On the Masculinity of God and Christ
©2005 Kimberly Hartfield

Is God masculine? God said in the Bible, “I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst (Hosea 11:9).” The Bible also tells us in John 4:24 that God is Spirit and that those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. If God is not a man and God is a Spirit, then is God masculine and why do we think of God in such a way. The Bible as we have it was written by the great prophets of the Hebrew culture, which was a patriarchal society. These prophets wrote the words of God under inspiration, but not without cultural influences on the way they presented the information God wanted us to have. We think of God as our heavenly father, and yet many of the descriptions of God and Christ in Scripture have what some consider to be more feminine characteristics, such as great sympathy, compassion, and emotion. God’s word also tells us that in heaven, we will be like the angels, which are neither male nor female (Matt. 22:30, Mark 12:25, Gal. 3:28). If we were made in the image of God and our spirits are neither male nor female, and neither are the angels, then we can assume that God is neither male nor female as well. Yet Jesus told us to pray Our Father in Heaven. When we say that God is our father, then it is meant in such a way as to denote that God is the source of us all, not that God is masculine in form. The word Father and Son also denotes an intimate relationship, not necessarily that of a father and son, though the relationship between the Father and the Son is that of a begotten heir, that is one drawn out of God, not one of adoption as we are adopted into the family of God. At the creation, God created humankind as male and female, both in God’s image. Yet God created Adam first then Eve. God took from all the qualities of God and created man in that image. Then God took the feminine qualities of God from the man and created woman. The Creator divided those qualities that God had given to mankind between the two of them so that the two together would be a unified picture of the attributes of God. God did not divide the original qualities of the physical and spiritual essence until man was first created. Then the division of that physical and spiritual essence between the man and the woman was made. The original Adam was the image of God, neither male nor female, or should I say instead, both male and female. Science tells us that humanbeings each have both the masculine and feminine hormones, estrogen and testosterone in varying degrees. Science also tells us that there are children born today, which are viewed as imperfect because they have both masculine and feminine physical characteristics and that though these hermaphrodite children appear as masculine, they are unable to procreate. It is now possible to surgically correct this defect much like God could have altered Adam to make him more masculine and created Eve from those feminine characteristics that God derived from Adam’s spiritual and physical essence. It could be that these are a clue to us as to how Adam [(wo)mankind] was originally created and possibly how we should view God and Christ, that is, as both masculine and feminine. We know that Christ was male as he was circumsized. Christ necessarily appeared to be masculine, for if he had appeared as a woman, he would not have been recognized as the Messiah in a patriarchal society. The scripture also tells us in Isaiah 53:2 that Christ had no attractiveness that we would be attracted to. It could be that Christ was one of these imperfect, or should I say perfect children. The scripture tells us in I Peter 2:24 that (S)He suffered every possible thing on the cross that we could suffer. If Christ were only a man, then how could he understand the sufferings of a woman? Yet if Christ were both masculine and feminine, then certainly (S)He could understand both men and women. Does having femine characteristics disqualify God or Christ from being masculine? No it does not. God is no less male, because (S)He is female. The femininity of God does not disqualify the masculinity of God, nor does the femininity of Christ disqualify the masculinity of Christ either. One of the greatest things about Christ’s ministry is the total respect (S)He showed to women along with the fact that (S)He allowed women to have a significant place in ministry. Some argue that women are not to teach men, and yet Jesus allowed women to proclaim both testimonies of his Messiahship and the resurrection to men in several instances in Scripture. In John 4:14-29 Christ ministered to the woman at the well, who then went into the town to tell the men that she had found the Christ. When Christ was first seen by Mary Madeline at the tomb in John 20:19, (S)He specifically sent her to bear witness to Christ’s brothers (disciples) what she had seen and what Christ had told her to tell them. There were also women who followed along with Christ and the disciples at their own expense and ministered along side them (Luke 8:3). Some have argued that there were no female disciples and so there should be no female ministers. Yet there were no disciples who were not Jewish either, and there are many ministers who are not Jewish. Christ came to reconcile us to God, and to end the curse of the fall of humankind. When (S)He died on the cross, then it was made possible for all of creation to be freed from that curse. God gave us the wisdom to know that through Christ we are free, along with the knowledge for the modern technology that allows us to free ourselves from the curse. Man no longer has to sweat for his bread, neither is woman still obliged to suffer through childbirth, nor is she subject to man’s rule, except where they are unregenerate and without Christ. Scripture tells us that there is no difference between us when we are in Christ (Gal.3:28). There is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, slave nor free. God is not a God who can be limited to a masculine definition created by a masculine patriarchal society. God is much greater than that. God is not a man and neither can man become a god. It’s time that the men in our societies realize that God has not given them exclusive rights to God and the Kingdom of God and to follow the example of respect and equality for women that Christ gave us. Including leadership roles in the Body of Christ.
- posted by Unknown @ 2:15 PM