GENDER OF GOD - NYOBS 81.11

GENDER OF GOD

Gender Benders – Heavenly Mother – Monotheistic – Polytheistic

First Word

·          Before we start the discussion on GENDER BENDERS, you must decide what camp you fall into;  are you an

a)    ATHEIST; you reject the belief that a God or a Deity actually exists making Gender a moot point since He does not exist. - NYOBS 16.02 – ATHEISM

b)    AGONISTIC - Meaning knowledge; you have NO knowledge of God one way or the other, let alone if there would even be a gender. -- NYOBS 29.02 - CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY

c)    MONOTHEISTIC; you believe in only ONE God like the Hebrews of the Nation of Israel. -- NYOBS 48.02 – THE GOD IDEA   

d)    POLYTHEISTIC, you believe like the majority of the world that there are MANY gods.   -- NYOBS 40.24 – INTELLIGENT DESIGN

·         POLYTHEISTIC RELIGIONS; gods are more likely to have literal sexual genders which would enable them to interact with each other, and even with humans, in a sexual way.  

·         The Book at first blush indicates that there is MORE THAN ONE GOD, it states in the ”plural” let US make human beings in OUR image, to be like OURSELVES, So God created human beings in His own image.  In the image of God He created them; MALE and FEMALE He created them.

·         The Book seems to say in Genesis the gods are paired male/female just like all of creation. - There are many passages in scripture that paint the picture of god as a FEMALE with gentleness, understanding and compassion, like a Bride or a Mistress; as a Mother hen protecting her chicks, as a Mother bear protecting her cubs; as a Woman giving birth.  Even the Christian message speaks in the Feminine of being BORN again.

·         If you use the word Mother instead of Father you will gather the same contextual meaning using either term.  Replacing the word “HE” with “SHE” is simply reversing the PERCEIVED “power structure”, not combatting it. – The perceived power structure is what is used to prevent women’s ordinations, women preachers and women’s leadership within the church.

·         Mormons; The Latter Day Saints Church, teaches that God the Father is an exalted man from another world who is married to a divine woman, referred to as the Heavenly Mother. Humans are considered to be spirit children of these heavenly parents.

·         In the Trinitarian language the Father, Son & Holy Spirit in POLITICAL CORRECTNESS is now referred to as the Mother, Child and Womb. – Stay tuned for the Monotheistic viewpoint.

Genesis 1:26-27 – The TRINITY is Male and Female
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; MALE and FEMALE he created them. (NLT)

Revelation 21:2 – God is Female; the Bride
2 And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from GOD out of heaven like a BRIDE beautifully dressed for her husband.(NLT)

Revelation 21:9 – God is Female; the Bride
9  Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the BRIDE, the WIFE of the Lamb.”

(NLT)

Psalm 123:2 – We look to the lord as our Mistress
² Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of HER MISTRESS, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us.

(ESV)

Luke 15:8-10 – God is like a Woman
⁸ Or suppose A WOMAN has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?
⁹ And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’
¹⁰ IN THE SAME WAY, there is joy in the presence of GOD’S angels when even one sinner repents.” (NLT)

Deuteronomy 32:18 – God gives Birth
¹⁸ You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the GOD who gave you BIRTH. (ESV)

Isaiah 66:13 – God will comfort you as a mother
¹³ I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a MOTHER comforts her child.” (NLT)

Isaiah 49:15 – Like a Mother, I will not forget you
¹⁵ Can a MOTHER forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though SHE may forget,

I WILL NOT FORGET YOU!

(NIV2011)

Isaiah 42:14 – Like a Woman I will cry in labor
¹⁴ HE WILL SAY, “I have long been silent; yes, I have restrained myself. But now, LIKE A WOMAN in labor, I will cry and groan and pant. (NLT)

Hosea 13:8 – God is like a Mother Bear
⁸ I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of HER cubs; I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them open. (ESV)

Matthew 23:37 – God is like a Mother Hen
³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together AS A HEN protects HER chicks beneath HER wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

(NLT)

Luke 13:34 – God is like a Mother Hen

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together AS A HEN protects HER chicks beneath HER wings, but you wouldn’t let me.

(NLT)

Image of God

·         The Book records God saying, “Let us make man in our IMAGE, after our LIKENESS and He created them; MALE and FEMALE.

·         Some theologians make a distinction between the Image of God and the Likeness of God. The image of God and the likeness are similar, but at the same time they are different.

·         The Image refers to the human's natural resemblance to God, it involves the “natural attributes” of God; the power of REASON and WILL.

·         The Likeness referred to a natural, innate resemblance to God and consists of the “spiritual attribute” of the MORAL QUALITIES of God. 

·         Both man and woman were made in God’s Image to be able to SEE, HEAR and SPEAK, and to have KNOWLEDGE, and with His COUNSEL to have understanding of what is GOOD and what is EVIL. - To have the moral capacity to receive communicated truths about “God’s Nature”. – We were made in His likeness to UNDERSTAND, ADMINISTER, RULE and JUDGE concerning His Commandments and “The Law of Life”.

·         This IMAGE is the unique spiritual relationship with God that humanity alone possesses. – The IMAGE of God has nothing to do with humanity’s physical nature, nor with a spiritual nature for us to be a little god.  –  NYOBS 71.27 – IMAGE OF GOD  - It’s in the Book -

·         In the Book, masculine pronouns are used over and over again in reference to God.  There is somewhere around 170 references where God relates to us as the “FATHER”.  If He had chosen to reveal Himself in the female form, then the word “MOTHER” would have occurred rather than the “FATHER.”   

·         By human necessity, one cannot be a father unless one is a male. While GOD IS NOT A MAN, He has chosen the masculine form in order to reveal Himself to humanity. - God chose to be revealed in this form in order for humanity to more easily grasp who He is.

·         Since humanity is of a physical nature, we are limited in our understanding of spiritual things that are outside the physical realm; therefore, relating with things common to humanity helps us to understand things about God who is a Spiritual being - We should not, so to speak, try to “FORCE GOD INTO A BOX” by placing limitations on Him that are not appropriate to His nature; He is neither male nor female, HE IS SPIRIT and we must worship Him in Spirit. - It’s in the Book -

Genesis 1:26 – Man made in the Image and Likeness of God
²⁶ God said, “Let us make man in our IMAGE, after our LIKENESS.

(ESV)

2 Enoch 65:1-2 – God created the physical and the spiritual

1 And Enoch answered all his people saying: Hear, my children, before that all creatures were created, the Lord created the visible (physical) and invisible (spiritual) things.

2 And as much time as there was and went past, understand that after all that he created man in the likeness of his own form, and put into him eyes to SEE, and ears to HEAR, and heart to reflect (THINK), and intellect wherewith to deliberate. (REASON).

Colossians 1:9 – Filled with knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding

⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the KNOWLEDGE of His will in all spiritual WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING, (ESV)

John 4:24 – God is spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit
²⁴ GOD IS SPIRIT, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (ESV)

Monotheism

·         Monotheistic religions; one cannot apply a gender to God in the usual sense, as God's attributes cannot be compared to those of any other being.

·         God is not a biological being, He is a spirit.  He is neither male nor female therefore He does not have a gender thus, the idea of a "Divine Gender" is ultimately considered an analogy, used by humans in order to better relate to the concept of God, with NO sexual connotation implied. - Wikipedia

·          I’ll say it again, the belief in ONLY ONE GOD was what set Israel apart from all the PAGAN nations of the world which had little gods for everything. – The multiplicity of gods were given birth to at the Tower of Babel. – It’s in the Book -   NYOBS 18.10 - TOWER OF BABEL

1 Peter 2:9 – A Holy Nation, a chosen race ruled by God
⁹ But you are a CHOSEN RACE, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a people for HIS OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (ESV)

Family Line Descendants

·          In the Book, God is always referred to in the “masculine”; in Biblical culture the male is head of the family and is the one who represents all of his descendants.  Adam, born a man, represented the authority and headship of the family of which we all belong.

·          It was the FIRST MAN Adam that was CHARGED with sin as he was the one ordained with the authority and headship, not Eve even though she was the first to sin. - Both were paid the SAME WAGES for sin; DEATH.  NYOBS 80.08 – EVE TEMPTED HUMBLED REDEEMED

·         Headship Authority is passed down through the male, so it is most REASONABLE, RATIONAL and LOGICAL that we do not relate to God as a Female or a Mother. - It’s in the Book -

John 4:24 – God is Spirit not Flesh
²⁴ For GOD IS SPIRIT, so those who worship him

must worship in spirit and in truth.” (NLT)

Luke 24:39 – A Spirit does not have flesh
³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

1 Corinthians 15:22 – Adam head of the family
²² Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. (NLT)

Romans 5:12 – Sin entered into the world through one MAN
¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one MAN, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (ESV)

John 1:1-3 – The Word is God – HE created everything
¹ In the beginning THE WORD already existed. THE WORD was with God, and THE WORD was God.
² HE existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through HIM, and nothing was created except through HIM. (NLT)

John 1:14 - The Word became human – HE lived among us
¹⁴ So The Word became human and made his home among us. HE was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen HIS glory, the glory of the FATHER’S one and only SON. (NLT)

The Take Away

·         The first book of the Bible begins with God self-revealing Himself in the plural form. - The Book says, “Let US create humanity in OUR own image”. -  At first look you could easily assume that there were many gods present, but He is speaking of His plurality of persons, not of gods, and is referring to the three persons of the TRINITY; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. - The Bible is the revelation of God through the Trinity - NYOBS 09.02 - TRINITY

• Paul’s threefold prayer; “May the grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the love of GOD, and the fellowship of the HOLY SPIRIT be with you all” – THE TRINITY -

• The Father is whom revelation proceeds,
• The Son incarnates the revelation,
• The Holy Spirit applies the revelation to man.
• The Father is God – But, the Father is not the Son, nor the Holy Spirit.
• The Son is God – But, the Son is not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit is God – But, the Holy Spirit is not the Father, nor the Son.

One God – THREE DISTINCT PERSONS – The Trinity

• Let’s Look at Water or perhaps the three distinct stages of water; liquid, ice and steam.  They are all different from each other, but they all are composed of the same H2O; water.

·         God created both male and female in his image, He does not PARTICIPATE in one or the other gender, but rather transcends gender.  Whether masculine or feminine, the images presented in the Book are either;

a)   Anthropomorphisms; the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities or

b)   Personifications; the attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as emotions, nations and natural forces like seasons and the weather, all of WHICH REVEALS GOD TO US IN WAYS WE CAN UNDERSTAND.

• There is a TRINITY of three primary colors; Red, Green, and Blue: All the rest of the colors are a derivation from them.  - Pure White is made up of all colors – Darkness is the absence of all colors - God’s word contains all the colors. - The more we read God’s Word, the further from darkness we get and the closer to pure light we become. – SELAH

·         GOD IS SPIRIT and must be worshipped in Spirit, He transcends Gender and has chosen to use the masculine form in order to reveal Himself to humanity.

·         The language we use for God must bring clarity rather than confusion. - It would be a grave mistake to sacrifice on the altar of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS the theological clarity of the titles for God and of His nature just to be a GENDER BENDER.  - It’s in the Book –

2 Corinthians 13:14 – God in three persons
¹⁴ The grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and the love of GOD and the fellowship of the HOLY SPIRIT be with you all.

(ESV)

Deuteromy 6:4 – One God

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, THE LORD IS ONE.  NIV

1 Corinthians 8:4 – There is only one God

4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that THERE IS NO GOD BUT ONE. NIV

Deuteromy 32:39 – There is no God but me

39 "See now that I myself am He! THERE IS NO GOD BESIDES ME.

NIV

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

                         and see further that I otherwise ever could have.              

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Forgotten Books of Eden; The – World

Gospels Interwoven; The – Karmit Zarley

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament – Baker

Invisible War; The – Donald Grey Barnhouse

King James Version Bible – KJV

Lost Books of the Bible; The - World

Lost Books of the Bible; The - Bell

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Missing Books of the Bible; The – Halo Press

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nag Hammadi Library; The – James M. Robinson

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted & made GENDER NEUTRAL.  AVOID IT.

New Living Translation Bible - NLT

Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney