I have acknowledged a prior distorted sense of who I was concerning my identity and purpose as a woman, and my misunderstanding of God, due to false religious teachings. I will elaborate more on that in this post.

Teachings I heard insinuated that a woman was never really even meant to be. Implication was that the woman was created only as an afterthought when God had a light bulb moment, and realized that His wonderful son Adam, whom He loved, needed a woman. Thus, a woman was created!

I heard statements such as, “A woman was not even in the original creation.” That, my friends, is in fact, an exact quote that I repeatedly heard. Ouch! I thought to myself, So this is my purpose… God did not really want me, but made me and other women, only for us to be with a man, just to benefit the man.

I felt just awful about that! The religious circle around me was often highlighting women’s sinful nature and putting pressure on women to do better.

Boys were given a lot more free reign in general, to live without so much scrutiny, rebuke, and rules to adhere to. This was justified by reminding us that the woman was deceived in the garden of Eden. It was justified by saying boys and girls are different, and you have to be more careful with girls. I don’t have a problem with being careful with girls, but that should never cancel out proper instruction and culpability for boys!

Untrained, undisciplined, improperly bred boys are a main reason parents worry about their girls, and about their grown daughters too. Improperly bred and undisciplined boys are the reason there are problematic, dangerous men!

There were constant reminders that the woman was deceived; the woman is to blame. Men seemed to have it made! The truth of the matter is, Eve was deceived, but spiritual abusers were capitalizing on it, using this fact out of context to blame and demean women, while keeping the focus off men’s flaws.

False doctrine and spiritual abuse throughout the years portrayed to me a false picture of who God is and how He feels about me and other women. This created a distance between God and myself, because I did not know how to serve, revere, or love God, based on the portrayal of Him. I believed what the men were saying, and thought God didn’t want women, except for the benefit of the man.

Men in leadership positions were hostile and misinformed me about what submission meant. They portrayed headship and submission as a superior/ inferior dynamic. They portrayed it as if it was a license for a man to control and berate his wife as if she was a child.

Before I became Biblically literate, I believed that God called me to submit, so that my husband could just control me and get his way with everything. I believed that submission was God’s punishment upon me for being female, because Eve was deceived and she was female.

Then…I started to really study God’s word for myself.

• Had I studied the word of God the way I should have sooner, I would have seen in Genesis 5: 1- 2, that the idea that the woman is an afterthought and not in the “orginal” creation is absolutely false!

• The implication by the false teachers was that the woman was not thought of or needed, until God realized Adam needed someone, so in order to satisfy Adam’s need, he created a woman.

The truth of the matter is, God knows everything from the beginning:

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1: 3-4.

• God knew about Eve as much as he knew about Adam, and planned her just as much as he planned Adam, right from the beginning.

• In fact, God created Adam in such a way that Adam would need his helpmeet. It was not a coincidence.

• The fact that Eve got her physical body after Adam got his does not take away from this fact:

“… In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God created he him; male and female created he them and blessed them, and CALLED THEIR NAME ADAM IN THE DAY THEY WERE CREATED.” Genesis 5: 1-2.

From this, it is clear the male and female were created on the same day, which was on the 6th day, and God named them Adam. Please do your own verification and check the Bible in Genesis chapter 1: 26-31, and Genesis 5: 1-2.

Had I studied the scriptures more closely sooner, I would have understood that not only were both male and female created on the 6th day;

but also, that Adam was formed from the dust in physical form afterwards, in Genesis 2: 7, and the woman was taken out from him and got her own physical form in Genesis 2 :21-22.

They (the male and the female) were created (on the 6th day) before they received their physical forms or bodies.

I don’t want this to be confusing, but it is important to understand what happened during the creation. It could be a no-brainer for many people who read the Bible for themselves. However, I know there are false teachings floating around, and women and others are being abused in various churches and religious organizations, so it is important to shed light on these important Bible truths.

God created the male and female on the 6th day in spirit first, then later gave them physical bodies. Adam received a physical body first. Eve received a body later, when God took a rib off Adam and formed the woman.

We have Bible evidence that God created both the male and the female on the 6th day and things were finished at that point. Notice, Genesis chapter 2: 1, says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and ALL THE HOST OF THEM.

This means heaven and the earth, were finished, and ALL OF THE HOST OF THEM, on the 6th day, before the male, then the female got physical bodies. The male and female were created on the 6th day, and it was finished. They already existed. Later, the male and female got physical forms. See how and why the woman is not an afterthought or a byproduct?

Some people misunderstand and believe the female was never in existence or thought of until God realized Adam needed a helpmeet and made the woman. No! I heard the statement that the woman is created in the image of the man as well. No!

In addition, one preacher and his followers were referring to women as “byproducts.” Some people were likely innocently mistaken about this, and some people simply seem to thrive off of misogynist rubbish.

• Both male and female were created; Genesis 1: 26-31 and also Genesis 5: 2 tells us this. Later, the rib taken off of Adam was made into a body for the female spirit to dwell in.

• Hence, the male and the female spirits were created before their earthen vessels (bodies) were formed. The creation took place on the 6th day and is discussed in Genesis 1: 26 -28. God formed Adam from the dust Genesis 2: 7, and Eve was formed in Genesis 2: 21-22.

1 Timothy 2: 13 also acknowledges this. “...For Adam was first FORMED, then Eve.”

Notice, Apostle Paul did not say Adam was first created, but that he was first formed. If he stated Adam was first created (meaning the male was created independently of and before the female), that would not match Genesis 1: 26 -28 and Genesis 5: 1- 2.

Therefore, he was simply stating that Adam was first formed. He was formed from the dust before Eve got her body. The order in the formation of Adam and Eve reflects their roles. God formed Adam and put him to work for a season, of which the duration is unknown, before forming Eve. We understand that the man has a responsibility of leadership. In the chain of command, he is under Jesus Christ, his head.

Authority and position in the chain of command is not related to tyranny, control, worth, importance, or holiness. It is about God’s divine order and delegation of responsibility. When we view the facts that played out in the garden of Eden, it helps bring an understanding. It shows a man’s responsibility to God, and a woman’s compliant support and assistance.

When I studied the facts of the Bible, I understood there was no justification whatsoever for the contempt against women, or for the false teachings.

Here are some Bible truths I learned that are in contrast to prior teachings I had received from spiritual abusers. In relation to people mocking Eve about being deceived, yes Eve was deceived and held accountable, as well as Adam. She was not held responsible more than Adam. Adam was leader.

• The Bible says, “Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” Romans 5: 14.

Also, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22.

Unlike religious abusers, these verses do not single out Eve, blaming her for the fall, mocking her about being deceived.

• The Bible said for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. It does not say He so loved especially men. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

• Never does the Bible imply that the word submission means slave or is a license for a husband to be selfish, to control, or abuse his wife.

Instead, the Bible references a wife to submit to her husband as unto the Lord, and as the church submits to Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the body (Ephesians 5: 22-24). We see submission and cooperation along with loving leadership, protection, and provision.

• The Bible says God is no respecter of persons; yeah, that means he doesn’t prefer men!

“For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;…” Romans 2: 11-12

• Again, God shows NO preference of men over women. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3: 28.

I noticed these facts, plus many more, and gained spiritual clarity, as I studied the word of God, and the Holy Spirit taught me. The religious abusers that I was accustomed to did not bother properly explaining these topics, but twisted everything for their agenda.

God knows the heart, but it seems abusive men wanted to present the woman as the martyr for her husband, and as an afterthought, as an inferior creation, and with an inferior status and position.

How I thank and praise God for the Holy Spirit, and for His unadulterated word! It will cancel out lies every time, and bring healing and freedom in the process.