Your desire shall be for your husband,

and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b).  As I said last day the gospel is God's vehicle for overturning the curse and bringing in the Kingdom, and Kingdom relationships in particular. In light of the current war between the sexes, where we have the woman wanting to dominate the man, perhaps this morning verse is simply a description of post fall reality (rather than eternally mandated)! In the  fullness of the  Kingdom there are no injustices. In the Kingdom there  “is neither  slave nor free, neither male nor female; for you are all one (equal) in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).  And the yeast of the gospel is, and has been at work to make this a reality! 

Part of this is the abolition of slavery. It was William Wilberforce's Christian conviction that lead him to make it his life long goal to enshrine abolition in British Law. In America it was far more violent, but again was based on Christian ideals. What I am saying,  is that the abolition of slavery was there in seed form, waiting for the right time to make it a reality. Today,  nobody is advocating slavery,  but lets not pretend the situation is fully resolved.  

The needed emancipation of women is also there in seed form in Scripture,  waiting for the yeast of the gospel to permeate it. Many don't realize that is it only within the formerly dominant influence of Judaeo-Christain ethic in the West where the start of this emancipation would even have been possible. You only have to look at other parts of the world to see that this is true. But we have not always used Kingdom methods or principles, and bitterness has often rulled!

Another of the seeds of equality is found in 1 Corinthians 11:11, where we read “neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.” A couple of modern buzz words come to mind,  interdependence and co-dependence. I recommend a related internet article by Jodi Clarke. Interdependence  is more mature than independence, and is characterized by healthy boundaries,  active listening, time for personal interest, clear communication, taking personal responsibility for behaviours,  creating safety for each other to be vulnerable, engaging and responding to each other, healthy self-esteem and being open and approachable with each other (Clarke).  To me, it sounds like Adam and Eve before the fall!   

In the advancement of the Kingdom it's often two steps forward one step back. The Kingdom methods of Wilberforce and Martin Luther King are not in evidence at the moment,  as the kingdom of darkness seem (but only seems) to have the upper hand. In the war between the sexes there is either dominance or co-dependence.  Codependent relationships  include things like poor boundaries, people-pleasing, reactivity, unhealthy ineffective communication, manipulation,  difficulty with emotional intimacy, control,  blame, low self-esteem,  no personal interests or goals outside the relationship (Clarke). To me it sounds like fig leaves and the orphan spirit  (Genesis 3:7; John 14:8),

Lord Jesus thank You that You promised You would not leave us as orphans, but that You would send Your Spirit,  and He would implant in our hearts the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry out Abba, Daddy,  Father (John 14:18  Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15). We cannot bring in the Kingdom Lord, when we don't know who we are in You.  And we wont know who we are in You unless we totally surrender and walk in Your light. Forgive us Lord and help us to do this daily in Your precious Name Amen