[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–While history is full of women who have reshaped the world, no woman has had such a significant and lasting impact as the first woman, Eve.
So writes Robert Lewis in “The New Eve: Choosing God’s Best for Your Life,” a new release from B&H Publishing Group, the publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Lewis is pastor-at-large of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Ark. The New Eve is a companion to the “Men’s Fraternity” discipleship studies Lewis began in 1990.
In The New Eve, Lewis explores why it is important for women to recognize their connection to Eve and how she predisposes them to certain tendencies, traits and temptations.
“Her past,” Lewis writes, “is your present.”
Satan’s deception of Eve brought humanity to a cataclysmic moment that still affects all mankind, Lewis writes. “Most of us know it simply as the Fall,” he notes. It was a moment when difficulty and distortion were added to “all of God’s original intentions and core callings for you as a woman, and for me as a man ….”
[2]Quick to deflect all the blame from Eve, Lewis explains that Adam abdicated his role as leader and protector during the temptation. Genesis 3:6 states that as Eve sinned, Adam was “with her.”
“In other words, the whole time this evil madness was being unleashed on Eve, Adam was right there, watching his wife’s strength wane as Satan deceived her into abandoning God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit,” Lewis writes. “The truth is, as Adam stood and watched his wife entertain sin, he sinned. Not overtly but covertly.”
Through the Fall, Eve became the symbol of a failed femininity for women in every generation, and Lewis notes that the first woman still has a following.
“In every age, there are countless other ‘Eves’ who still choose to believe God’s core callings can be shortchanged or neglected in the pursuit of other, seemingly life-giving ambitions,” he writes.
Lewis issues a clarion call for modern women to “New Eves” — to learn from Eve and not repeat her mistakes.
New Eves as women who are known for wise moves, not foolish ones, Lewis writes, providing in his book examples of women who have chosen to live life according to God’s plan.
Lewis outlines several bold moves drawn from the Bible that can help women live the best life possible, including:
— Adopting a biblical definition of womanhood.
— Embracing a big-picture perspective on life.
— Living with the end in mind.
— Using wisdom with a man.
“These moves are not hard to understand, but they require boldness and courageous faith to activate,” Lewis writes.
He also outlines wise moves for 10 stages of a women’s life, beginning with the single adult to the late-in-life widow and finally glorified saint.
Lewis encourages single adults, for instance, to focus on character development, skill and career improvement, spiritual growth and Kingdom service. For late-in-life widows, he points to such wise moves as serving others, mentoring younger women and being involved in Kingdom work.
Lewis cautions women that being a New Eve is not about a cookie-cutter, one-for-all lifestyle.
“It’s about you being you. God’s you. The best you,” he writes. “It’s about leaps of faith, bold moves, and deep convictions that refuse to be swayed by the world.”
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Kelly Shrout is the employee communications editor at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. The New Eve is available at LifeWay Christian Stores and online at LifeWayStores.com. For more information, visit the book’s website, www.newevebook.com.