14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.” – Joshua 24:14-16 (NKJV)
Joshua stated, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Leadership influences many, especially the family, and beginning with the man’s role in Marriage.
Joshua’s declaration is one of the boldest that can be said by the head of a family, a clan, a tribe or nation. It begins with the true understanding of the purpose of headship of every family, beginning with husbands and fathers.
For the development of a society in which God is at the head (which is in effect throughout all of humanity given the truths set for in Genesis), each father must take on the responsibilities that God gave Adam before the Fall, that is, governing and leading according to God’s headship and the order set forth by God in His Creation of human beings.
You could say that Genesis is primarily symbolic, but the order that is described within it reaches deep to the core of human relationship.
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. – Geneeis 2:15
When men fail to live up to their responsibilities as the spiritual lead in their families, family suffers, the order of society suffers. It is this oversight in this era and others that root of societal problems exist.
I remember reading of research report in my liberal college days that claimed that the primary issue in society is ‘what to do with the men‘. In a Biblical view, there is no such question or wondering.
To begin with God gave Adam rules to live by, and His rules are preserved in Scripture, (paraphrasing) one of the first was to enjoy the earth, yet stay out of trouble by listening to god’s instruction.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis: 2:16-17
In Christ-centered development a man, as head of a family, should be aware of his highest calling and that is to lead his family as part of the body of Christ. The purpose of family, of Marriage (as an institution ordained by God), and fatherhood is dependent on the obedience to the rightful headship of God over himself and through him.
Nowadays, there is much talk about the failure of men to determine their role in society (much like the old feminist research paper of old) in effect, more young men are feeling a lack of meaningful purpose and at the same time women are encouraged to pursue any role in society, from single parent, CEO, whatever they choose.
While women can in fact do exceedingly well in many professional occupations, the role of women and men is integral to the design and purposes of God, and God’s design is intended to remain the benchmark rather than treated as an outlier or antiquated.
This is not to exclude women and mothers from this process and of their own leadership roles. It is clear that all people have inherent worth as each is made in the image of God. This is not to mean that each person has the same roles and responsibilities in Marriage, but each has innate and precious value in the eyes of the Lord. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:27 (NKJV).
A woman was created to be a helper and both were to be a companion for each other.
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” -Genesis 2:18
God proceeds to create a woman, not from the dust of the earth, but specially from Adam himself. Adam came first and the woman comes afterward. Adam gives the woman her name.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. – Genesis 2: 21-25
Adam, who was tasked to name all the creatures, also gave his wife her name.
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. – Genesis 3:20
Nevertheless, given we have freedom of choice, we can and are easily distracted from our primary God ordained duties, but in effort to steer the ship back towards its true heading, the concept and practice of male headship and responsibilities need to become part of the conversation, at least among the Church and everyone who claims to be a Christian.
One of the main causes of the Fall into Evil was the fact that Adam did not follow God’s instructions, did not protect Eve from succumbing to the tricks of Satan. Eve should have know better also, but Adam received the rule not to eat of the Forbidden Tree before Eve arrived. He even cast blame on her and God further failing to live up to his responsibilities.
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:12
There is a lot of marriage advice in the Bible, but here is one of the famous ones from the New Testament. Let me flip the 2nd part 1st so that we emphasize the man’s role first:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. -Ephesians 5:25-33
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. – Ephesians 5:22-24
Biblical examples speak to one of the key attributes that God has bestowed on men and that is of a protector, a protector of not only the physical but the war in the spiritual realm of life.
The only way to begin grasping at the magnitude of what was written in Ephesians, is one must understand the crucial relationship between The Lord Jesus Christ (The Son of God) and His work done for our salvation. One needs to understand why Christ is the Redeemer, why we need to be redeemed, and why the gospel is “The Good News.” Then we can truly begin to see the strong ties to the triangular marriage relationship between a man and a woman with God the center.
Fathers and husbands have the honor and privilege to bring families in concert to be able to declare “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” To be on the Lord’s side is to guide families to the greatest eternal security. All men and women are called to obedience to the Lordship of Christ, as it is with every person who has faith in Christ as Savior.
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
CKY
12.07.23