Lessons for Sisters 4

message title: the Female Life Being the Life Useful to God in His Economy

I. the book of Exodus reveals the kind of people God can use in His economy for the fulfillment of His purpose:

1. in the first few chapters of Exodus, we can see a few women useful in the way that God used to prepare Moses, who brought the Israel people to get out of Egpyt. the midwife, the daughter of Pharoah, Moses's mum and sister. from this, we can see that God needs a certain kind of life both to preserve His people and to prepare a savior to deliver them from bondage. and God accomplished this through the female life. 

2. to be useful to God is related to building up of His dwelling place, which is the church today; and to fight for His interest on earth. if we want to be useful, these are the two things, to build up the church, and to defeat the enemy, which is also related to Genesis 1:26, the purpose of God's creation of man, image and dominion. 

3. the life useful to God in these maters is the female life.

II. God is the head of Christ; Christ, under the headship of God, is the head of every man; and man, under the headship of Christ, is the head of the woman

grace flows downwards. the anointing oil also flows downwards, from the head of Aaron, to his beard and to the hinge of the garment. this means that if we are not in a submissive position, we will not receive the grace and the ointment, both of which are flowing down. the more submmisve we are, the more we will receive the grace and the anointing. it is wonderful to submit, though the world teaches us to be uprising, which obviously goes against the teaching in the Bible. 

III. Man, typifying Christ, signifies the independent life:

in the whole universe, there is only One who is and can be independent, that is God, not us. 

IV. Woman, typifying man, signifies the dependent life:

V. Man is to be a real "female" living a life dependent on God

we are actually made collectively a "female" before God, to live a female life, depending on God, as the true man, and as our husband. 

VI. Man's independence of God is rebellion.

the moment we become independent, we become rebellious against God. when we declare that we can live without God, without the tree of life, that is the beginning of man's fall. 

"I am breathing every moment, Drawing all my life from Thee; Breath by breath I live upon Thee, Lord, Thy Spirit breathe in me. " - hymn 255 https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/255

VIII. only the real "female" life is useful to God

1. in the Bible God's people are likened to a female.

in the Old Testament, God deal with Israel as His spouse. 

Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your Husband; Jehovah of hosts is His name. And the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

Jeremiah 2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah: I remember concerning you the kindness of your youth, The love of your bridal days, When you followed after Me in the wilderness, In a land that was not sown.

Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth you to Myself forever; Indeed I will betroth you to Myself In righteousness and justice And in lovingkindness and compassions;

in the New Testament, the believers in Christ are considered virgins

2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

TBC...46:40