Few topics have created more offence, anger and confusion among Christian woman than the Genesis account of God creating Eve. Why? Because of one little word, “helper.”
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Genesis 2:18
Typically, this word associated with our gender stirs up images of a worn out wife, spending her life cooking and cleaning for an ungrateful husband.
No wonder we run the opposite direction, angry at God for assigning us such an oppressive job description!
However, I’ve come to realize that we don’t actually hate God’s job description for a Christian woman, we hate our own “christian” job description of a women.
Very Good?
After God made men and women, He looked at His creation and declared that it was “very good.” But how many times have we read this and immediately disagreed? “God’s idea to make woman as a helper might have been very good for Adam, but it doesn’t sound very good to me.”
This kind of thinking might seem harmless, but in reality, every time we disagree with or doubt God’s declared word we call Him a liar. We say in essence, “God lied about His design being very good. He doesn’t know what is best for me.”
Scripture tells us that “it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18) and that He cannot deceive us (Is 53:9). So when God said His design for femininity was very good, He meant it as true. And it wasn’t just true for God and men. God’s design is good for us as women.
When we struggle to believe that God’s pattern for our femininity is good, we need to re-examine our perspective and learn what God actually meant by what He said.
Created in the Image of God
So let’s take a closer look at the Genesis account of creation.
To begin with, before we ever learn that woman was created as a helper, God tells us that He “created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Woman was created first and foremost to bear the image of God, not to help a husband.
God created men and women to each reflect different aspects of His character. No one man can adequately reflect the nature of God, nor can one woman. But when we live according to God’s created design, men and women together magnify the image of God, and it is a witness to the world of who our God is. When we deny and rebel against God’s design, His glory cannot be magnified in our lives, and His image cannot be clearly seen.
Ezer
One of the primary ways we, as women, bear God’s image is by being a helper.
The word translated “helper” or “helpmeet” in our English Bible is the Hebrew word “Ezer.” This word is only used twice to describe women in the Bible. But it is used over 16 times to describe someone else – God.
“There is no one like God … Who rides the heavens to help you, and in His excellency on the clouds.” Deut. 33:26
“But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.” Ps 70:5
“O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.” Ps 115:9-11
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” Ps 146:5
We never read those verses and think God is weaker than us because He is our help. Rather we praise Him for His strength and might in our weakness! The writers of scripture use the word help in association with other words like deliverer, shield, strong, and excellent.
By creating us as helpers, God created us with strength, excellence, and delivering power not weakness and inferiority! This is a privilege, not an offence! And it’s time we accept this amazing privilege and allow God to reveal Himself to the world through our lives.
Men Need Us
Last year, on national women’s day, feminists in the US called for women to do nothing for one day. “Don’t go to work, don’t work in your house, don’t take care of your kids or husband. Let the world see that it can’t survive without you!”
We joke about what men would do without women all the time. But it’s partly true! Men need women. In fact, God was the first one to say “it’s not good that man should be alone.”
However, this doesn’t mean we should join the feminists in constantly reminding men of how much we do and how helpless they are without us. In Philippians God instructs us to “let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who … made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death.” (Philippians 2:5-8)
We are to humbly lay our strength at Christ’s feet, recognizing it comes from Him (remember our strength as helpers is a reflection of God) and using our strength to selflessly serve our brothers.
As a side note, women need men just as much as men need women. When God created women, He immediately brought her to man. “Neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:11)
Second side note; since God is our helper, men should ultimately depend on God to fulfill this role for them. Even a single man can receive all the help he needs from the Lord. However, God has chosen to work through women to display this aspect of His character to men, and often uses women (either in a wife or through the body of Christ) to be “His hands and feet” to men.
Created to Help not Hinder
Remember we are created to help not hinder men. As we recognize our strength, our ability to do things guys can’t, we need to be careful not to use our strength to hinder theirs.
God has called men to lead, protect, and provide (that’s the aspect of His character He gave men). And often our innocent, but derogatory comments completely crush guys, keeping them from becoming the leaders and protecters that God made them. As women we need to be careful of robbing men of their strength, and rather live in such a way that encourages, supports and presses men deeper into Christ.
Influencers
Third, women are influencers. We all instinctually know how to manipulate, and sway the opinion of men. However, many of us use this strength to destroy men and lead them into compromise and sin.
This started back with Eve in the garden of Eden. She took the fruit of the tree and gave it to Adam. She convinced him that it would be good to eat it. Rather than encouraging him to obey God, she encouraged him to rebel. We see this again and again in scripture and in our world; women using their power to get their own way.
The nature of God is to help us stand strong in the midst of a culture of compromise and sin. We need to use our feminine influence to press men towards the truth!
Embrace your God-given role
Satan wants nothing more than to destroy the image of God. He wants to distort the gospel. That is why he has tried so hard to get both women and men to despise their God given roles.
Now that we understand God’s intent for us as woman, we need to accept the amazing image we bear and allow God to reveal Himself to the world through our lives.
Let us champion the vision for Christ-built masculinity and femininity.
And may Christ begin by transforming our lives.
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- Have you believed the lie that God intends women to be weak, or that He created you inferior to men?
- Have you been hindering rather than helping the men in your life?