Summary: In light of present day moral decline and inappropriate sexual behavior of homosexuality, premarital and extramarital sex, and cohabitation, what is God’s design for human sexuality?

GOD’S DESIGN FOR HUMAN SEXUALITY

MATTHEW 19:4-6

INTRODUCTION: Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn a Texas sodomy law will eventually be seen as one of the most profound moral turning points in American history, on par with the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion on demand. Mohler said "I think we are going to look back to June of 2003 and say that that was when America began to lose all moral sanity on the issue of sexuality. And if you have no moral clarity on sexuality, then eventually, you have not moral clarity on anything." We live in a time of dramatically changing attitudes toward moral standards and norms. In Canada, the Parliament is considering adopting C-415, a bill adding sexual orientation to hate crime’s legislation. If C-415 becomes law in Canada, according to legal experts "the following consequences will result, especially once hate crime charges are brought before the courts":

 The Bible, at least certain portions of the Bible, may be declared "hate literature."

 Churches will not be able to mention certain Scriptures.

 Clergy may be subjected to criminal charges if they refuse to marry homosexuals.

 Parents may be subjected to criminal charges if they refuse to allow their children to attend classes that teach about and promote homosexual behavior.

 Expressing disagreement with homosexual behavior or the homosexual agenda, either verbally or in writing, would be considered hate propaganda.

 Educators, including those at private religious schools, will not be able to refuse to teach homosexual curriculum.

 Religious institutions will not be allowed to teach anything non-supportive of homosexual sex.

In the United States attempts to influence our society into normalizing abnormal or deviate behavior are relentless. Television and radio programs, advertising and legislation promoting the abandonment and surrender of moral standards abound. According to the 2000 Census, there are currently about 11 million people living with an unmarried partner in the U.S. Only one-quarter of American households consist of what most people think of as a "traditional family": a married couple and their children. – ("The Emerging 21st Century Family," National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, 1999). Premarital, extramarital, and same sex relationships are being touted as normal. What is alarming is how many have either bought into this lie or are tolerant of these views and refuse to speak out for fear of being politically incorrect. These views are a far cry from God’s design for human sexuality. We need to understand that God created us sexual beings with emotions and desires that are good and beautiful when maintained within His design. What exactly is His design for us?

I. God designed human sexuality for procreation and pleasure.

A. Genesis 1:27-28 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."

B. Human sexuality was a gift from God. It was not a curse, nor an invention of the devil. It was made for the marriage relationship and meant for enjoyment, not just procreation. —Holman Bible Dictionary

C. Note that Genesis 2:18 states that God created humans as both male and female because "it is not good for a man to be alone." Notwithstanding all that God made for man to enjoy, it was in the union of the man and the woman that each found completeness and fulfillment.

D. Proverbs 5:18-19 "Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. [19] Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love."

E. Sexual intimacy was an expression of the unique companionship of one man and one woman from the very beginning. Genesis says that Adam and Eve were naked together, but not ashamed. Within its proper context of marriage God celebrates sexual intimacy. It is His gift, meant to be enjoyed by His people whom He loves.

II. God designed human sexuality as heterosexual not homosexual or bisexual

A. God designed sex to take place between a male and a female married to each other and did not as Don Schmeirer said in his book An Ounce of Prevention "provide any alternatives."

B. "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?"

C. Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

D. Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

E. Romans 1:26-27 "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

F. 1 Corinthians 6:9 "Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,"

III. God designed human sexuality to be within the perimeters of marriage not premarital or extramarital.

A. According to a Roper Organization poll, only 49% of American women believe sex before marriage is immoral, down from 65% who believed that in 1970. About half also indicated that there is no reason a single woman should not be able to have children and raise them on their own—though only 15% said such behavior would be acceptable for their own daughters

B. Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."

C. All non-marital sex is outside the boundaries of the will of God and wrong

D. Deuteronomy 5:18 "Neither shalt thou commit adultery."

E. All or any sex union out of marriage is barred by the family idea. Outside of that all sex union is sin.

F. There is no getting away from it: the old Christian rule is "Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence." Chastity is the most unpopular of our Christian virtues. - C.S. Lewis, 20th century Christian author. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.

G. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. [2] Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

H. Christian sex is governed by an institution of marriage that images God’s eternal engagement to Israel, which is Christ’s eternal marriage to the Church. Christlike chastity mirrors the divine fidelity on which we all depend for our hope of salvation. Jesus won’t leave us in the morning. The problem with premarital and extramarital sex is that it breaks that mirror. A premarital sexual relationship acts at times like a marriage, but it is not yet a marriage. It takes marriage’s risks without marriage’s protections. It opens both partners to spiritual, emotional, physical, and parental investments without counting costs or marshaling resources. It contracts without covenanting. It is profoundly dangerous (1 Cor. 7:1-11). - TelfordWork.Net

I. Life Application Bible Notes – God created sex to be a beautiful and essential ingredient of marriage, but sexual sin — sex outside the marriage relationship — always hurts someone. It hurts God because it shows that we prefer following our own desires instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit. It hurts others because it violates the commitment so necessary to a relationship. It often brings disease to our bodies. And it deeply affects our personalities, which respond in anguish when we harm ourselves physically and spiritually.

J. Adultery breaks the marriage relationship and provides a ground for divorce.

IV. God designed human sexuality to be in a monogamous and permanent relationship.

A. Matthew 19:5-6 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

B. The biblical ideal is marriage that lasts a lifetime.

C. Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman

D. Genesis2:24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh."

E. The intention of God from creation has been that man and woman live together in a permanent marriage relationship. Divorce was allowed in the Old Testament as a protection to the married partners and a means to salvage whatever good could be gained from a bad situation. But Jesus clearly taught that it was not the proper action for His people.—Holman Bible Dictionary

F. Divorce was granted for the purpose of permitting the innocent party to remarry. This rule is applicable only to believers; God is not regulating the lives of unbelievers but is holding them to the message of the Cross first. God wants the unbeliever to come to Christ. He is lost whether he is married, divorced, or single. It makes no difference until he accepts Christ. - Barclay’s Daily Study Bible

G. Christians sometimes must cope with the breakup of a marriage. Because humans do not live up to the high ideals and standards of God, marriages do fail. —Holman Bible Dictionary

H. One out of four American Children is gowing up in a single-parent household, according to the Census Bureau. That’s 18 million children, double the number who lived with only one parent in 1970. Divorced people account for 37% of single parents, but almost as many (35%) are in the never-married category, a group whose numbers have also doubled since 1970.

I. Divorce affects the life of the child. One study of the current legal marital status of parents of youth in Wisconsin juvenile correctional facilities revealed the following: Married, widowed 8%, Never married 29%, Divorced 44%, Married, currently separated 4%, Married 13% - 87% are the product of single parent homes

J. Children in single-parent families are six times more likely to be poor and three times more likely to have emotional or behavioral problems as children in two-parent families.

K. "Divorced or separated men have 10 times the risk for outpatient or inpatient psychiatric care. The risk for women increased fivefold."

L. Matthew 19:5-6 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

M. God design for marriage is that it is to be an indissoluble union of a man and a woman with an absolute permanency and unity in so much so that any human laws and regulations could never break the bond.

V. An Ounce of Prevention

A. 2 Timothy 2:22 "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

B. 1 Timothy 5:22 "…keep thyself pure."

C. Nahum 1:15 "… perform thy vows…" Numbers 30:2 "If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth."

D. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:"

E. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

VI. What about those who have violated God’s design for human sexuality.

A. Recognize sin is sin.

 Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

B. Realize that God forgives repented sin

 Acts 13:38-39 "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses."

C. Receive God’s provision through repentance.

 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

D. Commit to live by God’s design

 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, [10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."