The question crops up periodically about the gender of God. We can see by Genesis 1:26 and 27 that God created man in his own image. He also created woman, presumably also in his image; (if not, why not?)
Genesis 1:26…And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them….(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
We are told repeatedly in scripture that God is in us, Jesus is in us, Spirit is in us. In John 14:20 we read: In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
It is written that Jesus was born of Mary, a female and of the Spirit, supposedly male and therefore would encompass both.
We know we are born of a man and a woman, our mother and father, and therefore have both female and male in our makeup.
If we have both female and male in us and are born in God’s image, does that answer the question of God’s gender??
Happy Sunday.
I like to think that the scriptural “man” means the species, comprised of males and females. Thus, females and males are both “man.” We refer to “mankind” to mean the species, both male and female. But I prefer to say “humankind” to avoid the male-dominated nomenclature. The gender of God is a question to which we probably are not meant to know the answer, at least for now, because He did not give us the answer in the scriptures. No doubt, however, He understands infinitely both male and female, and thus must have in Him perfected characteristics of both genders, plus other aspects of gender-fluidity. Incidentally, while we don’t speak much of it for lack of knowledge, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes the doctrine of a “Mother in Heaven,” eternal companion of our Father in Heaven. That doctrine came to us, without detail, through Joseph Smith, modern prophet in our Church. It is a nice concept, but the Father has revealed nothing further about the Mother. We are, instead, to focus on God and Christ, the Father and the Son, to focus on faith and repentance, on covenants and obedience, on love and service. In this mortal dimension or plane, we need nothing more.
Thank you, Roger. Wonderful feedback.