Were women just created to keep humans from dying out?

A question from the feedback cards

'If women and men only get married for the purpose of sex, was woman then only created for the purpose of keeping the human race from dying out?'.

The short answer is 'no' but it's still a good question to ask from 1 Corinthians 7.

So a fuller answer...

1 Corinthians 7 is not saying that the only reason to get married is sex. Rather Paul is stating a strong guideline = if you are single then you have more time to serve the Lord. That's a good thing and a person ought not to feel they have to get married. However, this is really only if you have the (for want of a better phrase) 'the gift of singeleness', i.e. you can be single, serve the Lord well and not stumble into sexual immorality because you can't control your

natural sexual passions.

There is more the Bible says on man and woman and in particular it's important to have a look at Genesis 1-2.

1. Both man AND woman are God's intention for 'humankind'.Woman is not an afterthought or add on. So Genesis 1:26-27 'man' is created

male and female. They are both human and equal before God. A man is not better or more human than a woman. Then at v28-30 here we see the purpose

for BOTH man and woman is to multiply and rule over the earth under God. Then v31 we see this fits God's purpose for the world, i.e. both man and

woman are God's purpose.

2. Woman is created for a relationship with man.

So when we read Genesis 2 we get another (more detailed) angle on the creation of man and woman. Verse 18 and verse 20b we see that out of all the

earth (plants & creatures) nothing fits man as a 'helper'. So God creates woman to be man's helper. There's two things to say here (a) this should not

be seen as negative since God is frequently described as Israel's 'helper' in the OT (see Exodus 18:4, Deuteronomy 33:29, Psalm 10:4, Psalm 27:9, Psalm

118:7, Hosea 13:9, and then NT Hebrews 13:6 quotes the OT). So 'helper speaks not of owning or bossing someone around but a deep relationship of

care and support - companionship, partnership, intimacy. (b) it's clear woman is not created to keep the human race from dying out but to be the companion of man. So we see that man, almost, speaks the first poem expressing how well they fit and how right woman is for man.

James.