1 Corinthians 11:2-9 says...
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 11:2-9 , which read,
v.2, 3 - Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
Paul leads us into another topic of the church in Corinth that needs to be addressed. He has talked about pride, suing other Christians, sexual sins, looking for contentment with the world, not handling sin in the church, being disqualified to share the gospel, idol worship, not giving for the spread of the gospel, and I have probably missed a few in there. We still have 5 chapters in 1 Corinthians so lets walked through another one.
Paul has given them the Word of God which is referred to here as "traditions" that he commends them as knowing. Even though he has had to talk to them about some tough subjects and corrections that needed to be made, he still gives encouragement and praise where due. They remember Paul sayings as he taught the scripture seems to be the praise here. Paul now gives an order that is in the Bible.
Christ is the Lord of our lives. He is Lord over everything. He is Lord over every relationship and before every relationship. Our relationship with Him affects all other relationships that we have. Christ is first in the life of the man or woman of God.
In the creation account then comes the creation of man who is next in the order of things and then the creation of woman. With that order of creation comes the responsibility of the order in which it is given. Therefore, because man was created first, he is to have the responsibility of spiritual leadership in the home. This was and is the created order of God.
v.4-7 - Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
This is a hard passage to understand because Paul is speaking of a custom that had crept into the church that was blurring the lines that God had created in His order. We play out that order with roles and responsibilities that we show some way in general. In the day of the Corinthians, the playing out of the order was that men did not have their heads covered and women did when they were in religious activities. They were doing just the opposite and the result was that God's lines were being blurred by their local practices of God's order and their responsibilities tied to that order.
I think it best that we keep the topic of this study of the scripture about God's order rather than the local custom on how it was played out and seen in the Corinthian church. In that day, the order set by God was played out for others to see that when they gathered for worship the men took off their head covering to show who was to lead and the women put on head covering to show that they were under the leadership of the man who was under the leadership of Christ. It was a visual way of seeing this.
If a man doesn't take that role in the family then it is like he is covering his head and assuming a role he was not created to take in the family and in the church under Christ. If a woman doesn't take that role in the family then it is like she is uncovering her head and assuming a role she was not created to take in the family and in the church under Christ. Let me add here that this is not talking about salvation but this is talking about God's order for the family and the church.
v.8, 9 - For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.
Paul goes back to the order of creation to state that he is talking about God's order of it all. He is referring to Genesis 2:18-23. God first created Adam and found that he needed a companion and so Eve was created for him. It was not the other way around. We know the story of God putting Adam to sleep and doing the first open chest surgery to remove a rib of Adam to create Eve and then took him through recovery to meet his wife. Does God's order matter is the question that the church in Corinth and that we are going to be dealing with here? Does it matter that God did it this way and should it affect our lives today in light of the family and the life of the church?
We will let more of this discussion linger into tomorrow but we will stop with the fact that God has an order and that order was displayed in a certain way in the life of the church in Corinth. The lines of that order have been blurred by their practices of who was covering and uncovering their heads in times of worship.
"Lord, help us as we go through these verses that we will keep them in the context of the overall message and not get off on things that they do not deal with. Thank You that You created both male and female and that You love them both and offer salvation to both. Help us to appreciate that there is a reason that You have an order that was played out in creation and also in our lives today. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.2, 3 - Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
Paul leads us into another topic of the church in Corinth that needs to be addressed. He has talked about pride, suing other Christians, sexual sins, looking for contentment with the world, not handling sin in the church, being disqualified to share the gospel, idol worship, not giving for the spread of the gospel, and I have probably missed a few in there. We still have 5 chapters in 1 Corinthians so lets walked through another one.
Paul has given them the Word of God which is referred to here as "traditions" that he commends them as knowing. Even though he has had to talk to them about some tough subjects and corrections that needed to be made, he still gives encouragement and praise where due. They remember Paul sayings as he taught the scripture seems to be the praise here. Paul now gives an order that is in the Bible.
Christ is the Lord of our lives. He is Lord over everything. He is Lord over every relationship and before every relationship. Our relationship with Him affects all other relationships that we have. Christ is first in the life of the man or woman of God.
In the creation account then comes the creation of man who is next in the order of things and then the creation of woman. With that order of creation comes the responsibility of the order in which it is given. Therefore, because man was created first, he is to have the responsibility of spiritual leadership in the home. This was and is the created order of God.
v.4-7 - Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
This is a hard passage to understand because Paul is speaking of a custom that had crept into the church that was blurring the lines that God had created in His order. We play out that order with roles and responsibilities that we show some way in general. In the day of the Corinthians, the playing out of the order was that men did not have their heads covered and women did when they were in religious activities. They were doing just the opposite and the result was that God's lines were being blurred by their local practices of God's order and their responsibilities tied to that order.
I think it best that we keep the topic of this study of the scripture about God's order rather than the local custom on how it was played out and seen in the Corinthian church. In that day, the order set by God was played out for others to see that when they gathered for worship the men took off their head covering to show who was to lead and the women put on head covering to show that they were under the leadership of the man who was under the leadership of Christ. It was a visual way of seeing this.
If a man doesn't take that role in the family then it is like he is covering his head and assuming a role he was not created to take in the family and in the church under Christ. If a woman doesn't take that role in the family then it is like she is uncovering her head and assuming a role she was not created to take in the family and in the church under Christ. Let me add here that this is not talking about salvation but this is talking about God's order for the family and the church.
v.8, 9 - For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.
Paul goes back to the order of creation to state that he is talking about God's order of it all. He is referring to Genesis 2:18-23. God first created Adam and found that he needed a companion and so Eve was created for him. It was not the other way around. We know the story of God putting Adam to sleep and doing the first open chest surgery to remove a rib of Adam to create Eve and then took him through recovery to meet his wife. Does God's order matter is the question that the church in Corinth and that we are going to be dealing with here? Does it matter that God did it this way and should it affect our lives today in light of the family and the life of the church?
We will let more of this discussion linger into tomorrow but we will stop with the fact that God has an order and that order was displayed in a certain way in the life of the church in Corinth. The lines of that order have been blurred by their practices of who was covering and uncovering their heads in times of worship.
"Lord, help us as we go through these verses that we will keep them in the context of the overall message and not get off on things that they do not deal with. Thank You that You created both male and female and that You love them both and offer salvation to both. Help us to appreciate that there is a reason that You have an order that was played out in creation and also in our lives today. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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