This is a question some people are afraid to ask. I heard debates on both sides of the fence, some male chauvinist and the other side extreme feminist wanting to create God in their image. That’s not what the Bible says, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” Genesis 1:26 I’ve learned the best ways to settle disputes is to go to God’s Word and learn what He has to say about this issue. So, what is this referring to…“our?” We’ll talk about this in a minute.
First I want to address the fact that so many people have damage in their past or confusion of the truth, they really don’t know who God is or what He’s all about. If you notice I refer to God in the masculine sense because the Bible refers to Him that way. So naturally you’re assuming I see God in the masculine sense. Most of my life I’ve seen Him completely that way. I can even go a step further and say I saw Him as this old, white bearded man as you see manifested in TV or other sources looking vengeful waiting for me to mess up so He could make me feel shame and guilt. The others times in my life I couldn’t see Him at all.
I will admit I didn’t fear God. I was afraid of Him as if He was a tyrant wanting to bring misery to my life and hurt me. Needless to say I had the wrong picture. I’ve been wrong before, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this far off base. One day as I was thinking, I heard a small soft voice ask me, “Garry, if I was a female, would you be afraid of me?” To be honest I had to say, “No.” It was then when I realized that because of my past or trauma from my childhood that I had related this belief to God. I had been bullied by older boys and molested so it’s easy to see I didn’t have a good perspective of the male gender. On the other side of the coin, females were the good guys and were there to help aid and comfort me. This may have something to do with having three older sisters. I was afraid to say this because I didn’t want my sisters to develop a God complex.
What God was saying to me was that He was both. They (The Trinity) were everything. They are complete, we are not. They created us in their image. We have to get away from how we see God and get to the truth and the facts. God is Love!!! I John 4:8 The embodiment of love itself. Not the love we think about, but a love that passes our understanding. God has a relationship within Himself. I’ve always looked at the Trinity as a hierarchy which it is not. It is a horizontal relationship of the Father, Jesus and The Holy Spirit.
When They created the woman they took a rib from the man’s side. “So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.” Genesis 2:21 She was taken from his side to work side by side. Not from his head so she could rule over him and not from his feet to be trampled on.
I love this part. When They created man and woman They split themselves (so to speak) in half. Man or woman by themselves does not complete the picture of God and the relationship He has with the Trinity. Therefore He gave the union (not institution) of marriage to complete the picture. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 The only thing our children have to look at to see and understand who God is, is through their parents. If this picture has been destroyed or distorted, then they will develop their own set of problems. Of all the couples I’ve worked with through the years I can usually tell you the personality of the other mate just by meeting one of them. Why? Because we marry our opposites! If we were just alike then we wouldn’t need two. My wife and I have learned to work with our strengths and quit fighting in our weaknesses (most of the time) and using our differences to fill the gap.
Now I want you to understand something. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I’m telling you this because I care and love you. Any time someone uses guilt to control you, you can be assured that their motives are selfish and love is no where to be found. God never uses guilt to control us. Think about that!
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