• By Eugene Rutabagaya

Why did God create the mankind as man and woman ? Are they really different ? Are they equal ?

The “similarity” question

Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh".

During the years that preceded my marriage and long after, I believed or wanted to believe that my wife and I do have the same personality traits. Otherwise, what else could have really attracted me to her and vice-versa if not our similarities ? And how could our future relationships begin on the right footing if not founded on common way of understanding things ? In fact, during many of our dates, I would try as much as I could to highlight the traits that we have in common, and would use those as arguments to further emphasize that we were made for each other, that our union was made in heaven, etc.

Obviously, my posture was not correct, judging by the word of God. For in God’s design, as we read in Genesis 2, it seems plain that it is not our similarities that hold us together, as wife and husband, but our differences. So the question is how can differences play a unifying role in our lives ?

Unity in diversity

Let’s use the analogy of water. Back in high school, I learnt that when Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules are combined in prescribed doses, the two substances burn to form a brand new substance called “water”. Notice, the water is a separate substance, different from hydrogen and oxygen taken separately, even if it preserves some of the original characteristics of each of the two molecules. More to that, the use of water as a utility is totally different from what hydrogen and oxygen can be used for individually.

I can see nearly the same chemistry in the way God defined man and woman in a marriage relationship. When God ordered man and woman to hold fast together and become one flesh in Genesis 2:24, he was instituting a separate entity (the marriage), quite different from that of the man and of the woman taken individually. He also established a special and common purpose for the husband and the wife, different from that of the man and the women outside marriage relationship, namely to live together, have interpersonal relations, know each other, support each other, and work together.

Our God is a God of plurality, and this is rooted through the doctrine of Trinity. Although the three persons of the Trinity are equally divine, they perform different roles within Godhead : God the Father takes up the leadership role, he is the one who initiates (Genesis. 1:1-2 ; John. 1:1-3 ; 1 Cor. 8:6) ; God the Son performs the command of God the Father (Luke. 22:42 ; Philippians 2:6-8) ; and God the Holy Spirit brings into life the command of God the Father and the performance of God the Son (John. 16:17 : Acts 1:8 ; 2:1-36).

Now, just as there is fellowship and unity within the Trinity, in the same way man and woman, albeit being one entity, would be expected to perform different (but complementary) roles and responsibilities within marriage. In this case, the role of the man is similar to that of God the Father, and the role of the women similar to that of God the Son (Ephesians 5:22). Does this implies man’s superiority over the woman ? Not at all. In God’s design, the differentiated roles and responsibilities between the husband and the wife is meant to bring a perfect harmony forged out of love, without pointing to greater or lesser, superior or inferior. Just consider the range of differences between you and your partner, for those of us who are married, in terms of personality, areas of strengths and weaknesses, perceptions, preferences…, they are just too many to be counted. But, the way we manage to establish harmony and convergence of ideas out of our differences, it is so amazing. It makes me marvel at the magnificence of God, the chief craftsman of unity in diversity.

Created with equal value

In Genesis 1:27-28, we read : “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him ; male and female he created them”. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth”.
Observe, both male and female have been created in the image of God and this is evidence that they have equal value, equal importance, and equal dignity in the sight of their creator. In verse 18 above, the Bible uses the plural pronoun “them”, not “him”, or “her”, which is evidence that they both have been entrusted to represent God’s image on earth. Likewise, they both inherited the same blessings from God at creation. He did not give more blessings to one at the expense of the other, or the power of dominion over the rest of creature to one and not to the other. Man and woman have been given the dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, and every living thing that moves on the earth.

Marriage in God’s salvation plan

The oneness of husband and wife in marriage relationship also displays the glory of Christ in God’s salvation plan, in a relationship where Christ is the Groom and the Church his Bride. As described in Ephesians 5:22-33, the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Through salvation, we, the believers experience Christ’s love for his Church, the same way a godly husband should demonstrate love to his wife. In the same way, the believers’ submissiveness toward Jesus as their Groom demonstrates the type of submissiveness that a wife ought to have toward her husband. All in all, our relation with Jesus Christ is one based on love, intimacy and interpersonal relations, the same way man and woman are expected to relate in marriage.

Conclusion

At the beginning, when God brought everything into being, he decided to bring forth the human being as man and woman. Remember, he had full power to create the man only, or the woman only, and entrust them to represent him here on earth, but it pleased him to create them both in his image for he loves plurality, and he is the chief craftsman of unity in diversity. Man and woman, he endowed them with diversified personalities, varied perceptions, specific strengths and weaknesses, and specific but complementary roles and responsibilities, having destined them to be united into one body through marriage. Above all, the oneness of husband and wife in marriage relationship displays the glory of Christ in God’s salvation plan, in a relationship where Christ is the Groom and the Church his Bride.