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CHRISTADELPHIAN BIBLE POSTAL COURSE No. 53 |
SEXUALITY, A GIFT FROM GOD
Reading : Genesis 19
If you believe that God created man the supreme creature among the other creatures then you will also believe that he was the designer of our wonderful bodies. That he gave us legs and arms with their joints and muscles. He gave us our brain with the ability to think and plan, obey or disobey.
In Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, we are told about the forming of man from the dust of the ground and in verses 21 and 22, the making of the woman.
There is no record anywhere that God physically changed Adam and Eve when they were eventually driven out of the garden because of disobedience.
Thus at the time of their creation they must have been built with the ability to have children. They were provided with the complex and very wonderful sexual organs to make this possible.
What would have happened if Adam and his wife had resisted the temptation to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree? We do not know, but there are two interesting things for us to consider. The first is in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28 where the command € to be fruitful and multiply € comes before the curse of death falls upon them. The second is found in Genesis chapter 2 verse 25 where we read that € they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed € . They had been created with sexual organs, they were intended to have children and they did not suffer from guilty feelings because they were naked.
However despite this capability, they did not use it until after they had been expelled from the garden. It is not until we get to Genesis chapter 4 verse 1 that we read of them having intercourse and of Eve becoming pregnant with her first child.
I want to go back for a moment and look more closely at the act of disobedience that changed the course of man € s history and brought hardship, heartache and the ageing process that ended in death.
Remember that the tree they were forbidden to touch was the € tree of the knowledge of good and evil € . It had fruit on it which looked good to eat Genesis chapter 3 verse 6. Now in most countries on earth we have trees with fruit that we can eat quite safely, but there are also trees that bear poisonous fruit. Fruit that can kill those who pick and eat. The fruit picked by Eve and eaten by both the man and the woman seemed good for food but was really poisonous. It had the effect of changing human bodies and also of changing human minds. Look at Genesis chapter 3 verse 7. Adam and Eve saw everything differently; they had new and alarming feelings and suddenly became aware of many other things at the same time.
They did not feel fear before they tasted the fruit but they did afterwards. Look at verse 10. The sudden realisation of just how terrible the thing they had done really was, must have crushed them mentally and physically. What was it they did apart from hiding away from God? In Genesis chapter 3 verse 7, we are told that they made aprons out of leaves. Only aprons? That is all we are told. They felt that they had to cover the organs of their sexuality.
Whatever happened within their bodies as the fruit of the € tree of the knowledge of good and evil € was digested must also have altered them genetically. The curse that came upon them came also upon their children and eventually upon the whole human race. The whole of mankind became creatures that grew old and eventually died.
We also have this knowledge of good and evil and, whilst the good can lead us to some wonderful acts, the evil influence is always with us, so much so that the Apostles of Jesus had to warn the new Church many times against it. Paul € s words in Romans chapter 3 verses 9 to 12 are a quotation from the book of Psalms chapter 14, verses 1 to 3. Here Paul is effectively saying that in his time things were no better than they were in the days of David King of Israel.
Look with me now at Paul € s first letter to Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 to 11. What Paul says here is wonderful news for all who feel that wickedness in early life means that one can never be forgiven, never be baptised. This is not the case. Real repentance and baptism washes away the past and gives all believers a new start as disciples of Jesus.
Jesus gave us much help on the subject of sexuality. He explained that God had intended a man and a woman to be united for life. He explained that in the Law God gave to his people Israel, through Moses, adultery (taking another person € s wife or husband) was forbidden. Look at Mark chapter 10 verses 2 to 12. Adultery, in the original law, was punishable by death so for those early people faithfulness in marriage had to be taken very seriously. There had to be a very good reason for breaking up a marriage and once it was broken the man and the woman were not at liberty to go off and get married again. There is no special mention in the Old Testament about a man having more than one wife as long as he loved and cared for the wives he had. It is the undisciplined use of sexuality that is forbidden by God.
Let us go back to Jesus € instructions in Matthew € s gospel chapter 5 verses 27 and 28. Here he carefully repeated the ancient law on adultery but for his disciples explained it even more carefully. He showed that all immorality begins in the mind. The important thing to remember about this is that God knows what we are thinking, just as Jesus surprised the Pharisees who were his constant critics by answering their thoughts rather than their spoken questions. If you look at his words in verses 29 and 30 they seem to depict a course of action that we would find hard to follow. However, Jesus is really speaking about cutting bad thoughts and motives out of our lives rather than self-mutilation. Otherwise, there would be a great number of one-eyed disciples or those with just one hand if we really were to take Jesus € words literally. What Jesus does want us to do is to cut out of our lives the areas where we are most severely tempted. This is not an easy thing to do but we are expected to work at it.
We usually have the choice in our lives which TV programmes we watch, which magazines we read, whose company we seek and who our friends are. These are just some examples of areas where we can take care; you may be able to think of others.
The lesson from Jesus is that all potential and baptised disciples who want to please him, should control their sexual desires. They should avoid situations where they know they will be most tempted and at all times use the words of Jesus as an alarm system in their minds. On those occasions when they are severely tempted then they should seek help from God in immediate prayer.
In the writings of Paul, there is much useful guidance for daily life; even though the letters were written for Christians nearly 2000 years ago. A very good example is found in the letter to Romans at chapter 1 verses 26 and 27. The growing strength and loud voice of the homosexual and lesbian movement is a severe problem in the world of today. Supported by governments and with new equal opportunity laws, the constant suggestion is that this way of life is normal and all who do not indulge in these practices are somehow the abnormal ones. When the Bible is quoted to these people there are screams of anger and denial and that is because the teachings of the Bible are clear and unmistakable on this subject. Look at verses 28 to 32 and see especially the importance of verse 32. As you see Paul warns us against both homosexuality and lesbianism, showing that it was unbelief in God that caused men and women to adopt a style of life where lust itself was what they worshipped.
Leviticus chapter 18 carefully sets out God € s laws for his people Israel and included in this Law of Moses at verses 22 to 24 are the instructions that forbid any form of sexual perversion including homosexuality and bestiality. The point that we must remember from this reference is in verse 24. The nations who were living in the land of Canaan were doing these things and would therefore be severely punished by God.
It is essential for all who would be disciples of Jesus to remember always that sexual perversion is a terrible thing to God. The one example that is easy to remember is found in Genesis chapter 18 verse 20 and then chapter 19 verses 1 to 29. From that day onwards the name Sodomy was used for homosexuality and Sodom and Gomorrah were used to remind the Israelite people about severe judgement and to warn them against adopting the same unlawful way of life.
It has been necessary in this lesson to concentrate on the misuse of this great gift of sexuality. This is because it is one of the strongest motivating forces in our lives and can so easily be misused. The positive side of this subject is discussed in other lessons in this series, such as CHOOSING A PARTNER and FAMILY LIFE IN JESUS € SERVICE.