December 9, 2010

Biblical Femininity VI: God & Femininity

We see God referred to as every imaginable representation of honorable and righteous masculinity but not often feminine. If God has created everything and everything includes feminine beauty we encounter the paradox of a God that is predominately described in masculine terms but also embodying what is feminine allure too. If there is something in this universe it had to come from God or God's creative being. It is at this time my mind turns to the fact that God is indeed a genderless Spirit. Let me be clear, God is never referred to directly with feminine pronoun such as “she,” her,” and “hers” or given a feminine name that I am aware of. This doesn't mean He is male though either. God is God. God is Other.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

When He came incarnate in the space of creation in the fullness of time as Jesus-He did so as a man. Yet...the source of masculinity AND femininity finds its origin in God.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:27

God is the epitome of masculine strength and power but isn't He also the epitome of beauty and does He not give the essence of what it is to be a woman to a female? Is God not tender to His children? Is God not the ultimate creator of everything and everything has its source in Him? He is the Creator of lightning and thunder yet he is also the Creator of azure sunsets and wings of the butterfly. The Creator of the flower and also the thorn. The love of our lives, our spouses or future spouses are to be an inkling of what is to come when we meet our True Love face to face. Male and Female alike. This is why the marriage is so sacred. It is an embodiment of what will be in Heaven with God. If we actually maintain the proper relationships here on earth they should already reflect a mutual symbiotic type relationship between our spouses and God. God, your spouse and you. Sexual relations between a married couple as defined by the Bible can constitute a form of worship. Any use of anything in the Creation as defined in the Bible constitutes worship but the unity in marriage is especially glorifying to God. By maintaining it and upholding it as outlined in the Bible we are maintaining a covenant relationship with not only our spouse but also God. What is the usual statement in a marraige vow when one is married?

"Do you, __*YOUR NAME HERE*___, solomnly agree before Almighty God and these witnesses to..."

And then later in the vow...

"...and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses to be your loving and faithful ________..."

Male and female. If both are made in God's image shouldn't both man and woman reflect God's character in their lives? If so then we should expect to see aspects of God's character reflected in each other's lives, male and female...shouldn't we?

We do not often think of feminine aspects when dealing with God (I don't), but to fully understand Him we must understand that beauty and the essence of what it is to be feminine also comes from God. Otherwise we get an unbalanced image of Him in our understanding. Anything that is less than the best understanding that we can possibly have of Him is just another step away from Him, not towards Him. As far as I'm concerned we are all already too far from Him already and it is only through His grace that we can and do come close to Him.

The allusions are in Scripture and are unavoidable. I realize many are for the point of illustration for mankind but the fact that God would allow these types of statements says something of His mindset or being since all Scripture is inspired by God/Holy Spirit.

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:13

For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. Isaiah 42:14

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! ~Matthew 23:37


God (Jesus) is not saying He is female but he is willing to gather His own like a hen. He will comfort his own like a mother comforts her own. He is portrayed predominately as masculine and is referred to by masculine pronouns but the idea that femininity or attributes attributed to females just pop out of thin air is ridicuolous and ignoring the obvious. They have an origin and their creation lies in God. Where else could it have come from?

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