Wednesday, August 29, 2007

It Doesn't Matter?

1 Samuel 16:7

"..the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (NIV)

Galatians 3:26-28

"You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

After all this discussion of male (Adam) and female (Eve) - and those not mentioned such as the Intersexed. After all this discussion about nothing in the Bible that proscribes transitioning from one gender to the other. After all this discussion about the acceptance of eunuchs. We come upon these verses and find out It Doesn't Matter!

Both Samuel from the Old Testament and Galatians from the New Testament suggest that God doesn't consider our gender to be a factor at all. Those baptized into Christ - and in our last lesson we learned there isn't a litmus test for baptism other that acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God - are accepted. All. A sentiment echoed in the well known verse of John 3:16. Whosoever. No other pre-qualifications. No exclusions.

It is thus argued that our bodies, in terms of God's love, are wholly irrelevant. God doesn't see the color of our eyes or the color of our hair, whether we are tall or short, right handed or left, male or female. It is only our heart - our Soul - that matters. Transitioning one's body from one gender to the other not only does not diminish the Soul, it in fact enriches the Soul. Surely God does not find fault with that.

But what of the earlier text from Corinthians - that our bodies are God's temple? Our bodies - in which the "spirit of God lives" - is acknowledged by all to be a temporary home for the Soul. The Soul endures, the Body does not. And Corinthians talks about "destroying" the body, which gender change does not do as was talked about in that essay. God knows the body is but an ephemeral shelter for the soul, which fully explains the message of Samuel. And return to the first essay from Genesis and the suggestion that in "God's image" is not a physical representation, but a spiritual incarnation into man. You see, when it comes to our physical being, our bodies....It Does Not Matter!

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