GOD’S GRACE THROUGH EVE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 12, 2025 under 2024 |

Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message, preached January 12, 2025 from 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Theme: Prayer in church to a holy God must be offered in a holy way by all His redeemed people.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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As we come to God’s word, it’d be good to stop and carefully consider where we are this morning … or perhaps better, what we are.

We are the church of the living God. It’s true that we’re meeting today as a local church—a tiny fraction of the whole church of the living God. We may look like a small gathering of people in a building. But from the standpoint of our heavenly Father, we are a part of the most remarkable community in the universe—a community not ofthis world that has been called out by God from this world to live in a distinct way in order to declare the gospel of His Son Jesus to this world.

It’s good to remember this; because we need to be careful to gather together in a way that’s consistent with what God says that we are. That was something that the apostle Paul was wanting to stress to Pastor Timothy. It was the chief reason why he wrote the little letter of 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy 3:14-15, he said;

These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:14-15).

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Now; Pastor Timothy was called upon by the apostle Paul to provide leadership over a particular local church—the church in the ancient city of Ephesus. And over the past several weeks, we’ve been looking at some of the things that Paul urged Timothy to do to help that local church conduct itself in a way that’s in keeping with what it truly is—so that it can best present the good news of the gospel of Jesus to the world. Most recently, we’ve been studying what the apostle Paul had to say about the church’s behavior with respect to corporate prayer and worship.

In 1 Timothy 2:8-10, he broke this down into specific instructions—first for the men of the church, and then for the women of the church. He wrote;

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works (vv. 8-10).

And it’s in that context that we come this morning to the words of verses 11-15—a key part of the instructions Paul gave regarding holy behavior in the corporate gathering of the local church:

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control (vv. 11-15).

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Now; these words have stirred up a great deal of controversy over the years. They make some folks feel uneasy. And that’s because they have very often been misused and misapplied. Nevertheless, it’s a true word from God to us. A failure to treat it rightly, and to obey it faithfully, has caused harm to the church’s witness, and has hindered the church from ministering the truth of the gospel to this world in the way that our heavenly Father wants us to.

But if ever there was a passage that needed to be carefully understood, it’s this one. That’s what we’ll strive—with the Holy Spirit’s help—to do this morning. And as we do, we’ll discover that it has a glorious truth to proclaim about the gospel—a truth that often gets missed because of all the seeming controversy—a truth that this world desperately needs to hear proclaimed by a holy church.

An understanding of the truth this passage teaches us requires that we go back to the earliest pages of the Bible and put the spotlight on Eve—the first woman who is the mother of all humanity. Eve isn’t very often given the attention she deserves—not only for the way that her failure in sin ended up bringing about the fall of all humanity, but also for how God used her in that very failure to bring about salvation for all who believe on the Lord Jesus.

Paul was giving this instruction to Timothy in the context of caring for the conduct of the church; and his main theme in these words is that the worship in church must honor the way that God has provided salvation for humanity through Eve’s promised ‘Seed’.

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Now; what do we mean by Eve’s promised ‘Seed’? To find the answer to that question, we need to open our Bibles to the Book of Genesis and spend a little time there.

At the very beginning of the Bible—in the very first chapter where we find the story of Creation—we’re told about how God had made humankind as the crowning act of His creative work. In Genesis 1:27, we’re told;

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).

God’s word makes it clear that when He made ‘man’, He didn’t just make ‘a male’; but He made both “male and female”. We’re to understand that the first man and the first woman together are what the Bible calls ‘man’—humankind. Both constitute the full meaning of ‘humanity’.

But the first man and the first woman were not made at the same time or in the same singular act. In Genesis 2:7, we’re given more detail of how God created the first man;

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (2:7).

God formed Adam in a way that was different from anything else He had made. We’re told that He formed him directly by hand; and He even breathed His own breath into him to give him life. And after He made him, He put Adam to work in the garden—and told him in verses 16-17;

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (vv. 16-17).

He personally pointed one particular tree out to Adam, and specifically told him not to eat of it. Adam heard this command directly from the mouth of God. And it’s very important to note that God spoke this command to the first man before He made the first woman. If the woman were ever to hear this command, it would have had to be from the mouth of Adam … who would then teach it to her after having personally heard it from the mouth of God himself.

And it was then that God made the woman. God looked upon the man that He made and saw that it was ‘not good’ that the man was alone. He said that He would make a ‘helper comparable to him’. And so, verses 21-24 tell us the wonderful story:

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (vv. 21-24).

So, God personally formed the first woman, Eve, just as He had personally formed the first man, Adam. But He didn’t form Eve in the same way or from the same source as He formed Adam. Adam was formed directly from the dust of the earth; but Eve was formed directly from Adam’s body—from his side. Adam was formed first; and then Eve was formed from Adam. And this—at the very beginning—established a divinely ordained structure in the relationship. Adam was dependent upon God; and Eve was also dependent upon God, but through Adam as her spiritual head … with Adam caring for her and cherishing her as his own body.

But then comes Genesis Chapter 3. There’s a great deal of mystery to this story—and there may be more information about it that we wish we had. But God saw to it that everything that we truly need to know is told to us. We’re told;

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (3:1-3).

Now, think about it. How did Eve know this? She couldn’t have known it from the mouth of God directly; because God had not yet formed her when He gave Adam this command. The most likely way that she would have known it—based on all that we’ve already been told in the story—would be through Adam teaching it to her. In fact, it may even be possible that Adam told her not even to touch it… just to be extra sure that she was protected. But then comes the deception:

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate (vv. 4-7).

Why it was that Adam ate—knowing directly from the mouth of God that he was not to do so—is one of the great mysteries of this story. All that we can know for sure about this is what we find in verse 17 from God Himself; and that is that Adam ‘heeded the voice of his wife’, and ate as she—in some way—apparently gave the fruit to him to do. She didn’t consult with him with respect to the things the serpent was telling her; and he heeded her instead of heeding God’s command. And as a result, they both ate and both experienced the terrible break in their relationship with God. They experienced the ‘death’ of that relationship, and would eventually experience the death of their bodies on earth.

This is the greatest tragedy in all the history of humanity. It explains why every member of humanity—as Adam’s and Eve’s physical offspring—is born into the terrible condition of fallenness from God that they’re in today. But this is where the whole matter of the ‘Seed of the woman’ comes in. When God issued a curse on Adam and Eve, He first issued a curse on the serpent—who is the devil. God said in Genesis 3:15;

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).

This is the most important promise in the Bible. It’s something that theologians often refer to by the Latin name protoevangelium, which means ‘the first gospel’ or ‘the first good news’. Eve was told in verse 16 that she would bring forth children; but this promise was given before she had any children—or probably before she had any idea what ‘childbearing’ meant. And Satan was told that, from among her offspring, a singular Person—her Seed—would receive a bruise to the heel, which was only a temporary blow; but that the serpent would receive a crushing bruise to the head—a fatal blow. This speaks of how the devil would later inspire his own spiritual ‘seed’ to crucify the Lord Jesus—“born of a woman,” as it tells us in Galatians 4:4; but also of how Jesus, by His crucifixion, would strike a crushing blow to the devil and save all those who believe on Him from the curse of Adam’s and Eve’s sin.

So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; when I say that this passage from Paul—found in 1 Timothy 2:11-15—teaches us that the worship in church must honor the way that God has provided salvation for humanity through Eve’s promised ‘Seed’, that’s who the ‘Seed’ is. It’s Jesus—who has been brought into this world for us through the agency of Eve—to save us from the curse of sin.

And here was Paul’s great point: How we conduct ourselves in the household of God—and specifically how the sisters in the Lord conduct themselves in that gathering—must faithfully reflect what this foundational story, and this great promise, teaches us about the message of the gospel.

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So then; let’s now return to 1 Timothy 2:11-15. The first thing that Paul told Timothy was …

1. HOW HOLY WOMEN OF THE CHURCH ARE TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES.

In verse 11, he wrote to Timothy and told him, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.”

Now; the word “silence” was really not the best way to translate what Paul said in the original language. That word makes it sound as if Paul was saying that they were not permitted to speak at all, or as if they were merely to be a completely uninvolved presence in the church family. But that’s not really what that specific word meant. What it actually spoke of was ‘an attitude of quiet and peace’. It’s the same word that was used in verse 2; where we’re told to pray for our leaders that we might lead a “peaceable” life. It’s the same word used in 1 Thessalonians 4:11; where we’re urged to “aspire to lead a quiet life”. It’s saying that godly women in the church should have a very active part in learning in the church; but do so in a manner that displays a quiet and peaceful attitude—one that’s in keeping with the peace of the church—one that avoids causing disruption or disturbance.

That ‘quiet and peaceful’ manner is further qualified by the next phrase: “with all submission”. A holy woman is to be a woman who is submissive to God and to the pattern of authority into which God has providentially placed her. If she is married, then she’s to behave in a quiet and peaceful manner with submission to her own husband. If she’s unmarried, then she’s to behave in that attitude with submission to the appointed leadership of the church family. In Ephesians 5, we’re told that all believers are to have an attitude of submission—through the power of the Holy Spirit—toward all who hold positions of authority over them. And in verses 22-24, we’re told;

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything (Ephesians 5:22-24).

In keeping with that, the apostle Paul went on to say in verse 12, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” Again, he uses that same word—not for stone-cold silence—but for ‘a quiet and peaceable manner’; but this time to express that a woman is not to “teach or have authority over a man”.

Now; we’ve got to understand this very carefully. This is not saying that—in the life of the church—a woman cannot teach at all. In fact, women are commanded to teach in certain situations within the church; such as in Titus 2 where older women are commanded to teach the younger women. Nor would this be saying that a woman cannot teach in a course in a college or seminary, or teach in a public setting. Nor does it mean that she cannot serve in a teaching role on the mission field. And what’s more, Paul’s words have nothing to say with respect to a woman’s role in the business world or in areas of government and civil life. It simply means that, specifically in the life of the church family, a woman is not to teach in such a way as to exercise spiritual authority over men. To exercise such spiritual authority would be the duty of the appointed ‘overseers of the church—the pastor and the elders; and a woman is not to have that specific kind of role in the church. She is to serve and have a ministry—but always in a peaceful and quiet manner under the male leadership of the church family.

So; that’s how holy women are to conduct themselves in the life of the church—and particularly in the gathering of the church for worship and instruction. And that leads us next to …

2. WHY THEY MUST CONDUCT THEMSELVES IN THIS WAY.

Many have thought that these instructions were because of certain social and cultural circumstances that were specific to a time in the past; and for that reason, many have therefore felt free to consider them inapplicable for the church today. But Paul didn’t base his instructions on historical, cultural, or social concerns. Instead, he based them on timeless theological truths that are foundational to the faith in all cultures and at all times. In verses 13-14, he wrote; “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” That points our attention back to the story of Genesis 1-3.

In another passage, Paul instructed the people in the church of Corinth to make sure that they followed the kind of expressions of ‘headship’ that were understood by their culture. In that case, it meant that men prayed with their heads uncovered—giving expression to their respectful submission to God’s headship over them. And when women prayed, it meant that they wore a head covering of some kind—giving expression to their respectful submission to God through their husband’s headship over them. In words that remind us of the first few pages of the Bible, he wrote;

For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God (1 Corinthians 11:8-12).

This is not telling us that we must adopt the same time-bound, culturally understood symbols today. (The symbol of ‘head-covering’ has been replaced in our culture by the wearing of a wedding ring and by adopting the last name of her husband.) But rather, this is telling us about a larger principle that needs to be reflected in the conduct of the church. Adam was formed first, and then Eve. And when he fell, Adam walked into it with his eyes wide open—not deceived. But Eve—using a word that meant to be ‘especially’ or ‘thoroughly deceived’—fell into transgression. Adam violated the headship order in that he ‘heeded’ his wife in her state of deception and didn’t obey God; and Eve violated the headship order in that she acted on false information from the devil and didn’t consult with or submit to her husband.

By the way, dear brothers; don’t take this to mean that we should never heed our wife’s advice. A man who doesn’t listen to the good advice of a godly wife is a train wreck waiting to happen! God gives our wives to us to—in the truest sense—be a helper ‘comparable’ to us. Nor does this mean that good pastoral leaders in a church shouldn’t heed the wise counsel and advice of the sisters in the church family. All that it means is that the principle of the God-given pattern of headship must be followed by God’s people in the life of the church—just as it was established in the story of Creation.

So; that’s how holy women should conduct themselves in the church, and also why they should conduct themselves in that way. And that leads us to one more thing; and that’s …

3. WHAT MESSAGE OF HOPE IS BEING PROCLAIMED TO THE WORLD AS THEY DO SO.

When holy women conduct themselves in a quiet, peaceful manner of submission in the church family—not seeking the role God has given to another, but keeping faithful to the God-appointed order of headship that He established at Creation—they help the church to convey the message of the gospel to the watching world.

Look at what Paul said in verse 15. He had spoken of how Eve was deceived and fell into a state of transgression before God; and then said, “Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” This isn’t saying the strange thing that some people have made it out to say—that somehow, a woman today is ‘saved’ by bearing children. No woman can be saved by bearing children because all people—both men and women—are saved only by faith in the blood of Jesus.

Notice carefully that Paul said, “Nevertheless she will be saved …” That’s put in the third person singular. And who is the ‘she’ that Paul is referring to? It can’t be anyone else but Eve. He’s still talking in verse 15 about the mother of all of us—the first woman—whose disobedience through deception led to the fall of humanity. And notice that it’s put in the future tense. Her hope of salvation was placed in Someone who was promised to her and who would come later—and who would bring about that salvation for humanity in the future from her time.

And then notice what the means of her salvation would be. Paul said that Eve “shall be saved in childbearing”. But in the original language, it wasn’t that she would be saved ‘in the act of’ bearing children. Rather, it’s a specific kind of prepositional phrase that means that she would be saved ‘by means of’ childbearing. At the time when she fell, she and Adam had not yet had children. But because Adam fell with her, they would have children together. And you need to know that in the original language, it’s not just ‘by means of childbearing’; but rather ‘by means of the childbearing’. The definite article is used to indicate that this is a specific childbearing—the bearing of the very same promised Seed that she was told would one day bruise the head of the serpent. Trace her story all the way forward in history—throughout all of the succeeding generations—and you will, of course, find that she was ultimately the mother of our Lord Jesus through Adam.

And then, notice that Paul says that she would be saved by means of childbearing “if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” Who is the “they”? They can’t be anyone else but all of the other children who are included in the act of her ‘childbearing’—the whole human family who are saved by faith in Jesus, her promised Seed. They are saved if they have their faith in Him and remain true to all of the Christian virtues that show forth the reality of that salvation: consistent faith in the sacrifice of Jesus for us, sincere love for one another, true holiness in reverence before God, and behavior that exhibits self-control. The “they”, dear brothers and sisters, is us!

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Now, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe that we will see our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Eve in heaven. I believe that she had a saving faith in the promise that God made in the garden. And when we sit with her, she’ll tell us the story of how she was deceived—but also of how she was saved by the childbearing that ultimately led to God’s gracious provision of our Savior Jesus Christ. And I also believe that, as her redeemed offspring, we’ll feel that we owe a debt of thanks to her—and of thanks to God through her. Her fall in sin became the very means that God used to bring about our salvation. We need to show today that we believe this is true by how we behave as a church.

Dear brothers and sisters; we are the church of the living God—the pillar and ground of truth in this world. And so, let’s make sure that the worship in our church honors the way that God has provided salvation for us through Eve’s promised ‘Seed’ Jesus Christ … and to thus help spread the good news of that provision to the world!

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