God made man, and then said that man needed a counterpart, a help, a friend, a mate . . . and God created woman. Man needed Woman. Gen 1:27 seems to indicate that:
'God created man (mankind/humanity) in his own image, in the image of God he created him (mankind/humanity); male and female he created them.' (Gen 1:27)The first person to hear from God that the promised Messiah was about to arrive in the world, and how, was the young lady Mary, as we've already mentioned. A young girl, promised to be married to Joseph, received an ordained visit from an angel who was commanded to tell her that she had been chosen to bring God's Son into the world. Now you could say that's only normal, as she was the one to give birth. Fair enough, but in just the previous verses God had sent the same angel to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, to inform him that his wife would give birth to a child who would become the prophet John the Baptist. But God informed the husband, we don't read of him informing the wife in this instance. (Obviously the situation is a bit different as John the Baptist was conceived by natural methods.) But continuing with this though, what about Joseph, the intended husband of Mary? Why did God not inform him first of all of his plans concerning his future wife? Because it seems, according to Matthew 1v18-25, that he only discovered that Mary was pregnant when 'she was found to be with child' . . . and then God speaks to him via a dream, because he's about to mess up God's plans by ending their 'engagement'. Can we assume that God spoke first to Mary because he chose to, and because that was enough. He trusted her with the information and the 'task'. (Maybe Joseph should have had more trust/faith in his young fiancée?)
After Jesus' death, the first person we read of that meets the risen Lord is Mary. She is weeping because she doesn't know where his body has been taken, so still believing him dead, and Jesus appears to comfort her, giving her also the task of communicating his words and news of his resurrection to his 'brothers' (John 20:17). Even in the other Gospels it is a group of women who arrive at the empty tomb who are first to receive the news that Jesus has risen, from the mouth of angels yet again, and who instruct them to relay this information to his disciples. And then on their way to accomplish their task Jesus himself appears to them. (Matt 28:1-10)
Then consider that at various places in the New Testament the church is compared to or called the bride of Christ. And it is via this bride that Christ communicates his love, and demonstrates his care and desire for reconciliation, etc. In various verses the church is likened to the bride of Christ, for example Ephesians 5:22-33, 1 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 19:7-9, 21:1-2. And this bride is the evidence of the love of Jesus, who remains here on earth to accomplish his will, until he returns for the marriage feast, in a sense. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say Jesus needs his bride to accomplish his plans, but he certainly chooses to act through her, and to trust her to communicate his love and desire for reconciliation.
And after looking at these thoughts, it seems to me that the Bible presents a God who values women as much as men. I'm presented with what seems to me to be a balanced view of men and women together being used by God, serving God, hearing from God. Not according to gender, but according to whom God chose. And I find it hard to believe that this is not still God's will, to use men and women in his service, who are available to him. God speaks to men, God speaks to women. God trusts men and God trusts women: to listen to him, to hear from him, to understand him, to comprehend his will. And God specifically chose women on several occasions to communicate his words, his message, to their brothers. It would seem that the male half of the church needs the female half of the church to hear clearly the voice and will of God. Men on their own are not a true representation of God, neither are women. Men and women together are the 'image of God', according to Genesis, and perhaps maybe the whole of Scripture?
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