Relationships and Roles in the New Creation -- By: Mark David Walton

Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 11:1 (Spring 2006)
Article: Relationships and Roles in the New Creation
Author: Mark David Walton


Relationships and Roles in the New Creation

Mark David Walton

Senior Pastor,
Glenwood Baptist Church,
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

In an earlier article, I set out to answer the question of whether resurrected saints will be distinguished as male and female in the new creation.1 The weight of evidence, both biblical and logical, convincingly suggests that gender is central to our personal identity and shall remain an integral characteristic of our lives for eternity—a conclusion that is scarcely controversial. (Most of us, after all, are quite comfortable with our gender, and would regard the prospect of change in that department as. .. well. .. unsettling.)

Considerably more controversial, however, than the question of “what we shall be” in the new creation is the question of “what we shall do.” Given that gender identity will remain, is there evidence that functional distinctions will likewise remain in the new creation? Will resurrected saints as male and female have gender-specific roles? How will we relate to one another? Will male headship apply? Initial responses will likely depend on whether such questions are approached from a complementarian or egalitarian perspective. Complementarians, who view male headship and gender-specific roles as part of God’s original plan for creation (and for the present age as well) are more likely to answer these questions in the affirmative.2 Functional distinctions will remain. Egalitarians, on the other hand, who view male headship and functional distinctions as a result of the edenic fall—and therefore as being inappropriate to mature Christendom—are likely to reject such a notion as inconsistent with the Kingdom ideal of equality for all. Which view is correct? Does it matter?

It does indeed. Though few if any would presume to suggest that their eschatology might actually influence the manner of our Lord’s return, or somehow alter “the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7 NASB),3 our concept of life in the new creation is profoundly important for several reasons. It is important, first, because our view of the life to come in the new creation is a vision of the ideal

that shapes our worldview. To an extent probably unrealized by most of us, our attitudes, actions, and decisions in this life are profoundly influenced by our concept of life—or lack thereof—after death.

It matters, second, because how ...

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