Male, female and Restoration. (484)

Male and Female
Human beings are created male and female

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27 NASB

God’s glory is revealed in the distinctions between men and women. Gender reflects the goodness of God’s creation. True masculinity and true femininity are gifts from God.

Biblical teachings on gender directly conflict with the secular world, which increasingly sees gender differences as nothing more than a social construct. It leads to confusion and harm in the lives of individuals, families, and even churches.

God’s creation and affirmation of both genders
demonstrate God’s love for us
and His design of different roles and responsibilities for men and women.

Fallen from Innocence
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived in the perfection of innocence. They were morally innocent, they did not sin and had no knowledge of sin. God commanded them to enjoy the fruit of the garden but forbid them to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17 NASB

As moral beings, Adam and Eve had the power of moral agency or choice. They could choose whether to obey or disobey God.

Then came temptation.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they disobeyed God and rebelled against His command (see Gen. 3:1-7).

Because Adam was the head of the human race, humanity itself fell into the pattern of sin and condemnation through his sin.

Now that Adam and Eve were sinners, God cast them out of the garden, and rightly so.

therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So, he drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:23-24 NASB

With sin came sickness and death, and the earth itself became hostile to humanity

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:17-19 NASB

Restoration

A human infant is probably the most vulnerable, helpless, and defenseless being on earth. All through our lives we remain dependent on God for health, food, shelter, and protection.

Just as we are dependent on God for the physical necessities of life, we are also spiritually helpless

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6 NASB.

Only by knowing Jesus Christ can we understand what true humanity was meant to be. By God’s grace, through faith in Christ, we are restored to fellowship with God and are enabled to fulfill the purpose for which we were made.

God’s love for us is seen in Jesus Christ, whose atonement secures our salvation

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 5:9 NASB

God glorifies his name by saving sinners, and He loved us so much that He gave His only Son for our redemption

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NASB

Christ’s work of salvation includes men and women from every tribe, race, language, and people group: “You redeemed people for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

Christians must see every human being as made in God’s image and as worthy of full respect and love.

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