The Wondrous Worth of Women
Steve W. Reeves
stevesermons.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. As
I begin this study of the role of women in the church may I preface it by
stating the great respect and love I have
for women. I do not say this merely as a token nor do I say it lightly. If I know anything of my own heart I say this with great incerity and love.
1. I was brought into this world by a woman within whose womb I was formed.
So were you.
2. I was raised in a household where my only sibling was an older sister with
whom I am still very close. She is the mother of three daughters.
3. I obviously married a woman who is the love of my life and has been for the
past 40 years. She and I are the parents of three grown daughters. We are
the grandparents of eight granddaughters.
4. In ministry over the past 40 years I have had the privilege of working with
more women than I could possibly count who have served as Bible class
teachers, and in various capacities within the church. No congregation of
which I have been a part could have existed without the work these women
have done.
5. I have been blessed by several capable women who have worked alongside
me in church offices through the years. Their assistance has been invaluable.
B. It pains me grievously to hear people imply that the worth of a woman iss connected
to being “in the spotlight.” It is tragic to think that a woman would feel unimportant in
the church. Nothing could be further from the truth.
1. The cry of current culture insists that a successful woman cannot be fulfilled
unless she occupies a dominant role in the family, in society and in the church.
2.Through modern literature, media and political circles the voices of our age portray
the successful woman as one who has it all. She juggles a lucrativwe, successful
career with family and a full schedule of activities. She is a gormet cook,, and
impeccable seamstress, an accountant and nurse. She works out at the gym every
day, gets six to eight hours of rest and has her hair and makeup in perfect order at
all times.
3. One particular woman, growing tired of how others looked down on her when
she told them she was a “stay-at-home” mom, developed this response. “I am
a domestic engineer specializing in training two adolescent carbon units in
the scatological values of Christian-Judeo ethics. What do you do?”
C. Please consider three important truths concerning the wondrous worth of a
woman.
I. CREATED BY GOD
A. If you found a painting by Rembrandt or Van Goth you would consider it a
masterpiece. Why? Are the paint and canvass made of precious material?
Does the frame in which they are housed determine their value? The reason
they are valuable is because of the notoriety of the one who painted them.
B. The worth of a woman begins with the One who created her.
1. According to Genesis 1:27 - “God created man in His own image, in the
image of God He created him; male and female He created them”
2. Just three verses later the text says, “God saw all that He had made, and
behold, it was very good.”
3. Whether male or female, you are a masterpiece designed and created by
the artistry of God.
C. Why did God make mankind?
1. God is love. Love must be shared. God wanted someone who was living
with whom He could share a loving relationship.
2. This relationship was severed by sin. Thankfully God had a plan that
culminated in redemption through Christ. This is why Paul wrote, “For all of
you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there
is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
D. Why did God create male and female?
1. Was God surprised when He saw Adam alone and when He said, “It is
not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18)?
2. Had God not done His job correctly when Adam named the animals but a
suitable companion was not found?
3. God knew exactly what He was doing. He wanted male and female to
understand their unique relationship and their unique roles.
a. Without the woman the man was not whole. There was no one suitable
to be his companion.
b. If humans were to be fruitful and multiply, the man surely could not do
this by himself.
4. God wanted man to feel his aloneness without the woman and to
experience the closeness of relationship with her. This is why verses 23-
24,“She is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called
woman for she was taken from the man. Therefore, a man shall leave his
father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one
flesh.”
5. Jesus recognized these specific roles when He said, in Matthew 19:4,
“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made
them male and female.”
E. The more Satan can confuse gender roles within society and within the
church the greater leverage he has to undermine God’s original creation.
II. CERTIFIED BY SCRIPTURE
A. There are several misconceptions prominent in today’s world about the Bioble and
women.
1. The first is that all instructions in the Bible regarding women are merely
reflections of ancient cultural standards and customs. Some evene go so far as
to say that the Biblical writers were prejudiced against women because of their
training and traditions. I utterly reject these views.
2. Some people would have you believe that the
Bible denigrates women forcing theem into subjection and bondage.
3. A close examinatation of scripture, however, reveals that no other book from
antiquity does as much to elevate the status of women as does the Bible.
4. There are 172 women specifically mentioned in the Bible. In the vast majority of
these cases they qare protr4atyed in a favorable light.
favorable to women.
B. Consider some of the women of the Bible.
1. The women of the Old Testament provide us with pictures of great
strength and purpose.
a. Sara – the wife of Abraham accompanied her husband in his journey
from Ur into the land of Canaan. They lived a nomadic life moving from
place to place. At the age of 90 she bore Isaac. Peter referred to her in
1 Peter 3:5-6 as one of the “holy women of God.”
b. Jochebed – mentioned in Exodus 2:1-3 was a Levite who bore a son
named Moses. She risked her life by defying Pharaoh’s order that male
Hebrew babies be killed. For three months she hid him in her house and then
placed him in a basket covered with pitch along the banks of the Nile river.
Her intelligence paid off when the baby was discovered by Pharaoh’s
daughter who selected Jochebed to be the child’s nurse.
c. Deborah – mentioned in Judges 4-5 was a judge in Israel who stepped up
to lead Israel against the Canaanites when there was no man who would
assume that role. Due to her leadership the glory of victory went to a
woman (Judges 4:5).
d. Jael – also mentioned in Judges 4:14ff, was the wife of Heber the
Kenite. She hid the Canaanite military leader, Sisera, in her tent, gave
him milk to drink, hid him under some cover and while he slept she
drove a tent peg through his head.
e. Hannah – 1 Samuel 1 was the wife of Elkanah. More than anything she
wanted a son but she had been barren. After praying diligently to the
Lord she conceived and bore a son named Samuel whom she dedicated to
God. When he was old enough she took him to live with the High Priest, Eli,
but continued to care for him by bringing him a new coat each year.
f. Abigail – 1 Samuel 25, was known for her intelligence and beauty (vs. 3).
g. The writer of Proverbs 18:22 said, “He who finds a wife finds a good
thing.”
h. Proverbs 31:10 states that a woman of noble character is worth more
than rubies (or great treasure).
2. In the Greco-Roman world of the first century women were often scorned
and abused. The ancient Greeks considered women inferior to men.
Aristotle viewed women as somewhere between slaves and freemen.
Wives led lives of seclusion and practical slavery. In Rome women enjoyed
greater freedom, though not legal, than in Greece, but licentiousness was
rampant. Wives were second-class persons; more honor was shown to a
man’s mistress than to his wife.
a. Jesus broke cultural and gender barriers to communicate how highly
God values women.
b. Matthew lists four women in the genealogy of Jesus: Rahab, Ruth,
Bathsheba and Mary. This is especially significant given the fact that
Matthew was written to a Jewish audience.
c. When the infant Jesus was presented at the temple a prophetess
named Anna, over 80 years old, was serving in the temple. She continued to
give thanks and tell others about the child.
d. The woman at Jacob’s well in John 4. Not only did Jesus speak to her as
a man to a woman but as a Jew to a Samaritan as He offered her
“Living water.”
e. The woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11 whom Jesus told to, “Go,
and sin no more.”
f. The woman who poured out an alabaster box of precious ointment on
Jesus’ feet. Jesus said that what she did would be spoken of throughout
the world (Matthew 25, Mark 14 and Luke 7). In fact, Jesus often went
to those who had been marginalized in society.
g. At the cross He cared for His mother (John 19:26).
h. Women played a huge role in supporting the ministry of Jesus. Women
were also the first ones to discover the empty tomb and spread the
news.
3. The book of Acts describes women like Dorcas in Acts 9 who was known
for her good works and Lydia in Acts 16 who responded to Paul’s preaching in
Philippi along with her household.
4. Paul’s letters contain many references to women.
a. Romans 16 contains a long list of names, many of them women, who
assisted and supported Paul in his evangelistic work. Verse 1 mentions
Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.
b. In Philippians 4:3 Paul wrote, “I ask you also to help these women who
have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel.”
c. 2 Timothy 1:5 mentions Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and
Lois, who had passed their faith on from generation to generation.
III. CHALLENGED BY CULTURE
A. Thieves reportedly broke into a department store in a large city. They did
not take anything. Rather, they switched price tags. When the doors opened
the next morning $500 coats were selling for $25. Jewelry and home
furnishings were being sold for pennies on the dollar. It took over an hour
for store employees to recognizes what was happening.
B. The changes in values is frightening. In the movie, Layer of the White Worm
actress Amanda Donaho spat on a crucifix. Commenting on that scene she
said, “It was a great deal of fun. As a woman I cannot embrace a male God
who has persecuted and demeaned women.”
C. I am concerned that we do not recognize what is happening today. The
Biblical values that churches of Christ have espoused for so long are being
challenged and changed.
1. Many people say that culture has changed since the Bible was written and
these changes merely reflect those changes.
2. There is no dispute over the fact that culture has changed. There is no
dispute over the fact that the Bible must be understood in light of its literary
and historical context.
3. To change roles which were divinely appointed in order to become
culturally relevant is not a change I care to make.
B. At the 1978 Harding Lectureship, Ed Sanders, speaking on the subject of the
“Women’s Role in The Church,” made the statement, “It is significant that the
world has seen religious groups divide and separate and redivide over the
past 1800 years, but during those same 18 centuries there had been
unbroken and almost unanimous agreement that the role of women in the
church is that of helper and supporter and not public until the last five years.”
CONCLUSION:
A. Had it not been for the wonderful influence, example and teaching of women I
doubt I would be standing before you.
1. My father was not a Christian during my early life.
2. It was my mother who set the example of faithfulness.
3. It was Sunday school teachers like Virginia Miller, Barbara Robbins, Jeffie
Dacus, Sue Richmond and others who taught me and others. Their teaching
lives on today in us.
B. Precious ladies, do not let the world deceive you. Your value according to
God’s plan is enormous. Let Him rule your life beginning today.
