Eve vs. Jesus

Ladies, I didn’t forget you!  I haven’t ever seen a study examining Christ for a picture of true femininity, but let’s take a stab at it anyway.  First though, let me be perfectly clear- Jesus was a manly man.  He is the ultimate example of masculinity. He wasn’t some pansy, metro, effeminate, girly-man. 
But we are all called to imitate Christ, and God is a beautiful mix of masculinity and femininity; we are ALL made in the image of God, MALE and FEMALE.  We both reflect Him. So it stands to reason that He also reflects both masculinity and femininity well, right??

Well, let’s dive right in.  In my last post, I mentioned that Eve failed to trust the Lord to love her well.  Ladies, can I get an “Amen” on this one? I think we all struggle from time to time with trusting that the Lord wants what is best for us.  We seek out our own pleasures and try to find our own security in the fleeting things of this world.  We try to manipulate situations to our advantage instead of trusting the Lord.  That helps explain why Eve took the fruit and ate of it in the garden- she wanted to be like God.  She felt like maybe He was holding something back.  Now let’s compare that to Christ.  Before going to the cross, He pleaded with the Lord to find another way.  And it wasn’t just a fleeting thought- He prayed so hard he was sweating blood!  That has yet to happen in my prayer life, and I’ve been super passionate in some prayers.  Jesus was pleading with the Lord. Yet He went to the cross with out defending Himself; He could have taken Himself off that cross at any point, yet submitted to the will of the Father, trusting that it was worth it, that it would redeem the Bride.  THAT is the type of trust I want to have in God.

Also, Jesus was an amazing example of a humble servant. As Christians, we are slaves to Christ, and therefore humble servants toward others.  Uniquely as women, we were also created with more of an inclination toward this.  Eve was created as a “helpmate” for Adam.  The Hebrew word for this denotes someone who is of the utmost help and assistance to someone.  Eve was created to encourage and help her husband in a uniquely feminine way.  Christ exemplifies this in countless ways; He washes the disciples feet, He defends the sinners and the needy, He heals the sick and meets people where they’re at.  One time He was talking and it was brought to His attention that it was dinnertime. Instead of sending the people home to eat on their own, He provides food- enough to feed 5000 men and their families.  But, if you look at the passage, there were also 12 baskets of food left over.  Not only did He care enough to serve dinner to the people who came to hear His teachings, but He also made sure that His disciples were fed as well.  God takes care of His people! We need to serve well, trusting Him to provide for our needs. 

Additionally, Eve was called the mother of the living, and Christ is called the Living Word.  He came to give life!  Just as Christ gives life to others, as women, we should be giving life as well.  Are you the type of person that is refreshing to be around? Do you give life, or suck the life from others?  As women, we encourage and give life in a different way than men, but we tend to have a pronounced calling toward giving life.  We usually have a maternal instinct, a compassion for others, sympathy, and encourage more frequently.  We are called to be life-givers! Song of Songs refers to it as a “lily among thorns.”  Is that the type of woman you are?  It’s the type of woman we should strive to be.  We need to emanate Christ in a uniquely feminine way.  Follow His example; point others to Him, and give life!  Whether that’s through encouraging words, actions, or any other method you think of- follow the example of Christ. Be intentional, and fulfill the calling He has on women.  KNOW women of the Bible.  You can check out a general study from the blog here.  But ladies, I can’t encourage you enough to know how God has created women, what the Bible describes as Biblical femininity as compared to culture, and what are admirable qualities of a Biblical woman.  If you don’t know the answers to those questions, that leaves the door wide open for the enemy to come in and distort your view of what it means to be a woman.  It is a high and unique calling, one that the Lord has given specifically to women, and one that we should not take lightly.  We are representing Christ as women; so first we must know Him, then know how we reflect His character as women.  Then go hard for the Lord. J