Woman is the Glory of the Man

1 Cor. 11:7

“Woman is the Glory of the Man”- 1 Corinthians 11:7

The Apostle Paul speaks to the Corinthians about issues of dress and hair length in the church, but as always places ethical requirements on the foundation of doctrinal truth. The ethical requirements concerning the Corinthian church should probably be kept in the first century, but the spiritual principle upon which the issue is based is timeless and speaks to us today. The principle is: The woman is the glory of the man. (1 Cor. 11:7).

When Adam was created, he was created from the dirt and clay of the earth. The word “adam” means “of the earth.” The “adam” (man) was made from the “adama” (earth). He is the son of the earth as much as the child of God. The word “Adam” means “man” in the generic sense, not the masculine sense, since it is used in Gen. 1:27 and 5:2 to refer to male and female both as humans who bear the image of God. It is “humans” who come from the “humus.” Yet, it is Adam, the son of the earth, that is placed in the Garden. It is Adam who was given the priestly task of “working and keeping” the garden. It was to Adam the Lord issued the one prohibition given to not eat of the wrong tree. Adam was given the priestly task, but Adam was created to be both a king and a priest and he cannot fulfill his purpose alone.

In this “very good” environment, God saw that for Adam, “it is not good for man to be alone” (Cp. Gen. 1:31 and 2:18). Why was it “not good” for Man to be alone? Because without woman, he cannot fulfill his purpose. The power of dominion was given to male and female (Gen. 1:27,28). Fruitfulness can never happen to a man or to a single gender population in a way that fills the earth and takes dominion over it. So, God places Adam in a sleep-like death, and removes a portion from his side and creates the woman. Man is no longer alone.

When God presents the bride to the groom, when God brings the woman to the man, we hear the first words declared by humans on the earth, (and it is a love poem) :

“This is at last

 bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called, “Woman”

because she came out of “Man.” (Gen. 2:23)

In the Hebrew, the word for Woman is “ishhah” and the word for Man here is “ish”. The word “ish” in Hebrew is related to the word for “fire” (esh). Adam turned from a man of cold dirt to a fiery altar of transformation. The story of 1 Kings begins with the account of an elderly King David who can no longer feel warmth. A beautiful woman named Abishag was brought to be near the king, and her very presence brought the fire of warmth. (1 Kings1:1-4). The Woman was brought to man to bring fire into his bones.

Why is this important? Because Adam re-named himself at the presentation of his bride. Adam has been transformed by the glory of his wife from a man of dirt to a man of fire. The presence of fire transforms, and the presence of the Woman transformed Adam into a Man. The woman caused him to change his name, which we see throughout the book of Genesis as the sign of transformation and destiny. (Abram is renamed Abraham and Jacob is renamed Israel.)  Adam changed his name because his entire being was filled with the fire of love.

Man could not fulfill the call of God upon him without the Woman. Jesus cannot fulfill the purposes of God without His bride, the Church. She was made from His side, that flowed with blood and water. She is presented again by the Father in Revelation, “and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2). The woman is the glory of the man. The church is the glory of the Lord Jesus. Jesus died on the Cross alone. But He arose from death with a bride. It is through this bride that He takes dominion over the earth. It is for this bride that He gave his life. She is His glory.

Marriage is more than a social contract or human relationship. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. (Eph. 5:22-33). A diamond ring is traditionally an integral part of the marriage relationship, and this is fitting because a gemstone is simply dirt that has been transformed in fire. It is woman that sets the man on fire. Man is dirt, Woman is fire, Man is a lump of coal, Woman is a diamond. The church was created by Christ and transformed by the Spirit of Christ, but she also fulfills the purpose and destiny of Christ. She is the glory of Christ. And woman is the glory of the man.