Today’s message starts not with a Bible text, but with a question.

And it’s a question that I’ve heard asked a few times lately,

At our Alpha course someone always asks this question.

And one of you also asked it the other day.

Seeing as today is Mother’s Day,

In honour of our Mum’s I thought it would be a great day to solve this question:

The answer ought to be fairly simple – right?

The man Jesus Christ was and is a male,

But of course God is not male!

No – God is beyond gender.

God is beyond being male or female – God is way greater than that!

Just for fun, lets consider what it would be like if God were male

– He’d never ask for directions and always be lost.

– He’d always want to hog the remote control.

– He’d always be losing things – like men losing keys.

– He probably wouldn’t like to show his emotions much.

– He’d have designed a universe with more sport and public holidays.

– He would have taught his son to fight back.

Even the fact that we ask “Is God Male?” should actually shock you.

Because the question is framed in a sexist way – of course God is neither gender.

Take a look at this important passage from the first chapter of the Bible.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

– Gen 1:26-27

See at the end there,

I want you to circle the word “humankind” there.

God created “humankind” in his image – the word there is “adtham”.

And then cirlcle the words “male” and “female” he created them.

See – men and women – both made in God’s image.

Male and female – both reflect the image of God.

In fact if you only have one of them you don’t have the whole picture!

So in fact, the best qualities of father and mothers of men and women,

The best qualities of both sexes come from God!

And of course God is so great and awesome,

God is beyond our human comprehension.

Now the second point I want to make is this:

If you put a gender on God, you only have an idol.

Anything with a gender is made in our image.

Anything you make in your or our image is an idol.

We don’t make God in our image – God made us in his image!

In the Old Testament there were false gods –

They were idols – images people made to worship.

And they had gender.

For instance, Asherah was a female God – a fertility God.

She was nothing more than an idol.

You know what an idol is?

Anything we put up instead of worshiping the ONE true God.

Another idol they worshipped was Baal,

And I reckon that Baal was the great image of maleness.

But Baal was just an idol too.

And these days some people say they worship “The Goddess” in wicca.

Or the Earth, Gaia who they see as female.

The real true creator God is above Gender.

We can’t make God in our own image because God is real and beyond us!

As soon as you start tying God down to maleness or femaleness

you have lost the plot!

“any attribution of sexuality to God is a reversion to paganism”

– Mary Hayter quoted in Christian Theology, Alister McGrath, Blackwell Publishers, 1997. Pg 240.

So what do we make of the fact that the Bible uses “HE” for God?

Nothing more than that the language it was written in was oriented that way.

It’s the same for old English which used “Man” to mean humankind or humanity.

I believe that we should not forsake the words Jesus gave us.

He invited us to call Jesus “Father”.

And when he did that, he gave us a new relationship with God-

As children to a loving and good father – a spiritual father!

But never forget this:

“God Our Father” does not mean “male” – it means the qualities and relationship of a good father.

Jesus proved that when he spoke on behalf of God and said these words:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. – Matthew 23:37

Why didn’t he use a ROOSTER instead of a HEN?

Because the Hen was closer to the truth.

In this case God’s love was more like a hen than a rooster!

Three mothers were bragging about their sons.

“My son is a wealthy lawyer,” said one. “For my birthday he gave me this fur coat.”

Said the second:

“My son is a medical doctor and last winter he gave me a vacation in Miami Beach.”

The third thought for a moment then blurted out,

“My son sees a fancy psychiatrist each week. He pays the psychiatrist $50 an hour.

And guess who he spends the whole time talking about – ME!”

I want to finish off today with a tribute to our good mums,

I want to use the best qualities of motherhood to share with you about God’s love.

The Best Qualities of Motherhood All Come From God.

1. Like A Good Mum, God Never Forgets You.

A brother and sister were fighting and Mum rushed into the kitchen.

Eight-year-old Simon and four-year-old Jacky having a tug-of-war with the biscuit jar!

Only one biscuit remained in the jar, and each kid thought it was theirs.

Taking the jar from the kids the mother calmly announced,

“I’ll solve the problem for you. I’ll eat the last cookie myself.”

The kids looked up at their mother in disbelief.

Then the four-year-old, with a mischievous grin on her face, said,

“Oh, no you won’t, Mom. Whoever heard of a selfish mother?”

The heart of a good mother is so unselfish it’s amazing.

And that’s God’s heart.

Hear the word of God from Isaiah 49:14

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; I can never forget you.

– Isaiah 49:14-16

God never forgets you.

Even more than any mother – greater than that compassion.

The final point is this:

Like A Good Mum, God Comforts The Broken.

For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to you like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;

you will nurse and be carried on her arm and rested on her knees.

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted…”

– Isaiah 66:12 -13

Some years ago a mother was carrying her baby over the hills of South Wales.

She never reached her destination alive.

A blizzard overtook her, and a search party later found her frozen beneath the snow.

The searchers were surprised that she did not have outer garments but discovered why.

She had wrapped them around her baby.

When they unwrapped the child, they found baby David Lloyd George alive and well. David Lloyd George grew up to become prime minister of England during the Great War.

– Joan Aho Ryan, Lessons from Mom (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 1996)

God comforts the broken.

And there’s no greater comfort than the love shown to you in the CROSS of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

No! God Is Beyond Gender!

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. – Gen 1:26-27

If you put a gender on God

you only have an idol.

“God Our Father” does not mean “male”.

It means the qualities and relationship of a loving Father.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. – Matthew 23:37

The Best Qualities of Motherhood All Come From God.

Like A Good Mum God Never Forgets You

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; I can never forget you. – Isaiah 49:14-16

Like A Good Mum God Comforts The Broken

For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to you like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and rested on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted…” – Isaiah 66:12 -13

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