It might be the most triggering verse in all of scripture for our modern world. Fewer words, when put into syntactical order, can cause such offense to the most sensitive out there. The verse is Genesis 1:27:
“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, NASB; emphasis mine)
It’s not a bold statement to say that the modern world currently has gender in its crosshairs. And in the last twenty years, the confusion about gender has seemed to grow in intensity and frequency. What do you think would happen if you put Genesis 1:27 on a t-shirt and spent the whole day walking around the Mall of America? Do you think people would be ok with that? Would they agree with what your t-shirt says? That is why it is important to focus on the truth about gender as it is revealed in God’s Word.
When God made the living creatures, he made them according to their kind (v.24). And to man (i.e. mankind), God gave two genders: male and female, both made in the image of God. God chose to characterize his creation by sexual differentiation. Evolutionists want to persuade us that gender is a random biological phenomenon. And if sexuality happened by chance, it would make sense then that more genders and different sexualities would come into existence over time. Homosexuality, therefore, isn’t a sin, it’s just a natural part of the evolutionary process. This is a lie. Sexual identity and sexual function are gifts of God and are a part of his will for his image bearers!
Man in his sinfulness rejects God and must also reject God’s truth and God’s gracious gifts (Romans 1:18-23). Why does man hate and reject marriage? Because God created it and gave it to us as a gift. Why does man hate and reject his own outward appearance? Because God made each of us uniquely, and it pleased God to make us the way we are. Why does the world hate and reject the Nation of Israel? Because God made them a chosen people and decided that they would dwell in a specific land, so the world hates and rejects them and doesn’t want them to occupy that land. Why does man create new genders and desires to mutilate them? Because God made only two genders for his creation.
We see in the world today a very weak defense system towards God’s word in the form of labels and name calling. When people feel threatened by the truth, they immediately label you as a bigot or a homophobe. In essence, they reject God so they must also reject you (John 15:18-19). But is this label true? When we confront someone on the issue of homosexuality, for example, are we really being homophobic? Fobic is a form of phobia which means you have an irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels you to avoid it. But isn’t that the opposite of what we are doing? The very fact that we are talking to them about homosexuality means that we are not afraid and are not compelled to avoid them. It’s almost as if they were wishing we were actually homophobic, and that by labeling us as such, we would be compelled to avoid them. If it isn’t fear that drives us, what is it? It’s love and compassion mixed with sorrow and grief; desire for a lost sinner to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ. We feel sorrowful that people have fallen into these lies and have believed that these sins define who they are. And our hearts are grieved, so much so that we are moved with compassion to warn them. Trying to convince someone that we are not homophobic, however, is a losing battle. Their minds have already been made up; they have retreated to their ideological stronghold. But if we instead label ourselves, this might cause them to bring their guard down, allowing us an opening into their stronghold so that the truth might be revealed.
The goal of this self-label is to get them to ask questions. Instead of us trying to explain to them that we are not homophobic, we can explain to them their sin and that we have a desire for them to know the truth about Jesus Christ. As we discussed above, we are not afraid of their sin, we are afraid of what will happen to them if they do not repent of their sin. We are, in a sense, afraid of the wrath of God that will fall upon them. There just so happens to be a word for the fear of punishment: Poinephobia (Poy-na-fho-bia). The next time someone tries to label us as homophobic to shut down any conversation, we can instead tell them we are actually poinephobic, to which hopefully they will respond, “What does that mean?” Then, the conversation can resume and hopefully the gospel can be presented.
God’s Word is very clear on the perceived issue of gender confusion; it’s summed up perfectly in one verse (Genesis 1:27). The only reason it’s an issue at all is because man has made it so. You’re not a woman trapped in a man’s body, you’re a man because God has made you that way. It’s like Pastor Johnson always said: If God says it, that settles it! The question then becomes will you believe it, and will you trust and obey it?