Genesis 1:26-28:
“Then God said: “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Emphasis my own).
The word “image” is defined as a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.
If this world we live in is a spectacular work of art created by God, then the humans He created to dwell in it would be the very essence of the signature at the bottom of the artwork, by the Creator Himself.
But more than just being a signature or an extension of who He is, we were made to be a full representation of God. The representation is unique in the fact that it is only complete in the form of male and female. One gender wasn’t an afterthought and the other the dominant. Both are equally important in their representation of the image of God as per Genesis 1.
A male alone does not represent God ‘s image in full and neither does a female. But the two of them together, in unity, forms the complete picture of His image.
Have you ever taken the time to consider this? To consider that God Himself is three in one? And when a husband and wife come together physically, the miracle of a third person or child is created.
When we look at the character of the triune God described in His Word, we see male and female characteristics. He is our loving Father, but the Holy Spirit is also the Helper and when Eve was created, God said He will make a helper for Adam. God is also described as covering his children under His feathers, similar to the actions of a mother bird.
This concept is so important to understand in this day and age when the world is being led astray by the physical identity of men and women and their respective genders. Just as the snake bought confusion to Eve in the garden, he is now doing it again to distort the image of God that was set thousands of years ago in the creation of males and females.
God designed us to be functional on our own, but dare I say more importantly, to be dependent on each other. He designed marriage between a man and a woman to be a safe-haven and a unique institution in the sense that a covenant between a male and a female before God brings together three parties – and through this unity the world can see a representation of the fullness of God.
A triple-braided cord is not easily broken (Eccl 4:12). A godly marriage between a male and a female is a beacon to the world of sacrificial love and care, the epitome of what Christ came to show a broken world. Marriage is the setting out which fruitfulness and multiplication flows. Physically in the form of the raising of godly children, but also spiritually, it is the catalyst for growth and the multiplication of God’s Kingdom.
Satan of course knows this, so his plan is two-fold but simple. Break up existing marriages, and secondly prevent godly marriages between a man and woman from happening in the first place by causing shame and confusion gender-wise. A Christian man who is able to stand in the authority given to him in Jesus, as the man God created him to be, and a woman who embraces her role as a godly woman has more power to stamp on the enemy’s head than anyone who is lost in the world’s view of what gender roles should be.
For males to desire to be females physically and vice versa, and even for women to want to become more like men, or men more like women from a behavioral point of view – is the biggest tragedy to fall on our society. God created each gender with strengths and weaknesses that is absolved in the other gender. This was no accident but done on purpose to mirror His image. What we perceive to be weaknesses of the respective genders, are in actual fact not weaknesses, but puzzle pieces purposefully adapted to be optimized when the two pieces come together.
Its design helps us to visualize how much we need each other but also ultimately, how much we need Him.
When He knit you together in your mother’s womb, He didn’t make a mistake when He chose your gender. He never wished for you to let your physical shape be a cause of confusion.
God wanted you to see how He created you to fit into the bigger picture. To look at yourself every day and realize you are made in the Creator’s image, which means you are perfect, and nothing should be taken away or added to the work of art that you are.
My prayer is that God will open our eyes to be able to fulfill the role that He created for us that fully encapsulates our genders. Not the roles that society dictates to us, but the one that He gently whispers to our hearts, the Truth of who we are – and the Truth that only in and through Him can we fruitfully live out our true identity.
The Faithfulness of God 