Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28.)

God made man in His image. Both male and female bear God’s image. Genesis 2 provides more dimensions to the creation account of Genesis 1. Before the creation of woman, the text says: “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:20). God then created woman for man as a helper. She is called woman, because she was taken out of man (Gen. 2:23). Man was not created for woman: “For man is not from woman, but woman from man” (1 Cor. 11:8). The Hebrew word for man is “adam.” Genesis 5:2 says, “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” Why would God use the name of only one sex as a generic term for both? Why didn’t God use a neutral term such as “persons” to describe them? Why call them “man”? Perhaps this speaks to male headship.

Contemporary thinking balks at this concept. “Men,” “male,” and “masculine” are often used as disparaging words by certain segments of our culture. Some have sought to eradicate terms which use the masculine form to describe any person, of either sex, that is involved in an activity, profession, etc.; however, the word of God goes against the grain of today’s sensitivities. The Bible teaches male headship/leadership in the home and in the church (1 Cor. 11:3; 14:34, 35; 1 Tim. 2:8-13; 3:1-8; Eph. 5:23-33; Titus 2:4-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7). God has called men to lead, and women to help.

The Bible teaches against male domination over women. The verses just mentioned show that men are not to assert themselves over a woman’s will, nor disregard her value. Men are to be considerate; husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, instead of being bitter towards them (Eph. 5:25; Col. 3:19).

Men and women are spiritually equal in that they both bear God’s image with eternal souls to be saved (Gen. 1:27; Gal. 3:28). But this does not mean that males and females are the same. God’s intention is not to level out all distinctions between the two. Marriage is not a human custom, but rather a divinely created institution for all ages and cultures. Different roles exist in this partnership that glorifies God. While men and women are to love each other, they are not to love each other in the same way (Eph. 5:33). Men are to accept the primary responsibility of leading the home and the church to glorify God. Women are to help and support men in the effort.