Amen and Awoman?
A Devotional Series from Genesis (a reprise from an earlier devotional, originally written 1/5/24)
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
4/27 Reading Portions: Numbers 4; Psalm 38; Song of Solomon 2; Hebrews 2
Genesis 5:2
Male and female He created them, and He blessed them and named them Man when they were created.
MAN
It’s amazingly insane that some minister concluded his prayer to open a session of the U.S. House of Representatives a couple of years ago by praying to “the monotheistic God… and God known by many names by many different faiths.” First, by that statement, he is praying to a polytheistic god; but even more shocking was that he concluded his prayer with “amen and awoman.” Forget about the idiocy of forsaking simple word etymology so one may be “woke” in America, today’s devotion is modest but blessed. God literally called the man and the woman “Adam” (KJV), translated “Man” from our text (ESV). While male and female, or man and woman, are distinctive by their genders as persons, as created beings we are man, mankind, or literally from the Hebrew, אָדָם (a-DAM). When the Scriptures speak of the sin of man or the salvation of men, it does not exclude women or children; and most especially, in salvation, as it is written,
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
Why is this so blessed? Though our sinful condition came through Adam’s disobedience as a man (1 Cor 15:22), the rewards of salvation in, by, and through Jesus Christ are unto all who trust in Him. In Christ’s kingdom, there are no second-class citizens. Christ’s reward at His return is with Him because our reward is Himself. Jesus is eternal God who became perfect Man to save sinful men. You and I are sinful men whom Jesus the God-Man saved by His grace so we may spend eternity with Him. Amen is of Hebrew origin, meaning “faithful” or “truly.” Therefore, for souls saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the “Amen” of God (Rev 3:14), both men and women are included when it is said.
“But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assured,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.”Wm. Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
