Making a GOD of SEX
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Introduction
Introduction
You can usually tell what is most important to people based on how they spend their money and their time.
Money
$3,075.64 is spent on porn every second on the Internet.
More money is spent on pornography in this country every year than on rock music, country music, jazz, and classical music put together.
More money is spent on pornog- raphy in this country every year than on rock music, country music, jazz, and classical music put together. More money is spent on pornography than pro baseball, basketball, and football combined. Last year it grossed more than ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX combined. It’s an industry worth more than ten billion dollars annually.
More money is spent on pornography than pro baseball, basketball, and football combined.
In 2011 it grossed more than ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX combined.
It’s an industry worth more than ten billion dollars annually.
Time
35% of all Internet downloads are related to pornography
On one website there are 800 searches a second.
68 years worth of content.
81 million daily visitors TO ONE WEBSITE!
These stats paint the picture that sex has very much become an idol in our culture and more than likely in many of you present today.
Like the other topics we have discussed, sex is a good thing when it is put in the right place, but when sex becomes god it destroys.
Our worship of sex finds it’s roots in our distorted views of sex.
Distorted Views of Sex
Distorted Views of Sex
1. Sex is an appetite
1. Sex is an appetite
We hunger for food, we thirst for water, we get tired and need to sleep.
There is a common belief in our culture that sex is in the same category. “I need sex like I need a drink of water.”
We see it in movies, we hear about it in music…it is much of the reason our society is so addicted to pornography.
Motivation: Pursuit of Pleasure
Motivation: Pursuit of Pleasure
Casual encounters, pornography, adultery…are all pointing to a cultural pursuit of pleasure.
The purpose is not to connect deeper, express love and commitment, it is to meet a perceived need or fulfill and appetite.
2. Sex is an affection
2. Sex is an affection
Sex is a merely an expression of mutual affection and, thus, feelings are the most legitimate grounds for having sex.
“If it feels good it must be right”
Motivation: Quest for Romance
Motivation: Quest for Romance
Our culture views sex as a step of progression in a relationship (the baseball diamond)
“I know I am loved because he/she had sex with me.”
Romance novels, Hollywood movies, and most forms of media present us with the idea that sexuality is the measure of heath in a relationship.
Many marriages end because one spouse decided they were no longer satisfied sexually with the other.
Pornography and fantasy become a way of escape or a reward for good behavior. It isn’t harmful because it feels good and helps be relax.
3. Sex is an affirmation
3. Sex is an affirmation
3. Sex is an affirmation
3. Sex is an affirmation
Sex is a way of finding ourselves and expressing who we are.
My sexuality, my sexual activity, and/or my sexual performance are an affirmation of my identity.
Motivation: Searching for Identity
Motivation: Searching for Identity
We give ourselves sexually because we want to feel loved, accepted, affirmed.
Sex gives a boost of self esteem- someone loves me, thinks I am beautiful.
Sex makes us feel wanted or needed.
Many people live in a world of fantasy, using pornography and social media to create a world where they feel accepted, satisfied, and pleased.
It is common in our culture for people to pursue a casual sexual encounter as a boost of self esteem or to feel a connection with someone, even if it isn’t real.
There is a thirst to be affirmed.
In each case we are left empty, wounded, and lost. But that was never God’s design.
Sex as God Designed it
Sex as God Designed it
1. Sex is gift with a purpose.
1. Sex is gift with a purpose.
One flesh union of husband and wife- God has a beautiful and specific design for sex
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Notice the word “blessed”- this is not only bestowing a function (be fruitful and multiply) but also a gift.
Naked and Unashamed- God’s purpose for sex is threefold
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
God created sex, He made us sexual beings for the purpose of procreation.
Physical and Spiritual Unity
He created sex as the means for multiplying and sustaining the human race. “Be fruitful and multiply...”
Procreation
He could have made procreation a dull, scientific process, but instead He made it one of the most enjoyable things we as humans get to experience.
One flesh union of husband and wife- God has a beautiful and specific design for sex
We can’t look over the function AND the blessing sex is as designed by God.
Enjoyment
God never meant for sex to be meaningless and purposless
God created sex, He made us sexual beings...
God never meant sex to be unproductive- it was given as THE way for procreation
He created sex as the means for multiplying and sustaining the human race. “Be fruitful and multiply...”
1 cor 6 12-
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 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, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Same-sex relationships are outside of God’s design a purpose for sex.
casual, meaningless sex outside of marriage is outside of God’s design.
He could have made procreation a dull, scientific process, but instead He made it one of the most enjoyable things we as humans get to experience.
Sex with yourself is outside of God’s design
Because God created sex, He created it with purpose and a specific design.
God has BLESSED us with sex that has the function of reproduction, but the gift of enjoying your spouse.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
1 cor 6 15-
Sex outside the bounds of a marital relationship between a husband and a wife is a perversion of God’s design.
Pornography is a perversion of God’s design
Messing around with your girl/boy friend is a perversion of God’s design
Undressing and fantasizing a sexual encounter is a perversion of God’s design.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
You are “joined” to the one you have sex with, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
You are “joined” to the one you have sex with, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
You are “joined” to the one you have sex with, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
This is why the Bible takes sex so seriously
It is a wonderful gift of God within marriage
It is a wonderful gift of God within marriage
It is a devastatingly destructive idol when outside of God’s design.
It is a devastatingly destructive idol when outside of God’s design.
2. Sex is meant for unity.
2. Sex is meant for unity.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
One flesh union of husband and wife- God has a beautiful and specific design for sex
Sex outside the bounds of a marital relationship between a husband and a wife is a perversion of God’s design.
Pornography is a perversion of God’s design
Messing around with your girl/boy friend is a perversion of God’s design
Undressing and fantasizing a sexual encounter is a perversion of God’s design.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
You are “joined” to the one you have sex with, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
This is why the Bible takes sex so seriously
It is a wonderful gift of God within marriage
It is a devastatingly destructive idol when outside of God’s design.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
gen
Notice the word “blessed”- this is not only bestowing a function (be fruitful and multiply) but also a gift.
God created sex, He made us sexual beings for the purpose of procreation.
God created sex, He made us sexual beings for the purpose of procreation.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
He created sex as the means for multiplying and sustaining the human race. “Be fruitful and multiply...”
“
He could have made procreation a dull, scientific process, but instead He made it one of the most enjoyable things we as humans get to experience.
This is why the Bible takes sex so seriously
We can’t look over the function AND the blessing sex is as designed by God.
It is a wonderful gift of God within marriage
God never meant for sex to be meaningless and purposless
It is a devastatingly destructive idol when outside of God’s design.
God never meant sex to be unproductive- it was given as THE way for procreation
Same-sex relationships are outside of God’s design a purpose for sex.
casual, meaningless sex outside of marriage is outside of God’s design.
Sex with yourself is outside of God’s design
God has BLESSED us with sex that has the function of reproduction, but the gift of enjoying your spouse.
3. Sex is meant for intimacy
3. Sex is meant for intimacy
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
genesis
God designed the sexual relationship with your spouse to be the most intimate and freeing relationship you have on earth.
Tim Keller says,
“Sex is perhaps the most powerful God-created way to help you give your entire self to another human being. Sex is God’s appointed way for two people to reciprocally say to one another, ‘I belong completely, permanently, and exclusively to you.’ You must not use sex to say anything less.” Tim Keller
Prior to the fall Adam and Eve were “Naked and unashamed”
They felt no shame to be who God had created them to be, both in the physical sense and the spiritual sense.
Throughout the OT the Hebrew word “yada” - to know - is used for sex.
Biblically, sex is an intimate, personal, knowing of the other person.
It goes beyond the physical exchange into a deeper knowledge and connection.
In and 2 Adam and Eve are in perfect unity and intimacy with one another.
They knew each other deeply and were unashamed, not restrained or hidden from one another, displayed most clearly in their nakedness and sexuality.
So what happens when sin enters the equation.
gen 3
7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Their sin brought shame and their first instinct was to hide from each other and from God
Their sin distorted their view of God, one another, and themselves.
It also perverted the way we related with one another.
But is didn’t change the purpose and design of sex.
Sex was always intended to be the intimate union of a husband and wife as they freely enjoy one another “naked and unashamed”.
Freedom from Sexual Idolatry
Freedom from Sexual Idolatry
The woman at the well
She had been married 5 times and was sleeping with a man who was not her husband.
She was thirsty and was seeking to quench her thirst with water that would never satisfy.
Jesus points to the deepest issue the woman had, the object of her worship
She worshipped the feeling she got from the affection of a man
She worshipped the identity she found in being with someone
And she was empty and broken because of it.
Jesus offers her true satisfaction, true identity, and true intimacy in Him.
I love vs 28-29
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
She left the water jars because she had found water that had FINALLY quenched her deepest thirst.
Maybe you came here today because you are tired of drinking from wells that leave you thirsty
The cycle of relationships has broken you and
Maybe the shame of your sin is weighing heavy on you today.
Jesus offers hope, he offers rest, and he offers satisfaction.
I trust there a some in this room who are deep into sexual sin
Whether pornography, sex outside of marriage, or adultery (whether physical or emotional).
My prayer is that you would repent.
Confess your sin to God
Confess your sin to someone else
Come clean to those you have sinned against
And begin the process of healing.
Sex is a good gift, but it is a horrible god.