For many people, the idea that a Creator assigns roles is offensive. They don’t want any person, any religion, or any God telling them how to express their manhood or womanhood. They reject the idea of God-given roles and do whatever they can to blur gender distinctions.

The state of human sexuality today is like a play in which the cast is in rebellion against the playwright and his story. Imagine the chaos. The actors hate him. They reject their roles and mock the script. To show their contempt, some refuse even to read their lines. Other actors switch their roles and costumes to confuse the plot. Still others read their parts out of place, slur their lines, and lace them with obscenities.

This is a picture of the wicked and perverse generation in which Christians are called to shine like stars (Philippians 2:15). It’s the generation of the “transgendered,” in which men act like women and women act like men. And it’s amidst this chaos that God wants his children to be faithful to the roles He has assigned us even though the majority of humanity has abandoned them.

Just as a play is written by a playwright, the story of human history is written by God. The Bible teaches that our roles as male and female are part of the beautiful story God is telling.

Since God made us in His image, we reflect something of who He is (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, faithfulness to God’s definition of manhood and womanhood is faithfulness to Him. Every scene we take part in-practicing biblical manhood and womanhood while single, in friendship with the opposite sex, in courtship, in marriage-is a chance to bring honor to the Playwright. In fact, the Bible tells us that the union of man and woman in marriage points to the climatic final scene-when Christ returns for His church, the bride He died to save (Ephesians 5:31-32).

This is why our roles as men and women matter. This is why we embrace our God-given differences and why we never want to lose them. God has made us male and female to tell a story too marvelous for us to fully comprehend. He has made the sexes different from each other to reflect a reality that existed before we did. Following God’s script for our sexuality in every scene of our lives means that we are depicting the truth and faithfully telling His story. And when we do that, we experience the fullness of life that God wants for us as men and women. His plan leads to our joy and fulfillment.