Man, Woman, Garden

Well, it’s June, and that means it is Pride Month. For the next 30 days, your social media stream may be much more colorful than usual. I suggest you take this as an opportunity to reconsider the Bible’s teaching on gender, marriage, and sexuality.

As Christians, our response to the dogmatic assertions made by the LBGTQ+ prophets could be a simple recitation of Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, or Leviticus 18:22. Then, however, we’d only have said something about the sin of homosexuality and done nothing to address things like gender dysphoria, no-fault divorce, and the concept of being a “dog parent.”

In the beginning, God created man and woman in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-28). This means human existence is distinct from the nature of all other types of life. God is a different type of being than humanity. No one created God. Instead, God has all life in and of himself and illustrated this to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). God manifested his presence to Moses as a bush that was on fire, but Moses noticed the fire did not burn up the bush. This teaches us that God is like a fire that does not require fuel to burn. He simply is and always has been.

Man, on the other hand, is created. Unlike God, we are composed of parts: a body and a soul. We require food, air, water, and many other things to sustain us, all of which God provides. Human life is different than lesser life forms because we are God’s image-bearers. Every man has an immortal soul meaning he is unlike animals in that he is moral (God’s law is written on every human heart), and he can have communion with God. No dog, cat, or bunny rabbit can do that.

Men and women are both God’s image-bearers, have a soul, are moral, and are capable of communion with God. But there are also created differences between the two genders. They aren’t just a social construct. Gender is more than biology, so you cannot undo it with nipping, tucking, or ingesting hormone blockers. There is a spiritual component to your gender.

God created man first and made him the principal head of humanity. Adam was responsible for working and keeping the garden. The New Testament reflects on this as the basis for continuing male headship in the home and society (1 Timothy 2:12). Adam’s wife was given to him as a companion to bear and nurture children and, in this way, help him fulfill the creation mandate of exercising dominion over the earth. Adam and Eve became “one flesh” through the covenant bond of marriage (Genesis 2:24-25).

In the beginning, Eden was a small garden located on the top of a mountain. Over time, as Adam and Eve had children and exercised dominion, Eden would have covered the earth and filled it with God’s image-bearers. Sadly, they pursued a path of pain and futility, which we will discuss next time.