
Terms to Know:
• Sex = a biological makeup – either male or female.
• Gender = how our biology is expressed in social and cultural roles – either man or woman.
• Gender Identity = how we feel in relation to our sex.
• Gender Expression = the external manifestation of our gender identity.
• Gender Dysphoria = distress caused by a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and their sex.
• Transgender = a person who feels that their gender identity is more in alignment with the opposite sex.
What Does The Bible Say About Sex And Gender Identity?
1. Only God Gets To Determine My Identity
Psalm 139:13-14, NRSV
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Isaiah 45:9, NRSV
Woe to those who strive with their Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”? or “Your work has no handles”?
Romans 9:20-21, NKJV
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
2. At Creation, God Established Two Sexes – Male and Female
Genesis 1:26-27, NKJV
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.” So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Matthew 19:4, NKJV
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female.’”
Genesis 1:28, NKJV
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.”
3. At Creation, God Established Two Genders – Man and Woman
Genesis 2:22-23, NKJV
Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 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.”
Deuteronomy 22:5, NLT
A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NLT
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or
are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Key Thought: The Bible teaches that we are created male and female, and we are to fulfill our
gender roles according to our bodily sex.
What Does Science Have To Say About Sex and Gender?
“Biology, not society, dictates whether we are gender - typical or atypical, the extent to which we identify as the sex we were born as, and the partners we are sexually attracted to. When sperm fertilizes an egg at conception, the baby will be either female or male. This biology will influence hormonal exposure in the womb, as well as the child’s resulting gender identity. At about seven weeks, if the embryo is male, the testes will begin to secret testosterone, masculinizing the brain. If the embryo is female, this process does not occur.” (Dr. Debra Soh – The End of Gender).
“Girls who are even slightly masculine, or who prefer to wear men’s clothes because they are more comfortable, now believe this makes them something other than a girl. In truth, I’d argue very few women enjoy squeezing into dresses or skirts and having to sit awkwardly in public places so that they don’t accidently flash unsuspecting onlookers. This is why sweatpants were invented. (Dr. Debra Soh – The End of Gender).
What Should A Person Do Who Is Struggling With Gender Dysphoria?
What If My Child Is Struggling With Gender?
• A recent Gallup poll found that 5.6% of U.S. adults identify as LGBT, up from 4.5% in 2017. 16% of Generation Z identify themselves as LGBTQIA.
• The Tavistock Centre in London, UK treated 17 females in 2009. In 2019 they treated 1740.
What Should Parents Do?
• Be Informed
• Be Involved
• Be In Charge
What Should The Church Do?
• Pray
• Love
• Stand
Conclusion: Identity is not found in feelings or friends. It is found in Jesus.