Transformed – teen devotion – June 14, 2020
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
God and gender: Binary or a spectrum??
The term LQBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning or Queer. Embedded in this initialism are those who question their birth-assigned gender and identify themselves as the opposite sex or no sex at all. Some prefer to be called by pronouns like “them” or “they” instead of “him” or “her.” You may know someone or may be someone who has this preference.
This concept is born out of the idea that gender is not binary (divided into two parts). It’s the notion that being male and female are not our only options. And if that’s the case, then gender must fall on a spectrum or a sliding scale giving the impression that there is something in between or a combination of the two.
My question for you is what is the truth? Is gender binary or does it fall on a spectrum? Before you answer that, do you remember the ground rules we established last time? My opinion and experiences don’t determine absolute truth and neither do yours. God’s Word, which is found in the Bible, determines the truth.
So, let’s go back to the very beginning when God created the world. In Genesis 1:27, when God created humans, it says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
What does that verse tell you? Is gender binary or on a spectrum? It’s binary. He created them male and female. Now, I know that was a long time ago. Maybe we’ve evolved throughout the years. Let’s see.
Fast forward a few thousand years to the days of Jesus Christ and read Matthew 19:3-6, “Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Notice how Jesus responded to their question. He didn’t share an opinion or a popular idea from that time period. He pointed them back to the Bible. He pointed them back to the beginning and said that nothing has changed. Gender is still binary. That means that if you were born a male, then you are a male. If you were born a female, then you are a female.
Something may have happened to you or to someone you know causing this truth to be questioned. But know this, there is no such thing as changing your assigned gender.
The clothes you wear and how you refer to yourself won’t change that. You can permanently remove parts of your body, but that doesn’t change your gender. You can receive hormone injections to change how you look, talk, and feel—but you’re still the person God created, and you belong to him. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Prayer: God, Almighty Creator, thank you for revealing your divine truth that you made people either male or female. Help me to believe this truth and honor you with the body you have given me because ultimately it belongs to you. Amen.
