How can Christians make sense of all the gender confusion in the world?

You are absolutely right, there is a world of confusion out there concerning gender. From what I’ve read, when you create a new Facebook account you are now presented with multiple gender identities to choose from. And if none of those seem to suit you, you’re given the option to create your own. Reading through the morass of gender options it becomes very clear that confusion is the order of the day.

Understanding gender from the perspective of God’s Word isn’t confusing at all. In fact, the Scriptures are very straightforward on the subject:

God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

There you have it. God made two genders — male and female. So, where did all this other gender uncertainty come from? Simple answer: the unregenerate, darkened heart of man.

Ever since the corrupting influence of sin entered the human race, mankind has been in open rebellion against God and His sovereign rule. The Lord our God decreed in the beginning that mankind is "male and female" but the sons of Adam would have none of it. "No!” he shouts in angry defiance, “we refuse to submit to God's definitions!” So man sets out to recreate the world in his own distorted image.

This rebellion on the part of mankind is powerfully expressed in the Psalm 2:

The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together

against the Lord

and against his Anointed One.

“Let us break their chains,” they say,

“and throw off their fetters.” (Psalm 2:2-3)

All this talk of alternate expressions of sexuality and transgenderism is nothing more than man throwing off what he considers to be the shackles of God's sovereign rule. Man doesn't want to be ruled by God and he chafes under what he deems to be God’s unfair dominion. Mankind desires above all to be his own ruler. Just as it was said of the nation of Israel in the time of the Judges: Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25b)

This is where we currently live. Isaiah’s description of Israel is no less true of our modern world, “righteousness stands at a distance” and “truth has stumbled in the streets.” (59:14)