It Begins At Home Part 2

The relevance of authority authored, authority given, authority exercised and authority submitted to is not to be trivialized.

1. We are living in a wicked time when respect for authority is under assault.

   1. Police powers no longer command the respect they once did.

   2. Biblical ministers who rule God's house (Heb.13:7, 17) are slandered as tyrants.

   3. Children are corrupted by social forces and delinquent parents to defy parental authority.

   4. The headship of husbands over wives, of men over women in general is considered prehistoric patriarchy.

      1. As an affront to Jesus Christ, there is a rise in neopagan feminist spirituality which advocates the abandonment of "archaic and artificial" morality which a father-god patriarchal system needs in order to dominate women.

      2. A return to ancient goddess-worship with its moral code is deemed to be the hope of saving earth and humanity from aggressive, belligerent males who are empowered by a father-god patriarchy.

      3. "Stone concludes that the mature Goddess cultures saw ceremonial sex as an especially potent way to celebrate and share in the life-giving powers of the Goddess. In addition, promiscuous sexual activity was encouraged for the specific reason of confusing the lines of paternity, and thus reinforcing matrilineal inheritance of property and power---fathers could not bequeath power and property to their sons if they did not know who their sons were. Patrilineal monogamy, she says, is just another aspect of the later oppression of women, and hence sexual liberation today is an essential component of the liberation of women." (Philip G. Davis, Goddess Unmasked, p.45).

   5. It is the sign of a nation under judgment and in great peril when children are out of control and women rule men. Isa.3:12.

   6. It may be observed that those who reject the concept of submission to authority only do so until they are in control.

2. All authority is derived from and subject to the Lord Jesus Christ. Col.1:16-20; 1 Pe.3:22.

   1. He is the "blessed and ONLY Potentate" (1 Ti.6:15), i.e., one endowed with independent power.

   2. All other powers are by His decree. Rom.13:1.

   3. Therefore, resisting His designated authority without cause is rejecting God. Num.16:11 c/w 1 Sa.8:7 c/w Rom.13:2.

3. All have a problem with submitting to authority.

   1. All have sinned (Rom.3:23) and have sin. To deny this is to call God a liar. 1 Jo.1:8, 10.

   2. Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 Jo.3:4.

   3. Law is "a rule of conduct imposed by authority." Therefore to say that one does not have a problem with authority is to call God a liar.

   4. An unwillingness to recognize and submit to God-appointed authority is what nailed Jesus Christ to a cross. Psa.2:1-3 c/w Luk.19:14.

4. Jesus Christ has ordained the authority structure of the home.

   1. Children are by His decree to be in submission to parents.

   2. Wives are by His decree to be in submission to husbands.

   3. A holy respect and reverence for His designated authorities in the home must be cultivated.

      1. Wives: if you scorn or undermine your husband's authority, what lesson are you teaching your children?

      2. Parents: if you permit your children to rebel against you or rule you, what are the chances of your children respecting other God-ordained authority such as pastors, teachers, magistrates, etc.?

      3. It really does begin at home!

A word to the wise: Do not be cast down because you don't seem to be able to work out a perfect family life. Be satisfied that you might perfect a working family life for which you can give God glory and thanks!

Attitude counts! To follow is the Biblical mandate which sets the man as the head of the woman and of the household. How you receive this information and respond to it will say a lot about your spiritual makeup.

1. Attitude counts! Men: what follows is not a license for domestic tyranny. Adjust your heart beforehand to think not, "HA! I get to run the home," but rather, "Lord, I have got to run the home---for you."

   1. Authority/rule is given for the building, not the destruction of the ruled. 2 Co.13:10.

   2. Rule not for ego, but for God. 2 Sa.23:3 c/w Neh.5:15.

2. Attitude counts! Women: Adjust your hearts beforehand to think not (grudgingly), "Great. I've got to submit to my husband's rule," but rather, "I get to live under my husband's, my head's, my lord's rule."

   1. Your will and agenda are to be given consideration but they are not preeminent.

   2. Do not despise your husband for doing what God has required of him in the rule of the home.

   3. No husband can rule a wife who has a defiant spirit, who will not be ruled.

   4. Women, if you will not submit to God-ordained marital rule, it is not your husband with whom you are at odds. It is God. Eph.5:22.

   5. Wives with children had better consider what message their submission (or lack thereof) to the husband is sending to the children.

As one reads through the New Testament instructions for marital relationship, one sees a general pattern which deserves consideration.

1. Men are particularly exhorted to love their wives, to nourish them, not be bitter against them, etc.

2. Women are particularly exhorted to submit to their husbands.

3. So, who goes first? Heed the priority of mention in Scripture. Eph.5:22, 25; Col.3:18-19; 1 Pe.3:1, 7.

The headship of the man over the woman is a world-scorned but Biblical doctrine.

1. Scripture describes marriage in terms of a union: two are made one flesh. Gen.2:24.

   1. In essence, marriage is a creature: a new entity formed by God.

   2. A creature with two heads is not a committee. It is a monster.

2. The subordination of woman to man was established before sin entered this world. 1 Ti.2:11-13 c/w 1 Co.11:7-10.

   1. God created Adam (man) first.

   2. God made Eve (woman) out of man, second.

   3. Woman was specifically created, not for herself, not for her career, not for her children, but for man---to be an "help meet (suitable, appropriate) FOR HIM" (Gen.2:18).

   4. This pre-fall decree dispels the false notion that woman is only under man's authority as a penalty for being deceived (1 Ti.2:14; 2 Co.11:3) to eat the fruit.

   5. Thus, in a perfect, sin-free world God ordained male authority.

3. The rule of husband over wife was, after the fall, reinforced. Gen.3:16.

   1. "...thy desire shall be TO thy husband...."

   2. This is not desire FOR the husband, nor desire OF the husband.

   3. It is implied here that woman's desire is subject to the husband, per the marginal rendering.

   4. Desire: "The fact or condition of desiring; that feeling or emotion which is directed to the attainment or possession of some object from which pleasure or satisfaction is expected; longing, craving; a particular instance of this feeling, a wish."

   5. There are times when a God-fearing husband will have to trump his wife's desire, particularly when principle or conscience is at stake.

      1. For a husband to yield to his wife's desire when it would sacrifice principle is a dereliction of duty and a repetition of Adam's fault.

      2. For a wife to despise the subjugation of her desire(s) when leadership decisions demand it is to set a home up for division.

      3. A "house divided against itself shall not stand..." (Mat.12:25).

   6. The subjection of even a wife's desires to her husband's is reinforced by other Scripture.

      1. Wives are to be subject to their husbands "in every thing." Eph.5:24 c/w 1 Pe.3:1, 5.

      2. Subjected: "Placed or set underneath; underlying, subjacent. 2. Reduced to a state of subjection; under the dominion or authority of another. Hence, submissive, obedient."

      3. The "every thing" would, of necessity, exclude subjection to a husband's demands or wishes that would be an occasion to sin. In this case, God trumps the husband's desire and justifies the wife's non-subjection.