Answering the Ultimate Question: WHO AM I?

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Galatians 3:26-28

Nobody said that in the ancient world. Nobody says that in much of the modern world!

Ironically, some use this verse (GAL. 3:28) to argue that gender roles have been overruled by the Gospel. That’s a misreading of the text as Paul is not talking about gender roles, but rather, using them to illustrate his point of unity in identity in Christ. He is talking about Jews & Gentiles as being ONE in the church.

Think about the difference between the role of women in the West, which has been deeply influenced by the church, and those elsewhere. And while thousands of years of toxic, anti-creative, suffocating treatment of women has ignited a well-deserved backlash, when we look at Jesus’ treatment of women and the Scriptural call to practice elevating the role of the other, we don’t need to throw out the entire endeavor.

Gender is at the heart of what it means to be human.

We read about gender on the opening page of the Scriptures. In fact, it’s one of the first things we learn about this strange, new creation.

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

Genesis 1:27

Part of what it means to be made “in the image of God” (Latin, “imago Dei”) is that we are male and female.

Both sexes image, or mirror, aspects of what God is like.

Throughout the Scriptures, metaphorical language is used of God as both masculine and feminine. The first thing we learn about the sexes in Genesis is that we are equal. The ground is level between Adam and Eve. We are both made in the image of God.

The questions are, “What does this mean? What effect, if any, should this have on how I live? On what I do? On marriage? Family? Church? Our children? Culture at large?”

Those are the questions we can’t seem to agree on. It’s tricky. There are all sorts of stereotypes floating around culture and it can confuse us because we’re caught in the crosscurrents of culture.

One tide is saying there is no difference between the sexes and is working overtime to emasculate men and at the same time to erase the feminine side of women. The other current, which is just as strong, is pressuring us to fit into all sorts of stereotypes we don’t relate to. How do we know which differences are hardwired by God and which ones are a social construct?

The trick is to eject the stereotypes imposed on you by culture while keeping your grip on the roles set in place by God.

Please read and follow the directions in the forum below…