Introduction:
* Biblical family instruction are given on the premise of our relationship with God.
* Understanding our genderhood before God and how it impacts the world.
* <Ge 1:27-28>: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”
* <Ge 1:27-28>: Mankind made in His image (spiritual identity) ⟹ Male and Female (family) ⟹ Multiply and Rule Over (society, world).
* In a marital context: Female ⟹ The Beautiful Wife; Male ⟹ The Prayerful Husband.
Read <1 Peter 3:1-6>: 1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
God adorns beauty in women.
* Beauty has nothing to do with vanity.
* Beauty is used as “manipulation” in our fallen culture.
* <v4>: Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
* Biblically, beauty is a term that is associated with woman.
* God made women beautiful in the eyes of men., esp in the eyes of her husband.
* E.g. Sarah
<Ge 12:11>: As he (Abram) was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are”.
* E.g. Rebekah
<Ge 26:7>: he (Isaac) was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
* E.g. Ruth
<Ruth 3:11>: (Boaz said): “All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character”.
* <1 Peter 3:1-6> ⟹ the beauty of a wife is what God wants to preserve in a marriage.
Be a beautiful woman
* <<1 Peter 3:4,5,6> ⟹ Be not just a beautiful woman before her husband, but a beautiful woman before God.
* <v4>:… the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
* <v5> For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful… (woman who powerfully demonstrate her faith).
* Holy woman of the past. E.g. Sarah (Though have weakness but Bible reserves exclusive praise for her).
* <v6> …. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
* A woman who does not fear know how to trust God despite her weakness.
* Beauty in God’s sight: <v4>: …it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
* Gentle – Self-restrained spirit.
* Quiet – Peace and orderliness.
* On Dressing:
⟹ Not to forbid the putting on of jewelry and fine clothing.
⟹ Yet, to refrain from dressing that shows the vanity and ungodliness of the surrounding culture.
⟹ Two Questions to ask on dressing:
(1) What is it to dress modestly and with propriety?
(2) How to dress in the most appropriate way to reflect the inner beauty that God has requested of a woman?
Be a beautiful wife.
1) Living with an unbelieving (or unspiritual) husband.
* <v1>: Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives.
2) Exemplary character of a wife.
* <v5-6>: … holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master.
(1) Sarah called Abram “My master”.
(2) Sarah obeyed Abraham in uncertainty.
* <Heb 11:8>: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
(3) Sarah obeyed Abraham even though Abraham was prone to mistakes.
* Abraham lied to Pharoah and King Abimelech (20 years later) about Sarah being his sister.
* Yet, Sarah continues to honor Abraham though he made big blunders in his life.
<Pro 31:10-12>: 10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
