It's All Pink

Too often as women, we have restricted ourselves to the “pink” parts of the Bible. When we identify first and foremost as women, we can begin to believe that knowledge of ourselves will come primarily through passages that speak to women’s issues or include heroines like Ruth or Esther. But when we do this, when we craft our learning and discipleship programs around being “women,” we make womanhood the central focus or our pursuits of knowledge instead of Christ.   …

Because you are an image bearer, you must allow the entirety of Scripture to shape your sense of self. You must begin to see every verse as a “pink” passage because every verse speaks to who God is and therefore who you are as His daughter. You must begin to believe that theology and doctrine are not men’s issues but that they are imago dei issues because they reveal the God in whose image you are made.

—Hannah Anderson in Made for More: An Invitation to Live in God’s Image, p. 105.

Theological Term of the Week

Elohim
The Hebrew word for God, and one of the names of God revealed in scripture, used first in Genesis 1:1. Scholars debate Elohim’s exact origin and meaning.

• In scripture: 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… . And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1, 3 ESV)

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. (Genesis 17:7 ESV)

• From Blue Letter Bible’s The Names of God in the Old Testament:

Elohim is translated as “God.” The derivation of the name Elohim is debatable to most scholars. Some believe it derived from ‘êlwhich, in turn, originates from the root word, ‘wl (which means “strong”). Others think that Elohim is derived from another two roots: ‘lh (which means “god”) in conjunction with ‘elôah (which means “fear”). And still others presume that both ‘êland Elohim come from ‘eloah.

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Heidelberg Catechism

Question 75. How does the Lord’s Supper remind you and assure you that you share in Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross and in all his gifts?

Answer: In this way: Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread, and to drink this cup in remembrance of him. With this command he gave these promises: (a)

First, as surely as I see with my eyes the bread the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup given to me, so surely was his body offered and broken for me, and his blood poured out for me on the cross.

Second, as surely as I receive from the hand of the one who serves, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, given to me as sure signs of Christ’s body and blood, so surely he nourishes and refreshes my soul for everlasting life with his crucified body and poured-out blood.

(Scriptural proofs after the fold.)

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