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NASB | Genesis 2:18 ¶ Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 2:18 ¶ Now the LORD God said, "It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him--a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him." |
Subject: Man Could Have Been Made Solitary |
Bible Note: Dear Ray, Thanks for your thoughts. You write, “Could it be that God is both male and female but male in His image?” Let me respond: I learned a distinction between sex and gender from reading C. S. Lewis. Something can be masculine or feminine without being sexually a male or female. God wanted the earthly creatures with bodies to reproduce themselves and fill the earth. He made the means of procreation for these bodily creatures sexual. Now, God is not a sexual being because he does not have a body. He is spirit. He may be masculine, but he is not male. And if He is masculine, then his masculinity may be such because all of creation is feminine with respect to him. I think of Christ and the church. We (his people) are feminine with respect to Christ. He is the bridegroom; we are the bride. Now the church is made up of male and female persons, but this fact is irrelevant when we are considered as one body of believers. As a unit we are feminine with respect to Christ. God is neither male nor female, but he is in all respects personal. We are personal because we are the image of God. Our primary relationship is upward not downward; therefore as the image of our creator we are persons, which is something animals and machines are not. On the other hand, as we are made to live in the same environment as other earthly creatures, we therefore, are sexual, which is something God is not. However the point of my meditation, as Momma rightly mentioned, was to highlight the importance that God created man not to be alone. We were made to live in community, not in isolation. We were made not only to love God first, best and always, but also to love our neighbor as ourselves. Peace, |