Not Changeable

God's immutable truths apply to the design of male and female, and His intent is clearly expressed
through His Word. We read in 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.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

And, in Genesis 2, we find this:
23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Scripture teaches two genders, a binary choice: male and female.  There is nothing said about identifying as a certain gender that is different than the biological one.  And, there are clear intentions about the role of men and women - we find the priority of parenthood in Genesis 1 and the definition of marriage in Genesis 2.  When you redefine marriage and reject procreation within that relationship, the door is opened for a clear departure from His plan.  A same-sex marriage relationship cannot produce offspring.  Period.  And, it is clear that God's intent is for a child to be produced from a father and mother - that's His glorious design.

+++++

God has revealed His truth to humanity through the Scriptures, and His Word has been brought to life in the person of His Son, the Word who became flesh.  We can choose to embrace His absolute truth
or rely on inferior, human wisdom. Jesus taught in John 16:
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

In light of the recent ruling in the United Kingdom in favor of a baker who would not provide a cake about homosexuality that did not reflect the baker's deeply held religious beliefs, I have discovered the work of the British organization, Coalition for Marriage, which provided updates on the situation involving Ashers Bakery.

Interestingly enough, the results of a recent survey by that organization pair well with comments made on The Meeting House, by Focus on the Family's Glenn Stanton, who discussed the false notion that one can determine his or her gender, which flies in the face of the Biblical principles that a person's sex is determined by God, the Creator, who has made us to be male and female.

According to the Coalition for Marriage website:

Under 18s should not be able to self-define their gender, according to a major new poll for C4M.

The survey of over 2,000 members of the public found that a majority of those surveyed (51 per cent) believe that young people (under 18) should not be able to self-define their gender, while just one in five (20 per cent) thought they should.

The poll by ComRes found a less clear picture for over 18s, with four in ten (44 per cent) supporting the right of adults to self-define their gender compared to three in ten (29 per cent) who did not.

The summary included a statement from Colin Hart, the Chairman of the Coalition for Marriage, in light of a report that Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt has "ordered an inquiry into why there has been a more than 4,000 per cent increase in the number of girls seeking support from 'transitioning' services in the last decade."  Hart said, regarding this survey, “These results show that the public is deeply concerned at the Government’s obsession with pushing transgenderism on all. There is after all nothing progressive with children who are so ashamed of their bodies that they think they must change gender, something that has risen at an alarming rate in recent years.”

The timing of the survey coincided with a public comment period, which ended last Friday, on revisions to the Gender Recognition Act, which was established in 2004.  Coalition for Marriage reported that areas to be considered include:

• Allowing a person to change legal gender without first living as a member of the opposite sex for two years;

• Allowing legal gender change without any medical diagnosis, which would remove a key protection against bad faith from the current system;

• Removing the requirement that a married person who changes gender may only do so with the permission of their spouse, thus potentially forcing people into ‘same-sex marriages’...

And, there are more areas of concern in the C4M survey.  The summary states:

Asked “to what extent would you support or oppose each of the following? Permitting transgender individuals to take part in sports competitions under their new gender identity?”, the survey found opinion evenly split between agree (35 per cent), disagree (34 per cent) and don’t know (31 per cent).

Worryingly the poll found significant support for those who want to self-define their race (32 per cent), their age (19 per cent) and even their species (ten per cent). Among young people, these figures were higher in every category. 34 per cent of 18-24 year olds backed the right to choose your race, 23 per cent their age and 18 per cent their species.

Hart also commented, “This poll shows conclusively that the public remain highly sceptical about the direction of Government policy and want children to be protected from the irreversible treatments..." and stated, "It also shows that there is concern about the fairness of transgender individuals competing in sporting competitions if they have what many would see as an unfair advantage because of the bodies they were born with."

These developments come against the news that the Trump Administration is considering rescinding language amending Title IX, providing fair treatment of women and girls and preventing discrimination on the basis of "sex" -  to include gender identity, i.e. the gender with which one identifies.  This resulted in special rights for transgender persons.  And, recently, a female bicycle race was won by a biological male, which hardly seems fair.

There are a few things to remember in the light of this British survey and the stated response to it.  And, an overarching principle is that there are certain things that are fixed: the glory, majesty, and supremacy of Almighty God and the absolute truth in His Word.  And, gender is a fixed characteristic - determined by God and unchangeable by humanity.

We can admit that this new "gender awareness" is a direct affront to God's design of male and female.  Gender identity, gender fluidity, the emergence of so-called "gender pronouns" like Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family was talking about - these are all symptomatic of the rejection of God's ideals.  We can be assured: Gender is not a changeable characteristic, and is determined by the Creator.

Unfortunately, the redefinition of rules on gender provides an allowance for and codification of deviant behaviors.  When we are not playing by God's rules, we rely on fallible, human wisdom, which is far inferior to the wisdom of the Almighty.  We can choose God-reliance, depending on His power and principles, or self-reliance, which ushers us into a realm of vulnerability in which we are walking in rebellion to His ways.