In 1973 when I was just starting high school, I vividly remember the famous televised tennis match between 55-year-old Bobby Riggs and 29-year-old Billy Jean King. It was the first ever battle of the sexes in which a man played against a woman in singles and doubles play. The match was viewed by an estimated 55 million people in the United States and over 90 million worldwide.
The battle of the sexes has been with us immemorial. The foundation of the battle of the sexes is found in Genesis 3. It all began in the Garden of Eden through Satan’s cunningly crafted temptation of Eve. Since that time the battle has waged between the two sexes and is more heated today than ever before.
What is the Battle of the Sexes?
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve enjoy a perfect home. They are a team, working in partnership with God in tending and keeping the garden. They experience daily communion with God and each other. Then, along comes Satan.
Satan is a created being who always longed to overthrow God (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12) and chose to use Eve and Adam to do it. The schemes of Satan and demons can be observed in the first account.
It is from the fall of man that we observe the birth of sin, rebellion, and the continual battle of the sexes.
The Schematic Design of All Rebellion
All rebellion against God is reflected in the ongoing conflict between people and especially men and women. The schematic design of Satan hasn’t changed at all from the first time in the Garden of Eden.
First, Satan in the form of a serpent, calls into question God’s word by saying, “Has God indeed said…” (Genesis 3:1). When you begin to question the veracity and truthfulness of God’s Word in our case today, the Bible, one is headed for some deep trouble. If we have no basis for truth, truth erodes into opinion, inuendo, and debate. This is precisely why the socialist, the communist, the woke, and progressive Christianity at the most, completely outlaw the Bible or at the least downgrade the Bible in their pursuit of political and cultural totalitarianism.
Secondly, Satan challenges the love and goodness of God. “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (vs. 1) Eve’s response is accurate. Not only did God not say what Satan said, but God actually said, “We may eat of ALL the trees in the garden but one!” (my translation of vss. 2~3). This is a direct attack on the goodness and love of God. Eve doesn’t buy it yet, but she is thinking.
Next, Satan tempts Eve with immortality; if she eats of the forbidden fruit, she will live forever and never die (vs. 4). This is interesting because Eve has probably never heard of dying. Death is not even in her vocabulary. She was already immortal. So, just as Satan does, the temptation is for something we already possess but it is presented as something we don’t have.
Lastly, the allure to Eve is the look of the temptation. Looking a bit too long is the beginning of all sin. The scripture says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable…she took…and ate.” (vs. 6). Look familiar? Yes, it’s still true that the schematic design of Satan and demons is the same today: question God’s word, doubt God’s love, think we are missing out, and look too long.
The results are devastating. The battle of the sexes begins. More next week.
Pastor Steve
