Women’s Day is commemorated yearly on March 8 to acknowledge and praise God for the vital role that women have played in our families, in the church, in our communities and in the world as a whole.
Today, I would want to emphasize the immense worth of women by highlighting the significant role women have played throughout the history of the church.
The role of women in redemptive history exemplifies the grace of God toward women and the great significance of women in the kingdom of God.
Women have Played a very Significant role in the History of the Church.
When God chose to restore the world through the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ, he showed once again how much he values women by using them as the first heralds to announce this amazing event.
Women being used as heralds of the resurrection was a stunning prospect that went contrary to the cultural and legal norms in first century Palestine. During Jesus’ time, women were despised in Israel and their testimony was not considered as legally binding. In view of this context , the consideration of the great resurrection narrative being based on the testimony of women as the first witnesses of this event, must have been a great embarrassment to the first century disciples of Jesus. Nevertheless, God employed these despised women as the earliest messengers of the tremendous event of the resurrection. Even in John 4, the Samaritan woman was used in a similar way as a herald of the great news of the Messiah.
It is amazing to note that while the disciples were terrified, sad, and ready to give up hope, God sent two women with the soul-reviving news of the resurrection in which they declared in , “We have seen the Lord, and He is risen from the dead.” These women revived the souls of the discouraged disciples and this was brought about by the fact that they were more brave than the men and were willing to go to Jerusalem and properly anoint Jesus’ body no matter what the cost. As for the other male disciples, they were only hiding behind locked doors at this time.
Else where in the Bible, we can see God pouring more grace women and continuing to use them to change the world.
It is also important to note that in both the Old and the New Testaments, women took part in different kinds of ministry. Examples include Miriam — Moses’ sister, Deborah, Jael, Abigail — the wife of Nabal, the prophetess Huldah — who was consulted by Josiah’s messengers in 2 Kings 22:14-20, Esther, Isaiah’s wife (Isa 5:3), the prophetess Anna in Luke 2, and Pricilla — Aquila’s wife, and Phillip’s daughters in Acts 21. Paul also talks about the women who helped him in ministry in Romans 16. Additionally, the Letter of 2 John was written to a woman, who is described as “the elect lady” in 2 John 1:1.
In light of God’s grace toward women and the crucial role he has enabled them to play in the expansion of the church and the spread of God’s kingdom, we would like to thank God for all the ladies whom God has used as ushers, Sunday school teachers, and singers in our churches. We are also grateful to all the ladies whom God has used to visit the sick, assist the poor and needy, and console the bereaved. I can’t list everyone’s contributions here because of time and space, but in general, we are so thankful to God for all of you women who I didn’t name. We have been blessed by your amazing service and the we are truly thankful for the different roles you’ve played in spreading the gospel and expanding God’s kingdom.
A Woman Played a Major Role in Redemptive History.
We are also grateful to women for their role as mothers. In the history of redemption, the role of women as mothers has been very important. If Mary had not given birth to Christ, there would have been no redemption for anybody. No greater honor has ever been bestowed upon a woman than the calling of Mary to be the mother of the Savior of the world.
This Women’s Day is dedicated to recognizing your achievements and expressing gratitude to God for his grace that has enabled you to accomplish so much.
May your “tribe” increase!
