I didn’t write Chapter Six to add more rules about sex. Nor did I write it to throw out the Bible’s grand vision for it in place of a cheap, deeply flawed, knock-off imitation. Instead, I wrote it to ask this question: What is our sexuality actually for?
For many years, I have observed that the world effectively says, 'You're no-one unless you're having sex.' The church then, rather than counter with a bigger and better vision, simply overlaid on that, 'But sex belongs in marriage' and then drew the false conclusion, 'You're no-one unless you're married.' In one conversation when I was single I was pointedly told, 'Marriage is the norm,' to which the obvious conclusion was that I was therefore abnormal, and I wondered what on earth these people really made of Jesus.
I’ve been through a gamut of thoughts on sexuality. After overcoming decades of fallout from young childhood exposure to pornography, I’ve concluded that sex is for procreation, pleasure, and partnership, yes, but it’s also a mysterious foreshadowing of our surpassingly intimate communion with Christ in eternity.
Actually, it starts now: when we feed deeply on the Lord through prayer and the Word, there’s an otherworldliness where time stops and the satisfaction is unsurpassed. It seems strange to connect sex that way, but I think that’s the ultimate point. I can’t believe God would deny something so “essential” to half the population without having more in mind. All of our earthly lives foreshadow what’s to come.
A point never mentioned, because it requires supernatural help to live this way, is that we simply don't always get what we want. And this is as true for the married person with a good life as it is for anyone.
Yes, in my opinion marriage, and sex, can let you do some cool things. But even then there are disappointments, things you simply can't tolerate, and if, by the help of God, you do tolerate them everyone [and you] sees that God exists.
Yes, sex and marriage allow for some miracles. But they aren't their only source, or really even the source at all, just a great motivation to ask for them.
wondering if this chapter also addresses some ideas out there about sex mirroring the Christ-church relationship? (apparently guys like Christ are the ones "giving" and the women like the church are "receiving")
Gen Z and ongoing trend is people will have less sex and children. It is an epidemic. The root of the problem is still lust. In ancient times, most people fell into the category of not bathing and smelly. Sex was more about getting the job done. Yet, they were not better or worse than us in many matrices.
For many years, I have observed that the world effectively says, 'You're no-one unless you're having sex.' The church then, rather than counter with a bigger and better vision, simply overlaid on that, 'But sex belongs in marriage' and then drew the false conclusion, 'You're no-one unless you're married.' In one conversation when I was single I was pointedly told, 'Marriage is the norm,' to which the obvious conclusion was that I was therefore abnormal, and I wondered what on earth these people really made of Jesus.
I’ve been through a gamut of thoughts on sexuality. After overcoming decades of fallout from young childhood exposure to pornography, I’ve concluded that sex is for procreation, pleasure, and partnership, yes, but it’s also a mysterious foreshadowing of our surpassingly intimate communion with Christ in eternity.
Actually, it starts now: when we feed deeply on the Lord through prayer and the Word, there’s an otherworldliness where time stops and the satisfaction is unsurpassed. It seems strange to connect sex that way, but I think that’s the ultimate point. I can’t believe God would deny something so “essential” to half the population without having more in mind. All of our earthly lives foreshadow what’s to come.
A point never mentioned, because it requires supernatural help to live this way, is that we simply don't always get what we want. And this is as true for the married person with a good life as it is for anyone.
Yes, in my opinion marriage, and sex, can let you do some cool things. But even then there are disappointments, things you simply can't tolerate, and if, by the help of God, you do tolerate them everyone [and you] sees that God exists.
Yes, sex and marriage allow for some miracles. But they aren't their only source, or really even the source at all, just a great motivation to ask for them.
wondering if this chapter also addresses some ideas out there about sex mirroring the Christ-church relationship? (apparently guys like Christ are the ones "giving" and the women like the church are "receiving")
Gen Z and ongoing trend is people will have less sex and children. It is an epidemic. The root of the problem is still lust. In ancient times, most people fell into the category of not bathing and smelly. Sex was more about getting the job done. Yet, they were not better or worse than us in many matrices.