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One of the reasons that Paul gives for the head covering traditions is that mankind is made in the image of God. Man in particular is the glory of God. These are not cultural but encompass every generation.
God is not required to provide us with any reason for His commands. He is the Creator and the creation should obey because He is God!
Nonetheless, Paul gives several reasons so that we can understand the basis for these ordinances. We should pay attention to the arguments Paul gives.
Depending upon how you want to classify or count Paul’s reasons for the head covering commands, there are 5 or 6 explanations provided for why these commands exist.
We should not ignore, brush off, or gloss over his teaching about why these practices are expected.
We previously considered the moral obligation or the debt that we owe to honor God and Christ. But, that’s not the only explanation that Paul gives to us.
He also connects the requirement for a man to be uncovered to bearing the glory of God:
“For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.” 1st Corinthians 11:7-9 NKJV (Bolding added)
Paul says that men are the “image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.”
Those who hold a feminist view of society accuse Paul of being sexist, chauvinistic, and a hater of women. These critics willfully forget that these commands are not from Paul, but from God through the Holy Spirit, who inspired these things to be written down.
Paul relates the head covering back to creation with the assigned gender roles that God ordained. The link back to creation applies to both sexes, not just women.
Both men and women are made in God’s image, but only man is the glory of God.
The woman is the glory of man verses 9-10:
“For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.” 1st Corinthians 11:7-11 NKJV (Bolding, and Italics added)
Woman being the glory of man means women of every age and time, not just the Corinthian women. The principle that woman is the glory of man remains as true today as it did 2,000 years ago.
The human female is the called fairer sex in many types of literature. A woman is built with a beauty that a man is not.
Taking mankind as a whole, the woman is hands down more beautiful than her male counterpart. In creating woman, God displays mankind (human beings) in their most aesthetically pleasing and exquisite form. She was made in the image of God, just like the man, but she is the fairer of the two sexes. Woman is the glory of man.
Paul explains that the man being the glory of God should not cover his head.
The woman being the glory of man should cover her head. The gloriousness of humankind, specifically the beauty and glory of woman, must be covered to give honor to God that He may be glorified.
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