Help with Gen 1:27

[Luvtosew]

This has always bothered me when reading it,

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

Sounds to me like God is both sexes, although he is a Spirit , Jesus said God is Spirit and flesh and blood will not enter heaven , so is God both male and female or asexual, of course Jesus also said we will be like angels when we pass, and will not have kids as we will not be flesh or blood. We will be asexual.

I guess it depends on what creation account one reads the other one God made Adam and breathed into him and he became a living soul and out of his rib he made woman.

 

[childofdust]

Sounds to me like God is both sexes

Your question and conclusion have to do with what the “image of god” (‫צלם אלהים‬ ) means.

If biblical scholarship is right, this part of Genesis comes from a document called “P” - a priestly writer. One of the characteristics of the Priestly writer is avoidance of any kind of anthropomorphic representation of deity and a clear separation between creator and creation. In P, the deity is described in terms that transcend human characteristics. So if this is from P, then one should not understand gender as being related to the “image of god.”

Another way to understand what is meant by “image of god” is to look at the ancient Near East to see what it meant in that context.

In Egyptian usage, Pharaoh was considered the “image of God” insofar as the monarch was the incarnation of a deity. So if male and female are the “image of god,” this doesn't relate to what god is, but it relates to what we are—incarnations of a deity.

In Mesopotamia, the “image of God” signified a king's ruling function and power. So this would mean that males and females were created to rule over YHWH's creation—to represent the power and authority of the deity on earth.

 

[Luvtosew]

Thanks for your reply but I'n just so not sure about it.

 

[ebedmelech]

This has always bothered me when reading it,

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

Sounds to me like God is both sexes, although he is a Spirit , Jesus said God is Spirit and flesh and blood will not enter heaven , so is God both male and female or asexual, of course Jesus also said we will be like angels when we pass, and will not have kids as we will not be flesh or blood. We will be asexual.

I guess it depends on what creation account one reads the other one God made Adam and breathed into him and he became a living soul and out of his rib he made woman.

I'm not sure what bothers you about it. God is asexual. However, the creator of both sexes elects to communicate to us from the male perspective throughout scripture. He was born into the world in the incarnation, as the Lord Jesus...a male.

God is NOT both sexes. God is The Creator of both sexes. That's a big difference.

We have a synopsis of creation in Genesis 1 & 2. This is written well after the creation. We're not given the full details s God is moving Moses to write this brief account for us.

Adam and Eve were sexual beings at creation and were to procreate even before "The Fall". God told them to "be fruitful and multiply" before The Fall.

The mystery is we have no idea how they were to procreate before the fall. We know after The Fall something changed, because Eve's punishment was to give birth "in pain".

Some things we will never know until we're in eternity. We do know that in eternity we are neither married nor given in marriage.

That suggests something different in itself.

 

[dysert]

This has always bothered me when reading it,

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

Sounds to me like God is both sexes, although he is a Spirit , Jesus said God is Spirit and flesh and blood will not enter heaven , so is God both male and female or asexual, of course Jesus also said we will be like angels when we pass, and will not have kids as we will not be flesh or blood. We will be asexual.

I guess it depends on what creation account one reads the other one God made Adam and breathed into him and he became a living soul and out of his rib he made woman.

God is spirit, as you say, so He is not a sexual being. He has revealed Himself to us, though, from the male perspective (for whatever reason).

The "being like angels" thing is in regards to marrying and/or having kids in the afterlife -- not that we'll become asexual spirit beings (like the angels are). We will have fleshy-looking bodies. Remember what Jesus' resurrected body was like. He even ate food.

Not sure what you're talking about when you allude to different creation accounts. The Bible only has one creation account (Gen. 2 is just some added detail about the overview given in Gen. 1).

 

[ronny]

like the post Luvtosew
not sure I get your question though. Are you actually asking or just musing?

This is a good point you make.
I think it is always good to remember scripture as a whole though. rather than letting one verse confuse us. Remember God calls himself Father. and of couse there is the Son.
And the Holy spirit is referred to as He.

But really as you say He is spirit. ei he does not have the physical atributes we would associate with a male. or a female. (Although some reckon El Shadai's litteral translation is Many Breasted One.)

One thing that I think your highlighted verse does say is that men and women are made in the image of God. There is a lot of theology out there that would try to say women are not as much the image of God as men. but this verse seems to say poopoo to that view.

Being asexual here on earth would be worse than being it in heaven.. we rely on different sex's to be fruitful and multiply. seems that biology is pretty must based on it.
But I also think there is another purpose in the intimate connection a man and woman have. I think the most intimate connection speaks of oneness and communion. I think this closeness is also in the image of God who is himself trinity and speaks of what his heaven will be like. When we have all purity and no sin, no blocages and no ego we will commune with each other so intimately. Better than the closest connection or moment of connection we experience now in our fallen state.
Basically I am trying not to be crass but I think heaven will be 'better than sex'.
In fact I would say that even now when we draw close to our Father we can experience him in an intimate way beyond where we can experience one another.

God invites us to know him as Father.
very very wonderful. even an outrage. All things start to become strained when we try to get our head round this but he does want us to I dont think. "if you can figure me out you can be close to me" isnt in the bible. The reverse almost is though, as we wonder at the intimate mysteries and spend time in awe of him we come close to him.

trying to work out what heaven is like (a kin to comprehending Gpd as a packege we can get our heads round) was what caused Jesus to say those big things back almost to show how futile our wonderings of how the mechanics work in heaven (mark 12)

In much love and thankfulness for your musings
and longing to be closer to the truth and God

 

[Luvtosew]

Ronny thank you for your kind post ,I was just musing, as no one knows what God would mean in my mind anyway. Unless the Holy Spirit is female as they say she is the wisdom in the book of wisdom of course right after that they say Jesus is the wisdom of the Father.

Solomon refers to wisdom as a she also. Just thinking out loud, thank you.

 

[meNetzari]

God embodies both masculine and feminine attributes. God The Father (Masculine) The Son (Born of a Woman) the Holy Spirit (Feminine).
When a Man and Woman marry they become One Flesh. One, like God.

 

[football5680]

God created Adam in his own image and Eve came later on. Genesis 1 gives you the basic overview of creation and Genesis 2 goes into detail. I would say he is asexual because he has no need for a gender. He doesn't rely on anybody else to bring things into creation. In heaven we will still know if we were a man or woman but that classification no longer matters because it doesn't determine anything in heaven.

 

[PJM]

=Luvtosew;62580582]This has always bothered me when reading it,

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

Sounds to me like God is both sexes, although he is a Spirit , Jesus said God is Spirit and flesh and blood will not enter heaven , so is God both male and female or asexual, of course Jesus also said we will be like angels when we pass, and will not have kids as we will not be flesh or blood. We will be asexual.

I guess it depends on what creation account one reads the other one God made Adam and breathed into him and he became a living soul and out of his rib he made woman.

Actually God is "Gender-nutural"

John 4: 23-24 "1But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth.

Further the manner in which humanity emulates God is also "Gender-nutural"

First ONLY humanity can and DOES emulate our God.

Of the BILLIONS of Createdthings only man can recreate; only man can rationalize and only man can choose to either love or to hate God.

EACH of these exclusive abilities require all of these:

a mind

a intellect

and a FREEWILL

These three things are a permnant part of the human soul. EACH of them, like God Himself are both Spiritual and Eternal. And each of them is given to man alone in the hope by our God that they will be used as HE DESIRES them to be used.

Isaiah 43: Verses 7 and 21: “every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." AND the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

Fist Isaiah explains the WHY; then God's HOPE; depending on and allowing man himself to choose.

The choice is given to everyone. And everyone is OFFERED suffient Grace to Know God. Because God loves US Perfectly; God desires that we return "perfect" love for Perfect Love. ONLY Love freely given can be "perfect."

Ecc. 15:18 “Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him”

So my friend; it is our "Spiritual Realities" that attain heaven and or hell. Our Bodies will be returned to each of us in a then PERFECTED manner as was Christ upon His Ressurrection at the Final Judgment. BUT then gender will NOT MATTER.


God Bless you,
patrick68

 

[pshun2404]

This has always bothered me when reading it,

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

Sounds to me like God is both sexes, although he is a Spirit , Jesus said God is Spirit and flesh and blood will not enter heaven , so is God both male and female or asexual, of course Jesus also said we will be like angels when we pass, and will not have kids as we will not be flesh or blood. We will be asexual.

I guess it depends on what creation account one reads the other one God made Adam and breathed into him and he became a living soul and out of his rib he made woman.

God transcends sexuality and gender and Jesus did not say we would be incapable of having children when we are like angels or that we would be asexual...he said we would be like angels not given to marriage but that is not the same thing...

The question is "Could the glorified bodies still procreate if they willed to?" I see no reason in scripture why not but I think when that time comes and we know even as we are known, when we are like Him, we will not care about such things (that's different). In fact the Bible does not say angels (when manifest in the flesh) CANNOT have sex...I just do not think they care. one way or the other as it is not part of their nature...but when one appears as a man who knows what they are capable of...the Bible is silent on this

Paul