WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to the MetaCurch podcast. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.440 My name is Clayton. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:14.240 I'm the pastor at MetaCurch, and I hope that today's message is inspiring and enlightening and really builds you up wherever you're at in life. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.519 Well, I want to welcome you in wherever you're joining us from. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:23.600 If you're here at our Holotus venue, man, I am so, so glad you joined us. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.640 If you're with us online, I'm so grateful for that ministry. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.800 We are finally in chapter eight of Luke. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:31.519 We did it. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.200 We made it to chapter eight. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.119 So many more chapters to go. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:37.840 I hope that God is speaking to you through the gospel of Luke. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:39.679 If you're new with us, my name's Clayton. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:41.600 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:43.920 I'm so, so glad that you are here today. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:53.520 I want to let you know we are moving in to the most exciting season at MetaCurch because on October 25th, we are celebrating baptisms. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.759 It is the best thing that we do at MetaCurch. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:01.520 If you have not been to a baptism service, uh, you have to be here on October 25th. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:08.400 And if you have put your faith in Jesus at any point and you have not been baptized, man, sign up. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:11.040 This is something Jesus asks us to do. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:18.079 Uh, spoiler alert, the rest of Luke chapter 8, starting next Sunday, is just hear Jesus and obey Jesus. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:18.560 All right. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:25.200 So we need to be obedient, not because the church said, not because Pastor Clayton said, because Jesus told us to get baptized. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:30.879 Allow the body of Christ to celebrate you and support you in your journey following Jesus. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.640 And I want you to mark your calendars for October 14th. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:39.120 On October 14th, we have our next night of prayer and worship. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:46.239 And because we are moving towards baptism, we will also enter into a season of fasting together as a church. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:57.680 As we just seek God, we ask him to move, to breathe on this movement, to bring revival, and to stir the hearts of many people to come into relationship with Jesus and to get in the baptism waters. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:01:58.400 Amen? 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.120 What we've been doing is going through the gospel of Luke. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:02.879 We're in our third section. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:04.239 We made up these sections. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.159 They're not scripture, just so you know. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:15.280 In section one, uh, we saw that Jesus came to be a lot of things, but that the announcement from heaven is Jesus would be king. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.080 Not a king, the king of all kings. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:29.199 In our second section, we saw that in Jesus' kingdom there is a certain way that it operates, and it is upside down from the kingdoms and power structures of this world. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.120 So now we are in the third section. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:33.840 We call this the king's people. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:35.439 Here's the thought. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:42.800 If Jesus is king and if he rules and reigns over his kingdom, how do we become the king's kind of people? 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:54.960 And what we have seen shouldn't surprise us, is that the way Jesus is calling people and the people he's showing up for and offering a part of this kingdom is not who anyone would expect. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:00.400 Now, if you've missed any of these sermons, you can catch up.com slash metachurch. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.439 Today we are moving in a slightly different direction. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:10.800 Luke opens chapter, what we call chapter eight, and he says, look, Jesus was traveling and he was teaching, and we know that. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.560 That's like the rhythm that Jesus is in. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:13.759 He's a traveling teacher. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:20.560 And it says, the twelve men were with him, these disciples of his that he had hand selected, and that's not surprising to us. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:29.680 And then Luke also throws in there, and also Jesus had a lot of women who were traveling as a part of his ministry. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:49.360 Now I am a student of Scripture, and uh over the last 15 years, I've worked really hard to become a student of history, and because I'm a student of scripture, and because I'm I'm trying to be a student of history, while this is one of those sections that you could just blow by so fast, it would mean nothing to you in 2026. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.680 It's like, well, yeah, of course there's women in the ministry. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:56.719 You all go to meta church where there's more female full-time staff members than male full-time staff members. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:58.240 It's like, well, of course. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:01.120 We have more female volunteers than male volunteers. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:08.639 Now, men maybe step up a little bit and we can get some men helping out or around here, but it's like this shouldn't be surprising to us. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:15.120 But that's because we often look at scripture and we project 2026 onto 26. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:17.759 And that's a mistake. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:29.439 And if you know anything about history, then you might have an inkling that these verses stand out in the ancient world as incredibly unique. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:38.639 Not that just Jesus has some wealthy women who are throwing money at his ministry, that would happen at times in certain places in the ancient world. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:46.079 Not just that they got to learn from a great teacher and philosopher, that was rare, but it did happen at times in the ancient world. 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:58.800 But that these women were a part of his ministry, they were traveling with Jesus, they were ingrained alongside of the disciples, and they play significant roles throughout the rest of the story of Jesus. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.720 This is exceedingly rare in the ancient world. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:13.839 And maybe you know a little bit about the ancient world, maybe you know that for most of human history, in most places, most of the time, women were at best second-class citizens. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:24.000 And more often than not, even more heartbreakingly, women were treated more like property, more like cattle, than they were like human beings. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:27.040 This was the plight of women throughout time. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:29.920 And so I'm just gonna tell you where we're going today. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:46.800 Uh, I shared last week this might be uh a little bit of a controversial message, but I think it's so critical because it's going to get us down to one of the core issues plaguing our society today, and that core issue is we don't know who we are. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.800 Now, the study of who we are is called anthropology. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:06:02.560 And the biggest question that anthropology must ask is how do we manage the tension that seems to naturally exist between the sexes, and we don't know how to manage it. 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:18.000 And so here's how the world managed it for most of human history, really until the last few hundred years, is the men were bigger and the men were stronger, so the women lost in every facet of society. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:24.879 People throw around the term patriarchy today, it's fine, it's their prerogative to use that term. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:34.079 But if you want to know what patriarchy actually was, look at the ancient world almost everywhere, for almost all of human history. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:47.199 Actual structures and systems that ensured that women stayed oppressed at best as second-class citizens, and more often than not, seen and viewed and treated as property. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:53.199 That is the world, as everyone knew it, almost forever. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:58.079 So now the question for Christians is what does God say about this? 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:16.000 And if you're paying attention at all in the world, there are very, very loud voices who will convince you that God and the scriptures have actually done great harm to women and that the scriptures are a massive part of the problem throughout history. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:24.240 Now, here's what I know: I know that that information that most of us are receiving is on TikTok. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:30.399 And so, step number one, delete TikTok. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.680 We're not doing TikTok today. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:39.600 Now, we actually do clip these sermons and they go on TikTok and you can follow us on that, but we're not doing TikTok today. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.839 We're doing theology today. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.240 We're not doing 35 seconds on how the Bible is the greatest evil in the world. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:50.639 We're doing 55 minutes actually looking at what the text says. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:08:01.759 And if we will actually understand it and understand it in its context, we can then answer the question: has the Bible held women down or has the Bible lifted women up? 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:10.079 There are a lot of ways to appreciate what God's word and God's works have done throughout history. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:18.160 You could view this through the lens of minority ethnic groups, which were always oppressed forever throughout history. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:25.920 You could look at this through the lens of the class system in which the lower economic classes were always oppressed forever throughout history. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:32.720 But one of the most interesting things is to look at the plight of women throughout almost all of history. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:39.519 For most of history, women were seen as inferior across every possible distinction. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.799 They had no legal rights or representation. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:52.799 At many places and many times, they could not work, they could not own private property, they had no idea of sexual autonomy or consent. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.639 Life was very difficult for women for most all of human history. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:58.639 So the question is, why is that? 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:02.399 And the other question is, what changed to get us to today? 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:07.679 And then the final question is, are we headed back to where we started? 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:24.000 And so when I talk about we're gonna look at the history of how God's word and God's works have influenced our anthropology, how we view us, and how we view the sexes, we're going to like what we as Christians believe is the actual beginning of history. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:30.080 Now, there is nowhere in scripture that I reference as often as Genesis chapters one, two, and three. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:32.480 This is what's called the creation narrative. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.879 And there is a reason that I go back to this again and again and again. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:50.799 And it is because Genesis chapters one and two, they give us insight into God's design for his world and into God's desires for his world. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:55.039 In Genesis 1 and 2, he creates and it is perfect, and he places us inside of that perfection. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.240 We get to see his design and his desire for his world. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:09:59.120 Does that make sense? 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:19.519 Genesis 3 is so important because Genesis 3 is where we realize that the great gift of free will that God gave us, a free will which was necessary for a relational God to have true relationship with his people, we use that free will to rebel against God and say, we would rather govern ourselves. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:31.919 So we're going to look at this, and what we need as believers in Jesus and children of God, we need a godly anthropology, which is actually redundant. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.399 Godly anthropology is just actual anthropology. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.080 We have to put the disclaimer on it because we broke it. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.720 Godly anthropology starts in the beginning. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:44.960 We're gonna start in Genesis chapter one. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.759 Genesis chapter one gives us our first pillar. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.000 Here's what it says starting in verse 26. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:11:06.320 Then God said, Let us make mankind, not males, mankind, human beings, in our image and in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock, and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:11.919 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God, he created them. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:19.200 It doesn't say that God created the males to rule and the males to have dominion and the males to have authority. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.200 It says he created them, and you could say, well, that's just a plural adjective. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:25.440 It could mean them, all of the men. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.480 But God's going to tell you what them means. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:32.399 He created them, male and female, he created who? 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.480 Oh, metachurch, help me out. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:35.600 He created who? 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:37.360 God bless who? 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:38.720 And said to who? 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.080 Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:47.279 Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.200 This is the foundation. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:55.360 It is the first pillar for Christian anthropology, how we view mankind. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.080 First of all, God makes us in his image. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:00.000 This is called the Imago Dei. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:05.279 We are not the same as the dolphins, we are not the same as the caterpillars, we are not the same as the oak tree. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:07.519 We bear the image of God. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.639 We are unique among all of creation. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:15.440 And notice there is no distinction in the Imago Day. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:24.559 It does not say, and he created Adam in the Imago Day, and then Eve comes after and supports him, the image bearer. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:29.039 He created them, male and female, in his image. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:35.679 Here is the first pillar of correct anthropology: is that God created male and female equal. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.320 And everyone said, Amen. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:44.799 Equal in worth, equal in value, equal in dignity. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:46.879 This matters. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:55.519 Without this pillar, you move away from God's desire and design for how male and female coexist. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:59.840 Now, we move from Genesis 1 to Genesis chapter 2. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.240 Here's a little free insight for you. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:10.240 Some people are confused because in Genesis 1 you have the creation account, and then you turn the page to Genesis 2 and you have the creation account. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.840 Why do we need two of them? 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:19.279 You can think of it this way: Genesis chapter 1 tells the creation narrative from heaven looking down. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:25.279 Genesis chapter 2 tells the creation narrative more from the earth looking out. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.399 It is the same story told from two different perspectives. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:30.799 And here's what we learn in Genesis chapter 2. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:34.000 Remember, Genesis 1, equal. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.440 God creates male and female in his own image. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:45.200 We learn in Genesis chapter 2 that while they were both created equal and in the image of God, they were not created concurrently. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.279 Adam was created first. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:54.559 And Adam, who was created by God, was placed into perfection. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:58.000 You and I cannot even fathom that. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:00.960 We literally can't understand perfection. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.600 He was in perfection and he was incomplete. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.480 And so we don't know how long Adam lived without Eve. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:21.759 But God allowed for Adam to exist without Eve for long enough to figure out there was nothing in a perfect creation that could complete him. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:30.080 And so Adam is looking around at the chimpanzees and the bumblebees and the caterpillars, and nothing's doing it for him. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.639 Nothing is filling this relational gap. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.679 Why did God allow Adam to exist without Eve? 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:44.480 Because if he created them concurrently, it would not demonstrate to you and to me God's design and desire for the sexes. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.039 And so watch what happens in Genesis 2.18. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.879 The Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:51.440 Pause. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:52.960 Let me tell you what's not happening. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:15:01.120 God is not a mad scientist who created everything and then put Adam in there, and then a month later was like, gee whiz, he doesn't seem too happy. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.480 God knew. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:04.639 He knew he would not be complete. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:13.120 God did not uncover this, he revealed it for us so we could understand proper anthropology. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:14.879 So what's his solution? 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.960 I will make a helper suitable for him. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:25.120 Let me remind you, thousands of years ago, the Old Testament was not written in English. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:26.240 English didn't exist. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.320 It was written in ancient Hebrew. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:35.200 A helper suitable is a good translation, but we, through our 2026 lens, we don't like it. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.279 Oh, so the woman's a helper. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.679 Oh, so God made Adam a sexy secretary to get his coffee. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:58.080 Let me just tell you, uh, a lot of little like TikTok theologians who are trying to dismantle the Bible will take a passage like this without ever understanding the actual context, without ever actually digging into the original language, and they will go, this is what God wants. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:15:59.919 He wants you to be a little helper. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.080 The man is in charge, and you're the little helper. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.320 So these are the TikToks, so we're deleting TikTok. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:05.759 That's our first thing we're doing today. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.080 And then we're gonna actually open up the Bible when we want to go on TikTok so we can read it for itself. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:11.679 Let me tell you the Hebrew behind this. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:16.320 The Hebrew for a suitable helper are the words Edzer, conegdo. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:22.960 Edser is translated variously throughout scripture and other ancient texts as warrior. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.399 Oh, that sounds better. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:29.200 Savior, helper, even adversary. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:31.519 What about connecdo? 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:36.960 Conegto is a very interesting compound word, two words smushed together that are a paradox. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:38.480 They mean the opposite of each other. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:46.960 Coneddo are two words that mean like and not at all like, similar and dissimilar. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:17:05.279 And so when you look at the context of Genesis chapter two, Adam is in a perfect world, he's observing everything that this world has to offer, and all of the endless resources cannot satisfy him, and all of the companionship of the animals cannot satisfy him, nothing can satisfy him, so the etzer is what brings completion. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.319 The connecto is something that is like him, but is also not like him. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:20.960 And so as he looks at the chimpanzees and the sloths, and nothing is doing it for him, all of a sudden walks in a naked woman, and Adam's like, This will work. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:30.480 And because he's been looking at orangutans, he sees Eve and he goes, Connecto. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.039 Oh my gosh. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.000 Someone who's like me. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:40.720 And then he looks closer and he's like, but also not like me. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:48.720 The one who is like you, but importantly, not like you. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:50.160 That completes you. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.720 This is the second pillar. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:57.839 Genesis 1, we get the first pillar, which is we, male and female, are equal. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:03.759 Genesis 2, we get the second pillar, we are equal, and we are distinct. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:07.759 Men and women are the same. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:12.480 And also, men and women are not the same. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:26.720 And that matters, and it matters for a million reasons, but as followers of Jesus and children of God, it matters because it matters to God. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:36.000 And so when you get equal and distinct, you get a word that's going to be important for us to understand true godly anthropology. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:44.400 When men and women are equal in value, worth, and dignity, and men and women are allowed the distinctions of the sex. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:48.640 When you have equal and distinct, you have what is sacred. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:57.519 Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 show us God's design and desire, and everything in the garden was sacred. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:03.279 However, we know that the world did not stay this way. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:09.200 If you know anything about the creation narrative, we have Genesis 1 and 2, and then you have Genesis 3. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.839 Genesis 3 is known as the fall of man. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:25.680 Adam and Eve, the Edser connectos, they are tempted, and the first temptation is hey, you know, God's like good and he's made a perfect world for you, but you don't have to be subordinate to God. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:27.440 You can be a God. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:29.680 You can be exactly like him. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.559 And if you're exactly like God, if you're peers, then God doesn't need to govern you. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.559 You can govern yourself. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.480 And they give into the temptation and they fall. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:48.079 And it breaks their relationship with God and it breaks the world. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.799 And it's important, you know, it breaks God's heart. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:04.240 And so the bulk of Genesis chapter 3 is God listing off to Adam and Eve the curses that will result from the fall. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:12.079 They're all important, but for our conversation today, we are going to look at what he says to Eve in Genesis 3, verse 16. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:16.160 He says, This I will make your pains in childbearing very severe. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:18.400 With painful labor, you will give birth to children. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:19.680 Here's the key text. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:44.960 So our TikTok experts pulled this verse, and they have no idea of context, no idea of original languages, no idea of linguistics, and they go, You see, the women, we just desire our husbands. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.000 We just want to love him and be intimate with him. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:55.759 But these men, God told the men, he prescribed to the men that they get to rule over us. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:04.640 And so they will frame the scriptures from the very beginning as something that has held women down for all of history. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:07.839 Can I tell you what's actually happening here? 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:21.519 God's heart is broken as He is explaining to Adam and Eve how the world will function now that they have chosen to govern the world by themselves. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:27.440 Genesis 3 is not God's desire, and it is not God's design. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.480 That's Genesis 1 and 2. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:34.160 Genesis 1 and 2 was broken by us. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:41.359 And so God isn't saying, hey, you're gonna have to work by the sweat of your brow, and I'm happy about it. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.839 Hey, bearing children is gonna be extremely painful, and I love that for you. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:51.920 He's not saying there's now gonna be tension between the sexes because I want there to be tension between the sexes. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:57.680 He's telling them, Because you've walked away from me, here's what's coming, and it breaks my heart. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.680 We also read. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:07.440 This through the lens of supposed patriarchy, and we go, the the women they just desire, and the men rule. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.119 It's like just read the Bible. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:12.960 You don't even have to go far. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:14.880 This is 316. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:27.359 You can go one chapter over to Genesis 4.7, and if you're reading slow enough and you're paying attention, you will find the exact same phrase and you will let scripture interpret scripture. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:27.920 Amen? 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:28.960 This is what we do. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.160 We just let scrip we don't let TikTok interpret scripture. 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:36.000 You shouldn't even just rely on me as your pastor to interpret scripture. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.200 You should be in the word and allow scripture to interpret scripture. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:39.920 Amen? 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:41.519 So watch this. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:48.720 In Genesis 4, Cain's sacrifice is not accepted by God, but his brother Abel's is, and Cain is red hot. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.200 Cain's gonna kill his brother. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:53.599 And God comes to him and speaks to him. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:56.480 And he says, You have to get control of yourself. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:57.599 Watch how he says it. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:00.720 I'll put both screen both verses on the screen for you. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:11.359 God says to Cain, if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must what? 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:13.039 Rule over it. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.400 It's the same phrase. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:22.960 This is not the woman who just wants love and the man who oppresses. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.480 This is two-way battle of the sexes. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:32.880 This is the inherent tension between man and woman that exists still to this day. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:44.880 God is telling them in my world of Genesis 1 and 2, you live at harmony, you are equal and distinct, but in the world you're gonna create for yourself, men will seek to overpower and oppress women. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.359 And women will seek to coerce, manipulate, and undermine men. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:55.119 And if you don't see evidence of that in the world today, you're asleep. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:59.920 So how does this actually play out? 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:10.319 Like immediately after the fall, immediately, the ideology of the day of a godless world becomes might makes right. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:18.240 Might makes right simply means if you have the power, you get the position. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:22.160 If you have the strength, you have the success. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:29.680 Whoever has the upper hand and can dominate sets all the rules in their favor and oppresses those who are not like them. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:40.799 And in this scheme of a world living under might makes right, in this scheme, women almost immediately became second-class citizens at best, and property at worst. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:49.039 And life became very difficult almost everywhere, almost all the time, for almost all women. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.000 Education was withheld, sexual consent was determined only by men, legal rights were non-existent. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:59.599 Many women around the world became treated as property. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.880 During this, the word patriarchy gets thrown around a lot. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:04.480 This was patriarchy. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:16.400 Systems, worldviews, yes, religious dogmas, yes, governments were set up to hold this standard, and yes, it's like we're gonna be all the way honest. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:25.519 Christians have fallen into this trap again and again, misreading the words of God through the lens of their own ideas and pain. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:33.599 One of the top documentaries on Netflix right now is a pastor who had terrible theology that led to devastating consequences. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:34.799 Maybe you've seen it. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:36.880 It's like this exists. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:44.720 Now, the question is, what does God's word and what have God's works done? 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:49.920 Have they kept women down or have they lifted women up? 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:57.920 We moved after the fall into a time of true sexism and true misogyny. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.640 Misogyny means inherent contempt and prejudice against women. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:04.160 That's what it means. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:14.480 And so let me just tell you, in this world, which was most of human history, this was the plight of women, in this world, remember, we have two pillars, equal and distinct. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:19.359 Here's what the world said: yes, distinct, no, not equal. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:21.680 We are not equal. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.039 Men and women aren't equal. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:24.400 This is very reductive. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:27.440 So, internet that's gonna take this out of context and get mad at me. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.319 I'm I'm admitting, this is very reductive. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:32.319 Might makes right. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:38.640 And so for the men who said, yeah, obviously distinct, but not equal. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.880 If you were really to get reductive, it came down to something like this. 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:45.839 How could women be equal to us? 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:49.119 They can't even pick up rocks as big as we can. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:52.559 Might makes right. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.880 And the whole world creates systems around this. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:01.279 It's not just we don't believe women are equal, but we do believe in distinction. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:02.559 It's worse. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:09.519 It's because of our distinctions that we believe women are not equal. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:15.680 And this is the way that the world operated for a very, very long time. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:24.720 However, we stand in 2026 and undoubtedly have made immense progress. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.960 And we're gonna talk in a little while about how that process was even possible. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:41.039 How did we go from this as the status quo forever in all places to all of a sudden a mass movement of the uplifting of women? 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:43.839 We're gonna come to that in just a little while. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:47.440 But I want to jump past that into 2026. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:28:04.720 Because while we had patriarchy and misogyny on that side of the equation, today we are once again trying to manage the tension between men and women, the battle of the sex is inherent now in our sin nature, in a culture that has once again walked away from God. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:14.000 And so what we're trying to do is anthropology without the God who created us and designed how we were supposed to work. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:15.680 We're doing it again. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:20.000 The same way they did it after the fall, and it fell into patriarchy and misogyny. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:22.559 We're doing it now in 2026. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.880 Except the culprits are a little bit different. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:31.680 The culprits are things like critical sex theory and the radical forms of feminism. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:40.799 And before you get frustrated at me, let me show you what this looks like when it comes to God's anthropology. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:49.440 And what this looks like, and the actual arguments being made on both sides might just shock you. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:52.000 Here's where we're at today. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:29:01.279 Today we are trying to answer this apart from God, and because we're answering it apart from God, we are in a massive overcorrection. 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:06.799 Here's the question that things like critical sex theory are asking. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:21.440 What if women now, now that uplifted, equal rights, equal worth, what if women accumulated power in the same way that men have historically? 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:29.519 What if women, the same way men went after their power for like all of human history, what if we just did that? 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:36.319 In the sexual revolution of the last 100 years, this was the actual argument. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:47.519 It's like men are just sexually perverse, they're promiscuous, they're like feral raccoons out in the world, and the women are expected to be chaste and pure and holy. 00:29:47.680 --> 00:30:01.359 So here's the answer: a godless world, instead of saying, What if both men and women were motivated to submit their sexuality to the God who created them and hold it as sacred for a covenant that God has provided for us? 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:05.839 What if instead the women are just as sexually promiscuous as the men? 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.200 And that's the sexual revolution. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:17.119 Men have accumulated power by force, by coercion, by manipulation, by overpowering, by oppression. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:23.359 Instead of going, what if men started looking like Jesus and started serving other people instead of lording power over them? 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:28.160 Instead, the radical theories say, Well, what if women just went and got power the same way men did? 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:36.400 Men, heartbreakingly, historically, have forgotten their homes, forgotten their wives, and forgotten their kids to advance their career. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:43.920 Instead of saying, What if everyone was motivated by God's word and God's works to find a healthy balance in life? 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:52.880 The radical side says, women should have the right to also abandon home and house and spouse and children to pursue their career. 00:30:54.480 --> 00:31:01.119 If you're not hearing this, you're not paying attention, these are the narratives of culture. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.960 And so here's what they're saying. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:09.039 Like how they dress it up is very nice and it's very appealing and it's even persuasive. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.079 But I'm gonna tell you what they're actually arguing for. 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:13.359 Here's the argument. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:21.759 Toxic masculinity is a problem that must be cured by women acting exactly like toxic men. 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:30.720 They can dress it up and they can put it in a syllogism and they can make their arguments, but this is what they're asking for. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:32.000 Have you ever heard the phrase? 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:33.440 It's a cute phrase. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:39.039 Sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:48.240 That sounds so good, but did you know if you fight fire with more freaking fire, you're going to get an out-of-control fire? 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:51.519 What are we looking at in culture? 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:57.839 A fire that is out of control, both sides entrenched in broken, godless ideology. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:00.160 And we're watching it in real time. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:01.440 You know what's happening? 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:13.680 The harder the critical sex theory and radical feminism pushes, for the first time in my lifetime, there are prominent voices once again pushing actual misogyny. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:22.000 There are influencers and streamers with millions of impressionable eyes on them. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:36.880 So for the 14th thousandth time, I'm gonna tell you as parents, you have to monitor your kids' phones because the audience of these guys filling people's heads with pagan misogynistic garbage, their audiences are like all under 15 years old. 00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:48.640 Our youngest generations are learning the old way of sexism and patriarchy, and both sides now. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:54.319 Although they are fringe, they are the loudest voices and they get the most attention. 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.599 What ultimately are the new radical voices coming after? 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.559 Well, I'll let you hear it in their own words. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:06.319 Both of these are from the 1970s when this movement really got kick-started. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:14.960 Kate Millett said that her job is to fight for the end of sex roles and the end of sex status. 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:18.559 No more male and female, no more man and woman. 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:22.240 Another activist, Shoulemith Firestone, said this. 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:29.599 The end goal of feminist revolution must be not just the elimination of male privilege, but of the sex distinction itself. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:34.160 Genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:35.839 Let me just show you this. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.960 I've got the simplest structure for us today. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:47.920 In the ancient world, for thousands of years, while God says equal and distinct, man said distinct but not equal. 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:51.039 Well, what does the new answer say? 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:55.359 It says yes, equal but not distinct. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:59.440 They're not coming after equality, they're coming after distinction. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:06.799 That we cannot celebrate the differences that God built into male and female. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:16.159 Male and female, he created them equal, and he created them equal as etzer, connecto, the same, but not the same. 00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:22.239 Now, here's what will really blow your mind because some of you aren't convinced, and some of you have bought into some of these ideas. 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:33.440 And so I need to show you the real damning evidence philosophically between this idea, not equal but distinct, equal but not distinct. 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:34.639 Are you following? 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:41.199 Here's what patriarchy says because of distinction, we are not equal. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:44.800 Here's what radical feminism says. 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:50.079 If we allow distinction, we will lose equality. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:56.800 In other words, they're making the exact same argument. 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:05.440 They're coming at it from two different angles, but they are making the exact same argument. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:18.159 And when either side is successful, they eliminate one of the key foundations for how God created men and women. 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:28.000 And so either we trust God who created us, designed us, and has desires for us, or we don't. 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:30.159 So let's talk about what the actual answer is. 00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:33.360 The world and the godless culture cannot provide us answers. 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:40.559 It will either spiral us into misogyny, or it will spiral us into some form of radical, critical sex theory. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:42.480 Neither of those are going to work. 00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:44.079 So what is the actual answer? 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:48.480 Well, I don't know if you know this, but across our venues, you're sitting in a church service. 00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:52.719 If you're watching online, this YouTube channel is called Metachurch, this is gonna be shocking to you. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:55.360 I think the answer's Jesus. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:58.880 Welcome back to Sunday school where Jesus is always the answer. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:06.000 Now let me address something because we make a massive mistake, third time I've said it. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:13.679 When we stand in 2026 and we project 2026 onto 26 or 1500 BC. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:16.559 But we do it all the time. 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:26.719 And so maybe you've even read the Old Testament, maybe you've read the law in the Old Testament, and you've gone, this isn't like great for women. 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:32.800 And if you're judging by today's standards, you may have a point. 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:43.840 But if you do the correct work of reading and interpreting scripture, you have to seek to understand the context that the law was given in. 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:53.039 And when you read it correctly, here's what you find: that God always meets us where we are if we're willing to surrender to God. 00:36:53.920 --> 00:37:11.360 And every time God intervenes in a toxic, broken, sinful world, he starts adding guardrails in a Genesis 3 broken world to start moving us back to Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:18.800 And just so you know, the garden, the perfection, that's not just past, that is also future. 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:23.679 That is where we are headed someday when God comes and creates the new heavens and the new earth. 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:27.440