Genesis 2:15-3:6
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord 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 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. 22 And the rib that the Lord 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. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord 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.
We are now looking into the leadership role of man. This has been a debate since the fall of Adam and Eve. In modern times the debate has rested on the issue of can and should women lead and is it necessary for male leadership of the home. What does male leadership look like? Are we fearful of male leadership in the home because of the examples we have seen and experienced? The reason we return to God’s original design is for the purpose of reclaiming the roles God intended for men and women in order to experience the blessing God designed the family to be.
Men go first.
Men must realize their role in creation and the family structure.
Genesis 2:15–17 “15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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 2:24 “24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
God instructed Adam to work first, to obey his voice first, and to move toward the wife first. He was to lead in word and deed.
This is what the modern family is missing. We have relegated the role of man to an unnecessary position, and this has produced a generation of boys who have no reference point for men leading the way for others. A man’s role was to lead as an example of Godliness for the family and community, and that cannot go missing for long without catastrophic results. Men must not relinquish the point position. This is not a matter of domination but of direction and protection. When the man is out front, all the arrows hit him first.
Men protect.
Ephesians 5:28–29 “28 In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church,”
Genesis 3:6 “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.”
For some reason, Adam was unaware of the danger of the serpent in the garden and their susceptibility to his tactics. Men were designed to be the guardians of the family, to protect and provide.
Men cannot relinquish the role of protector. There are more serpents crafting messages for our kids today than at any other time in history. We must stand watch.
Men sacrifice.
Ephesians 5:25–26 “25 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,”
Adam seemed unwilling at the time to do the hard thing.
Genesis 3:6 “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.”
Philippians 2:5–8 “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Men lead through humility and servanthood, doing the very things that they do not want to do for the sake of the family. Adam did not resist the fruit and did not protect Eve from the serpent, and when those self-sacrificing, hard decisions are not made, everyone suffers.
Paul instructs us to have the same mind as Christ, who did not simply seek his own benefit but humbled himself to do that which he in his flesh did not want to do.
Matthew 26:39 “39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””