Human Sexuality and the Story of Redemption (Part 2)

Introduction

Key Point: If we are going to date according to God’s design, we must put on the glasses of a Biblical worldview to see clearly how human sexuality fits into the story of redemption.

Review from last week:

God is good and everything he made is good.

God freely chose us to uniquely make us in his image as male and female.

Our identity is bound up in being made in God’s image as male and female for a relationship with him.

Being made in the image of God means we have the ability to connect with God in a relationship and reflect his glory as his royal representatives on earth.

God gave us our sexuality and gender as male and female.

Our sexed bodies as male and female are a good gift from God that should be cherished.

God created sex for his glory to be enjoyed between a husband and wife in a covenant marriage.

The purposes of sex are to. . .

Glorify God.

Be a picture of the gospel.

Express love and enjoy one’s spouse.

To multiply and fill the earth with God’s image (procreation)

Fall

Unfortunately, as good as things began in Genesis 1-2, as most of you know, things did not remain that way.

The danger of doubting God’s word (Genesis 3:1-7)

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” This is in direct contradiction to what God actually said in Gen. 2:16. . . “you may surely eat from every tree in the garden” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan is trying to make it appear that God is not good and withholding something from Eve. 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. They listened to their desires and feelings instead of God’s word. Adam was there the whole time. Instead of protecting his wife, he sat idly by and let her be deceived and followed her into sin. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The Doctrine of Sin

Sin means to fall short of God’s glory. We have missed the mark of God’s perfect standard.

Sin is not just actions but also small attitudes and acts. . . anger, jealousy, greed, etc.

Adam and Eve’s sin impacted the entire human race as well as creation (Romans 5:12).

What were the consequences of the Fall?

Death

Both physical and spiritual death.

Nature corrupted with sin

Total depravity

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Total inability

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Still in God’s image. . . but cannot rightly connect with and reflect God because of sin.

It is important also to see that even just as sin does not destroy the image of God and the goodness of our bodies, sin does not destroy our sexuality and the goodness of sex.

Though. . . it has been affected by sin. . . but how?

We can see that there are four ways that sin distorts our sexuality and identity.

First, there are distortions with God.

Instead of trusting God and believing that our bodies were created by God, for his glory, and for our good, we now do not trust what he says about our bodies and how we should use them.

The first thing that happened after Adam and Eve disobeyed God was that they became ashamed of their physical bodies and were filled with guilt. (Gen. 3:7)

The goodness of their bodies in which God created them (before sin, they were “naked and unashamed” Gen. 2:25). . . now was viewed as bad and shameful.

We no longer see our bodies as good gifts.

Body image issues.

Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating) - 2.7% of 13-18 year olds.

Rapid onset gender dysphoria

We are now afraid of God

Genesis 3:8–10 ESV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

We think we know better than God and that our sexual longings within should not be limited to the parameters he laid out in creation.

We seek to please ourselves instead of pleasing God.

Second, there are distortions within.

Because of sin, we are now confused about our identity and who we are.

Because of sin, our desires and feelings are now corrupted and are often not pleasing to God.

Distortions in our desires and sexuality are played out in multiple different ways in our world today through. . .

Explicit images and content in movies, shows, Internet sites, Instagram reels, TikTok videos, etc.

We treat people made in God’s image as our objects of pleasure when we participate in these things.

Sexual content an innuendo in music.

Sexual content in books.

Third, there are distortions in our relationships.

Sin corrupts our relationships with one another and we blame one another for our mistakes.

Genesis 3:11–13 ESV

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

All human relationships are now broken and subject to misunderstandings.

Genesis 3:16 ESV

16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, (for your husband, same word used to communicate how Satan’s desire is for us to master and control us). but he shall rule over you.”

Fourth, There are distortions in Nature.

Sin has corrupted not only ourselves but also the universe.

Genesis 3:17–19 ESV

17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Sin distorts our physical makeup.

People are born with birth defects.

Intersex condition.

People are born with emotional states and psychological dysphorias about themselves.

People that are bent towards being attracted to the same sex.

Gender dysphoria.

However, we never make the exception the rule.

Just because we are born with a tendency towards a specific sin, this does not make the desire for that sin or acting on it ok.

So, as you can see, our sin has messed everything up, including the way we think about our sexuality and identity.

Our bodies are broken, our desires are corrupted, and we have all fallen in some form of sexual sin.

So is there any hope???

Redemption

Thankfully, God, in his mercy, has made a way for us to be cleansed of our sin, our false grasps at identity, and our depraved desires and actions through Jesus Christ!

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Jesus, being truly God and truly man, was our perfect substitute. . . both in his life and his death. . .

Genesis 3:21 ESV

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

He fulfilled God’s law and lived a perfect life we could not live.

He took our place on the cross, took the punishment for our sin, and died the death we should have died.

Jesus conquered sin and death by rising again from the grave. . . and through turning from our sin and trusting in Jesus, we can be forgiven of our sin and restored back to a right relationship with God!

So, how does Jesus’ redemptive work relate to our sexuality and identity?

First, his incarnation redeems our sexuality.

By Jesus taking on flesh and becoming a man, he affirmed the created goodness of the human body.

Also, by Jesus becoming a man, he affirmed the goodness of human sexuality.

Jesus affirmed God’s design for sex during his ministry.

Matthew 19:4–5 ESV

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

Second, his redemptive work gives us justification and forgiveness from sexual sin.

Romans 3:23–26 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The word “justification” means to be declared right in God’s sight. . . to be declared righteous.

Through Jesus’ death, he paid the penalty for our sin so that through repentance from our sin and faith in him, we could be forgiven.

I want to pause for a moment and say a word to those here who have fallen in sexual sin. . . or may be living in sexual sin right now.

There is nothing that you have done that the blood of Jesus cannot cover.

Expound on that truth. . .

Listen to the words Paul wrote to the Corinthians. . .

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Third, Jesus’ redemptive work helps us grow in righteousness and holiness.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we now have the power and strength to flee sexual immorality and pursue holiness (Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5).

This is a daily war against our sin. . .

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

As Christians, we are called to pursue holiness in our sexuality. . . which means chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage.

As Christians our bodies are not are own but belong to God.

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 ESV

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Self-denial and following Jesus leads to true freedom.

Behaviors are changed through Beliefs.

We can’t just stop “doing” but must also start “pursuing” Jesus.

Unless we replace our love for sexual sin with a greater love for Jesus. . . we will never be able to overcome temptation.

One of the greatest ways to fight sexual sin is by loving God and others.

Through Christ, we have the power to enjoy the freedom God intended us to have in sex. . . in the specific way he designed it for in a covenant marriage between one man and one woman.

Consummation

But our full and final restoration will not take place until Christ returns.

This is important for us to remember because until Jesus returns, we will still struggle with our sinful nature. . . we will still have to fight against temptation. . . even though we have been forgiven by the blood of Christ. . . we will still have to deal with some of the consequences of our sinful actions on earth.

Example of Paul in Romans 7.

But when Christ returns. . . our transformation into God’s perfect image will be finally complete as our physical bodies will raised from the dead and be fully glorified.

All that was corrupted by the fall will be completely restored. . . we will have glorified bodies, glorified desires, and will walk in perfect obedience to God’s commands as we enjoy him, serve him, and worship him for all eternity!

Response

What glasses are you wearing?

Help your friends have a biblical worldview.