“And the man said, ‘Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man.’
So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.”—Genesis 2:23-25 (NCV)
“The greatest thing God ever made was a woman.”—Shannon Sanders
I’m not real sure how this gonna go, but I believe this will be kind of like a spiritual PSA (Public Service Announcement) from the Creator to every woman reading this. Meaning, if you were created with the genitals of the female species, if you came into this earth with a womb (Psalm 22:9), this message goes out to you. Especially.
I often wake up with songs on my mind. When it’s one that I haven’t thought of in some time, I know the Comforter (Luke 12:12) is trying to relay a message to me. Well, there is a modern-soul artist by the name of Raheem DeVaughn who released a song a couple of years ago entitled, “Woman”. It’s his melodic perspective on what a woman is/does and it was playing on repeat in my psyche.
Woman.
As I was about to pen a message to a group of women on Facebook who are joining me in marriage preparation, I thought again about the name the Creator gave me for it: “On Fire”, with this Scripture as its support: “Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.” (Psalm 104:4-NKJV)
One definition of “minister” is “a person authorized to conduct religious worship; member of the clergy; pastor”. Oh, but another (noun): “a person acting as the agent or instrument of another”. And another (verb): “to give service, care, or aid; attend, as to wants or necessities”. And another (verb): “to contribute, as to comfort or happiness”.
Woman.
When we came on to the scene, don’t forget it was because GOD, the CREATOR, decided that we needed to be here. We didn’t come up with the concept. Adam, the man, didn’t, either (something the single fellas should be in prayer about…not your timing, but Adonai’s):
“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.’ From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ribs. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the rib. The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.”—Genesis 2:18-22 (NCV)
Even with all that Adam had, the Lord decided that he needed some help. Some support. Someone to MINISTER to him. Yeah. No wonder the serpent came her way, first (Genesis 3:1-6).
But that part of the story I think we all are familiar with. It’s this that I want to share today: There is power in a name. In biblical times and even in many modern cultures across the world today, when someone names a child, it speaks loudly into the atmosphere to what they are going to do and who they are going to be. It speaks to their purpose: “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.”; “an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal”.
Now read back over Genesis 2:18-22. The parts in bold. It was GOD who said he would make a helper for Adam. It was MAN (Adam) who was given the right, the privilege, the blessing to name the living things that God made. The woman came from the man. The lead verse says that the name she was given was “Woman” because she came from man. And what is a woman to do? Under God, she’s to be the main support, the helpmate, the minister to the man.
Yes, the Enemy was gonna jump all up in that! (John 10:10)
Yet, this is where I about fell out while thinking all of this through. It was when I told a friend of mine, this morning, while listening to Raheem’s song, that “Woman” was our “pre-sin-slavery” name and that we needed to get back to it. I laughed at first; then I internally screamed! I thought about the novel/movie, “Roots” (Alex Haley) and how it was the slave master’s intention to beat Kunta Kinte’s name out of him. The slave master knew the power, the pride, the purpose that Kunta Kinte and his family found in the name that was given to him…at birth. After doing a bit of research: “Kinte’s arrival in Annapolis is symbolic of the slave trade era when millions of African men, woman and children were captured and sent to the New World. They endured the horrors of the ‘Middle Passage’ — the Atlantic crossing in which Africans were packed into the holds of ships for months, many dying en route.” (www.kintehaley.org/rootskintebio.html)
If you’ve never seen the movie series, I’ve enclosed the brutal clip of this scene here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_A2o8ICcIQ
Yeah, well, if you think that is harsh, believe me, this is what sin has done to women…for years. I have always found it profoundly odd that pre-sin, Adam’s name for his helpmate was “Woman”; but post-sin it was “Eve”. “Eve”, according to the Scriptures, because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). Is it just me or do you immediately see a divide between them? First she’s acknowledged as being a part of Adam (mind/body/soul) and then she’s referenced, by him, for what she physically does: birth children.
“Woman” before sin. “Eve” after.
Woman.
We know that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but the spirit world (Ephesians 6:12). I wasn’t there, but I believe the Lord has placed my spirit into some kind of spiritual time travel to, at least sense, at this moment, that after sin, a spirit came into Adam. He was hurt. He was angry. He was…detached. And to a certain degree, he had the right to be (whole ‘nother message, though). And because his Woman came out of him, with him being that way, she too felt hurt, angry, detached. What was she to do with that kind of separation? How was she to help now?
Biblical history tells us that they remained married and even had children. Any thorough health specialist will tell you that how you carry a child in pregnancy will reflect in the baby upon birth. I can’t help but wonder if the struggle between “love” and “anger” explains the extreme differences between Cain and Abel (Genesis 4); the first son, representing flesh and the second representing the spirit (Genesis 5:16-17).
Yeah. We could explore all of this for days, but for now, to every woman reading this, I just want to say with our Father’s permission: “Please don’t lose sight of your purpose. No matter what the slave master, Satan, has been trying to get you to be, YOU ARE A WOMAN. That is your name. That is your purpose. That is your destiny.” I know, because I have personally experienced it, that some of you have been so beaten down that you think your name is “Prostitute”, “Adulteress”, “Fornicator”, “Gossiper”, “Manipulator”, “Abuser”, “Harsh”, “Cyclic”, “Old Maid”, “Lesbian”, “Bisexual”, “Gold Digger”, “Loner”, “Desperate”, “Fearful”, “Messy”, “Needy”, “Bitter”, “Male Basher”, “Addict”, “Nagger”, “Codependent”, “Envious”, “Broken, Battered, Bruised”…and whatever other names your lifestyle is representing you to be at this time. But that was not your original purpose. That is not what you were created to be. Today, the Lord is desiring to free some of you from sin’s slavery and restore you back to his intention for your life:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’
They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?’
Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’”—John 8:31-36 (NKJV)
As a black woman in America, the older I get, the more I see how slavery here affected African-Americans…even now. In our diet, our choices, our self-esteem. Post Traumatic Stress, even in the spirit realm, is very real, y’all. The Bible says that we are a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, God’s SPECIAL PEOPLE (I Peter 2:9). Today, God is calling you out of that darkness that contradicts your inheritance. Today, you have obtained mercy. Don’t you see? “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” (I Corinthians 7:23-NKJV) ANYMORE.
Years and years of sin has got us believing that eating the sinner’s diet, thinking the sinner’s way, doing what the sinner’s do, is the right thing. I look at my young black brothers (some of my non-black ones too) and think, “Your pants around your knees. Really, prince? They used to do that to your forefathers as a way of emasculating them during a lynching. Oh, if you only knew your history.” But I look at some of my spiritual sisters too and I’m like, “What do you mean you want to be with another woman? (Romans 1) How hurt are you that the thought of being joined to a man, of being in spiritual covenant, of creating more of your own kind (naturally), sickens you?” You weren’t “made” to do that? The Bible says the complete and total opposite and being a generational descendant of slavery doesn’t mean you have to think like a slave. Joseph is a great biblical example of that (Genesis 37-42).
Daughters of the Most High, no matter what you’ve been calling yourself and no matter what you have been allowing people to call you, your name is “WOMAN”. Get back to being a WOMAN. It’s a beautiful thing to be. Anything that does what it’s created to do, that lives out its life purpose…therein is fulfillment. Therein is completion. Therein dwells the Creator of the creation:
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Romans 6:15-23 (NKJV)
For some of you…actually for all of us (I John 1:10), it’s gonna be a process: emotionally exchanging our “sin label” for our birthright. But that’s what I love about the title of this message. Getting back to the ROOT of things brings some assurances:
Root: a part of the body of a plant that develops, typically, from the radicle and grows downward into the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutriment and moisture; the fundamental or essential part; the source or origin of a thing; a person or family as the source of offspring or descendants
“A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous cannot be moved.”—Proverbs 12:3 (NKJV)
“The wicked covet the catch of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit.”—Proverbs 12:12 (NKJV)
“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches… but if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”—Romans 11:16 & 18 (NKJV)
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”—Ephesians 3:14-20 (NKJV)
““I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”—Revelation 22:16 (NKJV)
Christ is the root. We are the branches. Woman, it’s time to bloom!
“My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms in the vineyards of En Gedi.”—Song of Solomon 1:14 (NKJV)
This was a MAN speaking of his WOMAN. His help. His support. His beloved.
Today, please be free of the sin that besets you. When President Abraham Lincoln spoke to Congress about the purpose of freeing slaves, he said, “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.”
And today, as the Lord speaks about the purpose of freeing you, he says, “I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”—Galatians 5:12-14 (NKJV)
WOMAN, who the Son sets free is free, indeed (John 8:36)! Walk in your freedom. Dance in your liberty. Celebrate your birthright. Loose those chains that had you bound.
BE A WOMAN.
TODAY.
©Shellie R. Warren/2010