Weekly Recap

After addressing the problems of evil, Jesus, Hell, and science - all potential stumbling blocks that people trip over when considering Christianity - Pastor Chris taught from Genesis 2:15-25 to deal with the problem of sex.  Sex, and the boundaries God created around it, is one of the biggest problems the culture has with Biblical Christianity.  The Bible clearly teaches that God created sex and gave humanity both the ability and the desire for it, so the idea that God is some kind of prude is a false narrative.  Genesis 2:21-25 reveals God’s beautiful and glorious plan is for a husband and wife to come together physically, emotionally, and spiritually as one.  These verses are the basis and foundation of how God views sex and marriage and any sex outside of this God ordained model is considered sexual immorality, a sin.  This is not because God is a cosmic killjoy; everything God does is purposeful and intentional and his reasons are rooted in the creation order.

Although there are many more reasons, there are three reasons God created sex revealed in Genesis.  One reason God created sex is for procreation.  He made male and female and both are necessary to create progeny.  God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and increase in number.  This was God’s plan for populating the earth he created.  He also created sex for pleasure.  God created it to be enjoyable because he is a good God who gives good gifts.  Pleasure is endorsed in married sex and celebrated in its proper boundaries as we can read in both Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.  Sex is also one of the ways we bear God’s image in the world.  It is a visual and experiential representation of the nature and character of God.  Both masculinity and femininity are visible reflections of an invisible God and messing with God’s intention is like saying we know better than God. Two becoming one is a reflection of God’s nature and also a picture of God’s love for us.  Paul calls it a profound mystery and a depiction of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

Biblical Christianity teaches that sex is a God-given gift confined to the covenant of marriage, but there are some alternate views out there.  One within religious circles is that sex is bad and early church leaders such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Chrysostom espoused this view.  In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis refutes this idea, echoing James who tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above.  Satan delights in perverting the good things God has created.  Another view is that sex is appetite; like food or water, it is necessary for human beings.  If this view is true, then apparently Jesus and Paul weren’t fully human, nor is any other celibate person.  This is an animalistic Darwinian view and even before Darwin’s theories, Paul dealt with this attitude in the church at Corinth.  The new Christians were still practicing pagan sexual practices with the attitude that anything done with the body had no bearing on their faith.  Paul reminded them that they were bought with a price and their bodies were not their own, but members of Christ himself.

Finally, there is another prevalent view that sex is god.  In our pornography obsessed society, it is worshipped and lived for.  According to the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, sexual liberation is the only method to finding inner peace and security and beauty.  This skewed view is a result of people rejecting God.  We were all created to worship, and if it isn’t God, it will be someone or something - a created thing.  Sex is good, but it isn’t ultimate.  It’s a wonderful gift but a terrible god.  It does not satisfy our deep down soul longings and we can become enslaved to it, in search of something that will never satisfy completely.  Although marriage is a good thing and part of God’s plan for some people, it is not a tragedy to remain unmarried - otherwise the life of Jesus would be tragic.  As John Piper said, marriage is but for a moment, but Jesus is for eternity.  There will no longer be marriage in eternity; a greater pleasure is coming - being in the presence of God forever.  Ultimate satisfaction can be found nowhere but in Christ.