He made us to govern the natural world. Through sin, that order was reversed and woman became subservient to man and man became dominated by the earth from which he came. Death ultimately became the ruler of both. Salvation is God's reversal back to his original plan, which includes gender equality. On the other hand, human beings developed a false value system in which people became valued according to their power, strength, intellect, money earned, and so forth, instead of their worth being based on creation and redemption.
Sin is dominance, manipulation, control of others, and desires for supremacy.
How we see the unity of the Godhead will determine the kind of unity we reflect in his church. If the Father rules the Son and the Son rules the Holy Spirit, then perhaps we answered Jesus' prayer by our stand on women in ministry. But if their oneness means that the Father honors and serves the Son and the Son honors and serves the Holy Spirit and they all honor and serve one another, then the decision made at Utrecht about the role of women in the church is not the end of the discussion. Other Featured Columns Movie and Book Reviews Sabbath School Study Jean Sheldon is assistant professor of religion at Pacific Union College. She wrote this article for the Campus Chronicle , Pacific Union College's student newspaper, where it was first published on May 3, 2001.