The Creation of Gender and Sexuality

The Creation of Gender and Sexuality
Words of Faith 1-10-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 1
[27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. [31] God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.

         I have a missionary friend who says, "On the sixth day God created sex… and He was having a really nifty day!"  That is a pretty good, albeit rough, translation of verse 31. Gender and sexuality were created on the sixth day, and God said this was very good. Sex is dealt with more in the next chapter of Genesis, but we want to consider gender here.
        Gender is a part of us so powerful that we often get confused about it. Modern culture now identifies between 58 and 72 genders. The Book of Genesis tells us that God created only two. The fallen world, which we will get to later, is confused and broken about this fundamental part of who we are. God is clear.
      Though we often ask: "Who am I, as a human?" We far more often ask: "Who am I, as a man?" or "Who am I, as a woman?" As people of faith, we now have many books and conferences to figure this out. Of course, Genesis is the best place to start.
      Gender is the most fundamental part of our identity, reflecting that we are made in God's image. From the moment of our conception, this is locked and set. With modern technology, gender is often known with virtual certainty months before birth, yet this is still the first declaration in the delivery room.
      From the moment of birth, we are usually swaddled in pink or blue as powerful cultural reinforcements further define everything from the way we wear our hair to where we go to the bathroom. We may even struggle to sort out our "cultural identity" from our created identity because cultural identity may reflect more of the fallen order than the created intention.
         Genesis helps. Genesis tells us that when God created humans, He made two genders, each of which reflects God's image and likeness. The Scripture is clear. "'Let us make man (humans) in our image, in our likeness'… So God created man (humans) in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
        That may sound complicated, but only because of our fallen cultural filters. The text says that both maleness and femaleness reflect the image and likeness of God. In value and magnificence, both genders were created equal. As humans, we discover something about God's nature in both our maleness and femaleness. But more importantly, we find out how to be truly human, both in maleness and femaleness, by knowing God.
         We see this in Scripture, which uses both male and female images to help us understand God. We rightly relate to God scripturally as "Father" (Matthew 6:6, Luke 11:2) because this is how He has revealed Himself to us. But Scripture also compares God to a mother eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11, a midwife (Psalm 22:9), a woman sweeping the house in search of a lost coin (Luke 15 8-10), a woman crying out in labor (Deuteronomy 32:18,19), and a mother hen (Matthew 23:37).
       The Scriptural truth is that both genders of our human nature reflect the image and likeness of God. It would be Scripturally incorrect and incomplete to say that femininity is not a part of God's nature. Femaleness did not come with the human Fall (sin); it was quite glorious before the Fall.
        The maleness and femaleness of God are deposited into all humans. Still, Scripture is clear that God determined that there are two genders. We are born one or the other. Gender is an identity by which we relate to one another. Sexuality is only one such expression, but an important one which is described in Genesis 2.
       Our gender is much more than a definition for sexual expression within marriage. Our gender defines a basic need for one another in many human relationships and how we complete one another. We need one another in many other relationships, even if we are called to singleness.
        A male needs females in life, family, and community both by physical birth and spiritual birth!  A male needs mothers, sisters, daughters, and a wife as the Lord provides. A male also needs men in his life. A male needs fathers, brothers and sons both by physical and spiritual birth.
       A woman needs men in her life. She needs fathers, brothers, sons, and a husband should the Lord provide. Women also need women in their lives, mothers, sisters, and daughters both by physical and spiritual birth.
       We need one another for protection, support, encouragement, wisdom, understanding, and friendship. Gender is part of the wonder of relationships, family, and community. God is our completer, but He also chooses to complete us through connection and community.
        Because we reflect the image of God, there is maleness in every female and femaleness in every male. God has genetically assigned that we are one gender or the other, yet He has breathed life in us that reflects all of His nature. Our gender is a huge part of our identity. Because of the "fall" (which we will get to later) and some of the broken events of life, that identity is sometimes confused or shattered. Such confusion drives fallen humans choose behaviors that are inconsistent with His designed plan. The Bible defines such choices as sin.
        Sexuality (one part of gender) is a powerful gift that God has given for a man and woman to share within the context of marriage. We will see this in Genesis 2. Human sexuality is far more than biology and procreation. It is a rejoining of the maleness and femaleness deposited in the humans that provides deep emotional and spiritual intimacy. The very word for sexual union in the Bible means "to know" and reflects the sort of intimacy that is within the Godhead.
            At the end of the sixth day, God did not say this was "good," He said that this was "very good."  He especially delighted in the genders He created and the wonder of sexuality that would be a gift to His humans.

             Lord, I give thanks that You made me. I give thanks for who I am. I give thanks for my gender, which is part of who I am. I rejoice in the gift of my gender and wonder of how that reflects Your image. I gift thanks for the gift of sexuality. I pray for your redemption in me as You teach me who I am. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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