Our God-Centered Purpose
How does the Gospel inform manhood and womanhood? Great question. The Gospel informs manhood and womanhood by directing us to the God-centered purpose of all things: to display the glory of Christ in its highest expression, namely, in His dying to make sinful people His everlasting and joyful bride.
“Before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” —Revelation 3:18
Intentionally Created
The Cross of Jesus Christ was God’s plan from the beginning. Why? Because, in making sinful and broken humanity His bride, we see God’s ultimate purpose: “In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ…to the praise of the glory of His grace.” —Ephesians 1:4-6
Thus, manhood and womanhood are at the center of God’s ultimate purpose. Manhood and womanhood were not accidental. As Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Designed for His Glory
God did not choose to describe His Son’s salvation after noticing that manhood and womanhood would be a helpful illustration. No, the cross was the plan from the beginning of time. God designed us as male and female to display the glory of His Son. Our sexuality is designed for the glory of the Son of God—especially the glory of His death for His bride.
In Ephesians 5:31, Paul quotes Genesis 2:24: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” And then he adds, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
A Bigger Picture at Work
The Gospel gives us the proper lens to understand manhood and womanhood by giving us an earthly picture that displays the glory of Jesus in ways that would not be displayed if there were only generic persons. When God described the glorious work of His Son as the sacrifice of a husband for his bride, He was telling us why He made us male and female. He made us this way so that our maleness and femaleness would display more fully the glory of His Son in relation to His blood-bought bride.
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her…that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” —Ephesians 5:25-27
More than Just Biology
Therefore, one cannot reduce manhood and womanhood to biology. If you do, you miss the point of manhood and womanhood and diminish the glory of Christ in our own lives. Manhood and womanhood are indispensable in God’s purpose to display the fullness of the glory of His Son.
Manhood and womanhood exist because God designed it to demonstrate the Gospel. From the very beginning, God’s created the universe to put the glory of His grace on display in the death of His Son for the sake of His bride.