Touré Roberts - Bring It Forth

So, I like to ask questions, and what has always intrigued me is the story of creation. It’s not just that we were created but how we were created. One of the things that is most intriguing to me, as it relates to the story of creation, is the fact that you and I were created in the image and likeness of God Himself. Prior to this, God created the heavens and the earth, and He gave the earth the command to bring forth. This leads up to what would ultimately be the apex of His creation: humankind.

When it says that He created man in His own image, it does not denote male or female; it is the Hebrew word «Adam,» which speaks more so to humankind. He created mankind in His own image, in God’s image and likeness. There is something divine in the duality of male and female; it expresses God in His fullness. In other words, if there were just male, there would not be fullness; if there were just female, there would not be fullness. There is something in the unique dynamic of male and female that physically speaks to who God is spiritually.

You cannot know God unless you can tie in some physical attributes of male and female and translate that into something spiritual. God is not physical; He is spiritual. Therefore, there are attributes of male and female in their physicality that speak to who God is spiritually. Are we tracking together? This is important because we will not know who we are as those created in God’s image unless we can look at the clues in physicality to help us understand who we are spiritually. Can I teach today?

God does not have a sex. Can I challenge your religiosity for a moment? The Bible says that God is spirit, meaning He does not possess physicality; everything about God is spiritual. Who we are is spiritual. As God manifests male and female in the physical, there are elements in the physical that point to who God is in the spiritual. It’s really not even about the physical; the only reason the physical is significant is that it reveals the spiritual.

Hello, somebody! This means that God is just as much «her» as God is «him.» If you don’t like it, that’s okay. But because our text was written from a patriarchal perspective, it leans more toward calling God «him» than what is more accurate: calling God «them.» That’s okay, because we need to be a growing church, a church that asks questions of the text.

The text states that God created man in God’s own image, and then He introduces male and female. First of all, He says, «Let us make man in our image.» Whose «us»? Now we can include Jesus, and that works wonderfully; He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.» All things were made through Him.

In the context of Him saying, «Let us make man in our image, ” He talks about both male and female. This means that if you do not recognize the female attributes in their physicality, you will never fully understand who God is spiritually, and therefore, you will never know who you are because you were created in that image. Are you tracking with me? Are we together?

The reason why this is important on Mother’s Day is because there are attributes in the female, and in particular, the mother, that help us understand not just who she is, but who we are. All of us, male and female, have this dynamic within us. That dynamic, which expresses and communicates who God is, has everything to do with what a mother does. Just turn to your neighbor and say, „You’re a bad mother!“ Yes, you! You’re a bad mother!

The female aspect of God is the part that brings forth. The male can initiate but cannot finish. The male can set things in motion, but somewhere along the way, the other part of God must be manifested to bring forth life. Now, that’s physical, but it points to the spiritual. Within us, we can both initiate and bring forth.

For me, the most glorious part of being created in God’s image is that I can birth something. What I’m learning, family, is that your purpose in life and my purpose in life is to birth everything that is assigned to you. Oh, I feel the Holy Spirit! That’s your job. How do I know it’s your job? Because, if we pay attention to creation, God creates the earth, right? Then He says, „Let the earth bring forth.“ The earth begins to manifest.