When
God created woman, He created her from the side of man. There is a saying that goes, “God made the
woman from a man’s rib. Not from man’s feet to be walked on, nor from his head
to be superior, but from the side of man to be equal; from under his arm to be
protected, and next to his heart to be loved.” This is one of my favorite sayings. And one of my favorite books, Captivating (a kind of sequel or female
counterpart to another great book, Wild
at Heart), lists three basic, innate desires of a woman: to be romanced, to
play an irreplaceable role in a grand adventure, and to have a beauty to
unveil, a beauty worth pursuing. These
ideas certainly resonate with my soul. As I was contemplating these ideas recently, God drew a connection
between the ideas of woman being created from a man’s side and playing an
irreplaceable role in my mind. He also
threw in a passage from Romans:
Therefore, just as
sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all men, because all sinned-for before the law was given, sin was
in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even
over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a
pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the
many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the
gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The
judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many
trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s
abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one
trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as
through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also
through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law
was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace
increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace
might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. (Romans
5:12-21)
So
I know that passage is kind of long and complicated. But I felt like I had to
share the whole thing to give the whole picture. God revealed to me a beautiful
analogy that, initially, mortal woman was created from the side of mortal
man. Both ended up sinning and marring
God’s perfect creation, bringing strife and death into the world, just as is
described in the above passage. However,
this was not a final fate. When Christ
came and died on the cross for the sins of mankind, His side was pierced…right
near His ribs. Redemptive blood and
water flowed from the side of Christ, the side meant to protect and love His
woman, His bride, His church…us. At
this point, another physical parallel came to mind. A child is the product of the union of a man
and woman, a union intended to be the epitome physical representation of
love. Therefore, a child is the product
of love. And when a child is born, it is
born covered in blood. Christ’s blood
shed on the cross is the epitome of sacrificial love. And when we are reborn as children of God, we
are “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God” (John 1:13) and “born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives
birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5b-6). Therefore, as new beings in Christ, we are
created from the side of One who lives to love and protect those who come to
Him. And from His side flowed redemptive
blood, blood that redeems us from our fallen, broken state, restores our
relationships with God and each other, and makes us new. We are washed in His blood, cleansed from all
sin, as His children and His bride. Thank
God that we no longer have to be trapped in the sins of our pasts or our
natural weaknesses but that, by the love and power of Jesus Christ, “the old
has gone; the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
