By Jerry Cox, Bessemer, AL
“This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (Gen. 5:1, 2). I want to insert a phrase here that some of you may have heard before: “Nuff said!” which is defined by WordSense Online Dictionary as an informal phrase used in various situations to either end a discussion or to imply that further discussion is not needed. For example, “Every mom has days and moments that try her patience. My wife and I have five boys and three girls—nuff said!” So let me repeat for emphasis: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them…”—nuff said! Why should we have to go any further? “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psa. 119:89). “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Unfortunately, there may be those who don’t readily accept the Word of God and its truth in its simplicity, so I will continue with other scriptures and thoughts to help us with this subject.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:26, 27). God had a purpose in His creation of a male and a female. He did not just throw something together without forethought or reason. That’s what we would do! Not God. He has purpose and plan in all that He has done and will do. When He reveals these nuggets of truth to us through His Spirit and Word, we can be overcome with amazement at how great our God is!
In much of God’s creation, we see the concept of male and female. Once all the plants and animals were created, there was a need for them to be able to reproduce their species throughout time. The fact that God made mankind male and female was certainly not unique in his creative examples (He created male and female in the animals and male and female features in plants) however, what separates you and I from a tree or from a deer or a bear, is that we are created in God’s image and we have an eternal soul. All of the other creations, without choice, give glory and praise to the Creator. Even the nature of our physical structure cries out glory and praise to the One who made us, but it goes even further with us. We also have a choice to praise Him from within our soul. We have an opportunity to choose to worship, praise, and serve our Creator. So, we have something called male and something called female. What’s significant about that? Why does it matter?
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth… And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen. 1:28, 31)—nuff said! There was a reason and purpose behind being male and female. God had set it up, that from the union of man and woman there was to be offspring. But it wasn’t just about a male and a female having a child, there was another aspect to God’s plan. “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:18-24). God was establishing the institution of marriage that was to be followed down through time and He showed us that this institution was to be made up of one man and one woman. The woman was to be part of the man. No other animal in God’s creation was just right for him, but this woman was made just for him.
Notice God did not take out two or three ribs so He could make multiple women for Adam to have at the same time. One man and one woman created in the image of God—made holy and righteous, able to think, contemplate, and reason. Able to make choices. Satan didn’t like these images of God running around, so he set out to ruin them. He couldn’t ruin the Most High, so he did the next best thing and set out to ruin His special creation. We know what happened. Satan deceived Eve, Adam just went along with it, and sin entered into God’s greatest creation. As man multiplied and covered the earth, a voice could be heard. A voice whose source was the same as that heard in the Garden of Eden when Eve was asked, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1). This voice continued to whisper, down through time, and targeted the divine institution of marriage that carried the signature of God’s handiwork. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus about it, He took them all the way back to the beginning for the answer: “…What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:3-9). Jesus took the time to clearly define the process from the beginning. Even reiterating the fact that they were created male and female and why. It was God’s plan from the beginning, with the male leaving and cleaving, to bind them together as one flesh. And oh, by the way, what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder—nuff said!
The deceitful voice continued to call out to convince man that he didn’t have to stay with his real spouse and to question God’s plan of the purposes and responsibilities of male and a female. Just like in the garden with Eve, if we’re not careful, that deceitful voice will cause us to question God’s plans and the spirit of pride will start to work. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). When the sinful flesh gets stirred up, we shouldn’t be surprised where it takes mankind. Our dear Sister Josephine Perry used to say, “Don’t let the devil ride. If you let him ride, he will want to drive.”
There is identity, purpose, and structure with God’s design. There is chaos and confusion with sin. God’s structure of one man and one woman joined together for life and the roles, identity, and responsibilities He has placed upon this union give us a glimpse into something so much greater. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband” (Eph. 5:22-33). Satan despises vibrant, loving, godly marriages. Every time he looks at them, he sees the image of Christ and His Church! I challenge you husbands and wives, to make your marriage the best that it can be. Let the image of Christ and His Church be seen in your lives every single day!
Satan is wreaking chaos in this world with the institution of marriage. He has done much to destroy the one man/one woman for life concept. He is working to destroy the identity of the male and female as well. The Bible makes it clear how this chaos gets started. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). Think of the inspiration penned in the words of the song: “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed: Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee: How great Thou art, how great Thou art!”
Jesus took the Pharisees who questioned Him back to the Creation account. “Boys, you want to know the truth about putting your wives away? From the beginning, God made them male and female. It was because of the hardness of your hearts that anything else was even presented to you.” What is happening today because of the hardness of people’s hearts? Let’s continue in Romans: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:21-32).
This is straight talk! That “subtil” voice is still calling out to all who will listen, bringing even more confusion to people’s minds. Not only has man left the natural use of the woman (and vice versa), a man now claims he is a woman. A woman now claims she is a man. This flies in the very face of our Creator! Sinful man is saying that God made a mistake. “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Rom. 9:20). “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” (Isa. 29:16). People have spent years not liking the color of their hair, so they changed it. Not liking their complexion, so they made it up. Not liking the shape of their body, so they changed it. Industries are born and thrive off of this type of mindset. As technology advances, more things can be changed to make you more like you want to be. Is that what we need to be? Are we to be fashioned in our own image? In the beginning, God made man in His image. We are not our own, we are bought with a price.
Today, with boldness and accolades, men (in body) are saying they are no longer male. They proclaim that they are really a woman trapped in a man’s body and they were given the wrong body style. God doesn’t make mistakes. Sin is what brings confusion. David said, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psa. 139:14).
The chaos and confusion of sin has even brought more confusion to some people’s question of who they are. The terms “gay” and “lesbian” are no longer sufficient. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) came along, and is now no longer sufficient. LGBTQ? Nope. Sorry, not sufficient. One reference is LBGTQ+. “+” is not just a mathematical symbol anymore but a denotation of everything on the gender and sexuality spectrum that letters and words can’t yet describe. In all the classifications, there is even a term for someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth—Cisgender. Satan couldn’t stand to use the same terms that God did for this (male and female), so he had to create another word. In gender identity language, there is even a term for someone who doesn’t identify as male or female. They are called Non-Binary. The Cambridge Online Dictionary gives the following definition for binary: 1. Using a system of numbers that uses only 0 and 1 (computers store all data in binary code). 2. Relating to or consisting of two things, in which everything is either one thing or the other. If you’ve ever looked in a dictionary for a word, there may be a sentence used with that word that helps put it into context so you can understand it better. This is the sentence that this online dictionary placed with the term binary: “It’s a binary choice, you either accept or you refuse.”
A recent study showed that most people under the age of thirty believe attributes such as male and female aren’t binary but, rather, are on a spectrum. A “spectrum” is a range of different positions, opinions, etc. between two extreme points. Society is pushing a philosophy with the examples that it gives to define words. In my mind, they’re doing it so people will start getting used to these terms and become numb to them. That deceitful voice is still crying out to make this just part of our daily lives. If we flood our senses with “entertaining” shows that promote and glorify these lifestyles, with music or talk that glorifies them, if we idolize people who are in these lifestyles, or dress ourselves in the fashions and fads that are geared toward identity neutrality, we will lose the sense of the reproach that all of this is to God, and begin to be drawn into it ourselves. “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). Flee from this! Put it away! “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:1, 2).
In addition to society’s pressures to be molded into this mindset, our governments are now backing and supporting measures that promote these choices. Argentina just unveiled its official ID cards with the new “X” format. Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernandez, is reported as saying, “There are other identities besides that of man and woman, and they must be respected.” He reportedly has a decree that states “X” will be used to denote the following meanings: “non-binary, undetermined, unspecified, undefined, not informed, self-perceived, not recorded; or other meanings with which the person who does not feel included in the masculine/ feminine binary could identify.” In some countries, the person would have to present medical documentation to back up their change of identity, but more are moving toward self-determination of gender. The “X” card is just a way to say, “No God, I am X-ing out your purpose, your creation, your creation of identity, and I am creating my own.” Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
The sinful voice still calls. Society is supporting and promoting these sinful lifestyles; governments are supporting and promoting them; and sadly, even many religious organizations now supporting and promoting lifestyles that go against the very Word of God. BUT NOT SO IN THE CHURCH OF GOD! The Word of God does not support or promote sin of any kind; therefore, The Church of God cannot support or promote sin of any kind! The Word of God promotes the cure for sin! “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:18- 21). The gospel song says, “There’s a voice calling me from an old rugged tree, and it whispers ‘Draw closer to Me. Leave this world far behind, there are new heights to climb, and a new place in Me you will find.’”
For anyone who may be getting pulled in by the deceitful voices, I want you to know that Jesus loves you and wants to be your Saviour. He is no respecter of persons. He loves the soul of the man or woman caught in the deception of an identity crisis. He loves the soul of the man or woman caught up in an adulterous marriage. He loves the soul of the man or woman caught in whatever sin they’re in. He died the most horrible of deaths on the cross of Calvary to be the sacrifice for man’s sin. He doesn’t want us to stay in them, He wants to set us free! He wants us to repent and turn from our sins and live according to the Scriptures. When God sets you free from sin, He will restore your identity. “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:10). God destroys the chaos and restores the male and female identity after conversion
because the new man is created in righteousness and true holiness! “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24).
Let me close with this: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (Gen. 5:1, 2). “Nuff said!”