How Jesus Restores Marriage
Please turn in your Bibles to the second chapter of Genesis where we read about God’s creation of man.
Genesis 2:1-15 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then Yahweh 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. 8 And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground Yahweh God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
As you know, in the first two chapters of Genesis we find the creation account – written to present Yahweh as the creator of all things, the one who brings order from chaos, and brings forth life from nothing. We also find the creation of man, made in the image of God, charged with stewarding all else that God had made.
Take note that at this point, Adam is alone. This is where we find a break in the divine pattern of God calling all that he had made, “good.’ For the first time in the creation account, God says, “It is not good.” What is not good? Verse 18:
Genesis 2:18 Then Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Adam is in the garden, charged with being its steward, but he is all alone. Yes, he has fellowship with God, but God himself says that Adam is still in need. If Adam were to fulfill God’s calling and be faithful to his mandate, he would need a helper. Yahweh says, “I will make him a helper fit for him.”
HELPER
The Hebrew word for “helper” here is most frequently applied to Yahweh himself. For instance:
Psalm 30:10 Hear, O Yahweh, and be merciful to me! O Yahweh, be my helper!”
Psalm 54:4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Psalm 118:7 Yahweh is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
Psalm 121:1-3 A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
The Old Testament often depicts Yahweh as a helper, a mighty helper who comes to His people’s aid in their moments of deepest need, bringing strength and deliverance where weakness and despair would otherwise reign (Psalm 33:20; 121:1-2). Knowing that God was present to help them enabled them to face the challenges of life with confidence.
In this we learn that it is not good for man to be alone. God did not create him to be alone, nor did he call him to fulfill his creation mandate alone. God created Adam to thrive in partnership, not isolation. Yes, God would be with him as his helper but, in addition to this, Adam needed an earthly helper, like himself, but not the same. Equal, but complementary.
This helper, described in Genesis 2:18 as “fit for him,” would be his equal, a complementary partner uniquely suited to support, strengthen, and collaborate with him in fulfilling God’s creation mandate to cultivate, guard, and multiply. Far from implying inferiority, the Hebrew term ezer, used for God Himself, underscores the helper’s vital, empowering role, mirroring God’s own strength in meeting human need.
Let’s continue reading and meet this helper:
Genesis 2:19-24 Now out of the ground Yahweh God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 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. 21 So Yahweh 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. 22 And the rib that Yahweh God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 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.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Here we find that the woman was made to be the essential helper for man. She would provide the vital support for Adam, coming alongside to enable him to satisfy God’s calling to subdue the earth, to exercise dominion over it, and to be fruitful and multiply. She was designed by God to perfectly complement the man. She was “fit for him” – just what he needed to do what God had given him to do, and to do it with joy and success.
So, woman was created for man. She would fulfill a purpose that no other companion could. The writer of Genesis emphasizes this by stating that before the woman was created, Adam surveyed all of creation “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him (2:20).” No, the man was specifically created by God to correspond to the woman that God would make for him. And she was made, perfectly suited to be his helper.
Matthew 19:4-6 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Therefore, we find that male and female were created for one another. Their differences physiologically, emotionally, psychologically, and sexually were designed to draw them to one another, to balance and complete one another so that together they could honour their creator by working as one to fulfill their creation mandate.
What we will see next is that these innate differences were designed by God so that while man and woman worked together to fulfill the same mandate, they would do so by filling two complementary roles.
SHARED MANDATE – DIFFERENT ROLES
Turn to chapter 1 of Genesis where we gain further insight into the creation of man and woman, their design, and their mandate:
Genesis 1:26-28 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.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Here we find the creation mandate clearly articulated – have dominion, subdue the earth, and fill it with children. And notice that this same mandate is given to both men and women. The “man” here is “mankind.” We know this because it says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
In Genesis 1:26-28, God charges both men and women with the same creation mandate: to subdue the earth, exercise dominion over it, and be fruitful, as equal image-bearers tasked with stewarding His creation. This shared calling underscores their equal worth and dignity, both reflecting God’s likeness in their joint mission to govern the earth wisely.
Yet, Genesis 2:15 (before this shared mandate) we see a distinction.
Genesis 2:15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
That is, before Eve’s creation, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it,” establishing him as the initial steward, with a leadership role in cultivating and protecting creation. This sequence highlights Adam’s primary responsibility as God’s representative, setting the stage for the dominion task.
When Eve is created as Adam’s strong and suitable helper, she is given the same mandate but fulfilling a complementary role. As an equal image-bearer, Eve is called to exercise dominion and subdue the earth alongside Adam, but her stewardship is expressed in partnership with him, supporting and enhancing his leadership.
The Apostle Paul reinforces this in 1 Corinthians 11:8-9:
1 Corinthians 11:8-9 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
Here Paul is affirming Eve’s role as a helper designed to come alongside and enable Adam to be a faithful steward. Thus, while both share the creation mandate equally, Adam’s prior placement in the garden and Eve’s role as helper reflect distinct yet harmonious functions, rooted in God’s purposeful design for their unified work.
So, in Genesis 1 and 2, we see God’s perfect design for men and women, equal in dignity as image-bearers, charged together with the creation mandate to subdue the earth, exercise dominion, and be fruitful (Genesis 1:26-28). Yet, the creation order reveals distinct roles: Adam is placed first in the Garden to work and keep it, bearing primary responsibility as God’s steward (Genesis 2:15), while Eve is created as his strong and suitable helper, to complement and complete him, enabling him to accomplish his calling (Genesis 2:18-22).
That’s the blueprint, authored by God. Man and woman, created differently from one another, so that they might complement one another, serving in different divinely established roles, while working together for the same goal – glorifying God by fulfilling the mandate he has given to mankind.
THE FALL HITS HOME
However, something would soon happen which would result in the corruption of this blueprint. The Fall in Genesis 3 introduced sin’s curse into the world, fracturing the unity between man and woman and placing their complementary roles under the strain of conflict and distortion.
Genesis 3:1-13 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 9 But Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Remember, Adam was placed in the garden and charged with its care. It was meant to be a place where God and man met. A precursor to the temple. Adam was to serve a priest-like role, protecting the purity of the place and ensuring that it served to bring glory to God, and God’s glory to bear upon the earth. If Adam had done his job, Eden would simply be the launching point from which the glory of God would spread across all of creation.
However, both Adam and Eve failed catastrophically. Instead of protecting his wife, Adam left her exposed and susceptible to Satanic temptation. Eve succumbed to that temptation. Further, instead of serving as Adam’s helper in the task of glorifying God, she influenced Adam to follow her in her disobedience.
Adam failed to lead his wife into holiness, and instead followed her into sin. Eve failed to follow Adam, and instead lead him into sin. They both failed to live out their divinely designed roles, and instead ushered sin into the world, with all of its consequences.
Genesis 3:14-20 Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 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.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Here we find sin’s entrance into the world, with all of its consequences. As a product of sin, there would be a perpetual battle between the offspring of Satan, and the offspring of the woman. Ultimately culminating with Satan’s defeat by the incarnate Christ. There would be pain in child bearing. There would be a curse upon the ground, ensuring that mankind could not subdue the earth except with pain and toil. Death also entered the world, promising that Adam and Eve would both return to the dust from which they came.
But there’s something else here, relevant to our purposes this morning. Notice in verse 16, Yahweh says to Eve that as part of this curse, “your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Here we find that sin’s affects are not only felt within creation “out there,” but that sin has fundamentally corrupted God’s design for the home.
To Eve he says, “your desire shall be contrary to your husband.” This is the exact opposite of the purpose for which Eve was created. She was made to be Adam’s God-glorifying helper. Now, she would have to continually fight the sinful desire to be a self-glorifying hinderer.
Further, God says that as Eve seeks to contradict Adam instead of complement him, he would be tempted to rule over her harshly. Instead of using his strength to provide and protect, he would use it to oppress and dominate.
Instead of helping Adam in subduing the earth and exercising dominion over it, Eve would be tempted to oppose Adam. Consequently, Adam would be tempted to see Eve, not as a helpful partner in subduing creation, but as a competitive rival fit to be subdued.
Sin introduced relational strife, role reversal, and rivalry between the sexes. Temptations that are still felt today, and reflected in the ever-rising divorce rate.
As a consequence of sin, the relational dynamic was fractured. The woman—created to be an honoring and supportive helper—is constantly tempted to act as a hinderer, viewing her husband with suspicion as a threat, rival, or potential oppressor to be outmaneuvered or controlled.
Conversely, the man—designed to be a loving leader and protector—is constantly tempted to abandon his call to cherish his wife. Instead of seeing her as a co-heir in grace, sin inclines him to view her as a competitor or an object in need of subduing, leading him to lean into harsh domination rather than sacrificial leadership.
Far from one party's sin being the sole source of the other's, these two fallen tendencies feed off one another, turning complementary roles into a cycle of relational strife and rivalry.
PRACTICALLY
Sin’s distortion of God’s design for marriage, as seen in Genesis 3:16, continues to manifest in modern relationships, fueling relational strife, role reversal, and rivalry that contribute to the rise in broken homes. For example, a husband might view his wife’s input on decisions as a challenge to his authority, interpreting her desire to collaborate as criticism or competition. Instead of cherishing her as a partner, he may shut her down, insisting on control to “subdue” her perspective, treating her as an obstacle rather than a co-heir in their shared mission. This dynamic can escalate when, feeling dismissed, the wife withdraws or pushes back harder, perhaps undermining his decisions in conversations with friends or family, acting as a hinderer rather than the supportive helper God intended. Such conflicts, rooted in sin’s curse, turn complementary roles into battlegrounds, where both spouses vie for dominance rather than working together to glorify God, often leading to resentment and fractured intimacy.
Similarly, a wife may perceive her husband’s leadership attempts as oppressive, colored by sin’s lens of suspicion. For instance, when he attempts to fulfill his role as leader, she might interpret it as control, resisting his guidance out of fear he’s stifling her autonomy. Instead of honoring him with respect (Ephesians 5:33), she might resort to manipulation, perhaps withholding affection or subtly questioning his competence, to regain a sense of power. This rivalry undermines the trust God designed, where the husband’s loving leadership should inspire her confidence, not defiance. Over time, these patterns, his domination, her control, erode mutual devotion, replacing partnership with a cycle of mistrust.
The point is, sin has directly affected marriage. It has often led men to dominate instead of lovingly lead, and women to resent male leadership, instead of respectfully following it.
PATRIARCHY
Sin’s devastating impact on marriage, as foretold in Genesis 3:16, has led both men and women to distort God’s beautiful design for their complementary roles. However, men, endowed with physical strength and often greater social influence, have leveraged this advantage to establish cultural norms, whether in Greco-Roman patriarchy, ancient Near Eastern customs, or even misguided interpretations of Jewish law, that favour their sinful inclination to oppress and control. These systems, marked by practices like unchecked male authority, normalized infidelity, or the marginalization of women, reflect the curse’s prediction that husbands would “rule” harshly over their wives (Genesis 3:16).
IN THE CHURCH
This temptation remains today, even among Christians. Some men twist Scripture to oppress women. They corrupt the Bible to make it appear that their desire to dominate has divine approval. These men bind the consciences of their believing wives, guilting them into believing that defying their husband’s tyranny is rebellion against God Himself. Men like this are a blight on the church, cowards who think brute control is their masculine prerogative. In truth, they’re sick apostates, hijacking Scripture’s authority to mask their failure. Their harsh, loveless rule repels any woman from wanting to follow them with respect.
It's this sort of male domination which gives rise to the equally nefarious reaction of radical feminism. This sort of feminism rightly calls out the oppressive excesses of a male-dominated society, but seeks to correct it through its own excesses. While an oppressive, patriarchal system is driven by the sinful male desire to dominate women (as was warned in Genesis 3:16), a subversive feminist response is driven by the sinful female desire to overthrow all male leadership (also warned against in Genesis 3:16).
This battle between men seeking to dominate, and women resenting male leadership is an ancient battle. It’s simply men and women battling over who gets to impose their sinful view of gender roles upon society. Views which had their birth in the Garden of Eden when the first man and first woman succumbed to Satan, instead of submitting to God.
THE SOLUTION: THE POWER AND EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST
What is the solution to the disharmony between men and women? What is the answer the sinful male desire to dominate women? What is the answer to the sinful female desire to resent male leadership? It’s the same solution offered for all sin – the transforming power and example of Jesus Christ.
First, let’s consider the example of Jesus.
When Jesus stepped into this world in the first century, he entered a society that often marginalized and devalued women, seeing their sole measure of their worth in their roles as wives, mothers, or even property. In the Greco-Roman culture of the first-century, women were subject to a family law which granted husbands and fathers near-absolute control, with practices like male-initiated divorce and normalized infidelity stripping them of security.
Jewish society, while more protective of women, still restricted their public roles. Women were excluded from studying Torah, were subject to biased divorce rules, and were barred from testifying in court as they were not considered reliable witnesses.
Even the structure of Herod’s Temple reflected this devaluing of women. The design of Herod’s Temple, influenced by the pattern of Hellenistic temples of the day, featured an outer court called the “Court of Women.” Women were not permitted beyond this court, while men were welcomed into an inner court, closer to the Holiest of Holies.
Neither Solomon’s temple, nor the Tabernacle before it featured such a segregation. In fact, in Exodus 38 we find that women served at the very entrance of the tabernacle.
Exodus 38:8 He [Bezalel the craftsman] made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Something that continued for centuries (1 Sam 2:22). The institution of the court of women was a later development, deviating from God’s design for the
Tabernacle and Temple. Likewise, the message it communicated (that women were somehow unclean by nature and did not have the same access to God as men) was a deviation from the Bible’s clear message that both men and women were created equal as God’s image bearers (Gen 1:27).
When Jesus conducted his earthly ministry he sought to recapture God’s original plan for women, and model for men how they should be viewed and treated.
There were always faithful women accompanying Jesus, and even helping fund his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus welcomed women like Mary to sit as a disciple learning along with everyone else (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus purposefully sought out the Samaritan woman to share spiritual insight not understood even by his disciples. Consequently, at Jesus’ crucifixion, we are told that there were many women who “followed him and ministered to him, and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem (Mark 15:40).” And, as if to directly confront the biases against women testifying in court, Jesus ensured that his first appearance after the resurrection was to a woman – effectively making her the first evangelist (John 20:11-18).
Jesus healed women treating them as precious daughters of God (Luke 8:48; Luke 13:10-17; Mark 9:22). Jesus had compassion on women, recognizing their peculiar struggles in a society that often left them vulnerable (Luke 7:11-5). Jesus welcomed women into the family of God as precious individuals, even apart from any household authorities like fathers or husbands.
Although the Temple had segregated women, keeping them out of the court closest to God, when Jesus came as the true temple, and God in the flesh, he welcomed women directly into his presence.
The pattern that Jesus set, recapturing God’s design for women as equal image-bearers, and welcomed worshippers was carried forward by his apostles.
In Acts 8:12 we find women being baptized in response to Philip’s preaching.
In Acts 5:14 we find multitudes of women being added to the church.
In Acts 8:3 we find women cast in prison for their testimony as followers of Jesus.
In Acts 17 we find prominent Greek women responding to the preaching of Paul and Silas, becoming followers of Jesus.
In Acts 16 we find Lydia, who appears to be the head of her household, baptized and leading her family to do the same.
In Acts 1 we find women gathered with the men, praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost.
In Philippians 4 we find Paul referencing women who “labored side by side” with him in the gospel.
In Romans 16 we find Phoebe who was likely a deaconess, or at least a prominent servant of the church.
In Acts 18 we meet Aquilla and Priscilla, a faithful couple who served the Lord together.
Further we find reference to another Mary who “worked hard” for the Roman church. To Tryphaena and Tryphosa who were described as “workers in the Lord,” along with Persis who “worked hard in the Lord.”
The point is, Jesus and the Apostles elevated the status and role of women in their day. In contrast to the Greco-Roman and even Jewish culture of the first century, Jesus saw women as absolutely equal before God and invited them to become full-fledged disciples, and valuable workers in his church. This view was held by his apostles, and should remain today as integral to every community of Christ followers.
A SERVANT LEADER
But, beyond his elevation of women in the midst of a culture that had, in many ways, allowed the sinful male desire to dominate to become a governing ethos, Jesus also served as a positive example in other ways.
Repeatedly, Jesus taught his male disciples about what real leadership looks like.
John 13:12-17 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus actively taught his disciples what leadership ought to look like. Real leadership is servant leadership. He warned them against adopting the leadership models of the culture. That leadership was oppressive, self-serving and harsh. Instead, they were to follow his example of loving, gentle, selfless, and sacrificial leadership. Would this apply in the home as well? Absolutely:
Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Here we find Paul applying Jesus’ teaching on leadership to the Christian home. Christian men are to apply the loving, gentle, selfless, and sacrificial leadership model of Jesus to how they lead their wives.
A SACRIFICIAL LEADER
Of course, Jesus provided the ultimate example of servant leadership when he died on the cross for an unworthy people. We are told explicitly that this sacrificial example should be followed by husbands in the home as they lead their wives.
Ephesians 5:25-28 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
This has implications for how a wife is to view her husband as well. Paul says:
Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
As men follow Jesus’ example of loving, gentle, sacrificial leadership, rejecting the temptation to rule with harshness, women are called to respect and follow that loving leadership, rejecting the temptation to resent male headship. As they do this, they are to consider Jesus’ bride – the church, and how he expects it to respond to him.
So, we asked, “what is the solution to the disharmony between men and women? What is the answer the sinful male desire to dominate women? What is the answer to the sinful female desire to resent male leadership?” And we answered, “It’s the same solution offered for all sin – the transforming power and example of Jesus Christ.”
Thus far we’ve only focused upon the example of Jesus and that’s as far as we’re going to get this morning. Next week we will dive further into God’s calling for wives, and how women can fulfill that calling through the power of Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Today, we’ve started in Genesis 1–3, witnessing God’s perfect design for marriage: men and women, equal as image-bearers (Genesis 1:27), created to fulfill the creation mandate together, subduing the earth, exercising dominion, and being fruitful (Genesis 1:26-28). Adam was placed in the garden to work and keep it, bearing primary responsibility (Genesis 2:15), while Eve was crafted as his strong and complementary helper, perfectly suited to partner with him (Genesis 2:18-22). This divine blueprint, rooted in mutual honor, was marred by the Fall. In Genesis 3:16, sin’s curse fractured their unity, tempting Eve to oppose Adam’s leadership and Adam to dominate rather than cherish her. This distortion, seen in rivalry, oppression, and broken homes, echoes through history.
Yet, God answered this and all of sin’s affects by sending his son, Jesus Christ. He entered a world of marginalized women and misguided men. He came to restore mankind to God’s intended design. This would, in part, include men and women, reconciled to God and embracing his plan for the home. Men lovingly leading their wives to glorify God together, without harshness or domination, and wives lovingly respecting their husband’s leadership, working to be their helper, without resentment.
He did this first through his example, which challenged the societal norms of his day. Next time, we’ll explore how Jesus’ work extends beyond example to transformation. Through salvation, the Holy Spirit, and New Testament instructions, Christ empowers men and women to overcome sin’s distortions, male domination and female resentment, and live out God’s harmonious design for marriage.
The Spirit renews hearts, enabling husbands to lead like Christ, with love that cherishes, and wives to follow with respect that honors, as co-heirs (1 Peter 3:7). Paul’s teachings, like Ephesians 5:22-33, provide practical guidance to restore the complementary roles of Genesis 2, countering modern strife. Join us as we see how Christ’s power makes marriage a gospel witness, glorifying God as Adam and Eve were meant to do. For now, let’s commit to following Jesus’ example, rejecting oppression and rebellion, and pursuing unity in our homes, trusting His grace to guide us.
