Dear Cornerstone Family,
In our ongoing series in the book of Ephesians, we considered last week Ephesians 4:1-14. If you were with us, you will remember we examined in some detail the sin of sexual immorality. One of the things we saw last week was that sexual immorality, though a bodily act, never begins with the body. It begins, rather, with the mind dwelling on impurity and with a heart eaten up with covetousness, which is, at its root, idolatry (v.5).
The passage last week was addressing how sexuality can go wrong. It did not, however, specifically address the created good that sexuality is. In a few weeks, we will get the chance to carry this thread further when we explore the Bible’s teaching on gender, marriage, and complementarity when we spend two weeks on Ephesians 5:22-33. Given, however, the significant confusion in our day, I wanted to take a few minutes to briefly outline three (postive) foundational biblical truths regarding human sexuality:
First, God created the sexual differences of man and woman. God created us as sexual beings. Sexuality is part and parcel to what it means to be a human person. One of the many reasons Christians cannot support transgender assumptions and beliefs about the human person is that a Christian believes the physical creation of our bodies is meaningful. We are not, in other words, simply what we think or feel ourselves to be internally. Our identity as human beings is bound up with our bodies. Being created male and female is an essential quality of what it means to be a human person (Genesis 1:26-28).
Second, God created sex as a gift to be used for his glory. Sex is not ultimately about us. It’s about God and His glory. In 1 Cor. 6:12-20, Paul says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality.” Now, what would you expect him to say next? You would expect him to say, “The body is meant for sexual morality.” In other words, you would expect him to advance the biblically defined parameters for sexual intimacy. Interestingly, that’s not what Paul does. Instead, he says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body...do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” As we’ll see in our next point, Paul is not speaking against the biblical design for sexuality. He is, rather, identifying the ultimate end of sexuality: God’s glory.
Third, God created sex as an expression of covenant love within the bounds of marriage. In Genesis 2:24 we read, “For this cause a man shall leave his family and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The language of “hold fast” or “leave and cleave” is the language of covenant. The husband is leaving behind his previous attachments, and he is forming a new covenantal relationship with his wife. The consummation or ratifying of that covenant is the sexual union. In other words, sex completes the covenantal union. The sexual union is the capstone of the marriage relationship. This by definition excludes any notions of premarital sex, adultery, or any other form of sexual behavior outside the confines of the marriage covenant.
Obviously, there are many more important truths regarding sexuality in the Bible to discuss and many more matters related to sexuality in our culture to address. I hope, however, these three truths help lay foundations for a positive vision of sexuality from a Christian perspective.
Your servant,
