Reversal?

We can experience great security and stability in our lives when we realize who God has made us to be - we have been created by Him, God has formed us in a certain way...and He does not err.  Psalm
139 says:
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

The Psalmist writes: "Marvelous are Your works."  I would dare say that you and I are included in that.  You are an amazing creation of the Almighty God; there is no one else like you...your physical attributes, your soul, emotions, personality, your very DNA - all are ordained by a God Who calls us to celebrate our uniqueness.  And, when you allow the Lord Jesus to infuse every aspect of your life, then He uses all those aspects for His glory.  We were created in order to have fellowship with Him, and our spirits can be sensitized to the Holy Spirit, enabling us to walk with the Lord daily.

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In the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, we can read about the astounding work of our Creator God, who has made us in His image - He has formed us the way we are, and we are each a testimony to His greatness. In Genesis 1, we can read:
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

This is certainly not something to be celebrated, but there has been quite a bit of media attention on this quirky story involving a young boy who decided that he would rather be female and began treatments to supposedly move in that direction.

ABC News has the story of 15-year-old Corey Maison, who had started hormone treatment to become female; then his mother, Erica, now going by the name of Eric, went in the other direction, attempting to become male, including surgery.

The mother is quoted as saying: "Corey's bravery definitely inspired me to come out as transgender," adding, "To see how courageous she is, despite all of the cruelty the world shows her at times, makes me so proud. I thought, 'If she can do this, so can I.'"

So Corey is now, well, Corey and Erica is now Eric.  Eric(a) has given birth to five children, but really didn't enjoy it, she says.  

And, the ABC story reinforces a particular mistaken narrative using these statements:

"Corey, then 14, was born with the same name but was assigned male sex at birth."

"Eric Maison was assigned female sex at birth."

The story says that Eric said "that he always knew in his heart that he was male. Like his daughter, Maison learned 'what it meant to be transgender' after watching ABC's 2012 '20/20' special on Jennings..." This refers to Jazz Jennings, who is transgender and has a television show.

Meanwhile, the New York Post reported on Thursday, March 9 that:

A total of 731 New York City residents have changed their gender identity on their birth certificates after a new rule made it easier for transgender people to mark the sex of their choosing, the Health Department reported Thursday.

The department and the City Council in 2014 eased requirements to make gender identity changes on birth certificates.

That is described as a "dramatic increase" over the 20 per year in prior years.

Three words for you today:

Normalization.  That's where we are certainly heading.  And, you think media doesn't play a part? This mother and son were influenced negatively by a television show that stars a transgender person. This demonstrates the power of ideas - even incorrect ones - and how people can make those decisions based on those ideas.  And, generally, each of us needs to be careful to filter the ideas to which we expose ourselves.

Narrative.  There is a distinct narrative that is being presented here.  Remember, last week, Stuart Shepard and I talked about the recognition of a narrative.  Consider the story from which I quoted: the idea is that Erica and Corey were "assigned" a gender - well, that's true, but the assignment was given by our Creator, not by a doctor or medical professional.  They were, to borrow the LGBT phrase, "born that way."  And, isn't it interesting that gay people loudly and proudly proclaim they were "born gay," but their soulmates in the LGBT tapestry reject they way they were born.  You can be born with sexual orientation, but you apparently are not born with the correct gender identity - you can't have it both ways!

Unfortunately, even those children who are confused about their gender usually outgrow it. The American College of Pediatricians relates that according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, "as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty."

Nullification.  Finally, we are seeing an attempt to nullify the standards and principles that are prescribed in God's Word.  In culture at large and in our own individual lives, if we reject God's principles and do not subscribe to His Lordship, then there are negative consequences that will result. Because seeds of confusion have been sown, it has led to widespread chaos on matters of sexuality, including the controversies we see on a matter as simple as the use of restroom facilities.  This demonstrates what can happen when God's Law is not held in high esteem.