I would like to see a study of the family: the role of the husband/father, wife/mother, children and what the Word says about the family. Thanks Billy for offering to study the Word.
Camping at The Mountain of positional authority.
The Word of God sets up boundaries and relationships for men, women and families. This makes a lot of people mad! Just as Satan usurped God's position by desiring to be like Most High, we find that positional relationships and positional authority is the ground work for original sin! Wow "Usurping authority"!
Isa 14:13-14
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
(KJV)
Gen 2:15-17
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
(NIV)
God sets a boundary for mankind. You may freely eat of all the garden but not of the tree I have reserved for myself. What was that tree? The ability to play God and decide what is right and wrong for one's self. Most assuredly God is saying here, He alone has the unique right to decide right and wrong and man is forbidden to participate in that type of decision making. We are to live from the Tree of Life doing the will of God an never play God by trying to decide our own right and wrong. What a great weight is lifted from the shoulders of the man/woman who learns it is not about choosing right or wrong, never molesting your mind trying to decide. Only what is the "will of God" is what we are to do, live from the Tree of Life (the will of God).
Why not simply remove the temptation, the Tree Forbidden, from the garden? Because God always puts before us the test, will we submit to the will of God or will we usurp our authority over God's plan and exercise our "rights"? I will decide for myself what is right or wrong. I will decide to abort, or choice life. I will decide what kind of sex I will participate in and the will of God is to have no bearing upon my decision, it is my right! After all I have rights, over my body, over my choices of sexual preference, over my life and no one is going to tell me what to do. I will decide what is right and wrong for me, says the person smacking his lips on the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. "We will wear our own apparel (self righteousness) and eat our own bread (decide what is right or wrong for ourselves) but just let us be called by Your name (Christian) to remove our reproach." Isa 4:1
I think it is time to stress here: Spiritual authority is never about domination but submission. God will not dominate us, we must submit. The power of Spiritual authority is derived from submission. All positional authority in the Kingdom of God is from the ground of submission, never dominance.
Gen 2:22-24
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto 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 shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
(KJV)
Powerful message in the above passage for us to grasp regarding positional authority, or spiritual authority. "A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife..." How many do we know that will never leave their mother or father? You can never reach a proper relationship with your mate if you are still clinging to your mother/father. You must leave them and stick like glue (cleave) to your mate. We are to honor parents, but no longer are we under the dominion of mothers or father. We have left them. They should not rule our lives or homes with our mates, they should learn to butt out and not interfere ! We should not permit their interference with our married lives. Don't listen to council unless it is Godly council. When we allow parents to control married children or we as parents try to control our married children we are completely out of sync with the Spirit and plan of God. We are not in right relationship. If you are not in right relation with one another you cannot be in right relationship with God.
This is a powerful truth: If we are not in right relationship with one another then we are not in right relationship with God. He has set the boundaries and we need to live by the Tree of Life (doing the will of God).
Our relationships one with another sets the foundation for our relationship with God. That needs to sink in our inner most being.
1 Tim 2:13-14
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
(KJV)
Adam was not deceived. Eve was deceived. What exactly happened here? God told Adam and then Adam told Eve not to partake of the Tree of Good and Evil. Eve was instructed by her head just as Adam was instructed by his head. Eve was not directly told by God not to eat of the Tree. She had to take her instruction from her headship. The head of the woman is the man and the head of the man is Christ and the head of Christ is God. There is the positional authority laid out by God all the way back in the Garden of Eden.
Adam was not deceived, but followed Eve into sin. Why? Because he loved her. (As Christ loved the Church, He who knew no sin became sin to save His Bride). Powerful if you can receive it. A type of the love and the sacrifice of Jesus for us. Eve was disobedient to her head, was not in submission and not in right relation to Adam, thus was not in right relation to God and all hell broke loose. Even seen that happen?
Genesis plays a great roll in laying foundational truths about relationships. Many read Genesis and never glean the little nuggets of truth lying there among the words.
The Bible says Adam did not sin like Eve did. What is the difference? Eve's sin was brought on by independent self-willed action. Her action was done apart from headship authority. She wanted it her way! She acted independently as a liberated woman! The very first woman's lib movement!
Gen 3:6
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
(KJV)
Here we have the basis of all sin pointed out: 1. Lust of the eyes 2. Lust of the flesh 3. The pride of life. The door of opportunity was there because Eve was not resting under her headship, she was out gazing lustfully at the forbidden tree. It was not His will be done, but my will be done, Eve said. Satan tempted Eve by challenging what God said and God's motives for saying it. "You shall NOT surely die. You will be like God, able to make your own decisions." "God wants to cheat you out of the opportunity of deciding right from wrong by not allowing you to eat this wonderful eye-opening fruit of knowledge." "You can be like God, the Most High, and make your own decisions by deciding what is right and wrong!" "You don't need positional authority, you can be your own boss!" "You don't need a head, you are as good as any man!"
Down goes all of humanity down the road to pain, suffering, work and hardships followed by death just because Eve was not in right positional relationship to her head, Adam. Adam did not sin like Eve did...Eve led and Adam followed. A woman leading the family unit is a wrong positional relationship. Let that sink in.
Gen 3:16-19
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
(NIV)
Above is part of the curse God pronounced upon the disobedient. Most people know some of this, like, sweat of the brow and pain in child birth and dust to dust. But how many have ever noticed how God reinforced the order of authority in the curse? He tell the woman your craving shall be toward your husband and he will exercise dominion over you. That is the part of the curse we leave off. The woman's (liberation) rights movements from the beginning have been to magnify the independent self-will actions of woman apart from their headship. You see the battle is really not flesh against flesh, woman against man,but is spiritual battle of usurping the headship God ordained for women in the curse. It is Satan against God and he has just used the woman's liberation movement to manifest that spiritual war. We even have women dressing and acting like men. (Butch we say) The world is the enemy of God and it is manifested (made evident) often in relationships.
God said positionally that a woman will desire toward for her husband and he will rule (have dominion) over her, but Satan said a woman is just as good as a man in any relationship. Right now there are some that want to argue as they smack their lips on the fruit of self-will and independent actions. As the juice of deciding right and wrong runs down their chins and fall on their shirts they cry aloud..."Foul!" "Not Fair!"
Gen 3:20-21
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(KJV)
Ever wonder where did God get the coats of skin? Did He just pick a couple up at Wal-Mart? Of course not. Adam and Eve sinned, way back in the Garden and God demonstrated the plan of salvation. 1. Adam and Eve knew they were naked before God (sinners). 2. They needed a covering (righteousness). 3. Naked before God was unacceptable (caused them to hide from God). 4. It took the killing of an animal, the shedding of blood to produce a covering for the sinner (reconciliation) . 5. God's only plan for the covering of sin (justification) is the death of the innocent to cover the sin of the guilty. 6. Here an animal was killed, it blood poured out an offering and sin was covered by the shedding of blood. 7. Adam was taught by God what was an acceptable sacrifice, the shedding of the blood of an innocent animal ( most probably a lamb). 8. Adam was to convey or teach this truth to his children. The responsibility of teaching truth to our children rest squarely upon the shoulder of the parents and NOT upon the shoulders of the Sunday school teacher. Read that last sentence again and let it sink in...no wonder "Sunday church" wont work! It is out of spiritual order. Fathers teach your children, not Sunday school teach their children!
Deut 6:6-7
6 "And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;
7 and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
(NAS)
Parental responsibility everyday all day long, not just Sunday! If we can't get this right then nothing works right.
Example: Families with absent fathers to train and teach their children raise children that end up being families with out dads, dads without wives, and woman with kids and no husbands and the vicious cycle continues on and on ever spiraling out of control. Why? No one steps up to the plate of Spiritual Authority obeys God and stops destruction in it tracks! Fathers be godly fathers and train your children up in the ways of the Lord. No one has that God given responsibility but you!
Gen 4:3-5
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
(KJV)
Why did God not accept Cains fruits and vegetables? Why was this not acceptable to God? Adam taught these sons what God expected, or else how could one get it right? Only by the shedding of blood can one be accepted! But Cain eating the fruit of self will and independent action thought his sacrifice just as "good" as Abel's and got mad at God and his brother when it was refused by God. What a pattern we see here for the self-willed being manifested. I don't care what is in right order or right standing with God, I will do it my way! God has established a plan and order. He did not confer with me or you in setting this thing up. But He did convey to us His wishes and we must "submit" to God and His plans and purpose to be accepted. Fathers teach your children and children follow the leading of godly parents! God set the positional authority for a purpose. I am not to beat submission into someone, for all Spiritual Authority comes from a "willing" submission. In any situation I am too look around and see where I belong as far as authority and submission in every relationship and instance in my life. Sometimes I must submit and other times I must lead. Most times I must BE QUIET and other times I am to talk. You can always tell who is submitted and under the control of the Spirit by how much they talk. Some people who really have nothing to say, can't shut up. They are completely out of spiritual control. If any man cannot control his tongue.....( a sign of submission)
Even if I don't know or can't see the why, I must do it God's way. I must submit under the Hand of God in all things and at all times. I must be more willing to listen than to speak and in every situation I must find my place in submission, my place in positional authority.
Cain unwilling to submit to God and His plan, killed his brother with hatred. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
The Will of God vs the Tree of Knowledge. God's will vs man's way. God's will vs Independent Action. God's will vs self-will.
The problem with most "religion" is that its basis is from the Tree of Knowledge, man deciding what is right or wrong (man's doctrines instead of the will of God). Why do we have 400 different denominations in America? Everyone doing what seems right in their own eyes, and eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Lets see if we have Bible example?
Gen 22:2
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
(KJV)
First question the "religious" must ask, "Is this request right or wrong? (Tree of Knowledge)" "Why of course this request is wrong! God would never require a human sacrifice!" We would spend the next 100 years debating the topic at our annual conventions. Some would "choose life" and they would start the church of the "non-sacrificial". Their doctrine would be no one has to die to be saved, we can all be saved without a sacrifice. The Church of the Bloodless. Oh some would say, no this is to be symbolic, we must offer to take our son, but God does not really expect us to offer him on the mountain so there is no real need for you to put actions to your faith. Faith Church Without Actions! Then of course the Church Who Offers Less. Not my only beloved son, no I will offer fruits and vegetables. And on and on the list grows, as each Church decides in her own eyes what is right and wrong before God. Thus we have 400 different sects of divisions in Christianity. Some blame God and some blame the Bible for sects in Christianity, but I blame men eating from the Tree of Knowledge and "playing God".
Not so with father Abraham! He is a man that eats only from the Tree of Life (The will of God). It does not take discussion, church voting, pastor approval, prayer and fasting, study of God's Word and all the other things we do to sidestep doing the Will of God. We have to analyze everything in light of the Fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil! The beginning of all religion. In the name of God we refrain from doing the Will of God from the heart and we always operate from the "ground" of what is right or wrong in our own eyes. Offering your son on a fire on a mountain can only be evil and we do not have to obey God. We will wear our own apparel and eat our own bread, just let us be called Christians so there will be no reproach.
1 Sam 25:3
3 His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.
(NIV)
What a beautiful story of a wonderful wife married and submitted to a horrible husband! The Bible says if you are kind to them that are kind to you what thanks have you? If you greet only them that greet you what thanks have you? Even the sinners do that. The real test of our submission is how do we act in the face of adversity. Do we excuse ourselves from our spiritual and positional responsibility because someone else does not act right? Are we excused because we are married to a mean man or a contentious woman? Are Christians only Christians when everything goes our way and it is all right according to our knowledge of good and evil. I will if you will, but you must do it first? I will submit if you are a good husband? I will love and protect only if you are a good wife? Not so with Abigail. She was married to a wicked man, and loved and protected him from the wrath of David. In the end she became the wife of the King! Oh, that we could see, if only we will submit and find our place in positional authority, that no matter how others act, we will some day be married to the King of Kings! Oh, how wonderful the ways of God!
Heb 13:17
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
(KJV)
The word "obey" in the above verse has this meaning: Persuade, be persuaded, to trust to have confidence. This is not quite the meaning we have developed in the modern "pastoral" church setting. The modern church is more like, "Do what I say, I am the Man of God, the Pastor of this church and you must obey me." Using God's Word to beat people into submission is not God's way!
"What is wrong with the "pastoral" system of the modern church?" I thought you would never ask! It is outside of Positional Authority. It has no biblical basis.
1. No one man is to "lord over" the Church. Mark 10:42-44
2. Elders (plural) in every Church (singular) Acts 14:23
3. Elder/Pastor is an office desired by a man not "called of God to pastor this church". I Titus 3:1
4. To serve and minister in a servant's position exampled by foot washing, not "lording with preeminence" (sitting in front in the BIG chair).
Unfortunately we have a "pastoral system" modeled after the "priest system" of the Roman Mother Church. We choose one man to be our leader, our priest, to pray for us, teach us, comfort us, forgive us, order us about, council us and be our guide about spiritual and natural matters. We become so dependent upon our Moses, that we never learn how to read, study and be led of the Spirit of God within. By hiring a paid professional we have relinquished our rights for spiritual leadership by the Holy God within in each of us. We sit back and let the professional feed us, burp us, rock us, and coddle us, baby us right on in to the kingdom of men. ( I know, I have dared to touch the golden calf of our religion, the Pastor!)
God's plan was for us to have a plurality of leadership in the local assembly so that we could all hold to the real Head, Christ (not the one Pastor). With elders (plural) we would have a system of checks and balances in the local body leadership. Each watching and serving the other. No big I and little You in the kingdom of God. No paid professionals, but common men among us, ordained to operate in the office of elder. Some elders would labor in the Word and others would not. We were to be persuaded of them and to trust them, but not "obey" in the sense of the modern religious system of today does. We are to be Holy Ghost, Spirit-led and not man-led, pastor-led, Moses led. Our submission to the local leadership of elders in the local body was to be when they had a servants position and not an elevated position of men on the high platform and the Big Chair. You should personally inquire of the Spirit about this matter.
Eph 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
(KJV)
Husbands love your wives if they are trustworthy loyal,helpful, friendly,courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. That is how we read the above passage as we smack our lips on the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. We justify our actions by the actions of others. But where in this verse does it say husbands love your wives "if the are"? The real test of our faith is how do we love. Do we love the unlovable? Do we cherish and protect the hateful? Do we pray and bless those that spitefully use and abuse us? If we are kind and loving only to the lovable, what thanks have we? Even the sinner does that. No! I must take my place as a husband to love and cherish my wife and treat her as I would my own body. I am to pray for her and watch out for her and bless and not curse her. I am to help her along her way to know God by my EXAMPLE! Who knows if my lifestyle will not convert her to know God in a saving way? Who knows what the end results of a life spent in "challenging" relationship? I am to find my place and operate in it and live of the Tree of Life, by the Will of God. Husband love your wives....only if you want to, so the "world" says.
Eph 5:21
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (KJV)
Another verse says: Each esteeming the other higher than themselves. That is the key to submission. How do I see the other guy? How do I see my brother, higher in the Lord than me? Remember we all have different experiences in God and we each are at our own level of development in the Spirit. No one has arrived yet. We are all still growing in grace and knowledge until we stand in the full stature of Christ. We are to submit in love to one another seeing the other higher than ourselves and to love them with the Love of God. The challenge is not to love the lovable but to love the unlovable! Anyone can love the lovable, what is the test in that? The test and trial is how do I conduct myself around the brother and sister that is hard to get along with? Oh, the testing of the Spirit of God!
1 Pet 2:18-19
18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
(NIV)
I think the employed could identify with slaves as those under authority. Peter's admonition here is for one to submit and respect not only those bosses that are good to us, but also the harsh. It is good for us to bear up under unjust suffering because of our understanding of God. Christians should be the model employees of honesty and attitude. Why? Because our testimony is our witness of the living God resident in our lives. We show the world the invisible God. We put hands and feet and a mouth to God's presence to be seen in the world we live in. So every aspect of our lives should bear witness to our faith. We work harder, we preform better, we are more trustworthy, because of the Life within us. We are not only kind to those bosses that are good, but also to those that tread on our last nerve! Wow!
This subject of positional authority covers all our relationships in life, at work, at home, at play, in friendship, in marriage and in family dynamics. Living for God goes way beyond a Sunday morning visit to a church building and staring at the back of the neck of the person in front of you. This Christian thing gets right down into our very core! We bring God to light to a dark and dying world. We humble ourselves in all situations to show the way of the Spirit is not commanding and demanding, but love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The Word says His ways are not our ways. So we have to get out of the way! We have to let the Spirit of God live out His life in us. He took upon Himself the humble attitude of a servant and served. Follow Me, He said.
Eph 6:1-3
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
(KJV)
The word "obey" above means to hearken and submit. Children listen to your parents in the Lord and submit to them. "Honor" means to value as a prize. The Bible predicts in the last days people would be without natural affection. What would be natural affection? The love of a man for his wife, and a wife for her husband and the love of family, children for parents and parents towards children. But in this day men are lovers of themselves. They don't love God and have lost all natural affection for mate and child. I watch First 48 Hours on TV about true homicide investigation and constantly they describe victims and defendants as the father of 3 children (not the husband of anyone). Proof of where our godless society has come to. Without natural affections, and lovers of self more than lovers of God. Fathers without wives, and mothers without husbands result in children growing up without godly examples who soon become a shame to society.
There is a promise that comes to children that honor and submit to and obey their parents. The promise is a long blessed and prosperous life. But a disobedient child will be the shame of his mother. Where do we stand? Do we prize our parents? Have we obeyed and submitted? Have we allowed the Spirit of God to re-create in us again the "natural" affections?
Titus 3:1-2
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,
2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
(NIV)
Lastly we are to submit to governments. We are to obey them as God's ministers. We are to do that not because they are always right, but because God does not want us to suffer as evil doers. We are to be ready to do good, to bless and not curse, to go the extra mile, to be willing to share what we have. The "half-breed" on the way to Jericho found a man beaten and bleeding in a ditch beside the road. He stopped and bound up his wounds, put him on his beast and carried him to the inn keeper and paid for his lodging and care. Of course that beaten and bloody man was me, and Jesus was the God-man, the half-breed, that found me. He lifted me up, carried me and paid my way to health and restoration and said if I needed anything else He would pay when He returned. Oh' what the Love of God looks like, so beautiful! That was me and Him, and now it is Him in me....
