Starting this off I'd like to be candid and say I've really been debating whether or not to try and tackle this sermon series. Even as I'm typing this I'm debating whether or not I'll just leave this as a draft and not actually put it on the blog. Sitting in church on Sunday, I kept thinking "I'm not going to type this all out. This is the first post after Alliance; I'm not going to do this." However, Pastor Jim Garlow (who was giving the sermon) kept pointing out the importance of this topic. On the other hand, this is the internet, so I may have to edit out portions of the sermon - we'll have to see how "candid" this sermon turns out to be.
When it comes down to it, Pastor Garlow is right. This is an important topic. The world has utterly destroyed and defiled sexuality, while the religious world largely places it equal to a sin and act as if it is the painful downfall of being a human (something to never be spoken of). There will be four parts to this sermon series, for those wondering. This is more of a prelude of things to come in the next three weeks.
First, let's look at Genesis 1:26, which says:
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”(NIV)I honestly don't have much to say on this verse at the moment. The important thing to draw your attention to is the phrase "in our own image." Pastor Garlow claims there is something very important in that, and will take apart that phrase and analyze it in the coming weeks. I guess you'll just have to read the rest of this sermon series to find out (or better yet, come to Sky94).
Skipping ahead a little, the next point - which I will actually have something to say about this time - is found in Genesis 2:18, which reads:
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”Up until this point in the creation process God had created something and said, "That is good." However, when He created mankind, for the first time He said something was not good. As many of you know, He then created Eve. This suggests - I'd assert it more than suggests but plainly states - that man and woman are meant to be together.
Keeping this in mind, we'll skip to Genesis 2:24-25, and that passage goes like this:
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.At this point, God not only says that He created man to "become one flesh" (have sex), but that "they felt no shame." In pure innocence, Adam and Eve felt no shame. There is no shame in sex, so long as it follows God's rules. Sex is a gift from God. Pastor Garlow says that God wants humans to have maximum sexual fulfillment. He has put guidelines on sex, not to "ruin the fun," but so that each person can have this maximum sexual fulfillment. [Note from the author of this blog: If you think that's ridiculous and that God's just trying to keep something from you, think about this. Who created sex? God. Who created you? God. Who do you think knows best about how a person can have the best sexual experience possible? My money is on the One that created both. I'd say humans have proven well enough over the course of history that when you think you're smarter than God, you're wrong.] God has certainly laid out those guidelines clearly. Song of Solomon is basically a guide on sex. Anyway, in recap, there is no shame in sex when it's within the framework of God's plan.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (NIV)
The final scripture I'd like to draw your attention to is Genesis 4:1. It says:
Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” (NIV)
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” (NKJ)Other versions of this passage may use "made love to" or "slept with" or a similar phrase. However, the Hebrew word used there is "yadah." The New King James (and King James) versions come the closest by literally translating the word as "knew." "Yadah" means to know fully - physically, emotionally, psychologically, and sexually. God has created sex so that man and woman can fully know each other.
God said it was not good for man to be alone, so He created woman that the two might fully know each other. What a gift. Sex is a sacred thing from God. So what do you think Satan would love to tear apart? The sacredness of sex. This world has fallen right into the trap of the devil by terribly destroying the act of sex. To give you an idea, I'd like to present you with some statistics that Pastor Garlow ran through. As has been mentioned in this blog before (Alliance Part 2, I believe), there has been a great desensitization of our generation, so these statistic may be no more than numbers to you, but I'd like you to take a few moments and contemplate the magnitude of these number and picture the individuals they describe.
Currently in the United States, there are 100,000 women and children being trafficked for sex. The majority are girls between the ages of 9-19 and the average age is 11. 11! That's a fifth grader! Being sold for sex.
It's estimated that two million people have had sex with a stranger, because they've been kidnapped.
I don't know for sure, but I imagine when people get married the majority of them don't want their spouse to cheat on them. However, it's estimated that 60% of husbands and 40% of wives will have an affair at least once in the course of their marriage.
50% of first-time marriages end in divorce. And the percent only increases with successive marriages. On the other hand, it's estimated that only 1 in every 1000 Christian couples who read the Bible and pray daily will get a divorce.
These statistics only just touch the surface of the corruption of sex today. So why is this happening? Why has the sacred act of sex - of marriage - been torn apart so terribly.
It's estimated that approximately half of divorces can trace their cause to online pornography.
12% of websites on the internet are for porn.
This is an area that Christians fail in miserably. It's estimated that 47% of Christian homes have a problem with porn addiction (addiction being the key word there, because that's what it is).
That's just a small look at the big picture. In the next three weeks, Pastor Garlow will go over many of the ideas presented above and answer some question regarding sex and the Christian lifestyle. However, before I end this post, Pastor Garlow closed with this. It's important to remember that your sexual life and spiritual life are one in the same. They grow together. Your sex life is not something to be ashamed of (if done in the proper context), and intercourse was definitely not the original sin. Sex is not a sin at all. It's a gift - when done right.
That ends this preview of the sermon series to come. I'd encourage you to be at Sky94 (Skyline Church at 7PM on Sunday) for this series. The world has given us all so much misinformation - from the sexually distorted and obsessed media to the sex-phobic religious community - and it's important for everyone to understand God's two cents on this topic, because, as Pastor Garlow is fairly well known for saying, "Sex was God's idea, and next to salvation it was His best."
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