Male and Female - Emmetsburg Newspaper Article 4/22/21

-


 “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” According to God’s ordering, He formed Adam from the dust of the earth and Eve from Adam’s side. For all the generations which have followed, God created us according to this same beautiful pattern: man and woman, husband and wife, male and female, XY and XX. The differences between men and women God has established in nature; differences in genetics, physiology, abilities, vocations, and personalities.

Men and women, while similar in many respects (and equal in regards to salvation and value), are not the same. God designed the sexes to be unequal to each other in order that they may complement one another. The differences between the two is what gives each their strength. The fact that men are to be men and that women are to be women is what gives our lives such vibrancy and vigor.

One very significant aspect of this is that only men can be husbands and fathers, and only women can be their wives and be mothers to their children. This simple, yet vital, pattern was set by God through Adam and Eve, through whom we all are their children. This vital pattern was made manifest in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus is the Groom, and the church is Christ’s bride. Jesus, the groom, laid down His life for His bride. The Church, the bride of Christ, is made holy and saved by the sacrificial death of her Groom.

This is the natural and holy ordering of this world, and it is good. Through this ordering of men and women, God blesses our world to be fruitful and joyful. Through this ordering of men and women, God the Father sent forth His Son Jesus to be born of His mother Mary, so that we, the bride of Christ, would be saved by the death of Christ our Groom.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Rev. John H. Koopman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Defense of Headcoverings

-
Image
A Defense of Headcoverings in the Lutheran Church by Rev. John Henry Koopman “ Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head,
Read more

The Fruit of the Womb are a Reward - Algona Newspaper Article

-
Image
Children are very often treated as a curse in our culture; we don’t want to have “too many” of them. Fertility is regularly treated like a disease, something which we medicate against. Unborn children are treated like commodities or science experiments. For example, Francis Collins, the former head of the NIH presided over, funded, ordered, or participated in experiments on human fetuses procured from abortions, such as a University of Pittsburgh experiment which grafted infant scalps onto lab rats. These are the types of atrocities we’d expect from Nazis, yet they’re taking place in our own modern day nation.  Approximately 800,000+ abortions are performed yearly in the United States. About 3,500 abortions take place here in Iowa each year. Think about those numbers for a moment. About as many people as live in Emmetsburg are killed before birth in Iowa. More people than live in Des Moines are killed yearly in the United States. Those are some sobering numbers. Contrast that with the
Read more

Sermon - Trinity V 2023 - Luke 5:1-11

-
Image
The Miraculous Draft of Fishes,  Raphael, 1515-1516 “Faithfulness to the Word of God produces greater fruits than any amount of human wisdom.” The Value of Life God’s Word gives value and purpose Therefore a life lived in obedience to God’s word has greater value than a life lived according to human wisdom. What gives a life, your life, value? This is ultimately the question behind abortion and euthanasia and any number of life issues that we’re facing today. Typically today we answer that question very practically: what is that person producing and will that person have pleasure? So for an unborn child, maybe with disabilities, maybe with a single mother, maybe with poor prospects of wealth and happiness later, it’s concluded that that life is not worth living.  Elderly people wonder this too: why am I still alive? I can't do anything, I'm just a burden, I don't feel well, therefore my life is not worth living, some conclude.  To some extent, I think that this mindset also
Read more