Searching the Scriptures - Samuel Pipim

lion, it is Adam (not Eve, nor even both of them) who is blamed for our fall (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22), which suggests that as the spiritual head in the partnership of theirequal relationship, Adam was the representative of the family.These facts indicate that even before the fall, God had established the principle of maleheadship/leadership. He instituted this principle not as an indication of superiority ofAdam over Eve, nor was it for dominance or oppression, but for God-glorifyingresponsibility. [3] Thus when Paul writes that "the head of every man is Christ, the headof a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor 11:3 RSV), and thatwomen should not "have authority over men" because "Adam was formed first" (1 Tim2:12ff. RSV), he is not concocting an arbitrary "proof text" to justify his allegedconcession to Hellenistic or Jewish cultural prejudices against women. As an inspiredwriter, the apostle Paul fully understood the theological truth of the headshi principle as adivine arrangement instituted before the fall and which remains permanently valid for theChristian.Reiterated after the Fall. Within the partnership of the two equal human beings in Edenprior to the fall, Adam was called upon to exercise spiritual leadership for the family.This divine arrangement or "law" resulted in complete harmony until sin brought discord.[4] In other words, the male headship role and the female supporting role which wereformed at creation, and for which our first parents were fitted by nature, were deformedby the fall. Sin unfitted the first pair to maintain the original harmony in theirrelationship. "In the creation God had made her [Eve] the equal of Adam. Had theyremained obedient to God--in harmony with His great law of love--they would ever havebeen in harmony with each other; but sin had brought discord, and now their union couldbe maintained and harmony preserved only by submission on the part of the one or theother" ( Patriarchs and Prophets , p. 58).By directing his temptation to Eve instead of Adam, who had been charged with theleadership responsibility concerning the dangers of the forbidden tree (Gen 2:16-17),Satan struck at the headship principle governing the functional relationships between menand women, and he succeeded in disrupting the harmony our first parents enjoyed whilethey lived out the principles enshrined in God's arrangement. Both of our parents wereresponsible for the fall--Eve usurping Adam's headship, and Adam failing to exercise hisresponsibility to protect his wife and guide her to obey God. The fall soon broughtdissonance into the home as Adam and Eve started blaming one another (Gen 3:12ff.).Since then, in place of providing caring, sacrificial male leadership, many men attempteither to dominate their wives or to escape responsibility; and in place of a noblecooperation, many women attempt to usurp men's leadership or they adopt a servilesubmission. In so doing, both lose blessings God intended for them.When Satan tempted our first parents, his ultimate goal was to lead them into thinkingthat they could be "like God" (Gen 3:5). To do so, he approachedPage 48