Sex, God's Wedding Gift Series

When I was young I was told that there were three things you never talked about in polite company. Sex, religion and Politics. A few years ago it was decreed by the government that if a Pastor told his congregation how to vote that the church would lose it’s charitable status. Well we don’t want that to happen so may I simply state that I consider Barry Barnett and Geoff Regean personal friends and I vote for friends.

Well, with the politics out of the way let’s move on to the next two. Wow, the Pastor is actually going to talk about sex in church. That may or may not make you feel a little uncomfortable. As a matter of fact through the years the church and Christianity has gotten a reputation of being anti sex. And at times that has probably been a justified view. However I don’t think that it necessarily had it roots in the scriptures. Sex was not just something that humanity stumbled into, “Wow this is kind of cool, let’s do it again.”

It was part of creation and it was a part of the plan. It’s things like sex and reproduction that make the case for creation and intelligent design the most intelligent choice. Really if it didn’t work in the first generation then wouldn’t have been a second generation. How would that have evolved?

It all began in the beginning, which when you think about it is a really good place for it to begin. Now I know that some people teach and have been taught that original sin was sex and that was why the first couple was expelled from the Garden of Eden. The theological term for that teaching is “A crock.” Here is the account of creation Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. So to start God made boys boys, and he made girls girls. And the parts were all in place and they all worked. This is before original sin and before the fall, Adam and Eve were fully functioning models. And then God gives them directions as to what to do with all the fiddly bits. We read in Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.” Now listen to what it says at the end of Genesis 1:30 . . . And that is what happened. And the very next verse says Genesis 1:31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

And time and time again throughout the scriptures we are reminded that sex is God’s gift to us. And sometimes that’s a shock because most of us are convinced that our generation created sex or at least discovered sex, especially if you are child of the sixties or seventies. Got news for you, there was only one virgin birth and you weren’t it.

And if we don’t think that our generation created sex then we think we are the first generation to enjoy it. Wrong again. It has been the way it is since creation, sex didn’t evolve it hasn’t gotten better. If anything as we have moved away from creation and that initial intimacy we have moved away the fullest enjoyment of sexual intimacy as well.

So with that being said Sex is not a sin, however within the scriptures, the word of God, we see the act of sex reserved for marriage, within the Old Testament there were penalties laid down for both pre-marital and extra marital sex. And so while sex is not considered a sin in the bible sexual activity outside of marriage is in fact a sin that’s why we have scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 5:11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

Or Galatians 5:19-21 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The word that is translated Sexual Immorality in the New Living Translation is translated fornication in the Older Translations and word used in the original Greek is the Greek Word Porneia or porneia, sound familiar? And it means sex out side of marriage and the bible says that is not acceptable behavior for a Christ Follower, wasn’t then and it isn’t now.