God’s Design for Sex

Most everyone would agree that our society needs certain rules to thrive.

I’m referring to the most basic laws that prohibit things like murder, theft, and violence. These are rules without which our culture would devolve into chaos and disorder.

Our God, who created us and the world in which we live, knows perfectly what we need to thrive, and it goes beyond the most basic protections I’ve mentioned above.

There are certain Freedoms that we have as humans that if we give into without limits, allowing ourselves to do whatever we want, will lead to bondage and misery. These are things that may not go against the laws of man but do go against God’s law – His design for humankind.

One particularly troubling issue I want to touch on is adultery. When I say adultery, I mean any sexual relations outside the sacred confines of a marriage between a man and a woman…outside God’s design for Sex.

Here is the Truth: Sex outside of marriage is wrong and harmful. It’s spiritually equivalent to worshipping false gods.

And just as in the Old Testament God equates Israel’s idolatry with adultery, when we engage in sexual activities outside of marriage, we are making an idol of sex, God’s gift for marriage, and worshipping that thing rather than God Himself.

It’s not hard to see the devastating effects of sex outside of marriage in our culture. Broken homes, confused young people, a culture permeated by sexuality and debauchery. Countless people in bondage to sex and pornography. What has happened?

We have departed from God’s design for sex, and we’re paying a high price.

At the time of creation God set forth the exclusive “one flesh” paradigm for human sexuality: the lifelong, faithful union of one man and one woman created in His image for procreation. Here’s what Genesis 1:27 says…

“So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.”

Jesus reaffirmed this divine design for marriage in Matthew 19:4–6 when He said…

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

And in Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul cites Genesis 2:24 when he explains how this male/female complementarity, consummated in marriage, reflects the very relationship of God and man.

In Ephesians 5:25–30, he says…

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husband’s ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body.”

Then in verse 31 he quotes Genesis 2:24…

“For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

Finally, Paul concludes in verses 32–33

“This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

It is essential that we heed this Biblical wisdom and encourage the next generations to do the same.

Sex has the power to unite two people in a way nothing else does. So, when we use sex in the wrong way, this uniting and pulling apart begins to tear at people’s heart, even if they don’t realize it. Ultimately it begins to tear at the very fabric of our culture, as we can clearly see happening today.

So, what should we do?

Our Nation, starting with the church and its leaders, must repent. The natural consequences of adultery will continue to plague us until we turn back to God and honor God’s design for sex and marriage.

The future of our society is at stake.

By Victor Marx

To learn more about Victor Marx, be sure to visit his website here.