Most Christians in the West are used to the liturgy referring to God as Father, but there is actually a region around Edessa (modern-day Syria) that historically has used feminine imagery for God in its liturgy...and has, ever since the first couple of centuries Anno Domini.
I don't know a whole lot of Christians who think that God has a sex (even as we describe him as male and using male pronouns), and I have a feeling that many American Christians avoid feminine language when talking about God because of connotations of feminist ideology rather than because they believe God is 'literally' male.
“I don’t know a whole lot of Christians who think that God has a sex (even as we describe him as male and using male pronouns), and I have a feeling that many American Christians avoid feminine language when talking about God because of connotations of feminist ideology rather than because they believe God is ‘literally’ male.”
I don’t think any serious Christians really think God has a sex in the sense that humans do, but He chose to portray himself to us as a male for some reason. The NT makes the comparison of the husband as head of the household to God as the head of the church, and I think that is revealing.
If you look at God’s interactions with man, many are things that we would associate with the male or fatherly role: God makes rules, God enforces punishments, God disciplines, and God bails us out when we get in trouble. Of course, you can say God does things a mother would do too, such as nurture us and comfort us. So, it’s not clear cut, but I think He had a reason for choosing to portray himself that way.