Why is God referred to as male?
Answer:
The reason for this is because the Bible refers to God as male. The first occurrence is in Genesis 2:2 where God is referred to as “he” in the Hebrew language. In the New Testament, Jesus calls God “Father” (John 5:17-23) and consequently Jesus teaches his disciples to call God “Father” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2).
Some might ask, ’Why does God call himself He rather then She?’ This is probably due to the fact that man is the head of the woman (1 Corinthians 11:3) as man is formed first and woman was created for man (1 Corinthians 11:8). Since God is the creator of all things, He is therefore head of everything.
Unlike God, though man is the head, he is to love and care for woman especially his wife (Ephesians 5:25-30). In God’s eyes, both man and woman are equal but have different roles. One is to lead and the other to be the suitable helper.
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Although God is referred to as a “He” in the Bible, it is important to know that God is unsexed. He is neither male nor female. This is a main distinction between God and humans in the Bible.
This is especially significant when we contrast the biblical account of creation with the myths of Babylonian, Egyptian, Assyrian and Canaanite origins, which were written before the Genesis account of creation. In the myths, the gods came into existence through sexual means, reproduce themselves through their sexuality, and make a world that is reflective of their sexuality. In the Bible, however, there is nothing of that sort. Gender and its accompanying sexual activity is an attribute of creation, but it plays not part at all in the production of creation. Thus, creation according to the Genesis account is accomplished without recourse to sexuality. This is so because the biblical God is supra-sexual. He is never said to have a consort; he never has intercourse with anyone; and he produces no divine or semi-divine children through sexual activities.
The New Testament, quite unlike the myths that would celebrate God’s impregnating a virgin and getting a hero from her womb, takes great pains to avoid all those connotations. The Son is no God’s child, some semidivine hero like Hercules, He is God Himself in human flesh, produced not through a tryst between a virile god and a particularly desirable woman, but by the divine Spirit’s overshadowing of a particularly virtuous maid.
But then it may be asked, “If God is supra-sexual (unsexed), then why are exclusively male terms used of him?” The answer is straightforward. The Hebrews wish to describe a God who is transcendant yet personal. They would never stoop to describe God as an “it”. Rather, God is a father in his roles and not his sexual activities. He cares about his creatures in intimate and personal ways. He taks an interest in what interests them. He is moved with compassion for them. He relates to them in profound ways.