Sexuality

 

Many years ago, it used to be complained about the churches that they are obsessed with sex. Since then, the situation has reversed and while the church remains quiet (or at least unreported) on sexuality, our society has become obsessed with it.

 

Sex, in almost any form you might like to imagine it, has become the obsession of our culture. Sexual activity in any form is considered a goal in itself, rather than as a part of an ongoing intimate relationship.

 

In the last two articles, I raised the principles that we are created by God and in that sense owned bu Him. If God “knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13), then He has the right to direct my life and to give me wisdom about how my life works best.

In the last few years, there has been a huge amount of attention given to transgenderism and the demands of such people to be not just recognised but celebrated. This movement followed a similar trajectory to the demands of homosexuals to be recognised, legalised and celebrated.

 

As christians our morality should be shaped by the Bible and not by our own ideas. Our sexuality should be determined by God’s word and not by societal norms.

 

In Genesis 2 we have the story of how the first man and woman were created. The chapter culminates with this

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 

“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. 

 

Genesis 2:23-25, NLT

 

Contrary to the transgender issue, these verses show that God makes us male and female. There are only two genders, not the near infinite number proposed by advocates. Not only that, but our biological sex is written in the DNA in every cell of our bodies. Just taking hormones and having very nasty surgery will not change the reality of any person’s gender. Our gender is not assigned at birth as the activists like to say, it is determined at conception.

 

The Bible also shows that union of male and female is the norm of sexual relationships. In fact, at several places homosexuality is described as an “abomination” to God. In Romans 1, Paul talks about how God’s righteousness can be seen in nature, but people, instead of worshipping the Creator, started to worship creation. As a result, he says, God handed them over to their own desires:

 

That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.  Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 

 

Romans 1:26-28

 

Homosexuality, Paul says, is not a thing to be celebrated or equated with normal heterosexual relations. It is, in fact, God’s judgement on people for idolatry and materialism.

 

The passage from Genesis 2 says that a man and woman are joined in marriage and become one flesh. The idea here is that sexual relations outside of marriage (being one man and one woman committed for life) are not allowed for christians. The Bible condemns fornication (an unmarried person engaging in sex) and adultery (a married person who has sexual intercourse with a person other than their spouse).

 

Jesus says that divorce is not permitted unless a partner commits adultery (Matthew 19:1-12). Marriage is for life, so we enter into it carefully and leave it only if the marriage bond is violated. God blesses marriage, and enters into the covenant with the husband and wife. It is God who binds them together and makes them one flesh, so no human should allow that bond to be broken (Matthew 19:6)

 

We could go on to talk about casual sex- “friends with benefits” and hookup culture. These are abhorrent to God for the same reason.

 

God made us male and female. He made us sexual creatures. He determined that we flourish best when we value sex so highly that it is reserved for the most intimate and permanent of relationships, i.e. marriage.

 

This is not about killing fun or being Victorian era fuddy duddies. It is about being faithful to the God who made us and the God who owns us.