Cheryl Schatz

Hi Mark,

I am just popping in as we are waiting for family to arrive at my daughter’s house for our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration.

I would like an opportunity to answer your two questions.

1. Egals believe that there is no rulership of one person over another set up by God’s original creation of our human parents. The rulership spoken of in Genesis 3 was a prophesy given to Eve about the sinful nature of her husband that she would have to endure because she had been deceived to eat the fruit. Her husband, in active sin, would take authority over her and rule her, forcing her underneath his own human will. God never gave the man a position of rulership over the female or over her will in the original creation. And after the fall God did not give His permission for the man to rule the woman. Adam was about to force himself into the position of ruler all on his own.

2. The redemption that was achieved by Jesus was for original sin and our own sin. It did not reverse a leadership scheme set up by God in creation. But the redemption of Jesus overcomes sin and the enemy, Satan, so that as citizens in the Kingdom of Light we are not to follow the pattern of the world where one man lords it over another man. Instead we have been transferred into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus where all are equal heirs to all that God has As equal heirs we have full freedom as God’s “sons” to freely operate in the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us without restrictions due to age, education, nationality, social status or gender. If I missed one of the restrictions, just add it in. The Holy Spirit does not hold us back in service because the gifts that He gives us are to be used for the benefit of all so that the body grows in unity of the knowledge of the Son of God.

Leadership is a place of protection of the flock, not a place to demand that others submit to us so that we can rule them. We have only one Lord and Master and no mere man will “rule” the body of Christ.

Because of our being equal “heirs” in Christ, a woman does not have to worry about being culturally bound to man-made tradition but she may serve as a servant of Christ without fear that using her gifts for the benefit of all is a sin.

Does this make sense?