I'm not getting into a debate. Because, honestly, I don't care if God is a male or female. All I care about is that there is a God who loves me and created me. That's what I care about.
I know some of us are confused as to what Genesis 1:26-27 mean. A few of you are saying, "It literally SAYS that God made Adam in His image." But, it says more. It also STATES female. Remember, basic hermeneutics: Take the SURROUNDING Scripture. You can't take one Scripture and nick-pick at it. You need to take the Bible as a whole. Read below
"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.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1:26-27
This Scripture is not at ALL saying that Adam is a man and that is what God is. At all.
There are three approaches people have wondered about what it means to be created in the "image of God":
1) We are image-bearers with intellectual structures, like God.
2) God requires us to function as rulers of creation as they reflect God.
3) Created relationships of humans - they reflect who God is as they relate to God, to other humans, and to nature.
Yes, God does mostly refer to Himself as a male. As a Father, as a King. But, there are also feminine qualities about Him, too.
(I know I just triggered many people. "I can't believe she just said 'God' and 'feminine' in the SAME SENTENCE. Sure did. You'll be okay.).
The Word is literally God-breathed and God has referred to Himself as a "Him", as a "Father." But, there are Scriptures which point to feminity:
- 'As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.' (Isaiah 66.13, ESV)
- 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.' (Isaiah 49.15, ESV)
- 'Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, "Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child," to the land that you swore to give their fathers?' (Numbers 11.12, ESV)
I can understand the confusion. I believe God shows both male and female traits. I do call God a "He," because that is how I grew up, seeing Him as a Father because He is. But, he also shows Himself as a mother. God is described as both using masculine and feminine imagery.
I believe that male and female are created in His image. Not because God fits strictly into those categories of gender, but because characteristics that females and males show come from God's character.
God has attributes and experiences with both female and male - therefore, these genders reflect the very image of God. Male and females should be able to relate to God because He made them and understands the masculine and feminine experiences.