1 Cor. 11:1- 16 Your Hair, Your Head, Your Heart
Intro: Now
chapter 11 begins w/ what they call in literature & public speaking as a
transition / a phrase that links one section to another.
A) A phrase that is the closing point in one section but the beginning
point in another section / the connecting of one IDEA to the next.
B) Paul has been talking about
our freedom in Christ - liberty that we have in the Lord. - that is so wonderful & awesome .
1)But Paul has also said that he was willing to forfeit that liberty so if it
meant that in exercising that liberty - that others would be stumbled
C) Or that the message of the
gospel would be hindered - In other words Paul was saying I will die to myself & deny myself so that others are not stumbled
but are built up & strengthened
D) Paul also said that I have
become all things to all men that I might save some .
Guys that is
exactly what Jesus did. He became all things to all men- He left the glory of
heaven - & took on flesh & blood - became man.
A) Then He who knew no sin lit.
became sin - took upon himself all the sins of the world why ?
B) So that He might - save some
- & so that He might be a perfect High Priest to those who are saved.
C) So Paul says imitate me as I
also imitate Christ - perfect conclusion to this section on liberty - true
liberty is found in following Christ.
1) Allowing Christ to be
Himself in your life - lead you in those areas where you need to die to self /
deny self / truly free
That really
sums up all that Paul has been saying on this issue of Christian liberty
A) But Paul’s words are also a
wonderful intro. to the current section of scripture here in chapter 11 -
because by stating that He is
following Christ
1) Paul is also saying that
Christ is the Leader / that Jesus is the HEAD and that Paul is in submission to
HIM !!!!
B) That is the focal point of
the first part of Ch.11
B) See although there is great
freedom in Christ -/ and we experience the beauty of a relationship w/ Christ -
1) That Christianity is not
about rules/ rituals & regulations where by we recite this & say that -
a)
A
systematic system of ritual where by I move my hands in this direction or in
that direction - burn incense at this time / recite this scripture here
1) No it is not that at all .
C) No my relationship w/ the
Lord is one that is free from rules & Reg. / it comes from the heart &
meets God’s heart
1) And because it is Spirit
& it is based upon truth it is one that He is pleased w/ - so far from
religiosity & Churchianity
D) Not religious - But let us not in the heart of what Paul
is saying / let us not liberate ourselves or free ourselves
1)from
that which has been pre-ordained / or pre-planned by the Lord &
is
part of the foundational understanding for peace in God’s house
d) There is an order to our walks w/ the Lord &
in Church life / it is not to be a free
for all - submitted to Christ & His word.
E) There must be some order -
there must be some rank in relationship & that is what Paul establishes
here in 1st part ch. 11
In this
section before us Paul is continuing to answer questions written to him by the
church
A) The Question he is dealing w/ in the 1st part of ch.
11 is on the role of women in public worship
B) But Before diving into this
Paul begins on a positive note by praising the church v.2
2 Now I
praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the
traditions just as I delivered them to you.
A)
Paul appreciated the fact that the
church remembered him & and that
they were faithful to keep some of the teaching that had been given them.
B) So Paul praises them in the areas where they were doing well before
pointing out some of the areas where they were not doing so well.
1) Good thing to practice
One of the
biggest problems in the Corinthian church was disorder in the public meetings.
A) Some of the women were
assuming more freedom than they should have; there was disorder at the Lord’s
Supper;
1) and there was confusion in
the use of the spiritual gifts.
B) “The church had been greatly enriched with spiritual gifts, but they
were sadly lacking in spiritual graces”.
1) Paul sought to correct this
first problem by reminding them of a principle that had been ordained by God .
C)
PRINCIPLE OF HEADSHIP - Understanding
this principle is a key in our walks w/ the Lord / in marriage, in ministry & Church life. V.3
3 But I want
you to know ( understand- I want you to
get this) that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man,
and the head of Christ is God.
A) In discussing this issue of Headship Paul - considers 3 aspects
God /Christ / Man/
B) And In stating this
principle Paul is illustrating that it
is evident that there is a definite order of headship in God’s plan .
C) And when talking about the subject it is always
important to keep in
mind
the big picture .
C) In other words the issue
isn’t who’s better man or woman / issue is God’s
divine
order!
1) He has a system set up that
at times we may not fully understand
but
the best thing is for us to obey!
D) So Paul lays out this
principle by stating 3 degrees of headship
start
w/ last one first - give best understanding !
God is the
head of Christ :
A) Now understand that Christ has never been before, during, or after his
incarnation inferior to the father
John 10:30 30 "I and My Father are
one." - SPEAKS
OF EQUALITY
BUT IN JOHN. 14:28 28 "You have heard Me say
to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would
rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater
than I.
Now is that a
contradiction? - Jn. 10:30 WE ARE ONE / Jn. 14:28 - The father is
greater - what is going on here.
B) It is the rank & role
relationship between Father & Son as established for the purpose of
redemption.
1) The only way that you &
I could be redeemed is if there was a voluntary submission that occurred in the
GodHead.
C) And as it occurred in the
Godhead - as it reads in Psa. 2 :7 7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD
has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
D) if that wouldn’t have
happened we wouldn’t have been redeemed - saved
Yes there is
equality in the Godhead - but on a certain day & for a certain season .
Christ Jesus voluntarily submitted himself to the will of the father - for the
purpose of our redemption.
B) In His Incarnation He
willingly submitted Himself to the
Father in His role as Savior & redeemer !
1) He lovingly submitted
Himself to His father : Take this cup …..
An act of humble obedience in fulfilling His divine purpose!
C) Joy set before Him He endured the Cross - Saw the big picture !
So 1st
Jesus submitted to His Father!
1) Joy was in fulfilling His
Father’s Plan & seeing men saved
D) Paul says Imitate me as I imitate Christ - as I also
live to Please the
father & see men get saved !
2nd
look at the relationship of man to Christ /
Christ is the Head of every man
!
AA) Head refers to the ruling
part of the body . but here is stated as
a general principle !
A)Matt. 28:18 "All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
B) Most of mankind has never acknowledged Christ authority /
Phil. 2: 9-11 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in
heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
D) those who willingly submit
to His authority make up the Church & those who rebel against His authority
make up the world !
1) So Christ is the Head of
every man & there is a day coming when
He
will exercise His authority in Judgment !
E) So Christ is the Head of the
Church
1) But think about it He
doesn’t lead Tyrant but as a loving leader who
seeks to lead His people into blessing !
3rd
Aspect of Divine Order - is the Headship of man over the woman!
A.) Understand - Paul makes no
distinction here between men and women as far as relates to personal worth, abilities, intellect, or
spirituality
B) Both as human beings &
as Christians, women in general are completely
equal to
men, spiritually - neither
male nor female.
B.) Some women are even superior
to men in ability, talent, skill, intellect, maturity and spiritually
1.) but men & women
different - temperaments - personalities
C.) Guys like Root beer mug -
Mac Truck - strong sturdy -
1.) women like a wine glass, delicate
- sports car - finely tuned!
D.) God being master planner -
He is set up this divine order so that men and women - operate - according
HIS plan ( Great support of each other)
Now Paul
inseparably ties the 3 aspects of the principle together.
A) As Christ is submissive to
the Father and Men are to be submissive
to
Christ / women are to be
submissive to men
1) It is a voluntary submission
that says I want to operate in the realm
of God’s
preordained plan / order / & design.
B) The
authority of submission in each of these cases is based on love - not tyranny
A) The Father sent Christ out of love - not under compulsion - to redeem
the
world
B) the Son
submitted to the Father out of love, not compulsion
1.) Christ loves the church so much that He died for it - and He rules the church in
love - not in tyranny
C) In response, the church submits to Him in love/ seeks to
serve Him
D) Likewise, men in general and
husbands in particular should exercise their
authority in
love - not in tyranny.
1.) They do not have authority
because of greater worth, ability - but simply because of God’s wise design and
loving will
E) Women need to respond in
loving submission as they were designed to do
Quite frankly
- this is a message that many woman - hate today - many would say haven’t you
heard that this is the 90’s
A) We are CEO’s / corporate
heads - we run big business & large companies - But You cannot, for
example, reject
B) the principle of woman’s submission to man
without also rejecting Christ’s submission to the Father and believers’
submission to Christ
b) But understand that this is
God’s order for kingdom / & homelife
C) To resist this order - is to
find yourself in a place where not really going to experience God’s blessing.
So here in v.3
- we see principle - stated - 3 pictures of Headship according to Divine Plan
V.4-7 - Principle applied:
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his
head covered, dishonors his head.
5 But every woman who prays or
prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the
same as if her head were shaved.
6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also
be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be
covered.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his
head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
The issue
stated here - is that of head coverings
A.) In the Corinthian culture it was not proper for a
man to cover his head in the assembly
B.) Where this custom originated
is uncertain - little historical data on subject
1) In same way - men not right
to be covered - it wasn’t proper for
woman to
go about uncovered
C) The Jewish custom was for
all women to cover their heads with a veil when they went outside their homes.
1) To appear in public without
a veil was a sign of immodesty and lack of virtue.
D) To appear in a worship service without a veil was
unthinkable.
1.) In fact, the only women in
that culture who went around w/ heads uncovered - were prostitutes
D.) They wore their Heads
uncovered -often hair short - or head
shaved!
So wearing a
veil or covering in public - especially church - was a woman’s way of being different from world
A.) Also - was a way of stating her devotion and submission to her husband as well as her
commitment to God
B.) If a woman were to pray or
prophesy in that culture w/out a covering - it would draw attention to herself
1.) make statement - she was her own woman / doing own thing - not any submission to anyone
b) It would be an outward
representation to the world concerning the condition of her heart that she didn’t want to submit to
husband
1) And there by she didn’t want
to submit to God - Not interested in
glorifying God - more interested in glorifying self.
C.) This I believe is main issue here - “Who do we want to glorify and draw
attention to?”
1.) “All things done for the glory of God”
Now - in our
culture - head coverings are not an issue. / But there is an issue of women
being in submission to husbands / i.e.
to God
A) There is a big issue to
consider about - people drawing attention to themselves or seeking to
themselves & not the Lord.
C.) Now that is exactly the
point Paul makes in v.7 - For a man indeed ought not to cover his
head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
Word glory
could actually - be translated - reflection
A) Catch this - man is reflection of God! How I live
is to reflect my relationship w/ the Lord -
Glorify HIM Hopefully - others see Jesus in me!
B) For a woman - not only
reflection of the Lord, but if married - also of her
husband
1.) How my wife is doing will
reflect where I am at w/ the Lord
D.) What my wife is doing will
reflect whether the issue of submission is being carried out in our home
d) But - there are ways - in
church - men and women draw attention to
themselves!
E) Praying - flowery prayers - Spurgeon do your devotions at Home
/ know pastors who read prayers -
someone else wrote - or memorize - Spurgeon -
1) Worship - sit in front &
draw stand sway -
F) Less spiritual things like what I wear - Ladies - pants so tight have look painted on
- purpose ? Not comfortable
See that is
the problem ( exalt self draw attention to self demand our rights / fulfill our
desires )-THE GOAL IS LOST
AA) our goal is to draw attention to and point
people to Jesus!
A) Ask What I wear - drawing attention to me?
B.) How I act? What I say? - My
focus - should be to be a reflection of Jesus Christ to whoever - meets me
C.) Now that is exactly the
point Paul makes in v.7 - For a man indeed ought not to cover his
head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
Word glory
could actually - be translated - reflection
A) Catch this - man is reflection of God! How I live
is to reflect my relationship w/ the Lord -
Glorify HIM Hopefully - others see Jesus in me!
B) For a woman - not only reflection
of the Lord, but if married - also of her
husband
1.) How my wife is doing will
reflect where I am at w/ the Lord
D.) What my wife is doing will
reflect whether the issue of submission is being carried out in our home
Sad to say -
seen marriages where - wife is not in submission ( Problems)
A.) Trying to run the show - be
seen - call shots - not only is husband ( Not growing like he should ) not
a reflection of the Lord
B.) That wife reflects a home that is out of order
and not displaying God’s plan!
C.) What was meant to be a
beautiful union results in a picture that is out of balance - distorted
1.) God cannot bless
So Paul
applies the principle - man has headship over the woman in that situation -
goal - reflect Christ - His plan
A) Jesus wanted to reflect the FATHER
V.8-16 -
Principle is defended and Paul gives 2 examples to strengthen his case! 1st
God’s order of design seen in Creation - v.8-9
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from
man.
9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman
for the man.
A.) When God made man and women
- the woman was created from the man and for the man! Helpmate / completer not
a competer
1)
One of the best things a woman can do is fulfill that role
B.) So in His original design -
God laid out this order - Paul is saying - From the beginning seen in creation
Now in V.10
-Paul says Something interesting -10 For this reason the woman
ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Seeing the
head coverings as a symbol that a woman is
under authority
That she is
submitted to her husband - honor her husband
AA) Paul seems
to indicate here that a woman’s lack of submission can be offensive to the
Angels
A) Angels God’s messengers & ministers / although they
are beings of great power they are submitted to almighty.
B) When we as Christians are
not submitting ourselves to God’s plan -they get offended.
1) Advantage of dwelling in
that realm of perfection/ seeing God’s
perfect
order -
C.) Our submission testimony to them!
1.) Remember - Satan and 1/3 of
angels - thrown out of heaven - lack of submission
D) Seen that lack of submission before & they
know the destruction it causes
If Satan
cannot get men to deny or disregard God’s Word he will try to get them to
misinterpret it & carry it to extremes the Lord didn’t intend.
A) Lest men abuse their
authority over women, Paul reminds them of their equality and mutual
dependence. V.11,12
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of
woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, even so man also
comes through woman; but all things are from God.
A) Man’s authority over woman
is a delegated authority and a derived authority, given by God to be used for
His purposes and in His way.
B) Man as a fellow creature has no innate
superiority to woman and has no right to use his authority selfishly.
1) Male chauvinism is no more
biblical than feminism. Both are
perversions of God’s plan.[1]
C) Men and women are to
compliment each other - function as a divinely
ordained
team!
1.) Men and women are a team yet - have different roles
C.) Man - head, leader - Woman - helper, supporter, companion
2nd
Defense - Nature: v.13-16 13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a
woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature itself teach you that
if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? 15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair
is given to her for a covering.
16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we
have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
A)
Term
- nature - could be translated instinct
- or an innate sense of what is
normal and right
B) For a woman in that culture
to pray in public w/ her head uncovered - she would be acting like a man -
& that is not right .
C) And for a man to have long
hair so that He looks like a woman - not natural - notice it doesn’t say it is
a sin. - shame . dishonor
1) Can’t tell if guy or a girl
problem.
D) If a guy is spending so much time on his hair -
shame
B.) Again - custom in that culture was such that a man had shorter hair than a
woman
1.) although no where in Bible
does it say how long or short a man or woman’s hair should be- room for definition
Dad Jesus had
long hair - Jesus walked where-ever he went
NATURE
C.) Now what is interesting is
men and women have distinctive physiology’s in many ways
1.) one of them is in the
process of hair growth on the head.
2.) hair develops in 3 stages -
formation & growth, resting & fallout
D.) The male hormone
testosterone speeds up the cycle so that men reach the 3RD stage earlier than women.
1.) The female hormone estrogen
causes the cycle to remain in stage 1
for a
longer time, causing women’s hair to grow longer than men’s.
E) And women are rarely bald because few even reach
stage three.
E.) This physiology is reflected
in most cultures of the world in the custom of women wearing longer hair than
men
So in nature
we see this design - and in instinct we know - true - as well!
A.) Application for our culture: In their culture - seemed
to be a very real distinction - different men’s hair length
1.) There was to be a
distinction between men and women
B.) In our culture - we don’t
have that distinction as it relates to hair
1.) But there should be a clear
distinction as to men not looking like women
C.) Clothes - makeup - etc.
1.) God’s plan - men to be men -
women to be women!
Paul concludes
by saying that the church ought not to make rules in connection with the matter
of women’s dress or men’s hair.
A.) The really important issue
is the inner man - the HEART
B.) It is the old nature which
needs a haircut and the robe of righteousness.
1.) If we are clothed with the
robe of Christ’s righteousness and if our old nature is under the control of
the Holy Spirit, that will take care of the outer man
C.) The haircut and the style of
clothes won’t make much difference..
1) Head coverings brought
submission - sell in book store
D) If short hair resulted in
godliness in men - barber shop - real issue is a matter of the heart that seeks
to allow Christ be the head
1)That means I will seek to
glorify Him & fulfill my role