at home.

She is loud and boisterous.

Wayward.

And this proverb ends there in chapter 7.

For many a victim as she laid low.

It was for selfish purposes.

She was to attack and take for herself.

And women use their beauty to do this.

She used her beauty to destroy.

Her God -given beauty has been used for selfishness.

Oh, but the godly woman adorns herself with Christ -likeness.

With true beauty.

With humility.

Submissiveness.

Gentleness.

And a quiet spirit.

We blur the lines in our culture.

Because of sin.

Men are designed to be loud and aggressive.

We know that from having sons.

Now again, I'm speaking in generality.

Some of you had quiet sons.

I get that.

It's like when you say men are taller than women.

Everybody always has a six foot two cousin.

That's a girl, you know.

But in general, those boys are far louder and rowdier than the girls.

Right?

It's the design.

Men are made to be loud.

We're made to stand firm.

We're made to stand flat -footed.

That's what we were designed for.

We were made to make a scene.

And to stand up for what's good.

We were made to lead and protect.

Oh, but women's beauty is that of a gentle and quiet spirit.

I remember even being a pagan.

Being a young man that hated God.

Totally outside of the faith.

Loved worldliness.

And anytime I met a young girl who was loud and boisterous like a boy, it grossed me out.

Even in that state, I knew that's unnatural.

Like that's like dating a dude.

You know what I mean?

It's like that's unnatural.

That's not what she was designed for.

She was designed for a gentle and quiet spirit.

But sin distorts that.

And this gentle and quiet spirit brings beauty into the home.

It brings beauty into the church.

It brings beauty into a community.

But that requires selflessness.

Selflessness is only acquired in and through looking to Christ.

The perfect example.

For he was gentle and lowly.

Right?

We see elements in Christ because we're all image bearers.

We see elements of Christ in his example for all of us.

And we all, men and women, should carry about that.

Men, you should acquire the gentle and lowly nature of Christ.

But also, I was just reading this morning in Luke, where Jesus is sitting at the table with the

Pharisees and lawyers, and he's insulting the mess out of them.

You know what I'm talking about.

He's, like, calling them all out.

He's being, like, really aggressive at this dinner that he's been invited to, and then just

leaves.

Because he did a manly, masculine thing.

He stood firm.

So we see elements of it.

But for women, you get to see and look at Christ also and see his example and carry it out in a feminine

way.

Whereas men, we can carry it out in a masculine way because he is the perfect example.

Third and last, her attention to detail will either create fear or contentment.

Her attention to detail will either create fear or contentment.

This week I heard an illustration of a good manager.

A good manager, someone that assists a business owner in the day -to -day of a

business.

And it was referred to as a junk drawer manager.

You ever heard that phrase?

I thought that was a good analogy.

A junk drawer manager.

We all have a junk drawer in our house, don't we?

We have a few junk drawers in our house that I create.

But it's random tools.

It's different keys.

It's all kinds of stuff that we might need regularly.

It's the junk drawer.

Everything has a place in there.

It might seem chaotic at times.

Some of us have a better, more organized junk drawer.

But there's a junk drawer nonetheless with all types of things.

And a good manager is like that drawer.

He is a jack -of -all -trades.

Someone who can multitask and deal with whatever's thrown at them and take it all in and store it

and take care of business.

And here's the thing.

As I thought about that, I realized you women are designed as helpmates.

You were designed as helpmates.

Women are far better multitaskers.

I think we said that in Q &A either two weeks ago or last week.

Women are typically way better multitaskers.

Why is that?

Because you were created to be a helpmate.

You were created for that particular role.

I keep mentioning my wife today.

This is about femininity.

So, of course, I'm going to use my wife as an illustration.

I've seen my wife have an on -depth phone conversation while watching a movie,

simultaneously responding to an email while helping Joanna read, listening to Lorelai practice her

piano piece and answering JD's math question all at the same time while pointing out to me where I left my

keys that I've been looking for for the past 30 minutes.

Most of you men know exactly what that looks like, right?

They were designed for this.

You were designed to multitask.

Women are so relational that they care about the details.

You ever felt that, wife, with your husband?

Or even maybe single women.

When you're dealing with men at work, it's like the men let the little things slide, like little details.

We're like, yeah, we're not so worried about that.

We'll deal with that if and when we get a chance.

But it drives you all crazy, doesn't it?

You're missing so much.

There's so many details that you're not addressing.

And we're like, hey, we'll just move on.

Move rock.

You know what I'm talking about?

We're just designed different in this way.

Completely different.

But you care about the details, and you care about them because you're relational.

You care about all of the moving parts.

But again, this is where sin distorts this gifting.

It can lead you to see all of the details and fret,

worry, and fear takes over, doesn't it?

Anxiety.

You can't let the little things go, and so it overwhelms you.

And they begin to use sinful means to take control.

I think this is partly why God told Eve in chapter 3, your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you.

You'll see him and go, you're not doing it right.

I gotta take over.

Instead of trusting in the providential hand of God, dying to

self and realizing that I can diligently accomplish what God allows me to accomplish today.

I will be a good steward of what God lays before me, and I will deal with what God sets

before me as best I can, and I can rest my head on my pillow tonight, content

with the circumstances that God has allowed for this moment.

You can either fret or you can be content.

Some of you women are looking at me like, yeah, pastor, that's easier said than done.

You're a guy.

You can just shut your brain off and go to bed.

I agree.

I get it.

It is much easier said than done.

It is.

However, I think it can be done.

But only when you are looking to Christ.

Only when you are looking to Christ.

You know, it's interesting.

I have been asked this question lately a few times, particularly by women.

What in the world do you mean when you say,.

Just look to Christ?

Have any of you wondered when I say every week, hey, saints, look to Christ, have any of you

women in here gone, what does that mean?

What do you mean?

Okay.

There's a few.

That's all that you want.

All right.

Okay.

What do you mean?

It's almost as if, like, we get this idea, do I just close my eyes and imagine Jim Caviel from The Passion of Christ?

Is that what I do?

Like, just close my eyes.

Jesus.

Absolutely not.

That's idolatry.

Don't do that.

Looking to Christ is looking to who he is and what he has done

for you.

Continually reminding yourself that the second person of the Godhead

became a man in order to represent you.

That he lived a life that you could not, fulfilling all of God's law

that you broke and dying the death that you deserved, to rise

and defeat death so that you may never feel its bite.

And when you are dealing with sin and flesh, when you are desiring to speak an ugly

word that cuts down in hopes that it might make you feel better,

or if you were tempted to use your beauty for selfish purposes,

or even when you're overwhelmed by your current reality of all this going wrong, or

could potentially go wrong, seeing and being overwhelmed by all the details, you can

look and see all those things through the lens of Christ and what he has

done.

I've said it before, you put on your gospel goggles so that everything you see, every

circumstance, every person, every scenario, everything that comes in your path that your eyes lay

on and your mind ponders is all seen through the lens of who Christ is and

what he did for you.

That's looking to Christ.

Because Christ never spoke an ugly word to or about me,

even though I deserve that.

He laid down his life for me instead.

Christ never used his beauty and magnificence, his glory for selfish purposes.

He used them to redeem me.

Christ isn't worried about all those details.

He sovereignly reigns over them.

If he defeated death, he can most certainly defeat what we're eating for dinner tomorrow night.

He can most certainly defeat your worry if you're going to be able to

pay your mortgage this month.

There is no reason to worry about what a sovereign God who does all things well

and ordains all things to be and to happen, what are you worrying about?

If he loved you so much that he would die for you, why would he not care

for you also?

It doesn't make any sense, does it?

And when you see it through looking to Christ, you begin to see that.

That's the only time you begin to see that.

And he has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self -control, is what the

word of God says.

This is what it means to look to Christ.

So sisters, don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies.

Do not let sin distort what God's design created in you.

That feminine nature is meant to glorify him with

beauty, goodness.

Don't settle for the counterfeit, sisters.

It will always lead to heartache and ugliness.

Let your God -given beauty shine with goodness and life in your homes, in your church, and in

every other area of your life.

You were designed for it.

You bring about glory.

You are Isha.

Glory.

Look to Christ.

On that, let's prepare our hearts and minds to go to the table today.

As we see a tangible expression of what Christ

did on our behalf, by shedding his blood, giving over his body for us,

represented in the wine and the bread.

Pastor Keith will be over on this side.

Pastor Jeremiah, I believe, if he's in here, or myself, will be on this side.

The way this works is you will come around the outsides, gather the wine and the bread, and come through the

middle, and go back to your seats.

But today is the first week of the month, and so we like to take and partake

together.

I'm actually going to read from Luke's account of this Lord's Supper as we partake together.

So when you get back to your seats, don't partake yet.

Hang on to the elements, and once everyone has them, we will come back together, and we will worship the Lord

through this ordinance.

But let's pray at this moment before we open the table.

Oh, dear Heavenly Father, we bow before you now, and we thank you.

We thank you for your good design of male, female, both made in the image of God,

with beauty, with strength, with everything we need to follow your

word because of Christ.

And Lord, right now we want to express to each other and to the watching world that

we are in you, that we

are in Christ, that he has paid for us, shed

his blood for us, that he has given his body for us, and now we stand

as new creations because he has imputed his righteousness onto us through his

sacrifice and his life, and his death and his resurrection.

If there is unrepentant sin in our hearts, Lord, allow us to lay it before you that we

would confess our sins one to another and then come to the table.

But Lord, I pray that this would be a moment of worship to you, that we would remember the great sacrifice of

our Savior in Christ's name, amen.

You are welcome to come to the table.