Genders? What God Says

 

You know, it seems our world is getting a more complicated place. Used to, when you filled out a form and you were to list your gender, there were two choices. Now there are 20.

Before, when you would see someone’s information, you would just see maybe their name and their job description, but now you get their preferred pronouns.

What’s changed in our world? Why is it that it seems gender has become something that is arbitrary, and something that used to be pretty much a known given is now something that seems to be up in the air? When we consider this issue, what about what God says?

Today we’re going to look at what the Bible says about gender and about the issues facing our world today and to see exactly what God thinks when it comes to the creation that he made.

INTRO

So what exactly does the Bible have to tell us about our gender?

Well, from the very beginning, God established a plan for mankind. The book of Genesis tells us that when mankind was created, that he made them in his image; he made them male and female. We’ll see this later in Genesis chapter 5. He uses that same phraseology.

He created them male and female. This is something that God established. Jesus would affirm this in Mark when he would say, have you not read from the beginning he made them male and female? God didn’t do this without purposeful intent.

We see from the very beginning in the creation of man, there’s part of that creation process. You know, when he made all the animals, he made animals with different genders. But when it comes to man, he puts man in the garden by himself.

Why? Well, it was to show Adam that he needed a helper. He needed someone else. And from that process, he created woman from the rib of his flesh.

The two shall become one flesh. They will leave father and mother and have their own family. That’s what the text is telling us.

Why? Because they were created separately, but they were meant to be joined together. This was God’s intent and purpose. He made us the way that we are.

Men and women are different. They have differences in anatomy. They have differences in physiology.

You know, one of the issues that we see today in our world is this denial of that, right? We see if somebody affirms themselves to be one gender, they could compete in a sport against somebody of that gender, whether they were born that way or not. Well, you can see why people have a problem with this because it gives a competitive advantage, right? Because males tend to be physically stronger than females. This is what Peter was referencing in his book when he talks about husbands living with their wives in an understanding way since she is the weaker vessel.

He’s not talking there about weaker morality or anything. He’s talking about the idea that they are physically weaker. There are differences between men and women.

And these differences go beyond just physical differences. There are differences in how we think and act. There are ways that we look and behave.

And to abandon those differences creates a problem. We see that in 1st Corinthians, where we see that there were some women by the design of their hair, by the coverings that they wore, they were tending to be more masculine. And Paul said that’s causing confusion and disruption in the church.

Why? Because that’s not the way God intended it to be. And he references what? In the beginning God created Adam first and not Eve. That’s why man was created in the glory of God and woman in the glory of man.

Because of that initial creation, he’s established this order. And we see that being applied to other areas in the church. We see in the church men are given the role and responsibility of leadership. One that is not allowed to women.

Why? Well, if you look in 1st Timothy he tells us why. Because of the beginning. Because of creation. Because of how God established things.

We see here that God has put together a plan for that. A plan for the church. A plan for the home. The husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church.

Why? Because from the beginning God has established that. It was part of his creation of man and woman.

Now they may have different roles. They may have differences, but they are united in the sense of being in Christ. What does the text tell us? There’s neither male nor female.

What is he talking about there? He’s talking about being in Christ. There’s neither Jew nor Greek. There’s neither slave nor free. There’s neither male nor female. The purpose there is telling us that we’re not all the same, but in Christ we have that same reward.

We can be different, but not one above the other. Different doesn’t mean one is superior, one is inferior. Except maybe that one may be stronger in certain things and weaker in certain things. One may be able to do something here that another would not be able to do.

But in Christ, in the Lord, we are all the same. But that does not mean then that our gender doesn’t matter.

So why is this issue an important issue for the church to discuss? Why does it even come up? Why can’t someone just say, well, I decided to live as another gender or do something else? Well, it goes back once again to the very fundamentals of what God established.

If you open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 1, we see a very interesting argument that Paul gives through the book of Romans. He starts by talking about how the wrath of God is being pushed against mankind. Why? Because they have rejected the Creator.

And it tells us something interesting there. It says that because His nature, God’s nature, is revealed in His creation. Because what He has made has shown us who He is, therefore we have no excuse when we rebel against Him.

But the problem is that mankind has decided to abandon the Creator for the creation. They created idols in their image or in the image of earthly things in order to worship, to try to replace God. And in replacing God, they are rejecting God because they are rejecting what He has given to us.

And it says in that text that God will allow that to happen, and He will allow those people to go off into sin, to go off into a destructive nature.

And He gives us an example of how that happens. It talks about how men will give up the natural use of their bodies and the natural use of a woman’s body. And they will have passion for one another, men for men, women for women.

What’s He talking about here? He’s talking about that saying of the natural order of things, the way God has established gender and how it works together. He’s going to abandon and say well, He can do whatever He wants with whoever He wants.

But in doing so, what is He really doing? He’s rejecting God as Creator. And because of that, man falls into destruction to receive the due penalty of his error. And what we see in that first chapter of Romans is what happens when we reject God’s plan for His people.

God has set us created beings as male and female. But when we decide, well, “that doesn’t apply to us anymore. We want to have our own definitions of gender.” We want to have our own ideas of what someone is. And we reject that natural order. What we’re really doing is rejecting the One who made it, the Creator; the One who made it is God.

That’s why this issue is so important in our spiritual lives. Because it defines us if we are truly following in what our Creator created us to be, or if we are like so many others rejecting that. This issue isn’t one that is just related to modern day.

We may think of it as, “Oh, it’s a new thing that’s happening.” But you know, it’s been going on from the beginning. In the old law, God established, in the old law, He gave a command that said a man was not to dress as a woman. And a woman was not to address a man. He said this was actually against the will of God, right? It was totally against Him.

And this wasn’t an issue of fashion, right? Because fashion changes. I was reading a few years ago about how high heels were originally started as a fashion design for men. The French kings wore them. You know, it looked like riding boots. And somewhere along the line it got switched so they became women’s footwear. Well, that’s just fashion, right?

But what he’s talking about in that passage is the same thing he was talking about in Corinthians. It’s that desire to subvert what God has created.

When we do that, we are rejecting God. You know, this wasn’t uncommon in Jesus’s day and in the time of the writings of Paul Rome was a very lewd society. It had adopted homosexuality. It had adopted gender-bending ideas.

We see that in 1st Corinthians where it talks about those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. It says, you know, there are certain sins that we practice that will not inherit the kingdom of God. And either fornicators or adulterers.

We see two phrases there. Effeminates and homosexuals as the New American Standard translates it. It’s two separate words to really describe the whole process, right? Of people who were trying to be something that their gender was not. They were trying to take on that other role.

Or men who were using those people in those roles, right? It says that that part will not inherit the kingdom of God. It has so many sins. Because, you know, we can look at this sin and we say, “Oh, somebody might say, “Well you’re just, you’re aiming at this one thing.’”

No, it’s just a symptom of a bigger problem. Whether it’s rejecting God’s plan for how we treat one another, or whether it’s rejecting God’s plan for how we stay faithful in a marriage.

Whatever it is, when we do those things, we will not have a place in the kingdom of God. Those events occurred back in that day, and they were condemned, and they are still condemned by God.

You know, it’s important as we look at that passage to go down just another verse and see what it says. Because after giving that long list of sins, he says, but such were some of you. But you’ve been washed, you’ve been sanctified, you’ve been justified.

In other words, you may have had these wrong notions, you may have been involved in these particular sins, but that doesn’t mean that the blood of Christ can’t change you.

It cannot take away that sin. It can still make you right before God. It can still change how you perceive yourself so that you can be what God intended you to be.

You know, Paul would later write in that passage in 1st Corinthians about how our bodies are not our own. In a world today that says, it’s my body, my choice. It’s my life; I can do with it however I want to. This is how I feel, so this is how I should live.

The Word of God tells us something different. You are not your own.

And if we’re a Christian, if we’ve given our lives to God, we have been bought. He has paid the price for us. And because He has paid the price, He rules over us. It’s not just my body; it’s my body that I’ve given to Christ. It is my sacrificial life that’s to Him. And since He is the Creator, and He’s the one that made me, then He determines who and how I should be.

God has given us gender for a reason. He made us male and female. It was part of His purpose. It was part of His plan. And if we are truly going to be followers of God, then we must stay with the plan that He’s given us.

You know, there’s a lot of confusion in the world, but there’s not a lot of confusion in Christ. God has been clear about what he does, what he has for us, and what he wants us to be. Maybe you have some questions about God in your life.

Maybe on this subject you have some questions or something that you would like to study with us further. Or maybe there’s another part of your life that you’re seeking God’s will. We would love to hear from you.

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Thank you so much for being with us today, and God bless.