The Gospel and Sex

The Gospel confronts our views and practice of sex. If sex becomes our ultimate pursuit, then we will be severely disappointed. That is why those who are trusting in sex as life’s highest pleasure are often the most unhappy. When sex doesn’t come through for them, they have to have more, jumping from one relationship (or porn site) to the next.

Sex gets reduced to an appetite that we feed when we have urges. On the flip side, if sex is reduced to producing offspring, then we strip sex of its power to produce radical pleasure and oneness in the marriage bed. Both of these practices reduce sex to something far less than what it was intended to be.

The bible tells us very clearly that everyone who misuses the gift of sex will be judged. Those who engage in adultery, sex before marriage, pornography, rape, bestiality, voyeurism, incest, pedophilia, prostitution, and the like will not not inherit the Kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21). Included in this group are those who might not have acted out their sexual fantasies, but who have lusted in their heart (Matt. 5:27). Ephesians 5:3 reminds us that “...there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” Not even a hint.

But, listen very closely to the good news. Even though the way out of the Kingdom is sexual immorality, the way back in isn’t to clean up your sex life. In one of the most remarkable stories in all of the bible, the religious leaders drug a sexually immoral woman out in front of everyone to kill her as a punishment. Jesus stepped into the hostile situation, saved her from death, and told her that he didn’t condemn her (John 8). How did she get off the hook so easily? Because Jesus was on his way to die for her on the cross. Like the woman in the story, Jesus dies for us while we are in sexual sin, not after (Rom. 5:8).

Jesus was even bold enough to say that prostitutes who repent will enter the Kingdom of God before the hypocritical religious leaders (Matt. 21:28-32).

Even though sex is a great gift to the world, it is important to remember that Jesus lived a single life. This is something we shouldn’t overlook. As we look at the life of Jesus, we see that sex is not the highest end a person’s life. Sex is a signpost that points beyond itself. Psalm 16:11 says, “...in [God’s] presence there is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Through Jesus we can receive unceasing pleasure from God. And those who do experience this kind of pleasure will be freed from using sex in all the wrong ways.

Sex is a visible sign of two people becoming one flesh forever. It is a vulnerable, self-sacrificial act that communicates a heart of commitment to the other.

The cross is our visible sign that God sent Jesus to die for us so that we might be one with him forever. On the cross, Jesus became vulnerable and self-sacrificial to prove his commitment to his unfaithful bride, the church.

This content was taken from a gospel-centered bible study series that I'm working on called Gifts of God. To download the Sex study and others go to: http://t-zach.com/giftsofgod/

Are you an Epicurean or Stoic?

St. Paul, in his great Acts 17 address, walked the fine line speaking to two different audiences. Even though this address was a few thousand years ago, I think that many people in our culture fall into these two categories.

EPICUREANS

“The Epicureans, we recall, believed that the gods, if they existed, were very far away, and had more or less nothing to do with human beings. As a result, they were supremely happy… to live as quietly as possible with just the right amount of everything. The ideal life is independent, untroubled, unworried about larger questions, including that of one’s own destiny.” – N.T Wright (Acts for Everyone)

You might be an epicurean if your view of God is one who stands far off in the clouds, watching us from afar, occasionally pulling some levers to make sure that the world keeps going. If you lean this way, you might find yourself thinking a lot about comfort – staying away from messy relationships, thinking about the next apartment or house that you want to live in, or looking at magazines to find out what the next upcoming style is going to be. The goal, since God is far off and will probably send everyone to heaven someday, is too live a quiet life and be comfortable in material things.

STOICS

“The Stoic, by contrast, would be happy to hear that there is indeed a divine life which is in all human beings.” – N.T. Wright (Acts for Everyone)

You might be a stoic if you consider yourself spiritual. Stoics, as they looked at the beauty of the human race or of creation, did not ignore the impulse in their hearts that something divine exists. The problem is that because of their uncertainty, they worshiped lots of different idols – clinging onto whatever the latest spiritual fad was.

RESPONDING TO THE TWO GROUPS

To the Epicureans, Paul proclaimed that the God that they thought to be far away was right here, right now. In fact, God came down out of human history to be with them! No longer could they live a quiet life, minimizing God as a distant, isolated, unknowable Being.

To the Stoics, Paul proclaimed that their divine inclinations were true, but that there was one way, one truth – which God proved through the death and resurrection of Jesus. No longer did they have to go from spiritual idol to spiritual idol – from fad to fad. They could be clear on who to worship and who to follow. They could turn around, repent, and follow someone who could actually change their lives and equip them to change the world. They could remove their fuzzy spiritual life that sounded good on the outside but was hollow on the inside.

Which side do you lean on?

No means a Yes

I Just talked with a student on the campus of University of California-San Diego who asked me a good question.

“If I keep doing good without becoming a Christian, will I be all right?”

He explained to me that he didn’t want to get into any sort of organized religion – into a system where he would have to be hyper-committed and enter into a life of begrudged submission.

I don’t blame him for keeping God at a distance since his view of Christianity is one that would require him to leave his life of joy and freedom and enter into a no-fun monastic life.

Tonight, here at the coffee shop, I’m trying to get my head around the truth that when we say NO to something, we also say YES to something. The spiritual life, which looks like a life of many no's, is also a life of many yes’s.

When we say no to buying a bigger house than we need, we are saying yes to the opportunity of alleviating poverty in our city. When we say no to pornography, we are saying yes to a more fulfilling marriage with out spouse. When we say no to an hour of TV we can say yes to an hour of communing with the God of the Universe.

We give our no's to the lesser things and at the same time give our yes's to the greater things.

I suspect that if I were to share this with my friend at UCSD that he would roll his eyes at the offer. I mean, spending time with God, alleviating poverty, or stopping an addiction to pornography might sound like a no-fun deal.

That is because God's path is like vegetables. When you are a kid, eating vegetables sounds like a bitter deal. But, by the time that kid is 70 years old, he will will realize that the health-driven path that seemed bitter in the beginning turned out to be the better option.

God is calling you and me from a junk food life (devouring the things that give us temporary pleasure) and into a life of unmatchable joy in Him.