AN OVERLOOKED TRUTH: Sex was God’s idea and it is a good gift from Him.
- Genesis 2:20-25.
- The church often comes across as anti-sex. We talk a lot about what’s wrong with the way our culture handles sex. This sermon series largely falls into that category, so I’m not saying that there is no place for that. But we need to do better than only being negative.
- We need to do a better job at casting a positive vision when it comes to the Bible’s view on sexuality. God created sex. It was His idea. It is a good gift.
- In Genesis 2, we find that it is God who decides that it is not good for man to be alone and so creates woman to be his partner. Of all the ways that God could have designed the human body, He chose to make us sexual beings. It’s part of His good plan and design.
- The Bible itself includes an erotic poem! The Song of Songs has often been interpreted as allegory, but it works just fine as a straightforward celebration of the sexual love between two people.
THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS: Each time Satan offers a shortcut to a good thing.
- Matthew 4:1-11.
- The Temptation of Jesus offers some insight on this issue.
- One of the things that stands out about the three temptations of Jesus by Satan is that he doesn’t tempt Christ to do things that explicitly evil, like lie or lust. The temptations are subtler than that.
- One is a temptation to turn stone into bread. We know that Jesus will miraculously feed thousands later in His ministry. One is a temptation to jump from the temple height and have the angels catch Him. We know that God’s angels did watch over Christ. One is a temptation to rule over all the kingdoms of the world. We know that Christ is the King.
- So why are they each temptations? Because in each, Satan essentially offers a shortcut to something good.
- The whole passage deserves unpacking because there are a lot of interesting details, but for our purposes this morning we can just look at the most obvious example within the story. That one point will allow me to illustrate the idea that I want to make and still stay on track with the larger point of this sermon.
- The third temptation finds Satan showing Jesus the kingdoms of the world. Satan offers Jesus a chance to be king of all that, if only Jesus will bow down and worship him. This was Satan’s to offer because Satan has authority on the earth.
- Jesus declines the offer forcefully by declaring that only God should receive worship.
- Why would this be tempting? Because it’s an offer to Jesus to be king without a cross. Jesus could rule the world without having to die on the cross.
- Now, Jesus ruling is a good thing and something that is right. What Satan offers is a shortcut to get there. You can almost hear him whispering, “Why face suffering? Why go to a cross? You deserve to be the king and I’ll give that to You without the painful part.” It’s shortcut to the good thing: be a king without having to suffer on a cross.
THE NATURE OF TEMPTATION: Temptation often comes in the form a shortcut to a good gift from God.
- So often the nature of temptation starts with taking a good gift from God. There is something that is good in and of itself. But then the temptation offers a shortcut to get there. There is truly a deep desire within us to have that thing because the good gift represents something we do want and need. The temptation twists that good desire by offering a shortcut to get there.
- This is what makes temptation so, well, tempting. It’s not that we’re being promised something we don’t really want. We deeply want that thing because it’s something that resonates deeply within how God made us. The problem isn’t the desire – the problem is the path we’re being offered to get there.
- Examples:
a. God created us as social creatures and our relationships provide meaning to life.
- Sometimes, though, a person feels like they are on the outside and want to find a way into a social circle. One shortcut to get there is sharing gossip. It makes people want to be around you when you claim to have the latest scuttlebutt on what’s going on.
- But when we use the shortcut of gossip to try to get people to like us we don’t end up with a network of trusted, valuable friends. Instead, we have a group of petty, mistrusting pseudo-friendships.
- It takes a good gift from God (the relationships we need and cherish) and the temptation offers a shortcut to get there. You don’t have to take the time to get to know people. You don’t have to do the hard work of being vulnerable with others. You don’t have to earn your place in the circle of friends. Instead, take this shortcut. And for a few fleeting moments, it feels good to be in that group. But the shortcut to that good gift from God doesn’t work in the end.
b. God created the physical world and there are things that we own and enjoy and they are good.
- As long as we don’t let them own us, there is joy and pleasure in the things that we own. The physical world brings good things our way.
- But when we use the shortcut of credit cards to get those things without having worked for them, our possessions begin to create stress and worry for us. Marriages get tense and too often end in divorce when money worries get to be too much. Often it’s a sign that our possessions have an unhealthy grip on us.
- Possessions can be a good gift, but taking a shortcut to get there creates all kinds of problems.
- There is the initial appearance of getting the same things more easily but in the end you’re left with a bag of rocks. There are negative consequences to the shortcut that are to be expected.
HOW ALL THIS RELATES TO PORN: Porn promises a shortcut that’s really a dead-end.
- So let’s take these ideas and apply them to porn.
- Porn promises a shortcut to sexual satisfaction. You don’t need to wait to build a good relationship. You certainly don’t need to wait until you’re married. You don’t need to deal with all the struggle that comes with being in a relationship with another person. You don’t need to deal with the limitations of having your sexual desires being focused on one person.
- Porn offers instantaneous availability. Porn offers endless variety. Porn avoids the difficulties and time spent building relationships.
- It’s a shortcut that’s really a dead-end.
- Let’s look at three specific examples of the way this plays out with porn. I want to compare how things play out with God’s plan for sex versus porn’s plan for sex.
THREE EXAMPLES ON PORN:
1. Sex as God intended leaves you with a meaningful emotional connection and feeling loved; porn leaves you lonelier.
- Sex as God intended is obviously physical but it also creates a meaningful emotional connection. You are close to this person that you are sharing your body with. The simplest way to put it is that you feel loved. The physical act is a manifestation of that love.
- Porn, conversely, leaves you feeling lonelier and more isolated. The image that aroused you was just an illusion. You’re alone and feel more isolated than ever because it was just a mirage.
- Why is this true? Because porn is promising something it can’t deliver. It wants you to believe that it’s a shortcut to sexual satisfaction, but it’s a dead-end.
2. Sex as God intended makes you feel valued as a person; porn leaves you feeling worse as a person.
- Sex as God intended involves someone wanting to spend their life with you. It involves someone finding you valuable enough that they want to share their body with you. All this leaves you feeling valued as a person. “I choose you,” is what is said.
- Porn, conversely, leaves you feeling worse as a person. Many people who become habitual users of porn speak of how it leaves them feeling like losers. They know there’s something pathetic and sad to it, but they’ve got entangled in that sin.
- Why is this true? Because porn is promising something it can’t deliver. It wants you to believe that it’s a shortcut to sexual satisfaction, but it’s a dead-end.
3. Sex as God intended gives you the joy of fulfilling another; porn is selfish and makes you more self-absorbed.
- Sex as God intended gives you the opportunity to bring sexual satisfaction to another person. There is great joy in that as you find delight and joy in each other and want to make the other happy.
- Porn, conversely, initially attracts in part because there is not the limitations of another person involved concerning when you can pursue sexual satisfaction. But the situation quickly shows itself to play into selfishness and self-absorption. This is not a healthy thing for anyone.
- Why is this true? Because porn is promising something it can’t deliver. It wants you to believe that it’s a shortcut to sexual satisfaction, but it’s a dead-end.
A FINAL WORD: One of the pieces to battling porn is realizing that it’s lying to you.
- Let’s bring all this together. God has given us sex as a great gift. Porn draws us because we are sexual beings and because it seems to offer a shortcut to sexual satisfaction.
- I hope you’ve embraced the shortcut idea that I’ve shared today. It’s an important one to understanding why porn simultaneously draws us but doesn’t satisfy us. Our sexual desires are legitimate and God-given. But the shortcut leads us down a dead-end.
- An important idea to take from this morning’s sermon is that porn has been lying to you. It promises you what it can’t deliver. It offers a shortcut to sexual satisfaction but it’s really a dead-end.
- This is an important idea to use in the mental battle to defeat porn when you are tempted by it. You can name the lie. “No, that’s not going to satisfy me. It’s a lie. It will leave me feeling worse.”
- There is power in naming a lie a lie. Maybe you even need to say it out loud. “No, that’s a lie.”
- When we gain a clear vision of the situation, it helps to us see what’s what. God is not a prude who hates sex. He’s the one who invented it. He’s given it to us as a good gift. Porn is not an easy shortcut – it’s a dead-end.
- What God offers is better. Pursue it not only because it’s right but also because it’s better.
