male and female…

genesis 1.27 (niv), so GOD created man in HIS own image, in the image of GOD HE created him male and female HE created them. each time in genesis when it says, GOD created man in HIS image, after each time it says, male and female HE created them. four times it says that in genesis. that’s true throughout the bible too. why is this emphasized?

well, GOD wanted to make sure that down through the ages no one would ever rise up and say, “GOD created men in HIS image but it doesn’t say ‘women’ in here, so women must not have been created in his image.” HE wanted to make sure that in no society women would ever say, “GOD created women in HIS image because obviously they are much more SPIRITual than men. anybody could tell that!” GOD wanted to make sure that we all knew that both men and women were created in HIS image.

but there’s more to it than that. it doesn’t just say HE created a man and a woman. it says, “male and female, HE created them.”

the words that are used had to do with our sexuality, the way that GOD made us. in our society, when i say the word “sexuality” what do most people think? sex. that’s only one-third of the word “sexuality”. it’s only a part of the story. but because we have so focused in on just the physical aspect we’ve forgotten what it means to be created in GOD’s image. you and i as believers know that’s not right. we know that the way the world is acting isn’t right but what do we do? sometimes we make a bad choice, and some of you have. we make the choice to repress our sexuality because we know that the world is wrong. but that’s just as wrong. there’s a better answer.

instead of repressing our sexuality, we rejoice in our differences. “male and female, he created them.” this is saying that my distinctives as a man or a woman reflect GOD’S image. “male and female HE created them.”

listen, GOD has shown HIMself to us as a male image. HE’s GOD our FATHER, not mother. JESUS came to this world as a man. HE’s shown HIMself to us as a male image but is GOD our FATHER in heaven a man like i am, with a body of a male like i have? no. HE’s a SPIRIT. especially for you women, don’t let anybody say you can’t reflect GOD’s image because HE shows himself to us as a father. you can reflect GOD’s image just as much as i can.

we talk in psychology about the masculine and feminine side. in our terms, what i'm saying is GOD has a perfect masculine side and a perfect feminine side. HE is the perfect, perfect person. HE’s got the perfect personality. and HE can complete any one of us and make us into anything that HE wants us to be.

now recognizing GOD’s image in us helps us to fulfill our sexuality. it helps me to fulfill what it means for me to be a man or a woman, created in GOD’s image. this is an incredibly important truth in genesis and one that many of you need because of hurts that have come into your life, because of abuse that’s been heaped on your life, because of wrong choices you may have made in your life, because of what comes into our lives everyday from our society. it’s what many of you need at the core of your being. our sexuality is all tied up with our identity and if you don’t realize that my sexuality is also created in GOD’s image, that’s an important of me. if i can’t recognize that part of me is also created in GOD’s image to reflect GOD’s glory, i'm leaving out a big part of my life.

just a thought from the front porch…