Man and Woman He Created Them…But Why?
Have you ever thought about why God created men and women? Not the “species”–as human beings–but men as men and women as women and ultimately how/why they were created to become one.
Yeah, me either!
“Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”…sure! We’ve heard the almost cliche explanations for a while. The purpose, though, is still a point of ignorance. Until today!
Let’s quickly go back to an important part in the last blog post:
God wants to marry us.
Crazy, right? And these claims come from the Bible! That’s not too hard to believe though…after all, the Bible begins and ends with marriages: Adam to Eve and Christ to the Church.
Today we come full circle: to answer our question, we have to look at the first marriage. Actually, we have to look at a specific element from the first marriage…one that might make us a little uncomfortable.
That element is nakedness. OR, more emphatic, nakedness without shame.
John Paul II says, “The innocent experience of nakedness is ‘precisely the key’ for understanding God’s original plan for human life. If we do not understand the meaning of nakedness without shame, we do not understand the meaning of our creation as male and female; we do not understand ourselves and the meaning of life.”
The first humans experienced this…they understood themselves and their purpose – naked and without shame. Why? Because the dignity of their persons was completely perfect; because they were created in God’s image – the image of perfect love. They knew no sin (lust, in particular) and were entirely free to be a gift to one another…their ultimate purpose.
They were unashamed…unafraid…to show their naked bodies because they didn’t feel objectified by one another. They weren’t threatened by the feeling (or reality!) that they were seen as objects for the other’s sexual pleasure. They were free to love and, as 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.”
Christopher West says it best: “This is why nakedness without shame is the key for understanding God’s plan for our lives–it reveals the original theology of our bodies and, through that, the truth of love (emphasis mine).” We were uniquely + individually created to represent God’s love…through the Spirit within us and the body given to us. (As we’ve learned in previous posts) this is why our bodies reflect God. Particularly: (1) His participation in an eternal exchange of love (the spousal analogy) and (2) His bodily sacrifice as a perfect gift of self. When they become “one flesh” man and woman (1) fulfill their purpose and (2) foreshadow the eternal union of Christ and His Church.
We can only discover who we are by loving as God loves. THAT’S why God created men (as men) and women (as women).
What do these points make you think about our current cultures take on gender and sexuality? What does this reveal to you as a child of God…and did it result in a shift of your thinking about your life’s purpose?
We’d love to know!
As always, thank you for reading!
The FRP Team
