As followers of Jesus, our most important pursuit is not to keep up on what is politically correct, but to live what is biblically correct.

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV) - Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV) - I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) - And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:18 (ESV) - Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Genesis 1:26 (ESV) - Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

The Creator granted authority to the created - humanity.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7–8 (ESV) - then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:15–17 (ESV) - The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but 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.”

God gave the command to not eat of the tree to who? The man. Why? What is God teaching us?

Genesis 2:18 (ESV) - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

The creation of woman was the answer to the only thing in creation that was incomplete. Naming communicates authority.

Genesis 2:20–22 (ESV) - The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:23–25 (ESV) - Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Woman was created as a perfect fit…just right - (Hb) kenegdow = “according to the opposite of him” - Ultimate partner!!

Genesis 3 – Sin creates a challenge to fulfilling God’s design.

Genesis 3:16 (ESV) - To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

Genesis 4:7 (ESV) - If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Ephesians 5:20–22 (ESV) - …giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Defining Submission:
· Submission was the attitude of Christ.

Mark 14:35–36 (ESV) - And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Defining Submission:
· The church submits to Christ.
Romans 8:7 (ESV) - For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Ephesians 5:24 (ESV) - Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

James 4:7 (ESV) - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Defining Submission:
· We are to submit to governing authorities.

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) - Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Defining Submission:
· A difference between obey and submit.

o Obey has a sense of obligation or responsibility without input or compromise.

o Submission also has a sense of obedience with a willingness to come underneath another, joyfully and humbly laying down one’s own desires/preferences for the other. It’s not burdensome or demeaning. The heart of submission is for the glory of Christ.

A few clarifying points:
Submission does not mean you let someone abuse you.

A few clarifying points:
Submission does not mean your opinion is not just as important as your husband.

A few clarifying points:
Submission does not mean you disobey Christ to submit to your husband.

A few clarifying points:
Husbands, submission does not give you the right to treat your wife disrespectfully, unlovingly or as less than equal to you in value.

Philippians 2:1–8 (ESV) - So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Discussion Questions (Read Genesis 1:26-2:25 and Colossians 3:18 and pray before you begin)

1. What truths do you learn about God from Genesis 1-2?

2. How does understanding God’s purposeful order and design of creation form your understanding of the male and female relationship in general as well as specific to marriage?

3. Read Genesis 3:16 and Genesis 4:7. How can understanding the impact of sin on relationships help us navigate challenges in marriage and other relationships today? Give practical examples when possible.

4. In Colossians 3:18, biblical submission is presented as a key part of the marriage relationship. How can we interpret and apply the concept of submission in a way that honors both God and each other (Ephesians 5:21)?

5. How does Christ’s example of submission challenge our understanding of leadership and submission in both marriage and the church?

6. How can we, as followers of Christ, balance living out biblical principles, like submission, in a culture that often challenges or contradicts them?

7. What is one way this message and discussion has helped your clarify your understanding of submission?