We believe that the human gender as male and female, is an immutable and final human attribute, intentionally created and assigned by God to each individual, and that both genders are complementary to each other to make the human being (male and female) the image of God, and member of the church (the bride) of which Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom. The following are founding Bible references that inform what we believe about gender and why it is inseparable from our faith:
- We believe in Jesus Christ and He says: “From the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.” (Mark 10:6).
- As male and female, we identify as the image of God: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Genesis 1:27).
- We believe that God already assigned us specific gender (as He did our other members) and recorded it in His book (thereby tying our gender to our identity with God) before He proceeded to fashion us into being: “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16, KJV).
- As the image of God, we identify as marvelous works of God in which we were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm139:14).
- Christ’s relationship with the Church is important to us. In our faith, marriage between the man (male) and the woman (female) directly links us to the relationship between our Lord Jesus Christ (the bridegroom) and the church (the bride) of which we, the believers, are members. The Bible says: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Overall, we believe that before we were created, God already determined our gender, name and the gender-related assignment for being created. He told Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4).
Furthermore, in the following seven cases, the names and gender of the child were announced by God, sometimes hundreds of years before their birth:
- Jesus Christ (Luke 1:30-33). Here, the angel reveals both the name and gender of baby that was yet to be conceived, and goes further to describe who he would be, his mission, ministry and his Kingdom that should not have an end.
- John the Baptist (Luke 1:13). But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13).
- Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1–7). From the time this prophecy was made in the year 712 BC or thereabouts, about Cyrus, whom God mentioned by name, gender, and job description, it would take about a hundred and fifty years before the baby, who would eventually become the historical Cyrus the Great, would be born.
- Josiah (1 Kings 13:2).
Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:9).
Ishmael (Genesis 16:11) and - Isaac (Genesis 17:19), among others.
We believe that our gender is part of the grand design of God for us to be identified as His image: “…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created he them.” (Gen 1:26-27 KJV).