"Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you" (Gen.3:16 NIV)

"..woman is the glory of man..." (1Cor.11:7 NKJ)
Glory: (Heb. kabhod; Gr. doxa).: http://www.christnotes.org/dictionary.php?dict=ebd&q=glory
"...the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him." (Gen.2:18 Amplified),
"Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you" (Gen.3:16 NIV)

I realize, the phrase, “…he will rule over you…” might strike many a woman, and even men, as idiosyncratic, antiquated and archaic in the best case and as an excuse for the oppression, subjugation and disenfranchisement of women in the worst. But I do have to point out that it was the Judeo-Christian ethic and principles that provided women over time with the greatest amount of liberty and opportunity they have ever experienced to this point in history. Are things perfect? No! But I don’t think they ever will be in this life – whatever “perfection” in regards to male/female relationships may entail (I’m sure either gender would have a different opinion). However, if we examine Gen.3:16 we can’t but agree that in addition to increased pain in child-bearing, there was a modification, alteration, a change in the relationship between men and women as a consequence of Adam and Eve having eaten of the forbidden fruit – a change in which the man now ruled over the woman, whereas prior to the fall, we have to infer this wasn’t the case, otherwise God would not have made a point of mentioning this new arrangement – an arrangement which will remain until we, “…attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, [wherein] neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Lk.20:35 NKJ). We learn from our Lord Jesus that the current dynamic between men and women will not remain “in the resurrection”, so that the most intimate relationship between a man and a woman, i.e. marriage, will no longer be in effect. How can this be unless something much better replaces this most intimate of relationships? How can Heaven and the hereafter possibly be devoid of a relationship that so epitomizes and exemplifies the best, intimate and most fulfilling relationship we can ever experience here on earth unless it be “...a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”? (Heb.8:5 NKJ) I realize that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1Cor.2:9 NKJ); and though, admittedly “I know in part”, and “see” things but “through a glass darkly” (1Cor.13:12), yet I have an idea, a vague notion, an inkling that the best we can ever have here on earth pales in comparison to what’s in store for us in Heaven. Why else would marriage, the most profound, intimate and important of relationships (next to God) we could ever experience here on earth, be discontinued in Heaven? Yet, indeed, we see the relationship between Christ and the Church characterized as that between bride and groom: “...the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church” (Eph.5:23 NKJ) – a relationship described by Paul as “...a great mystery...” explaining our difficulty in fully understanding such things as due to the fact that we “…see through a glass darkly…” (1Cor.13:12 KJ), reassuring us however that, though, “…now I know in part…then shall I know even as also I am known” – by whom? The implication, of course, is by God! That’s the great irony and tragedy of the fall - that this desire on the part of Eve to “…be like God…” in knowledge and understanding (Gen.3:5 NKJ) was what God intended all along!
So how do we reconcile God’s description of the dynamic between a husband and his wife wherein “….he will rule over…” his wife with our modern, refined and "enlightened" view of the relationship between the sexes? Paul provides the explanation as he instructs, “Husbands, [to] love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her...” (Eph.5:25 NKJ) It seems from my limited view through this stained-glass window, that the atmosphere, climate and condition in which a woman may readily, willingly and respectfully submit to her husband “as to the Lord” is one in which she is secure in his love for her, “as Christ also loved the Church”, exemplified in how He, “…gave Himself for her..” And isn’t this sacrificial love on the part of our Savior Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, the shedding of His Blood and the shame He endured for our sakes what broke our hearts, allowing us to humble ourselves, bend the knee accept His love and forgiveness and willingly submit to His loving rule in our lives? HALLELUJAH! PRAISE YOU JESUS!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!
I so love O. Henry’s classic tale of selfless love described in “The Gift of the Magi”: http://classiclit.about.com/od/thegiftofthemagi/a/aa_giftmagi.htm. I think this is one of the best depictions of selfless, sacrificial love between a husband and wife.
"..God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance" (Rom.2:4 NIV)
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for aIll things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (Jn.15:15)
“..the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (Rev.19:7)
"...a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one" (Gen.2:24 NKJ)
"He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began. "~ Leo Tolstoy