The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:3 that life works best with Christ in authority over man, a husband in authority over his wife (cf. Ephesians 5:22) and God in authority over Christ. This is the divine order. Now the apostle Paul knew that some of the Corinthians would get the wrong idea about the divine order, so he gave them five illustrations to make his meaning clear. In this post we'll look at his third illustration.
Illustration #3: The Angels
In 1 Corinthians 11:10 Paul writes “It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.” That is, as the women in Corinth would wear a head covering to demonstrate they were under their husband's authority, so the angels also wear a covering in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:2) to show they are under his authority.
Illustration #3: The Angels
In 1 Corinthians 11:10 Paul writes “It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.” That is, as the women in Corinth would wear a head covering to demonstrate they were under their husband's authority, so the angels also wear a covering in the presence of God (Isaiah 6:2) to show they are under his authority.
I personally don't understand why some women get so upset when they hear a passage of Scripture like the one we're studying today. Wives - let me remind you that everyone is under someone's authority...
- Children have parents in authority over them.
- Students have teachers in authority over them.
- Athletes have coaches in authority over them.
- Employees have employers in authority over them.
- Enlisted soldiers have officers in authority over them.
- Husbands have Christ in authority over them.
- Christ has God in authority over him.
- And even the angels themselves are under authority. As Psalm 103:20 says “Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.”
If there's a need for order in the classroom, order in school, order in sports, order at work, order in the military, order in the Trinity and order among the angels - how could there possible not be a need for order in the home?
Using the angels as our example, let's consider what happens when we defy God's divine order. According to Hebrews 2:6-7 God put the angels right where he knew they would be happiest - higher than man but lower than God. But Lucifer didn't like his God-ordained place in the universe so he rebelled against God and his divine order. You can actually read about his rebellion in Isaiah 14:13-15. Lucifer said in his heart: I'm not happy where God's placed me so I will ascend to the heavens, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights. I will ascend above the top of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. And what was the result of this rebellion? Lucifer became Satan and the angels who followed Lucifer became demons, and according to Matthew 25:41 hell itself was created as a place of punishment for Lucifer as well as those who follow in his footsteps. What was Lucifer's sin here? He wanted a more elevated position than the one he was given. Instead of accepting his lot in life he instead aspired to be greater than God. But what disaster we bring on ourselves when we do this. As God said to Satan in Isaiah 14:15, "But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit."
Husbands, we are to voluntarily place ourselves under the authority of Christ. But every time we disobey we are saying in our heart "I want to be my own god! I want to live my own life how I want to live it." When we do this we're no better than Satan (and we sound like him too). Recall that Lucifer said "I will ascend, I will raise my throne, I will sit enthroned, I will make myself like the Most High." How different than Jesus, who rather than saying "I" said "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). After studying this point I had to tell God "I'm sorry for all too often making myself god by living how I want to live instead of how you say I should. Please forgive me." Maybe you need to do the same?
Wives, the Bible says you are to voluntarily place yourselves under the authority of your husband. But when you have an attitude that says in your heart "I aint nobodies helper. I aint serving him" that is actually a Satanic and demonic attitude. It's the very attitude of the heart that turned Lucifer into Satan and many of the angels into demons. If that's you today I would encourage you to repent and adopt a Christlike submission that says "God, you know best. So if that's what the Bible teaches that's what I'm going to do. I might not like it just yet, but I'm going to do it in faith and trust you with the outcome."
Using the angels as our example, let's consider what happens when we defy God's divine order. According to Hebrews 2:6-7 God put the angels right where he knew they would be happiest - higher than man but lower than God. But Lucifer didn't like his God-ordained place in the universe so he rebelled against God and his divine order. You can actually read about his rebellion in Isaiah 14:13-15. Lucifer said in his heart: I'm not happy where God's placed me so I will ascend to the heavens, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights. I will ascend above the top of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. And what was the result of this rebellion? Lucifer became Satan and the angels who followed Lucifer became demons, and according to Matthew 25:41 hell itself was created as a place of punishment for Lucifer as well as those who follow in his footsteps. What was Lucifer's sin here? He wanted a more elevated position than the one he was given. Instead of accepting his lot in life he instead aspired to be greater than God. But what disaster we bring on ourselves when we do this. As God said to Satan in Isaiah 14:15, "But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit."
Husbands, we are to voluntarily place ourselves under the authority of Christ. But every time we disobey we are saying in our heart "I want to be my own god! I want to live my own life how I want to live it." When we do this we're no better than Satan (and we sound like him too). Recall that Lucifer said "I will ascend, I will raise my throne, I will sit enthroned, I will make myself like the Most High." How different than Jesus, who rather than saying "I" said "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). After studying this point I had to tell God "I'm sorry for all too often making myself god by living how I want to live instead of how you say I should. Please forgive me." Maybe you need to do the same?
Wives, the Bible says you are to voluntarily place yourselves under the authority of your husband. But when you have an attitude that says in your heart "I aint nobodies helper. I aint serving him" that is actually a Satanic and demonic attitude. It's the very attitude of the heart that turned Lucifer into Satan and many of the angels into demons. If that's you today I would encourage you to repent and adopt a Christlike submission that says "God, you know best. So if that's what the Bible teaches that's what I'm going to do. I might not like it just yet, but I'm going to do it in faith and trust you with the outcome."
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