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quickly found out, and you and
1
now
know, that obedience to this com–
mand of God is a great enjoyment!
Subtle Serpent on the Scene
So, the perfect pair, Adam and Eve,
were off to a perfect start in wedded
bliss, naked, unashamed, blessed by
their Creator-all was well. ...
Until Satan, the Snake, showed
up. In about as much time as it takes
to tell , he convinced our first parents
to partake of the only tree in the Gar–
den that God had commanded them
not to touch. That mea! changed
their attitudes, their outlook, their
feelings about the blessings God had
showered on them. The blessing and
beauty of sex t he way God in–
tended- husband and wife, naked
and unashamed, bound to each other
as one flesh-soured into a feeling of
guih. They hid themselves from God,
ashamed. Satan had convinced them
that good was evil and evil good,
turned their world upside down,
made a mockery of what God in–
tended for them.
Deceit and lyi ng entered the
world. Death followed. Our parents
had dishonored their only parent,
God, stolen the one thing not be–
longing to them, !usted, believed Sa–
tan' s lies, bought human nature
wholesale from the manufacturer!
(See Ezekiel 28:15 and John 8:44.)
The curses reaped caused the inequi–
ties between the sexes so prominent
since. Life became a burden and a
struggle. The beauty and equality of
the Garden disappeared. Strife, guilt,
shame and pain took over-$atan's
way held sway.
But itdoesn' t haveto bethat way for
you and me. James gives \he simple
formula bywhich to return to the inno–
cence and open freedom for an unlim–
ited future first offered in Eden. The
gift of life is still available; no need to
slave for the wages of sin: death. "Re–
sist the devil , and he will fle.e from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he wi ll draw
nigh to you" (James 4:7-8).
Satan hates sex. He besmirches it
with evil of every sort. He makes it
seem sinful in every way, perverts it,
glorifies its denegation. From one ex–
treme to the other the devil broad–
casts his hate: The best state of hu–
man beings is celibacy (God said,
" lt
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1979
is
not
good that the man should be
alone"); aduhery and lusting after
your neighbor's wife is encouraged
by every artífice (God said, " Hus–
bands, !ove your wives" and "Thou
shalt not commit adultery"); sodomy
and bestial ity a re nurtured as natural
(God said, "Thou shalt not lie with
mankind, as with womankind: it is
abomination. Neither shalt thou lie
with any beast to defile thyself there–
with"). Satan says, "Ye shall not
surely die" (Gen. 3:4) if you taste of
these fruits of rebell ion against the
Creator God. God says in Genesis
2:17: "Thou shah surely die."
Whom do
you
believe? Adam and
Eve believed Satan- and so has each
generation since. Except for individ–
uals who answered the call of God
and carne to understand His gift of
truth and freedom, who entered into
life from death, who shed their guilt
in genuine repentance and a change
of heart and spirit.
Satan the devil has deceived the
whole world (Rev. 12:9) . Deceived it
in every aspect: religious, moral, gov–
ernmental, even physically. Concepts
and ideas practiced for the centuries
since Eden, which put women into the
typical stereotypes which so many of
themabhor today, are the result ofthis
deception, along with so much else
that is wrong with theworld.lt was not
God's intent tbat such inequality
should exist, nor does He consider
woman one whit inferior toman.
Simple Reasonlng
There a re differences, to be sure.
Thank God that there are differ–
ences! But it is an all-too-common
case of bad judgment to automati–
cally decide that if something is dif–
ferent from something else it must be
either superior or inferior. Sadly,
that is just the human practice (in–
spired and goaded by that old Ser–
pent) in so many areas. Race, nation–
alily and sex are prime misjudg–
ments. The races (or, more accurate–
ly, the colors) mankind is by variety
divided into are carefully c lassified
(depending on the race or color) as lo
inferiority or superiority. The same
witb nationalities. In each of the for–
mer categories there is room for
many strata. With sex there are only
two (we will not , at this time, discuss
the opinion of sorne that there are
three). Hence, one must be inferior,
and the other superior.
Simple-ANO WRONG-reasoning.
Each living human being is different
from every other. Differences do not
make for an inferior or superior indi–
vidual; they only make for a
different
individual. Women can have babies;
men can't. That's a difference. Men
generally have a stronger musculature
than women- that's a difference. Nei–
ther attribute changes either from
be–
ing a human being made in the image
of God:
That's equality!
If
differences
make for strengths, they should be am–
plified; if they make for weaknesses,
they should be controlled. Trying to
prove equality by playing the other fel–
low's game is not wise or Jogical , does
not make sense-and proves nothing.
l t is not necessary for women to
become better (or as good as) men
truck drivers, ditch diggers and war–
riors for them to prove their equality.
It
is not necessary (nor possible) for
men to bear children and give suck to
them to prove equality with women.
Whence Equallty?
Many will argue with one of the main
precepts this nation of the United
States is founded upon: "AII men are
born equal." They point out the differ–
ences of wealth, social status, physical
or mental strengths, and they argue
inequality. This is the old apples-and–
oranges trick: disallowed.
Where, then, does the equality
Ji e?
In human potential.
Every member of the human race,
mate and female alike, was created
by God to become His son or daugh–
ter-a member of His own family.
"Ye shall be my sons and daugh–
ters," says God ( 11 Cor. 6:18). We
are a
JI
"heirs together of the grace of
life"
(1
Pet. 3:7).
Each of us has a mind, the spirit in
man(kind), lo which God joins His
own Holy Spirit and enables us alllo
call Him Father (Rom. 8: 15-16).
Each of uscan parlake of His divine
nature
( 11
Pet. 1:4). Each life is
judged by the same God, granted the
same forgiveness by the same God,
has the same blood of the same
Christ applied, is welcomed into the
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