In a few hours it will be Resurrection Sunday. As I contemplate the meaning of all that is found in Christ's death, burial and resurrection, I think specifically this year what it means to me - as a Christian woman. This past year has been one in which I have come to a deeper love and understanding of my created purpose not just as a human, but as a woman. There is meaning and value in Christ for me as a woman. Sometimes when this topic is discussed, I think people tend to feel like we say things like this merely to make us feel better about being a woman, as if it is so difficult and oppressive. But that is certainly not the intention behind my understanding and study of it, so do not misunderstand me. One of my pastors recently said to me, "What is one of the reasons I get to sit behind this desk?" Now, obviously, not just anyone can be a pastor. It is a life calling, one that must be validated by the Spirit. However, what he was pointing out was that one reason he can sit behind that desk is because he is a man. Scripture teaches that the elder or pastor of the flock is to be a man, not a woman.
So...how does this relate to Easter Sunday? Well, indirectly, it relates in that I celebrate Easter as a woman, praising God for the redemption I have found in Him as my Creator and Savior! I have heard some scholars/writers point out how it was to women that Christ first revealed Himself after His resurrection from the dead, and they even say that this fact should be an encouragement to all women of the value and dignity that Christ chose to bestow on women in doing such a thing. Now, I don't want to take it that far necessarily, because I do think that sometimes we place more meaning on something to the point that it may take away from the central importance, which in this case, is that Christ was raised from the dead! His resurrection is not to be used as an opportunity to validate woman's significance, but to validate the prophecies of God's Word and to bring complete fulfillment to the promises we have in Him. And I rejoice in this reality as a saved woman!
Susan Hunt says, "The true woman is the real thing. The Master has set eternity in her heart and is conforming her to His own image. There is consistency in her outward behavior because it is dictated by the reality of her inner life. That reality is her redemption. The true woman is a reflection of her redemption."
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