God's Design for Mankind

God’s Unique Creation

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:

Man and woman are different

‘Male and female He created them’

Created equal in dignity and worth, but we are distinct

there are differences between and a boy and a girl

From our minds to our bodies we are different

Boys and girls think differently

Boys and girls look differently

Boys and girls act differently

Why does God do anything?

For His glory

God designed us differently to reflect His glory

God’s Special Relationship Between a Man and a Woman

No other creature has it

Unique to mankind only - Marriage

What is the purpose of Marriage?

Bring unity between one man and one woman

Reflects God’s unity within the Trinity and with Him and His church

A man and a woman reject all others for each other

Picture of us rejecting all things for Christ

God’s Design of Sex

Within in marriage God created a special act for a husband and a wife to enjoy

Sex:

Genesis 2

Genesis 2:24 ESV

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

togetherness between a husband and a wife (to be enjoyed and bring closeness)

Again, reflecting God’s relationship to His church

Genesis 1:28 ESV

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.”

Procreation - to create babies

From the beginning God made sex and our parts that are made for sex

To be held in the confines of marriage

For a husband and wife only

Sin Twist God’s Design

Adam and Eve’s disobedience led to the downward spiral of everything

relationship between man and God is broken

relationship between man and woman is broken

relationship between man and the earth is broken

Isaiah 53:6 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Sin distorts our view of God, including His plan for sex and marriage

We begin to say sex outside of marriage is good

Sexual acts like oral sex are not bad

Lusting after others through pornography or sexting is ok

Homosexuality and transgenderism is normal

We take God’s design and warp it into perversions of His Word

As believers we are to hold onto what God’s Word says and follow His design of marriage and sexuality

Ephesians 6:11–12 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:

What if I continue to struggle with God’s plan for marriage and human sexuality?

Confess

Repent

And

Believe

Share with your parents (Confess)

Share with your small group leader (Confess)

if you want your small group leader to be there with you to tell your parents thats ok

turn away from whatever our struggle is and turn towards Christ (Repent)

Trust in God’s Word, Pray to Him, Obey His Word (Believe)

Is there a difference between men and women?

What are some ways that men and women are different?

What is God’s special relationship between a man and a woman?

What are the boundaries God placed on marriage?

How does marriage show us more about God?

What special act did God make for a husband and wife to enjoy?

What is God’s purpose for sex?

How does sin change our view of God’s design for marriage and sex?

How do we protect ourselves from thinking about marriage and sex like the world and instead how God designed it to be?