By Design, Pt. 3

God created mankind. Every person who has ever been born was created by God to be either male or female. There are only two sexes in the human race.

By Design, Pt. 3

"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."

(Genesis 1:28)

Have you ever asked, where does the concept of family originate? I am afraid many people give mass mutation and natural selection powers it never even claimed. The teleological argument for the existence of God, first espoused by Thomas Aquinas, was originally meant to argue from the precision and detailed order, design, and purpose of the universe that there must be a supernatural intelligent being who created it. It is impossible for the universe just to have appeared with no intelligence behind it. I think this argument is equally applicable from the standpoint of the sociological phenomenon we call the family.

The family has intrinsic value simply for its very existence. The homogeneous unit of the family of mom, dad, and children is very simple but prewired with purpose and design. Whose ingenious idea was this for man and woman to have children to be raised in a loving environment where the children can flourish and prosper? The answer is God.

God created mankind, and every person who has ever been born was created by God to be either male or female. Those are the only two sexes in the human race. We did not evolve from a prebiotic, primordial soup where, through billions of years, we appeared. No; God created us, and note, He created us in His image. The image of God (imago Deo in Latin) means we are special and superior to everything else God created in the natural world. We are different than the natural order, for we are created with a soul, a spirit, whereby we can have fellowship with God. We can know Him, serve Him, and follow His plan for our lives. And obviously, we are supremely more intelligent than the plants and animals, for though Dumbo the Elephant can balance his weight on one foot, he will never be able to create a spacecraft that goes to the moon.

After God created the heavens and the earth and all the plants and animals, He said that it all was good. But after He created mankind, He said in Genesis 1:31 that it all was "very good."

Genesis 1:27 states as fact that God created male and female, and Genesis 2:18 states, "And the LORD God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'" This helper is unlike the plant and animal world. She is of the same essence and nature as man; she is intended to be his helper. This is not a derogatory term whatsoever. God is described this way in Psalm 33:20, as our helper: "Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield."

As the helper to man, woman assists him in obeying God's Word and participates with him in spiritual worship. She joins with him in the procreation of the human race so it can continue. She is his friend to comfort him and fellowship with him. She encourages and inspires him. One writer describes it this way: "The woman is the perfect counterpart of man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being like and equal in personhood, and unique and different in function." (Source: Holy Bible—Baptist Study Edition, p. 10)

If you are married, take a moment and thank God for your spouse. You may be struggling in your marriage. Did you know that all marriages struggle?! But with God, your marriage will not just survive but thrive!