Distinct by Design, United by Mission
God’s story is full of happy groupings of men and women that help and support each other. The first words of the Bible introduce us to the One God, seen as a Spirit over the world. Later we learn of the person of the Son, and further God reveals himself in the person of the Father. They seem to specialize in their tasks, with God the Father loving and ruling, the Son creating and redeeming, and the Spirit helping people to understand, drawing their eyes back to God.
This One true God called Paul the teacher and Barnabas the encourager. In Acts 14, we read of them traveling the world together, clearly doing different work.
Happy groupings of unique individuals show up everywhere. The apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12 that each “local church,” is like a human body, formed by God with different parts, different capabilities, and no seams. Men and women together uttering wisdom, exercising faith, working miracles, teaching and applying the truth accurately, and speaking languages. They are just like many body parts working together– feet, hands, eyes, ears– with only one head, Jesus Christ. “You’re all so different,” he seems to say, “and you can’t live without one another!”
This one God, who made the church of many body parts, made the first actual human body in his “own image,” and completed the task by creating both man and woman. The image of God cannot be fully captured in male alone! Created first, Adam gets the assignment of caring for God’s created world; however, he is alone and can sense his need for a suitable partner. God creates Eve to be that life-giving partner for him. For the world, she’s the mother of all living people; for him, she’s as important to him as part of his own body. They can’t do God’s mission without one another (Genesis 1:1-2, 1:26, 27, 2:23,29-25, 3:20).
Later we see God assigning tasks and creating people with different gifts; Moses is the leader of God’s people, but Aaron is the person who speaks. Bezalel is the craftsman who can make the things Moses has seen from God, but it’s the entire nation who provides the materials necessary for the Tabernacle, their place of worship. No one person does it alone.
God created another dynamic team when Deborah, a woman of God, is tasked to explain God’s truth to people and settle disputes. She also communicates the military instructions from the Lord of Armies to the man God had chosen to be the military leader (Judges 4).
Years after that, Boaz is the responsible landowner and family leader caring for the poor immigrant, and Ruth boldly responds to his initiative and kindness. Through them, God brings about the salvation of the world. Solomon’s proverbs show us a father’s careful instruction of wisdom to their child, but amplifies a mother’s passion for her child’s happy life, referring to the Godly woman as the ideal human being.
As we study Romans together, we should recall another happy team that made this possible. Many years after the life of Jesus, the apostle Paul was committed to helping believers in Corinth know God. But he also wanted to help believers he had never met. So he got a pen and ink, and, inspired by God, he scratched out a careful description of the good news for men and women of all ethnic backgrounds living in Rome. But how would Paul get the letter to the people?
Most commentators believe that Phoebe delivered this epistle to the city of Rome. Paul needed someone who could travel to Rome and deliver that important document. In Romans 16:1-2, Phoebe is commended as a servant of the church in Cenchrea, and Paul clearly trusted her. And so, because of God’s authorship, Paul’s writing, and Phoebe’s resources to faithfully deliver, we have the greatest book on the gospel.
God makes happy groupings of unique men and women to accomplish his happy purposes. He assembles the right people (both men and women) with the right gifts. By using these diverse people, he is accomplishing the rescue of the world.
