Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1: 26-28, NKJV.
Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we are grateful, that in Your sight, all of Your creatures are precious. We ask that as we study Your Word You will reveal this to us. In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
For the last six days of the month of March, we will dedicate our devotionals to women issues. From Sunday, these issues will be seen from the view point of the cross of Christ, as we seek to join Christ’s sufferings, during the last week of His life on earth, with what His sacrifice on the cross did for the women of the world.
“The celebration for women’s history began as Women’s History Week in Sonoma County, California in 1978. The week included International Women’s Day (March 8). In 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Rep. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming a national Women’s History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration to a month, and March was formally declared Women’s History Month” (Army OneSource) .
It took human beings, quite a while, to recognize officially, the importance of women’s contribution to our society, and to the world at large. It has taken even longer for us to speak out against the great injustices that women, from time immemorial have suffered and are still suffering! The important thing is that women are finally being heard, and are gradually being seen, as having a right to their fair share – in some societies. So there is still work to be done!
I was somewhat shocked at some statistics I saw recently: “Worldwide, 1 in 3 women has faced some form of physical or psychological repression, most notably through sex trafficking, domestic abuse, sexual assault, honor killings, female genital mutilation, child marriage, emotional and verbal abuse, and other forms of violence” (enditnow Adventists Say No to Violence Against Women). Emphasis supplied.
Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible to imagine that we have waited this long to take an official stand against these, and other atrocious acts, more accurately, crimes, being done to women and little girls! But thank God, the day is coming when these acts of violence will be dealt with by a righteous Judge, who sees, and knows, all things! However, in the here and now, we, as Christians have a sacred duty to speak up, and speak out, against evil, regardless of where it is coming from, and against whoever it is aimed! It is a God given duty that we dare not spurn!
The sin in all of this is when we start looking at others as “less than” ourselves. When asked which was the great commandment in the law, Jesus’ answer was significant: “Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22: 37-40).
“There is one, but the second is just like it.” In other words, you cannot have one without the other! One command actually activates the other, or, leads to, the other! Most of us do not have a problem loving God with our all; the problem begins when we are asked to love our neighbors as ourselves. If our Scripture for today was taken into consideration in all our dealings with each other, it would certainly discourage our treating one other less than ourselves.
If we pay close attention to the text, we will discover that the him at the beginning of the text, becomes them, when God gives dominion over all His creation. We would recognize that the singular man becomes plural – male and female, when He makes them co-creators with Himself. We will know beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt, that men and women were created equal. It will become clear, that, “in the beginning,” God made man and woman in His image and likeness, and that in His sight, none is “less than” the other.
Our conversation continues.