"In his image he created them; male and female he created them"
How could One create two genders which are both in the image of the One? When the Creator said "It is good", the pure essence of both male and female were in balance without anything lacking. Neither male nor female was damaged in their essence. They emanated from One source and retained the Essence of the Source. That is a mystery too much for rational comprehension.
"Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are created"
This stands in radical contrast to the idea that creation and creatures exist for our profit. How could anyone sell a child for sex once they are aware that each one of us was handcrafted by Love, and that our purpose is to enjoy and to bring enjoyment to the Creator? Is a jungle improved once it has been converted into products and exchanged for currency? is that standard of measurement an improvement over the Creator's assessment "It is Good"? How can a parent decide that the life of their child in the womb is of no value compared to the poverty or illness or inconvenience of their would-be life? As a species, we have been too arrogant for too long, and the results are disastrous.
Growing up in a fundamentalist evangelical context, I was taught that mankind was given dominion over creation, which means that it is ours to tame, modify, consume, or destroy as we see fit. This interpretation of "dominion" has brought us the current dependence on coal and petroleum, deforestation, genocide, colonialism, Roundup, suburban sprawl, and industrial meat production in Concentrated Automated Feeding Operations.
What does "dominion" mean? It is from the Latin root "Domine", which means "Lord". You might say that the Creator in the Genesis account made us lords of creation. How should a lord behave? Unfortunately, there are few good human examples of lordship, so I refer you to the Lord of lords, the only good one.
"The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works."
Psalm 145:8-17
The psalmist writes "your dominion endures throughout all generations". Whatever our place in the scheme of things (or perceived place), his place is clear: above all. How does Our Lord excercise his dominion?
"The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing."
From this I gather that dominion is a role of sustenance, caring, sacrifice, provision, and gentle protection.
One of the ancient hebrew names for the Divine was "Jehovah-Jireh". Roughly translated as "The provider", it is more accurately rendered "The Nurturer". It is a female pronoun, and connotates a mother breast-feeding.
In our role as underlords, we are entitled to a few things. Every fruit and herb and plant is ours to eat freely. It may be truly said that a dog or a horse has a human "master". Our responsibility to them is to emulate our Lord in caring for them, feeding them, and treating them gently.
Nowhere does the Lord Jehovah give humans the lordship or mastery over other humans. This is something that is taken by mankind, and forbidden expressly by Christ.
Many churches teach on "male headship" or "male authority". This is also used as an excuse for an endless list of oppressive and abusive behaviors. Somewhere along the way we forgot that our Master never treats us harshly or forcefully, as if our personhood is not valuable to him. He does not give us families so that we may own them and that they might serve us- he gave us families to serve lovingly and sacrificially. A woman is not a tree or a dog or a horse or a cow- she is a Child of God and a free moral agent.
Being the head of a household spiritually means that I am the first line of defense of my family. If anything wants to do harm to my family, they must get through me to do it. If I am weakened spiritually, the rest of my family is in jeopardy.
In order to provide what is best for my wife and children, it is crucial that I know them; their preferences, their needs, wants, thoughts, emotions, communication styles, etc. It is never in my best interest to silence their voices or squelch their personality. I admit that I practice this very poorly. It is very easy for me to exert control over everyone for my own satisfaction. This is never the way I have been treated by the Holy Spirit.
God's ultimate purpose for the universe and everything in it is clear: "To unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1)
"if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5)
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:28
Our task is to return every thing to the One from which it came in order that every thing may be restored to harmony and balance with the Creator and each other! We cannot do this while we insist on animosity, emnity, and coercion toward the Other and toward ourselves.
