So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
The Basic Bible Truth
Gender is not a status or condition we choose for ourselves. It is an essential component of life that God designates specifically for each of us. In perfect love, He architected and structured the beautiful gift of gender. And to ensure that we understand His plan, He marks each of us with an unquestionable biological signature.
The Object
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The Lesson
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That phrase should fill our hearts with reverential fear. The immensity and absolute perfect majesty of God’s handiwork throughout the universe is stunning. The Hebrew word that we translate as created is a word that is reserved by Biblical authors for something that only God can do—create something from absolute nothingness. A Biblical view of creation must bring us to admit that we worship a God readily capable of accomplishing the events recorded in Genesis. The Biblical creation story is not some kind of religious mythology that we can choose to ignore. It is real. It is accurate. And it is true.
We live in a technologically advanced culture that is uncovering daily, new insights into the astounding intricacies of our world, and things beyond. God’s attention to detail cannot be denied. But just how much can we attribute to God? Did He indeed create everything? What about the laws of physics that we have come to respect and rely upon? Did He create them also, or were they pre-existing and in place long before He came on the scene?
To deny that God created everything, including all of the laws and rules that govern this universe, is to relegate God to a less than deserved position in our lives. There are influential religious leaders of our day that have said that God did not have a magic wand at creation, that no one is that big and powerful. It is true that He did not have an enchanted apparatus. He didn’t need one. He is that big and powerful!
Note that on day one God said let there be light. That simple statement is vastly more complex than we can imagine, because in it is embedded the beginning of all of the laws of physics, and possibly even time itself. Light is a function of intensely technical physical properties, working in perfect, predictable and observable, unison. It is no wonder that God finished that day with the comment that it was good.
The following days, plants were created, along with the laws of nature that govern their growth and propagation. And then animals, with all of the laws that sustain their ability to live, were commanded to fill the earth.
As our scientific discovery continues, we are becoming more and more aware of the complexity and intricacy of the laws that give our universe order. Without those laws, our lives would be chaotic. Imagine if gravity were unpredictable and varied from day to day—or from hour to hour. What if the coefficient of friction changed unexpectedly minute by minute? Life would be impossible were it not for the perfect, observable order dictated and put in place by God at creation.
God’s establishment of order does not stop with physics and botany. In His final effort, His crowning achievement, God created man and woman. Male and female He created them. God created gender. He called it good and perfect. Gender is not a social construct. It is part of the perfect plan of God and, just like all of the other laws He created to make our world make sense, therefore unchangeable.
The first chapter of Colossians gives us a perspective of creation that must not be ignored. There we find that all things were created by Him, and by Him all things consist. In short, He holds all things together. Were God, but for a moment, to take His hand out of this universe, everything would cease to be. God did not create this universe, set things in order, and then step back to see what would happen next. He is constantly influencing and affecting this physical world, and placing His guidance into even the smallest of minutia and details. And that loving concern prompts Him to even choose the physical body He places us into at conception. It is a beautiful thought to realize how intensely God focuses upon each of us throughout our entire lives.
God created life and it’s sanctity. He created the two genders comprised of their uniqueness. He created marriage built upon it’s covenant. And He created the family encompassed with its responsibilities. These institutions are sustained by God’s ordained laws that are unique to each, regulations that give them order and propriety, and statutes that are impossible to circumvent successfully.
We examine the laws of physics steadfastly fixed in place by God, and agree that they cannot be altered or changed. We scrutinize the laws of nature securely rooted by God, and agree that they cannot be modified or transformed. But our society today surveys the laws established by God that order human behavior, and believes that those laws can be updated and corrected. That is a costly mistake for any culture.
The straightforward truth of the Bible contains a stern warning that God has standards, rules, and laws. To ignore any of these concerns is to flirt with misery. Sin is defined as anything that is not God’s perfect standard. To indulge in sin always results in heartache. It’s the natural result of not being in the direct will of God. In fact, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Sin’s ultimate course always leads to despair.
As society has embraced the concept of choosing ones gender identity, those caught up in the game of trying to adopt their femininity or masculinity based solely upon their feelings, report dissatisfaction with the rejection from their peers. They feel trodden down and disrespected, blaming culture for their unhappiness. The truth is that their actual problem is not with society. Their real dilemma is with God’s laws. No one successfully violates or circumvents them. No one.
Studies have shown a remarkable difference between people who accept their God assigned gender, and those who undergo medical gender transformation. The suicide rate for those who accept gender reassignment surgery as the answer to their confusion is an astonishing 30-45%! God’s laws cannot be violated successfully.
To embrace the concept that gender identity is a personal choice, or a feeling or the desire of the heart, will ultimately result in confusion. Both at a personal level, for the participant, and at a societal level, for the “tolerant” crazed culture we live in.
The answer lies in the Bible in the book of Genesis. We must recognize that the God who created this entire universe in a literal six days, conceived and instituted impeccable order. It is there for a reason. It staves off unimaginable chaos and makes our lives wonderful and enjoyable. God’s love is evident as He places His mark upon each of us with the gift of gender. Whether we are born as a male or a female, we can know that it is His plan for us.
Some, in the stubbornness of their hearts, will deny that God knows best. To proceed to choose to be something entirely different than He made us to be will inevitably end is misery. It’s the law.