[Music] how many of you have messed something up because you thought you knew what you were doing but we're too stubborn to read or follow the directions year-and-a-half ago I decided I was gonna sew a dress for my son's wedding I got an A when I sewed an apron in home economics class in high school my mother is a European trained seamstress my second cousin is a leading international fashion designer I have the right pedigree all you have to do is cut out the pieces pin them together line them up at that little five-eighths inch
line and let her rip how hard can it be how many of you have messed something up because you thought you knew what we're doing but we're too proud too stubborn to read or follow the directions and once picked up an easy-to-assemble desk at Walmart the fact that it came with about 10,000 pieces separated into six cellophane pacts did not dot me I am a carpenter's daughter I learned how to swing a hammer and I can swing it just as well as my five brothers can i sat at my dad's feet in his workshop I
constructed the walls and did the electrical wiring in my basement I built a set of willow furniture for our back patio I've got the right pedigree it was a desk pre-cuts from Walmart all you had to do was slap together the pieces slide in the drawers how hard could it be how many of you have messed something up because you thought you knew what you were doing and you were too stubborn to read or follow the direction over the past few decades we women decided that we needed to put together a new model a new
definition of womanhood Leave It to Beaver model was lacking we didn't like it and so we decided we wanted to be like men men and women were the same and should be treated the same they should do the same things they should have the same jobs same career goals make the same money act the same think the same they should drink the same swear the same party the same sleep around the same man self-actualized the same so we move marriage and motherhood from the top of our list to the bottom of our lists or cross
them off all together reaching the highest rung of the career ladder and becoming tough and powerful like men became our ultimate goal and we decided that man should become more like women women should become more like men that men should tone down their aggression and we should ramp ours up we decided that man should metro sexualized feminized emotionalized real in their competitiveness get manicures pamper their faces stay home with the kids learn to clean a toilet turn off those sports programs beasts white nice and sweet and agreeable and do whatever we tell them to do
we decided that women need more power and prestige and control and that we should become gun-slinging karate-chopping hyper sexed wall street savvy independent saucy sassy male bashing heroines we've got girl power take back guys how many of you have messed something up because you thought you knew what you were doing and we're too stubborn to read or follow the directions according to a cover piece in Time magazine last year women have achieved more of the same as men and yet are more miserable than ever before we've made a mess of her homes and our families
and relationships I think that it's high time that we swallowed our pride and went back to read and follow the directions don't you I want you to turn to you very beginning of your Bibles to the first chapter of Genesis we're gonna have a look at the genesis of gender at God's original design for male and female we're gonna look at the directions this morning we're gonna eat some theological meat Genesis lays out God's blueprint it presents the pattern the first chapter gives us assumed out airplane overview of the big picture of creation it displays
the profound dignity of the human race and it shows how the creation of humanity fits into the overall creation story first chapter of Genesis reveals that male and female are more like God than anything else in the universe and that they share this status equally Genesis chapter 1 26 and 27 then God said let us make man in our image us our who is God talking to he's taught God is talking to God right the father is talking to the son let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion
over the earth so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them now there's something incredibly important I want you to notice here let us make man in our image there's something about the us of God something about the nature of the relationship between the Godhead the members of the Godhead that provides the blueprint for how he created male and female God created gender manhood and womanhood to image who he is gender displays God that's what gender does who we are and how we
relate as women and man is an object lesson it's a parable it tells a very important story and the story isn't about us scripture says that God created sons and daughters for his glory to display the jaw-dropping wonder of who he is in Romans 1 chapter 1 verse 20 Paul explains that there are two very important truths about God that are displayed in creation for everyone to see now in context in the first chapter of Romans the passage specifically deals with issues of gender and sexuality and sexual behavior and Paul says this Romans 1 verse
20 ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature invisible though they are have been understood and seen through the things he has made so people are without excuse in other words ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature have been understood and seen through male and female who are the focal point of everything he made and the verse implies this it implies that when you look in the mirror and see that you are a woman when you get dressed and see a female body when you
go about your daily business and see men and women who live in male or female bodies when you observe the fact that God created the male body and the female body with corresponding pieces that fit together and heterosexually unite when you see a man and a woman joining together in marriage all these things tell a story from the time of creation until now gender and sex manhood and woman who had constantly display truths about God God wrote his story on our flesh in who he created me to be as a woman in who he created
you to be as a woman in whom he created a man to be as a man all of these things tell a story and Paul says that people are without excuse because gender and sex scream out the truth about God and what truth is that Romans 1:20 says it's his power and His divine nature his Godhead so it's his persons person plural who God is his nature and character how God interacts with God is displayed in his creation of male and female his plan his eternal power what God does how he interacts with us is
displayed in his creation of male and female according to Paul God created things the way that he did in order to teach people something he wants us to see it and to get it he wants us to know who God is and what God does and he imprinted that on us on his creation Ephesians chapter 5 connects all the dots and indicates that manhood and womanhood marriage and sex all point to the story of the bridegroom the son of God who loved and gave His life to redeem his bride the church gender exists to tell
the love story of the gospel and that is why God created male and female God had the story of Jesus Christ the bridegroom the church his bride in mind before the foundation of the earth and it's that story that he had in mind the love story of God that he was thinking about when he set his hand to create male and female when he said let us make man in our image and created man male and female so with this larger cosmic context in we're gonna turn back and go back to Genesis and we're gonna
serve 12 differences 12 points of difference between male and female that are evidence in the creation story and for you type-a personalities who are scribbling down notes fast as you can muttering to yourselves that I don't have all the references up on the screen and starting to hyperventilate take a deep breath you do not need to reach for your puffers or your high blood pressure medication you can find everything I'm talking about and much more in my new book girls gone wild gone wild and the material that I'm talking about in this session this morning
is covered in the ninth point of contrast between a wild and a wise woman the book is fresh off the Pratt press the ink is still wet you can get it at the bookstore buy it for your daughters your sons your girlfriends yourselves it is a great spring break presence girls gone wide oh yeah let's do that instead of girls gone wild okay now back to Genesis the truth that God wanted to display through male and female was really really important so it stands to reason that he was very careful in the way he did
it and every step and every action and everything that God did in his creation of male and female was significant and that's why Genesis chapter 2 is so careful to zoom in rewind the tape and zoom in on the creation story of male and female chapter 1 gives the big picture chapter 2 zooms in on the creation of male and female male and female are the players that God created to tell the story and ultimately the story and I'll say it again it's not about us it's not about us it's about God and we'll never
get our womanhood right until we understand that very basic fact so let's have a look at the 12 differences in Genesis chapter 2 starting with what makes the male uniquely male and the first point of reference that we need to notice is that the male was first born then the lord gorrik God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 so the first thing you need to note about the creation of the sex is that
God created the male first and you might think that this is trivial or inconsequential but the Bible teaches otherwise the firstborn son held a very unique role and position in the Hebrew family he ranked highest after his father and he carried the weight of the father's Authority on his shoulders he was the one who was responsible to carry out Dad's instructions and act on his dad's behalf he was responsible for the oversight and the well-being of all of his siblings he also served as their representative what happened in the family was his responsibility the buck
stopped with him if a younger brother or a sister got into trouble dad would corner the oldest brother hold him up to the wall and say why did your sibling get into trouble this wasn't just a cultural quirk that the Hebrew people dreamed up God gave them the directions of the role of a firstborn and their family structure followed the pattern that he gave when Pharaoh refused to release the the Hebrews from bondage the Lord sent the angel of death to kill the firstborn sons why why the firstborn sons well because those oldest brothers were
the family representatives so they had to pay for the sins of Egypt Adam was the firstborn of the human race he was responsible for the oversight and well-being of the human family God held Adam accountable for the fall even though in eve sinned first the New Testament clearly states in Adam all die even aliy responsible for her sin but because of Adam's position of firstborn he was responsible for smearing the entire family the authority and responsibility that Adam has his firstborn human son pointed to who it pointed to the position of Jesus Christ the firstborn
the only begotten Son of God who became flesh and took Adam's place he bore the authority of the firstborn Jesus the first board of God so he was able to properly represent us when he died on the cross he became the last Adam the representative of all of us who put faith in Him so what does all this have to do with male and female roles well it has a great deal to do with them the New Testament teaches that Adams position of firstborn has ongoing implications for the responsibility of all human males the responsibility
that God put on Adams shoulder extends in one way or another to all of them to all men Paul tells Timothy that the reason that males bear the responsibility for spiritual oversight of God's family the church is that Adam was formed first and that's in first Timothy 2:13 because God gave the male responsibility for oversight of the human family at creation that means that men need to step up and be responsible for oversight of the church family that was Paul's reasoning the Bible also teaches that every male bears responsibility for the oversight of his own
individual family unit that's an infusion chapter five the buck stops with the guy he's responsible for what goes on in his household and what's more this general responsibility this responsibility for looking after your own household seems to extend to a general responsibility of all men to take initiative and to look out for the welfare of those around them exercise and godly initiative and oversight is a big part of what manhood is all about it's what we mean in to ative li when we say to a guy be a man as man they have a unique
responsibility to step up to the plate be man and go to bat for others God will hold them accountable for how well they fulfilled that firstborn responsibility second point a difference the mail was put in the garden Genesis 2:15 the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden so the second observation we can make about Genesis 2 is that God took the man from where he was born and put him in the garden from where he was created I don't know if you ever noticed this but God created the male out in
the wild from the dust of the open desert then he took his firstborn male led him away from the place of creation and put him in the Garden of Eden notice the wording God put him in the garden now a garden is a plot of ground that's protected by a wall or a hedge it's an area with specified boundaries the garden was a specified place in the land of Eden it wasn't the entire land of Eden it was more like a designated homestead a specific plot of land why is this significant because later in the
chapter we see that when a man gets married he leaves the place where he was created in order to establish a new family unit a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife in our family we call that pod theology you're part of our pod until you get married and start your own pod it's what we tell our sons and it's as though God puts the man in this new position of responsibility and what's more this image seems to foreshadow the whole picture of Christ leaving the home of his father
in heaven in order to pursue his bride the church the Lord set the mail up in his own place the garden his garden to be had of a new family unit but before the father presented him with the wife he took some time to teach this firstborn male some more about the specific roles and responsibilities of a man point number three the male was commissioned to work the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it Genesis chapter 2 verse 15 the word translated work here is the common
word for tilling soil or other labor and it contains the idea of serving somebody other than yourself you are working but you were working on behalf of you're just not working to advance yourself you're working for the sake of others what's more it frequently describes the duties of priests in worship so this the man's life in the garden wasn't supposed to be one of ilus he wasn't supposed to be sitting on the couch watching TV God's plan from the very start was that the man would work to provide for his family's needs God created men
to be the providers physically as well as spiritually now that doesn't mean that women don't contribute but it does indicate that the primary responsibility for the family rests on the man's shoulders god wired them that way God wired them with the drive to look after their families have you ever wondered why it just rags on a guy to be unemployed it's because it's in their makeup in their wiring point number four the mail was commissioned to protect the Lord God put him in the garden to work it and to keep it God wanted the man
to keep the garden and keep translates a verb meaning to be in charge of it means to guard and to protect and to look after to provide oversight it involves being attentive to someone's needs and protecting the people and the property under one's charge physically and spiritually God created men to be the protector he created their bodies to be physically stronger and more suited for a fight again this doesn't exclude women from contributing it simply indicates that if a robber crawls in the window the man is the primary protector he's the first one to jump
up and take care of the bullets it's not the woman who says stuff aside honey I think at the time I got up to attend to one of my babies way back in the days of home delivery and the deep dark um in Alberta's winters night and I was as I was rocking my feverish babe in my arms I heard someone fumbling at our front door trying to break into our house so panicked I ran upstairs to get my husband I shook him out of his deep sleep I said Brandt Brandt there's someone breaking into
our house dazed he bolted out of bed he took a split second to grab the baseball bat that he stores underneath his side of the bed he didn't put up clothes he didn't put on his glasses he just raced down the stairs to protect us the criminal was still making small noises at the door so Brandt's dazed and half blind and stark naked raised his bat and threw open the door to confront the milkman which is probably why home milk delivery in Alberta is no more brent acted on pure instinct that morning that male instinct
to guard and protects and put himself in dangers way for the sake of others and when I think about this aspect of manhood I am also reminded of a picture that my youngest son Jonathan drew when he was 5 years old in it and you can put it up on the screen there's a terrible storm out at garner Lake out at the family cabin the clouds are dark the sky is dark it's raining the rains are falling and the waves are about to overcome Jonathan his two older brothers and me John's oldest brother Clark is
on the far right he's swallowing water and the words in his speech bubble indicate are gurgle it's got a very unhappy smile on his face Matt on the far left is screaming ahhh and I'm the tall stick figure a second from the right in the middle calling out help my legs are cut off couldn't quite fit me into the picture I'm calling out help Jonathan is beside me he's also calling out for help but unlike the rest of us who are drowning Johnny's got a big smile on his face because daddy and the cat are
on the pier and daddy is calling out here I come John when Jonathan explained the picture to me he said daddy will come save us because that's what dads are for it didn't even dawn on him that I'm the swimmer and I'm rapist item bread can barely dog paddle daddy will come save us because that's what dads are for my five-year-old knew intuitively intuitively that dads are supposed to guard and to protect and to self-sacrifice and be there for their families that's what dads are for we all sense it to be true do we not
and if we don't have it we yearn for it that's the way it's supposed to be that's the way God created us to be point number five the mail received spiritual instruction and the Lord God commanded the man saying you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day you eat it you will surely die Genesis chapter 2 16 and 17 you see before the woman arrived on the scene God explained the rules of the garden to the
man and it was up to him to pass on the spiritual instruction to his wife that's not to say that the man interacted with God on her behalf no she had a personal relationship with the Lord but it does indicate that as leader of his newly-minted family unit he had a special responsibility to learn and understand the ways of the Lord that was so that he could fulfill his job he could do his job he had to know God's commands point number 6 the male learned to exercise authority now out of the ground the Lord
God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of heavens and brought to them them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called every living creature that was its name can you imagine what it must have looked like for that to be going on for God to be bringing the animals to the man - male am i smile to name the might I smile when I think of it ooh that one looks interesting the buck teeth and the wrinkly face and the big cheeks hmm what to
call it what to call it hippopotamus and I think that besides serving the purpose of making the male yearn for a suitable mate this was a type of training exercise because to name something is to exercise authority over it the man that God wanted his firstborn male to learn how to exercise authority in a godly manner he was gonna mentor him and how to do that his firstborn had a unique responsibility to govern and the Lord wanted him to govern well and that's why the Lord closely supervised the naming process he wanted him to learn
how to exercise his delegated authority with gentleness and wisdom kindness and much care Genesis chapter 1 clearly indicates that dominion over the earth was given to women as well as to men God gave both dominion so the reason God excluded the female from this process of naming doesn't indicate that she lacks God's authority to govern but it does indicate that the Lord does not view our responsibility to govern as interchangeable with that of his firstborn male so here we have the setup the man was first born but he had no kin he was the head
of a new household but his were the only feet that tread within his garden God had commissioned him to work but there was no one for whom to provide the man knew that it was his mission to guard and protect but there was no one to look after he had all these new ideas and thoughts things the Lord had told him he had no one to discuss it with and he was bursting at the capacity with this desire to love and to serve but as the day wore on and he named animal after animal it
became painfully obvious to him that there was no creature that had anywhere near the capacity to receive what he so deeply wanted to give there was nowhere for Adam to put all of his manhood no where to place it Lord knew it he could read it on Adams face it was the only thing in creation that was not good but for the time being it was necessary it was part of the training process it was part of the preparation God wanted his mail to catch a glimpse of the full import of God's final and most
magnificent work he wanted the mail to feel the longing intensely to love and want a soulmate so badly with such passion that he was willing to pay the ultimate price to win his bride you see God knew that he would have to wound his firstborn to create woman it would draw blood having a bride would cost the man dearly so when the male named that last animal and turned to his maker with questioning tear-filled eyes Lord knew was time time to make her the one who had captivate the man's heart as completely as the vision
of Lord's coming heavenly bride had captivated him sleep God told the man and the man sunk down on that soft carpet of moss as dead and then the Lord extended his hand and pierced the side of his firstborn to extract a bloody mass of bone and flesh and I wonder if a lump formed in his throat as he saw the future to which this image pointed I wonder what thoughts through flew through the mind of our creator as he began to shape and form and carefully sculpted each soft curve you see this final masterpiece tipped
the scales and set it all in motion and when God was finished he stepped back to look and I think that he glanced past the flesh that he had just formed into eternity future at her the bride and that it caught his breath Wow Wow do you see the imagery here do you feel the power of the love story going on do you see it do you feel it who we are as male and female tells the story God's love story that's what it's about it's not about us seventh point and we're gonna turn now
and look at the creation of the female first six points were the creation of the male the next six or the creation of the female the female was created from the male so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man he took one of his ribs and closed up that place with flesh and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman see in our culture remember where you came from is the common admonition not to look down on our beginnings I tell my son
who's a professional hockey player and about yay tall remember where he came from right remember it boy don't let your head get big and swelled you need to avoid pride and an overinflated sense of self-importance and we intuitively know that it's inappropriate to regard that from which we were made as lesser than us we know that we are obliged to honor and respect our origins and the same sort of idea is present in the creation of the female because woman was drawn from man's side it was appropriate for her to have an attitude of respect
towards him he was the firstborn and in the New Testament we see that the fact that she was created from him and not the other way around is the basis of a wife honoring the authority of her husband point number eight the female was made for the male Genesis chapter 2 tells us that the female was created for him that's on account of the male first corinthians 11 9 reinforces it was not the man who was created for the woman it was the man woman who is created for the man now for most of us
the idea of woman being created for man sounds somewhat negative because it appears that he is licensed to use an abuser at will but that's not at all how the Hebrew reads the Hebrew preposition simply denotes direction she was created for that means with towards or with reference to towards him she was created because of him his existence led to hers it didn't happen the other way around and our adverse reaction to the idea that we are created for man serves to underline just how very far we've fallen from the original created order when the
first bride was presented to her husband she was undoubtedly bursting with joy to have being created for him I think of the expression on of my on my daughter-in-laws face when she entered the church to Wed my son I was created for the sky and it was amazing for this moment and there's another critically important point here being created for someone indicates that God created the female to be a highly relational creature her identity isn't based on work nearly as much as on how well she connects in her relationships woman is the relator responder she
has a soft open space in heart that she longs for someone to fill ninth difference the female was created to help the male help her fit for him now helpers another word that that begs explanation and I think that we need to keep in mind what is it that woman was created to help man do it wasn't to create his to fulfill his own selfish needs or agenda what it means for her to help him becomes clear when we think about what the Lord wanted them to do and there's a clue in the qualifier fit
for him she's a helper fit for him and this literally means like opposite to him it's like an image in the mirror it's a the name of the word of complementarity she's not exactly like him she's like opposite him she's the helper that helps him fulfill his purpose and what is his purpose to glorify God woman helps man glorify God in a way that he could not glorify God were woman not around glorifying God image and God is what woman helps man dew point number 10 the female deferred to the male the Lord God brought
her to the man man said she shall be called woman she was taken out of man I think that the first male and female intuitively knew how to behave he knew how to behave as a man she knew how to behave as a woman so when the Lord presented her to him he named her and she didn't go wait a minute here guy you're not naming me I'm gonna name myself or maybe I'll come up with a name for you she didn't do that that's not what happened Adam and Eve acted according to their god-given
bents he initiated she responded she was so happy to respond to him and that was the pattern of their relationship point 11 the female was the male's perfect counterpart when Adam laid his eyes on the woman he broke into an exuberance and a spontaneous poem this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman Aisha because she was taken out of man ish the first man called himself ish and the woman is siya and this appears to be a very clever and a very profound play on words
and the sound of these two Hebrew words is nearly identical the woman's name just adds a feminine ending to it but the two words have a complementary meaning ish comes from the root meaning strength so the man said I am strength and YCJA comes from the root meaning soft I am strength she is soft Wow Wow she is able to receive I was meant what I was created to give and the implication becomes clear when we observed the biblical meaning of a man's strength the Hebrew word is commonly associated with the wisdom and strength and
vitality of a successful warrior it carries the idea of a champion valiantly serving his people by protectively fighting on their behalf strengths can also refer to a man's met manhood to his virility woman's corresponding trait is her fertility her unique capacity to nurture and bring forth life he is strong directed by inner softness and she is soft directed by inner strength and the bodies of male and female reflect this idea of complementary distinction a man's body moves out and toward and a woman's body is built to receive and the pattern goes beyond the mere physical
difference takes to encompass the totality of who we are man was created to actively and joyfully in ish give and the woman was created to joyfully and actively respond and receive and relate she's the beautiful soft one each is a perfect counterpart to the other although culture portrays the ideal of woman as tough and aggressive both physically and sexually this is a far cry from what woman was created to be according to Scripture it's her softness it's our softness and our ability to care and to nurture and to connect and to open up that is
our greatest strength point number 12 the female was created in the garden a final but a highly significant observation is that female the softer one the more vulnerable one was created in the garden in a place of safety she was created to be in a place that was already under the protective authority of her husband to be the male leaves the protective spirits household to become a protector of a new household Genesis 2:24 the woman doesn't leave she's the constant beneficiary of protection from the authorities that God has put in her life see the Lord
wanted to ensure that the woman the soft delicate masterpiece of creation would always be loved and cherished and kept safe the fact that woman was created within the boundaries of a household also implies that women have a unique responsibility in the home a concept that is reinforced in the New Testament for the woman the work of nurturing her relationships and keeping her family in order and her household an order takes priority over other types of work God's design for manhood and womanhood is truly spectacular men are to reflect the character and strength love and self
sacrifice of Christ women are to reflect the character responsiveness grace and beauty of the bride he redeemed and the sexes complement each other in terms of which part of the story they tell and displaying both exalts the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the beauty of the gospel to the praise of God the Father ultimately that's what manhood and womanhood were created to do it's breathtaking to think what the relationship between the first couple unmarked in must have been like I don't know if we can even begin to imagine the love and indivisibility intimacy
satisfaction and delight of that first marital union it's even more staggering to think that the best romance on earth is merely a shadow of the cosmic romance to which it points and that God wants all of us to be part of that greater storyline whether you are young or old whether you are single happily married unhappily married divorced struggling with questions of personal identity whether you've been confused by womanhood whether you've been hurt by man whatever your situation God invites you to say yes to him and to begin to experience the reality to which these
symbols point God created manhood womanhood marriage and sex because he wanted us to have symbols and images and language powerful enough to convey the idea of who he is and what a relationship with him is all about without manhood and womanhood a marriage and sex we'd have a tough time understanding concepts like desire and love commitment fidelity in fidelity loyalty jealousy unity intimacy marriage oneness covenant family we would have a tough time understanding God and the gospel the visible symbols display and testify about what is unseen and that is why the symbols are so very
important and given the powerful symbolism of marriage and gender and sex and family is it any wonder that Satan tries to destroy this image is it any wonder that these things are at the heart of so much brokenness and dysfunction and pain it's where we hurt the most is it not this overview of genesis of gender has likely raised as many questions for you as it has answered what do we do with it how do we apply it how do we begin to live out his design in a world broken by sin like pastor vodi
said last night what do we do when our life does not look that way and we just hurt as our time wraps up I want to emphasize just three thoughts the first thought is this God has a spectacular design for your womanhood the genesis of gender indicates that he is a pattern for who he created you to be as a woman and his pattern and his plan for you is very beautiful it's very good it's very profound very significant and very very precious to his heart number two God wants you to say yes to his
design he wants you to recognize the ways in which you've messed up your life the you thought you knew what we're doing and were too stubborn to read or follow his directions saying yes to true womanhood isn't about accepting a cookie cutter pattern or list I for one am NOT interested in promoting another false cultural ideal of what will make women happy true womanhood says yes to God and his right to be God I am a true woman when I acknowledge that it is not me but my Creator who has the best insight into Who
I am and how I should live point number three God will do an amazing work of restoration last year after a lengthy intensive restoration project one of the greatest masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance was restored to its original splendor and returned to its home at the world-renowned gallery in Florence the Madonna del kar Delino was painted by Raphael in 1505 for the wedding of his friend a wealthy Florence merchant it portrays Jesus Christ's mother Mary with two children who are playing with a bird and the children symbolized John the Baptist and his young cousin Jesus
in the Goldfinch bird which feeds among thorns is interpreted as representing Christ future suffering but something happened to this painting was painted in 1505 40 years after it was created there was an earthquake in the house in which this painting was kept and the painting was shattered into 17 different paint pieces the wood was all smashed up into bits so another artist took long iron nails and tried to kind of patch it together patch the pieces together and then he tried to paint over it to conceal the breaks to kind of make it look whole
again but over the years there was so many layers of paint added and so much dust and grime over this painting that the original colors the original art was completely obscured the contemporary restoration project fixed the shattered areas removed layers of paint and dirts to get the colors back it was a team effort it took fifty people ten years of working on this painting and the result is stunning the cracks are gone centuries of brown film and grime are gone the dulling veneers and patches have been stripped away and the finished product glows with all
of the deep colors reds and blues and golds of the original work of art given how badly it was damaged the restoration of Raphael's painting is arguably even more amazing than the painting itself the original was splendid but the miracle of restoration compounds the beauty knowing the drama of the whole story can only gawk at it in wonder and the spiritual parallels are profound are they not they are profound they speak to a far greater masterpiece of restoration the one that the Lord wants to do in your life and in mine tragically the beautiful design
of who God created us to be has been marred by sin and layers of grime and dirt have collected maybe you felt them and sensed them in your life you thought you could paint over the damage but it didn't work and the patches of the veneers that you applied just made things worse and the cracks are showing and maybe you've experienced earthquakes that have shattered you but the good news the good news of the gospel is that Jesus has the power to make all [Applause] so are you ready to say yes are you ready to
say yes to him maybe this has dredged up some painful stuff for you manhood and womanhood has not been a good experience to you it's been painful but God wants you to say yes he has a spectacular design for your womanhood he wants you to say yes to his design and he wants to do an amazing project of restoration in your life so we're just gonna take a couple moments here to ponder that you need fold up your Bibles keep your little yes Lord hanky my grandmother made me hand keys I told my mother what
is she making hankies for we've got Kleenex why would you want a hankie God has a spectacular design for your womanhood he wants you to say yes to his design and he will do an amazing work of restoration in your life so I want you to indicate visibly if that is what you affirm to say yes Lord to say yes Lord Lord I believe it you have a spectacular design for who you created me to be as a woman yes Lord Lord I embrace it as tough as it is as much as it hurts as
much as I don't understand it sometimes as much as I kick against it sometimes I will say yes to your design yes Lord and call it out to Jesus if you want God I am broke broken I am broken and I need to be fixed in those areas of my life that do not display your glory and tell your story I want it I want it Lord yes I want it so I'm gonna run through these one more time and when I go through I believe it I embrace it I want it I want Yugi
zhis you just respond in your hearts and you might not feel comfortable doing the thing with the hankies that's okay the important thing is you're doing it with your heart okay it's inward it's your heart that God wants you to say yes God is a spectacular for you designed for your womanhood do you believe it do you believe it yes Lord he wants you to say yes to to his design do you embrace it he will do an amazing work of restoration in your life do you desire it yes you stand and I will pray
for you [Music] you
