The image of God, hormones, and God's attributes don't seem to go together. But there is a connection; the last two help us understand the first.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,”... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. – Genesis 1:26-27
In verse 27, quoted above, you have two phrases.
- the image of God He created him
- male and female He created them
The words "him" and "them" both mean mankind, human beings. That would make the last part of each phrase the identical wording. If that is true, then the first part of each phrase may be interchangeable.
"image of God" may be equal or synonymous to "male and female."
Now, I am NOT telling you that God is male and female. What I am saying is that the image of God somehow relates to maleness and femaleness.
And this is where hormones enter the discussion.
Descriptive Words for Hormones
Below is a representative list of the basic hormones of a man and a woman. As you review the list, you see that there are obvious similarities for the words in each column. Furthermore, if you take the time, it is easy to pick a couple of words that represent testosterone or maleness. Try it and see what you think are those two words.
Now do the same with estrogen-progesterone or femaleness list.
Testosterone
Estrogen / Progesterone
Many people will argue about these two lists based on their views of men and women. However, the lists strongly support the essential nature of both hormones.
Probably the best two summary words for the testosterone list would be “separate or powerful” – and for estrogen-progesterone, “belonging or relational.”
Therefore, if you spoke about both hormones, you could use “Separate and Belonging” or “Powerful and Relational.” The man represents the “Separate,” and the woman represents the “Belonging.”
What do you think about this? Do you find this perspective reasonable? This can be a starting point for a great discussion.
Transcendent and Immanent
Christian scholars and theologians often use two words to describe God – transcendent and immanent. Consider the following:
Statements such as Ephesians 4:6, “One God . . . above all, and through all, and in all” indicate that God stands in a relationship of both transcendence and immanence to the created order. In that he is “above all” and “over all” (Romans 9:5), he is the transcendent God, and independent of his creation, self-existent and self-sufficient…on the other hand, in that he is “through all, and in all”, he is immanent in his creation (though distinct from it), and it is entirely dependent on his power for its continued existence. “In him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) and “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). – The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962.
Note that the description of transcendence states that God is “above all” and “over all.” When you look up the definition of transcendence, it contains words like “apart from, surpassing, incomparable, and preeminent.”
On the other hand, immanence states that God is “through all and in all,” with a definition that includes words like “operating within, indwelling, possible to be experienced.”
While not the same, note the similarity between the idea of “Separate and Powerful” and the words associated with transcendence. The same is true for “Belonging and Relational” to immanence.
God's Attributes
Next, look at how God describes Himself. While the following is not a complete list, it is representative of what the Bible states are attributes of God. The words represent what He is, His very essence. He is 100% of each of these, always:
Holy, Righteous, Saving, Love, Justice, Judging, Helper, Sovereign, Merciful, Gracious, Truth, Wisdom, Self Existent, Infinite, Eternal, Independent, Compassionate, Relational, Immanent, Immutable, Transcendent, Gentle, Kind, All-Powerful (Omnipotent), All Present (Omnipresent), All-Knowing (Omniscient)
Now, take the above list of attributes and place them into the two categories of maleness and femaleness, “Separate or Powerful” and “Belonging or Relational.” Here is how I arrange the words into the categories.
Separate/Powerful (Maleness)
Belonging/Relational (Femaleness)
The only word that does not easily fit into the categories is “love,” primarily because of how we define love. Love is actually powerful as well as relational, but I put it on the relational side since it is a critical relational element.
Tying It Together
This is obviously not in-depth research, but the idea that you can describe the image of God using the terms of maleness and femaleness is exceptionally reasonable, especially when you use the words that He is separate and powerful, as well as belonging and relational.
If this theory holds, it would have some beautiful implications. Most importantly, it provides greater clarity to the roles of men and women and the divine picture of marriage—men and women united in marriage would represent the complete picture of God's image, especially if each is doing the roles God ordained for them.
Again, I want to be very clear: when I say His image is reflected in maleness and femaleness, I am not speaking of the physical. In their design (hormones), men primarily reflect God’s Separate and Powerful attributes, while women, in their design (hormones), primarily reflect God’s Belonging and Relational attributes.
Looking at any man or woman, you may see the opposite side reflected. Why? Development can override design, but the design is still there.
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