Template or temple?

A recent column in an east coast newspaper, syndicated across America, took a light-hearted look at one of the most disturbing of modern issues: sex realignment surgery and the resultant impact on a new life.

A recent Boston Globe column by writer Ellen Goodman explored the murky world of a woman who decided to change her physical body to match what she decided was her true inward reality – a man.

It is the story of a woman who surgically/chemically altered her body in order to appear as a man; who then "married" another woman and after a while, decided to produce a child in their "family." It now appears that the woman turned "man," had decided not to eliminate her entire feminine functionality and had preserved her gestational capabilities, i.e. – her uterus and ovaries.

Through the process of artificial insemination – from a male donor – the woman conceived and later gave birth "naturally" to a female child. The pregnancy was touted as the "World's First Pregnant Man," and is, according to our near insane news media, an event of historic proportions that signals a new era of … well … of … we will let you provide your own definition.

All of this is a tragic, three-ring circus that will have great impact on the lives of not only those involved, but those who foolishly believe that we are in a new era of anything so bizarre. The real tragedy will come when a young child grows up in a household so far out of sync from what is normalcy as to be ridiculous. The "mother" who claims to be the mother, is not, and the actual mother, who claims to be the "father," is not.

One comment that is central in the column points to the very core of the issue facing humanity today. Ms. Goodman wrote: "It is only recently that we began to look at the human body as a template to be altered as we please." Oh? Altered as we please? Who gives us that right?

The Great God of the universe who created that human template has His own view of this type of human reasoning. The subject of transsexualism cannot be found in the Bible. But God does deal with sexual perversion (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:21–22, 26–29), and transvestism (cross dressing for sexual purposes, Deuteronomy 22:5), all of which He condemns.

The Apostle Paul clearly stated that view: "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? " (1 Corinthians 6:18-19).

While the context of what Paul was saying is directed at true Christians, those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, it applies to all of mankind – in the future sense – in that God has a plan for the entirety of mankind. (Send for our free booklet Your Ultimate Destiny, or read it online under the "Booklets" tab on our front page.)

We fully understand that – due to a wide variety of conditions, moral and physical, brought on by our totally polluted planet – actual transsexualism, the condition where sex organ anomalies occur during gestation, is a need to be dealt with by the medical profession, in conjunction with the parents, for resolution.

But should an adult person, who does not have such anomalies, seek to alter his or her lifestyle through medical/drug procedures? There is a God who oversees all the universe and His major creation, mankind. This needs to be addressed by examining the underlying motives, based on God's clear Scriptures, about the roles of men and women, and His proscriptions concerning homosexuals.

Yes, our human bodies are templates, and yes, changes will occur to them, but not for the perverted reasons individuals may consider on their own: "But as it is written:

'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'" (1 Corinthians 2:9).