I. Introduction: Did God actually say?
- Today’s class: not focusing on individual commands on sex, but rather the whole biblical vision for marriage and sexuality
II. God’s Design for Marriage and Sex:
- Gen 1:27-28: Male & female he created them… “be fruitful and multiply”
- Gen 2:22-25 “They shall become one flesh”
- Eph 5:28-32: Marriage as a one flesh union (Song 6:3)
What is marriage? A covenantal, bodily union of one man and one woman, open to the gift of procreation, symbolic of the relationship between Christ and the church.
- Marriage is covenantal
- Marriage is bodily union
- Marriage is a union of one man and one woman
- Procreation is one of the designed ends for marriage
- Marriage is a picture of two distinct parties in covenantal union
The lesson? Marriage and sex are mutually interpreting realities.
- True sex vs. counterfeit sex
- Making sense of chapters like Leviticus 18 and 1 Corinthians 6
III. Sex as Fulfillment? The Example of Jesus
- Fulfilling personal desires as the foundation for morality?
- Jesus is a fully human man
- Jesus took on a body capable of sex
- Jesus’ intimate friendships and real human sufferings
- Matthew 19:12: “Eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”
IV. Same-Sex Attraction
- Fallen people have fallen desires (Jer 17:9, Eph 2:3, Titus 3:3)
- What if someone is “born that way?” (Ps 51:5)
- All sins make us equally deserving of condemnation, yet some sins are particularly consequential denials of God’s design
- A posture of compassion and speaking the truth in love
V. Concluding Application
- We should honor marriage (Heb 13:4)
- We should honor singleness (1 Cor 7:8)
- We should cultivate strong friendships in the family of God