Relating to the Opposite Sex, Part 5

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image…male and female He created them.

I Peter 3:7 Husbands…dwell with [your wives] with understanding… as heirs together of the grace of life.

Be grateful for the opposite sex. They are there to help complete you as a person in ways that folks of your own gender cannot. God created humans in His image, creating us in two genders. There is a godly completeness found in a righteous male-female relationship, whether it’s friend to friend, brother to sister, or co-worker to co-worker.

The ultimate male-female relationship here on earth, of course, is marriage, which is instituted in Genesis. Toward the end of the Bible, we have the revelation that puts its full meaning in focus: marriage is to be a reflection of the love that Jesus Christ has for His church. It’s clear from this supreme expression of relating to the opposite sex that God is in the union of a husband and wife. And since He is the center of the universe, He is also in the middle of all our relationships, including all those with the opposite sex.

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus didn’t only bring light to the ultimate purpose and meaning of marriage. It brought healing to all our gender differences. Take a look at what happened in Genesis. God made man and woman, but man and woman also sinned. When God questioned them about it, there came a rift between man and woman. Adam’s blame of Eve (and God!) is the root of all separation and even anger and violence between the sexes.

In Christ, we recover what was meant by being created male and female in His image. As we act in a Christ-like matter toward the opposite sex, we image-forth the glory of God, as He originally intended. Christ heals the break between the sexes and points us to the reality that, male and female, we’re fellow-heirs of the grace of life.

Last thought: We think of our own gender as the standard, and we judge from that vantage point. Being a man or a woman isn’t the standard. Jesus is the standard.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You bring completeness to me in so many ways. I am complete in You (Colossians 2:10), and you bring healing to the gender differences, even revealing that marriage tells us more about your love for us. Help me to be grateful for the opposite sex, and help me stop judging by my standards as a member of my gender.