Some beautiful “food for thought:”
“Does God have feminine attributes? At first blush, many of us in conservative Christian circles may squirm a bit at this suggestion, but should we?
“To be sure, Jesus, in his human nature, was male. It is also true that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each consistently referred to in the Bible with the male personal pronoun “he.” As such, it is biblically faithful to refer to God as “he,” and he delights in revealing himself by way of a number of male metaphors, such as father or husband.
“However, we must never make the mistake of claiming that God, in his divinity, is intrinsically male. The Bible is clear that God is spirit (John 4:24), and as such, he is not gendered. When we call him father we do not mean that he is male, like human fathers are. Rather, we mean that he relates to us LIKE a human father does. He provides for, protects, leads, and even disciplines us like the best human fathers do, only better (Matthew 6:25-30, 6:7-11, James Hebrews 12:7-10). Likewise, when the Bible speaks of God as a husband, it does not claim that God is male, but that God jealously guards his relationship with his people like a good husband loves and protects his wife (Hosea 2:16, 19)
Consider this: it is only when BOTH man and woman are created in Genesis 1 that God is fully imaged:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” – Genesis 1:27…
…God has feminine attributes as well as masculine. Or, perhaps better said, God has attributes which both men and women image uniquely! There are things about God that men more directly put on display, and there are things about God that women more directly display. Here are just a few examples of ways in which the Bible reveals God through feminine characteristics and metaphors:
- God comforts his people like a mother comforts her child (Isaiah 66:13)
- Like a woman would never forget her nursing child, God will not forget his children (Isaiah 49:15)
- God is like a mother eagle hovering over her young (Deuteronomy 32:11)
- God seeks the lost like a housekeeper, trying to find her lost coin (Luke 15:8-10)
- God cares for his people like a midwife that cares for the child she just delivered (Ps 22:9-10, Ps 71:6, Isa 66:9)
- God experiences the fury of a mother bear robbed of her cubs (Hosea 13:8)
- Jesus longed for the people of Jerusalem, like a mother hen longs to gather her chicks under her wings (Luke 13:34)*
God,
Thank you for the beautiful and wonderful ways in which you have created us. Thank you that we are created in your image – male and female – and that you said “it is good.” Thank you that you reveal yourself to us in both masculine and feminine ways, no matter our human hang-ups in language. Thank you for your protection, provision, leading, and discipline and for your comfort, care, mercy, kindness, and grace. We praise you for who you are and honor you with our worship. Amen!
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)
*”God’s Feminine Attributes” by Rev. Eric Naus, https://www.moodychurch.org/gods-feminine-attributes/