God’s Good Design of Femininity

The Joy of Worship and the Goodness of Church Life

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.

Covenant Membership and the Local Church

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.

Call to Worship from Psalm 4

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.

The Woman Who Fears 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.

God's Design for the Family and the Goodness of Femininity

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.