The Image of God and Gender Dysphoria

by James Keller

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ 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” (Genesis 1:26-27).

God created Human Beings to be Perfect

In Genesis, Moses describes in detail the formation of the first man and woman, as well as the truth that from eternity the two would possess His image—meaning an original righteousness and an ability not to sin. The relationship He intended for us to have with Him and with each other was perfect, not soiled with sin leading to death. Man and woman were to live together as complete partners in one flesh, and they would enjoy a special status over the entire created order. God created multitudes of creatures, but He breathed His own life into human beings only. We have been God’s special creatures from the beginning.

Not only did God create us specially, He promised us we would “subdue” creation for Him and be stewards of all that now existed. This was an incredible promise of blessing before our first parents had said or done anything. God’s blessing would fall on us, and in exchange we would live to show forth God’s glory in our lives (Isaiah 43:7).

God created Us in His Image

The world and the universe we inhabit are filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. But how much of that glory do we see or recognize? With our eyes we see a world in full-scale rebellion against their creator. The imago Dei (“the image of God”), once radiant in our first parents, is now a mere shadow. Lutherans confess that the special image God granted to Adam and Eve has been smashed by the Fall, rendering God’s image impossible to see in us. We would be forever lost and condemned without Christ, who by water and Word in baptism restores our original righteousness and declares us now and forever free.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Since we have been created in God’s image, this fact must have something to do with why we’re here. There must be a compelling reason that we are distinct from the “birds of the air or the beasts of the field.” We are not intelligent apes with privileges. We are human beings with a special relationship to God unlike any other creature on earth.

God created us Male and Female

From the beginning God’s desire for human beings was lasting relationship. Adam was incomplete until God provided a “helper fit for him.” He took a rib from Adam’s chest and formed a woman, Eve, from it, and the moment Adam saw her he knew this gift from God was perfect. We read: “‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 1:23-24).

Men and women complement one another in many ways, but most especially in marriage, the mysterious union in which two become one for life. To be created male and female in God’s image means that in the marriage relationship both are fellow heirs of heaven. Moreover, singleness as male and female persons in God’s image does not disqualify one from eternal life in Christ. God’s image is not dependent on marriage, but on trust in the Lord for salvation. 

The Church’s Care of Transgender Persons

The increasing awareness and social acceptance of transgenderism in its various forms presents a challenge to the Church in general and Christians in particular. The number of persons self-identifying as transgender continues to grow. As a result, Christians will come into contact with transgenderism more frequently in the years ahead. We need to be prepared to care for these broken sinners with the Word of the Living God as it comes to us in surgical Law and healing Gospel. The Word is the only source for the new identity they crave, something which comes from Christ alone: the renewed, enlivened identity that will allow them to live in celebration of the biological gender they were given by God.

What does it mean to be transgender? The American Psychiatric Association has defined it as “the broad spectrum of individuals who transiently or persistently identify with the gender different from their natural gender.” A “transsexual,” on the other hand, is “an individual who seeks, or has undergone, a social transition from male to female or female to male, which in many, but not all, cases also involves a somatic transition by cross-sex hormone treatment and genital surgery (sex reassignment surgery).”

The term “gender dysphoria” speaks of the distress resulting from the tension between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s biological or “assigned” gender. A secular worldview places responsibility for this distress on the negative reactions of others, ranging from prejudice and discrimination to harassment and violence. In this view, social systems can be interpreted as toxic for these persons, resulting in school dropouts, unemployment, and even contributing to self-harm, suicidal ideation, and actual suicide. From this perspective, transgenderism is not understood to cause suffering itself; instead, that’s the result of external forces.

Christians should realize that gender dysphoric people do suffer, and some of it may be from victimization. However, a large portion of this suffering comes from spiritual causes which are related to the person’s strongly-held beliefs and behaviours related to transgenderism. We should not view them as special cases but as sinful sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). In this situation, we apply Law and Gospel for the same reasons and in the same manner as we do among ourselves: transgender people are sinners in need of Christ.

In Genesis, Moses wrote: “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them… And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:27,31).

God’s good creation of humankind was divided into two groups: male and female. From the beginning God provided His creation with only two genders, and this proviso, once given, is now permanent and unchanging. In other words, there is no real place in this good creation for any confusion over gender identity. The proper, God-breathed sexes of man and woman are crucial for both our prosperity and our very survival.

What we cannot soft-pedal is the biblical truth that the mental distress and physical harm that come with the practice of transgenderism mostly do not come from external forces but rather from the black heart of sin that lives within us all.

What we cannot soft-pedal is the biblical truth that the mental distress and physical harm that come with the practice of transgenderism mostly do not come from external forces but rather from the black heart of sin that lives within us all. Suffering entered the world when our first parents rejected God and His love (Genesis 2-3). Their sin caused death to spread to all of creation, with no exceptions (Romans 5:19). Paul states that because of humanity’s rejection, “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” (Romans 1:24-25).

Transgender persons, like all those who fall short of the glory of God, reject the truth of God and exchange it for a lie. In their case, they give themselves over to the mistaken belief that God made an error with their gender. This lie has the same source as all sin leading to death—lust in the heart. 

The “social gospel” for transgender persons encourages them to rigorously pursue the lusts of their hearts, since they can have both a psychological sex and a biological sex. Too often, transgender people are told that sex reassignment surgery is the only source of hope. But when carried out, transgenderism cripples godly fertility and destroys God-given gender roles that benefit the family, the community, and creation.

While the sinful world is quick to push transgender persons deeper into the abyss of lust and desire, Christians reach out in love, seeing their lust as deceitful—something requiring correction and healing, not support. Transgender persons need help centering their identity in Jesus Christ, instead of becoming a member of the opposite sex.

Biblical Redirection

The world the Church inhabits is unapologetically antagonistic to Christ and Christians. Sexual norms the Church has held for centuries are often dismissed as outdated dogma hopelessly disconnected from modern science. This has been the unfortunate reality since the Fall. But the Word of God remains the same source of all truth, even as steeples are falling. Transgender persons should be encouraged to view the Bible as this perfect foundation for truth, even when that truth is painful.

Christian care for gender dysphoric people must begin with a clear understanding of both natural law and our creation by God as male and female. But it is also necessary to communicate that, despite sin’s physical and spiritual effects, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is received by grace through faith, comes to bind up the wounds received while we are under the sway of sin, death, and the power of the devil. We are called to proclaim and reflect the light and love of Christ into this fallen creation, in a manner that confronts sinful humanity with the balm of Gospel hope.

We are called to proclaim and reflect the light and love of Christ into this fallen creation, in a manner that confronts sinful humanity with the balm of Gospel hope.

Gender dysphoric people must then acknowledge that their struggle is with not only their own flesh but also with the principalities and powers of this age. Confused sexual identity is a great trial but greater still is the need all people have to know God and be loved by Him. The love of Christ and His complete forgiveness will always be our deepest need. And while gender dysphoric people soldier on, weighed down sometimes by sorrow, frustration, shame, confusion, and despair, the Gospel of Word and Sacrament reminds them that healing is always there. There is healing for all who repent of sin and cling to the cross in faith for forgiveness and life. No self-destructive behaviour is so great as to prevent Christ from graciously accepting us despite our weaknesses and sins (Mark 9:17-27).

We have no way of knowing if St. Paul ever encountered gender dysphoria on his missionary journeys. But he himself did fight with an unidentified personal ailment he called his “thorn,” which caused him great discomfort of both body and soul. While he could have permitted this ailment to slow or even end his ministry endeavors, Paul learned to live with it and continue working for the glory of God:

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

The thorn of gender dysphoria can be faced the same way: with repentance, prayer, and faith.

Offering spiritual care to those who struggle with gender dysphoria can be a challenge, but we must remember that they—and we all—have immediate spiritual needs. The Law and Gospel should be applied with care, encouraging gender dysphoric people to accept what may be a new and difficult reality in their life—a reality born in Baptism, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, and made permanent in the flood from the blood-stained cross of Christ. But since the eternal struggle against sin and death has already been won by Christ, they are now free to fight the good fight of faith against their thorn, joining with us in thanks and praise to our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

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Rev. Dr. James Keller is pastor of Historic St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario.

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