God Made Them Male & Female

Customizing our identity and human transcendence

Almost two weeks ago I attended a very large IT conference hosted in Las Vegas called vmworld. The conference was tailored to IT professionals, from network engineers and server administrators to help desk support agents. The conference was made up of labs, classes and vendor expos over the course of 4 days.

And during the last general session of the conference they had several technology innovators give very insightful and inspirational presentations. One of the presenters was Hugh Herr, head of the biomechatronic research group at MIT. He spent a majority of is presentation demonstrating the advancements they’ve made in robotic prosthesis. He himself had lost both of his legs from just below the knee in an ice climbing accident after being caught in a blizzard.

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Hugh had walked fluidly out onto the stage with his robotic prosthesis, demonstrating the incredible advancements his team had made in restoring appendage functionality using computer robotics. His story is certainly amazing, because he’s now even able to rock climb at a more advanced level than before his accident.

It wasn’t until the end that his presentation took an unexpected turn. As he concluded he displayed a very explicit image of one of his colleagues on the massive screen. She was covered in what looked like leopard spots in an attempt to make herself look like some kind of cat. Hugh went on to say that it’s technologies like these that will expand human transcendence, and that technologies like these will allow people to customize their identities. He continued by saying that technologies like these will open the door for us to be able customize our children.

The crowd of 10-15K conference attendees rose to their feet to give these concluding remarks a standing ovation.

Preamble

Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the twenty-first century find themselves living in a period of historic transition. As Western culture has become increasingly post-Christian, it has embarked upon a massive revision of what it means to be a human being. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. Many deny that God created human beings for his glory, and that his good purposes for us include our personal and physical design as male and female. It is common to think that human identity as male and female is not part of God’s beautiful plan, but is, rather, an expression of an individual’s autonomous preferences. The pathway to full and lasting joy through God’s good design for his creatures is thus replaced by the path of shortsighted alternatives that, sooner or later, ruin human life and dishonor God.

This secular spirit of our age presents a great challenge to the Christian church. Will the church of the Lord Jesus Christ lose her biblical conviction, clarity, and courage, and blend into the spirit of the age? Or will she hold fast to the word of life, draw courage from Jesus, and unashamedly proclaim his way as the way of life? Will she maintain her clear, counter-cultural witness to a world that seems bent on ruin?

We are persuaded that faithfulness in our generation means declaring once again the true story of the world and of our place in it—particularly as male and female. Christian Scripture teaches that there is but one God who alone is Creator and Lord of all. To him alone, every person owes glad-hearted thanksgiving, heart-felt praise, and total allegiance. This is the path not only of glorifying God, but of knowing ourselves. To forget our Creator is to forget who we are, for he made us for himself. And we cannot know ourselves truly without truly knowing him who made us. We did not make ourselves. We are not our own. Our true identity, as male and female persons, is given by God. It is not only foolish, but hopeless, to try to make ourselves what God did not create us to be.

We believe that God’s design for his creation and his way of salvation serve to bring him the greatest glory and bring us the greatest good. God’s good plan provides us with the greatest freedom. Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it in overflowing measure. He is for us and not against us. Therefore, in the hope of serving Christ’s church and witnessing publicly to the good purposes of God for human sexuality revealed in Christian Scripture, we offer the following affirmations and denials.

”So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

God’s natural created order is instructive

God’s natural order of creating us male and female is instructive, our biological sex is an indication of God’s sexual purpose and design for our lives, whether he intends that we would be male or female, so look no further than the biological frame you posses. To many of us this goes without saying, but the reality of our day is that this very basic understanding of who we are as men and women is being challenged, even more than that, the basic understanding that our biology corresponds to our God given gender is being attacked.

says, “Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;”

If God made us then God owns us. If God created us then God has supreme authority over us. We are not the makers of our own reality, God is.

Exchanging the glory of God for images resembling mortal man

We are not the masters of our own domain, we do not have the authority (let alone the ability, no matter the technological advancement) to make ourselves into the image of anything else, we are not gods. And to reject God’s created order is to reject God himself. He is our creator, and if he is our creator then he owns us. We are not our own, we are God’s workmanship.

And describes man’s sinful rejection of God this way,

We are not the masters of our own domain, we do not have the authority (let alone the ability, no matter the technological advancement) to make ourselves into the image of anything else, we are not gods. And to reject God’s created order is to reject God himself. He is our creator, and if he is our creator then he owns us. We are not our own, we are God’s workmanship. describes this behavior quite candidly,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Objective truth

As Christians we have an external authority and an objective truth by which we live by, and we are not at liberty (nor are we even ultimately capable) of overthrowing such authority. To deny the objective truth given to us by God is to deny the very nose on our face. As Christians this was the kind of darkened thinking that we were mercifully saved from, and it was not of our own doing, but the grace of God.

Such were some of you...

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church in chapter 6 verse 9 he writes,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Do not give approval to those who practice sin

Continuing in Paul writes,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

How much more abominable would it be for us as Christians to give approval to whose who practice such things?

We cannot celebrate behaviors that condemn people to hell

The world tells us that if you don’t celebrate and affirm a person’s self-deception and immoral sexual propensities then you bring them harm, but God’s Word teaches us that sin only ever leads to destruction, that to rebel against God’s created order will only bring pain. This is why we don’t celebrate or affirm sexual perversions such as so called transgenderism or homosexuality, because 1) it’s an affront to God, and 2) such perversions are destructive both to ourselves and to others (such as the family unit and children). So called transgendered individuals are 19 times more likely to kill themselves. Sin is damning, and it’s consequences are ultimately death.

What God says is right and is good for us

What God says is right is good for us

If God has told us what is right then it is for our good, and the flip side is that doing what is contrary to what God has said will never lead to human flourishing, it will never lead to human good, only human pain and ultimately eternal destruction. Satan’s pitch when we’re tempted is that we will find greater fulfillment in the sinful action than we will in obedience to God.

And we live in a culture that is particularly against anyone disagreeing with such sexualy behaviors

English Standard Version Chapter 17

17 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

It would be a grievous sin to give approval (even by our silence) to the sin of others. We should never affirm a person’s self-deception. Instead we ought to point them to a better way, we ought to point them to Christ.

Our job as Christians is to have hearts that hate sin and the offense it brings to God, and to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and mind and strength by turning from it. And this is why we point others away from sin, and not turn a blind eye to sin or act as if there isn’t eternal consequences for it. We ought to be warned and we ought to warn others.

It was Jesus who said in ,, “…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” To love one another is to be at times willing to risk our relationships for the sake of the other person’s temporal and eternal wellbeing. To speak the truth in love. A good friend is one who is willing to say hard things out of love for their friend.

Our identity is found in Christ

It’s important that we as Christians find our identity in Christ, not in our own imaginations. While our imaginations are often attractive, our passions strong, and our inclinations at times irresistible, we know that many of our passions and inclinations have a sinful bent.

Sin nature does not justify sinful behaviors

A married man ought not to lust after or commit adultery with another woman, for such a conceived desire is an assault against God and his ordained institution of marriage. So what do we do? We fight against such propensities, we do not make license for them. We do not heed sinful propensities simply because they come to us naturally. Of course we are naturally inclined to sin, every one of us is, for we are taught by Scripture that we have a sin nature, that is, a natural inclination to sin. In fact, the Scriptures describe us by nature as slaves to sin.

English Standard Version Psalm 51

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

calls us by nature “sons of disobedience”, and verse 3 goes on by saying, we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” says, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

A married man ought not lust or commit adultry with another women, for such a conceived desire is an assault against God and his ordained institution of marriage. So what do we do? We fight against such propensities, we do not make license for them. We do not heed sinful propensities simply because they come to us naturally. Of course we are naturally inclined to sin, every one of us is, for we are taught by holy Scripture that we have a sin nature, that is, a natural inclination to sin. In fact, the Scriptures describe us by nature as slaves to sin.

reads, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” calls us by nature “sons of disobedience”, and verse 3 goes on by saying, we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” says, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

English Standard Version Psalm 51

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

calls us by nature “sons of disobedience”, and verse 3 goes on by saying, we “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” says, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

Sinful desires do not disqualify an individual from salvation - or God’s grace.

But the good news is that sinful, disordered sexual desires do not disqualify an individual from salvation. Our sin is precisely why Jesus had to die for our salvation. He was the sin offering, a once for all atonement for our sin, he is salvation to those who humbly acknowledge their sin, turn from their sin and trust in Christ for their redemption. It isn’t a matter of whether sinful passions reside within us, it’s whether or not our hearts have turned away from that sin or not, and whether we have trusted in Christ for our righteousness.

Those who practice such things and their greatest problem - unbelief

And we must remember that the greatest problem that plagues those who practice any form of sexually immoral behavior is not first their behavior but their unbelief. It is not our moral ability to adhere to the law of God that justifies us before God, no, it’s our trust in the mercy of God and the righteousness of his Son that affords us salvation. Unbelievers need precisely what we need, to be born again, to have their hearts made new, to turn to Christ in faith.

We posses good news

And it’s us as Christians who carry with us the this Gospel, this good news of eternal life, that this sin that makes us all guilty before a holy God has been pardoned for those who will trust in Christ for their salvation. That the sinless Son of God who became flesh and blood humbled himself unto death, that the debt of our sin might be paid for, that we might have eternal life.

Made in the image of God

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Made in the image of God

We read at the beginning that all of mankind is made in the image of God. That we are valuable not intrinsically but are worthy of respect because of whose image we bear. So no matter the sin we are to treat every person with respect, as made in the image of God, yet let us remember that this does not mean that we are to celebrate or to tacitly give approval of anyone’s sinful behavior. This is biblical line we walk as Christians.

-We treat every person as made in the image of God, we respect them as made in God’s image, yet this does not mean we are to celebrate sinful behavior.

A faith that’s not alone

-It isn’t only followers of Christ who are made in the image of God, it every man and woman.

Marriage is not merely a human contract

-Marriage is not merely a human contract, it’s a biblical institution ordained by God as a gift.

Men and women are different but equal

-Men and women are made differently, yet are of equal worth, men and women are made differently, yet complement one another. The natural order is designed to be a reflection or who God is. The natural order is meant to be a parable of who God is, to communicate his character, to draw our focus upon him.

-God

The

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I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again here to remind us, that while we are justified by faith alone, our faith ought not be a faith that is alone. It should be a faith in Christ that manifests itself as a growing obedience to his law. We love Christ, therefore we love his law. Jesus said specifically, that if you love me you will obey me. He said that you will know a tree by it’s fruit. So let us, as Jesus said, “go and sin no more”. Whether it’s sexual immorality or anything else let us be reminded by Paul’s words that "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” If we love God we will love his truth.

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God has made us and has authority over us

If we love God we will love his truth.

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-We are not the makers of our reality, God is.

Suppressing the knowledge of God

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Paul goes on in verse 22, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

-Continue with “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

-If God has said this or that is right then it is for our good, and the flip side is that doing what is contrary to what God has said is right will never lead to human good.

-The world tells us that if you don’t celebrate and affirm a person’s self-deception then you bring them harm, but God’s Word teaches us that sin only ever leads to destruction, that to rebel against God’s created order will only bring pain. This is why we don’t celebrate or affirm sexual perversions such as so called transgenderism or homosexuality, because such perversions are destructive both to ourselves and to others (whether that be motherless and fatherless children, or the human heart), and most importantly it’s affront to God. Sin is damning, and it’s consequences are death.

Having a heart of repentance

-And it’s us as Christians who carry with us the the Gospel, the good news of eternal life, that this sin that makes us guilty before a holy God has been pardoned for those who trust in Christ for their salvation. That the sinless Son of God who became flesh and blood humbled himself unto death, that the debt of our sin might be paid for and that we might become the righteousness of God.

-We find our identity in Christ, not in our own imaginations. I do not deny that our imaginations are attractive, that our passions are strong, and that our inclinations at times feel irresistible, but I also know that of our passions and many of inclinations have a sinful bent. Married men ought not to lust after other women, for such a desire is an assault against the God ordained institution of marriage. So what do we do? We fight against such propensities, we do not make license for them. We do not heed sinful propensities simply because they come to us naturally. Of course we are naturally inclined to sin, every one of us, for we are taught by holy Scripture that we have a sin nature, that is, a natural inclination to sin. In fact, the Scriptures describe us by nature as slaves to sin.

Loving Jesus means loving his truth

-As Christians we have an external authority and an objective truth by with we live by, and we are not at liberty (nor are we ultimately capable) of overthrowing such authority. To deny such objective truth given to us by God is to deny the very nose on our face. To do so is to be like those described in , “for although they new God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” As Christians this was the kind of thinking that we mercifully saved from, not of our own doing, but only by the grace of God.

Paul goes on in verse 22, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

-Continue with “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

Loving Jesus means loving his truth

-If we love God we will love his truth

-The good news is that sinful, disordered sexual desires do not disqualify an individual from salvation. Our sin is precisely why Jesus had to die. He was the sin offering, a once for all atonement for our sin, he is salvation to those humbly acknowledge their sin, turn from their sin and trust in Christ for their redemption. It isn’t a matter of whether sinful passion reside within us, it’s whether or not our hearts have turned away from that sin or not, and whether we have trusted in Christ for our righteousness before God.

-We must remember that the greatest problem for those who practices homosexual or any other sexually immoral behavior is not primarily their immoral behavior but their unbelief. It is not our moral ability to adhere to the law of God that justifies us before God, no, it’s our trust in the mercy of God and the righteousness of his Son. Unbelievers need precisely what we need, to be born again, to have their hearts turn to Christ.

-However, it’s always important to remember that while we are justified by faith alone, our faith ought not be a faith that is alone. It should be a faith in Christ that manifests a growing obedience to his law. We love Christ, therefore we love his law. Jesus said specifically, that if you love me you will obey me. He also said that you will know a tree by it’s fruit. So I pray that would cast ourselves upon Christ for our salvation, delight in his law, and obeying it. May our turning from sin

God Made Them Male & Female

Introduction

Nashville Statement

God made us

God owns us

Prayer