“Stand fast in the Faith, quit you like men, be strong.”
1 Corinthians 16.13
“Man, my Lord (to Bishop Wilberforce) is a being born to believe ".
Benjamin Disraeli
As we look at the various members of the family from a Biblical standpoint, we cannot ignore a basic truth that is given in the first book of Corinthians chapter 11. A Divine order is clearly stated, namely, God, Jesus, man and woman. The apostle goes on to underscore that by telling us that Adarn was first formed, then Eve, showing a male priority.
When we read Scripture, we must understand that it is the inspired word of God, given to us among other things for instruction, (2 Timothy 3:16) and it carries Divine authority. We are told to rightly divide the Word, which means that we do not pick and choose what we believe. For instance there are those who suggest that Jesus was a 'child of His age' when He was on earth. As far as His humanity was concerned, this is true, but they therefore go on to propound that because of this He went along with their superstitions, such as the fact that people could be possessed by evil spirits. He would pretend to cast them out.
Other passages get dismissed on the grounds that they belong to an eastern culture and have no relevance for us today. There are yet other passages being dismissed because the writer's prejudices are suspect, such as the apostle Paul being anti-ferninine!
The danger of such criticism is that it makes Scripture optional, and that puts the Church and especially the Ministry in a very weak and confused situation indeed.
Coming back then to this matter of Divine order, it must be pointed out that priority does not necessarily mean superiority. In the chapter quoted above, it will be noted that God is mentioned before Jesus on the Divine side, and man is mentioned before woman on the human side, but no Christian would draw the conclusion from those verses that Jesus is inferior to the Father. Both of them, including the Holy Spirit are equally Deity. It is a question of order. The Father originates; the Son mediates and the Holy Spirit generates.
In the building of a house, the foundation must be laid first. The walls and roof are added later, but that does not make the foundation superior, and as a matter of fact, when the house is complete, the walls and rood have a higher profile than the foundation because it is unseen and it would not be a house at all without its components.