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What We Learn from Genesis 1

As a woman reading Genesis 1, I am intrigued by the implications of Genesis 1:27-28: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’  ” In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper [help meet] suitable for him.”

In reality, man could not do alone what God told them to do in Genesis 1. “Help meet” means to provide for what man, on his own, could not do. Galatians 3:28 tells us that as Christians, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It took until the establishment of the church for people to come to an understanding of the equality of all humans, which was in God’s plan from the beginning.

I am thankful to be living in a time when society is seeing the error of treating women in a different way than God intended. Genesis 1 has taught us of the plan of God. The evils of polygamy, prostitution, ownership/enslavement, and the suppression of women and their rights have become apparent to everyone. Those religions or politics that treat women as possessions or enslaved people and take away their rights are failing as women express the equality and abilities that God blessed them with from the beginning. Men and women are equal in God’s sight.

— Cynthia Clayton

Picture credit:
photo: Julie Marcussen
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Scripture links/references are from BibleGateway.com. Unhighlighted scriptures can be looked up at their website.