Do Men Need Women?
This might seem like a silly question. Isn’t the answer obvious? Of course, men need women and women need men!
But I don’t think this is the case. Sure, you need both to make a baby, but aside from that, I think it’s just God’s great kindness that we get to have each other.
I don’t think Adam was incomplete without Eve. I don’t think any single man is incomplete without a wife. I think God blessed Adam by giving him a partner to tend the garden. Men who marry may count it a blessing. And men who never marry or whose spouses die or whose marriages fall apart may count themselves blessed in another sense, in the Matthew 5 sense: Blessed are the poor in spirit…
Similarly, people may count themselves blessed when they are fruitful and multiply, through having kids or making disciples of all nations. It’s a blessing to have physical offspring. It’s a blessing to be part of God’s work that makes more sons and daughters of the Heavenly Kingdom.
I realize many people think these are commands, but I disagree. I think having children and/or making disciples are just the ways we celebrate a sacred union. In one sense, it’s how we celebrate marriage. In another sense, it’s how we celebrate our union with Christ. We’re so delighted with what God has given us, that we want others to experience the same. So we multiply.
Proceeding With God’s Plan
What about what Genesis 2:18? “It’s not good for man to be alone.”
Good question.
I think God’s statement of “It is not good for man to be alone” falls into the same category as Jesus telling his disciples, “It is better that I leave.” Was it bad for Jesus to be on earth? No. But it was only the first step in making disciples of all the nations. It would not have been good for Jesus to stay on earth forever. In the fullness of time, He came. In the fullness if time, He left.
A similar situation happened with the Old Testament Laws. The Laws were good. They served a purpose, and then when Jesus came, the Laws were replaced by something better. Like the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:1-18.
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship … And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Hebrews 10:1 & 18 NIV)
Were the Old Testament sacrifices bad? No. But they were only the first step in God’s plan. Likewise, was it bad for man to be alone in the garden? No, I think it was just the first step in tending the garden.
It would’ve been bad if the process hadn’t continued. If humans were just on earth and never united with Christ and never produced children of God, that would be bad. But God was seeing to it that His plan continued in the fullness of time. God’s plans are like a flowing river that no one can stop. He saw that Adam had Eve to tend the garden. He saw that the Old Testament laws made way for Jesus’ coming. He saw that Jesus left earth to make way for the Holy Spirit to empower the Church to go and make disciples.
Conclusions
So, no. I don’t think men need women. I think we’re a blessing to each other. I think we’re the vessels God designed to make disciples of all nations, and in the fulness of time, we join forces to bring new life into the world.
But I’m suspicious and slightly freaked out by people who prescribe a husband or wife like medicine. “You need to get married!” “You need a woman in your life…” as if a man or woman were the cure. Maybe the Lord’s healing work will come through a man or woman in the fullness of time but that’s the Lord’s power at work, not man’s.
I’m also suspicious and slightly freaked out by men who say they need a woman or women who say they need a man. I want to tell them, “Okay, go find yourself one, and let me know how it goes.” My guess is, in the fullness of time, they’ll find they need Jesus to have new life through that relationship.
To read more like this, click a link below.
Very good!