WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.800 school class. So this is the first week of new class. We are talking about gender and sexuality, 00:00:09.259 --> 00:00:17.440 looking at biblical visions and contemporary questions. So there's a handout. So if you, 00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:26.219 there's, Rita has some handouts if you didn't get one. So we'll be following along. So this 00:00:26.219 --> 00:00:31.539 class is going to go for the next couple of months. So I want to sort of just give you an 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:38.379 overview of where we're going and why we're doing this. I think in the last few decades, 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:44.980 sort of the prevailing consensus in our society has sort of shifted step by step away from 00:00:44.980 --> 00:00:51.340 traditional Christian understandings about gender, sexuality, and marriage. And you could see that in 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:57.880 a lot of different things, whether it's divorce or same-sex marriage or other things, sort of the 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:03.280 cultural consensus is sort of moving quickly away from what are usually considered traditional 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:10.480 Christian positions. And I think that this is an opportunity for us as Christians, not just to, 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:17.400 I think we can either tend to just sort of run along with the current of sort of the majority 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:23.080 view in our society, or we can tend to react by just saying, we just need to hold on to what was 00:01:23.080 --> 00:01:30.540 true 50 or 100 years ago and, you know, idealize the 1950s or something like that. And I think really 00:01:30.540 --> 00:01:36.320 what we should be doing is holding to and looking deeply into the scriptures, right? Because the 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:43.360 scriptures are our anchor. They're our guide. That's where God has shown himself to us and teaches us. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:55.819 And that's how we can sort of evaluate and discern the meaning of our lives and the meaning of these 00:01:55.819 --> 00:01:59.960 things. So we're going to consider gender and sexuality in light of the biblical story. And, 00:02:00.039 --> 00:02:06.840 you know, if you think about what's the Bible all about, you can sort of summarize it as creation, 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:14.700 fall, redemption, and glory, right? Creation, God made us, God made the world, it was good, 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.360 and then sin entered the world, right? We've been looking at this in the beginning of Genesis, 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:28.080 and you see the effects of sin played out in numerous ways, right? Throughout the Bible and 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:34.319 in human history. But then Jesus has come to redeem us, to restore God's original intended creation, 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:44.620 and to make us new, to sort of put back together, to heal what was broken. And then our hope is that 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:50.919 we will one day be glorified with him and see him face to face, and everything will be made 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:55.479 completely new, right? And now we're sort of in this in-between, right? We live, we still live in a 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.879 fallen world, but we want to be leaning into the redemption that Jesus has come to bring us. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:07.840 So, so really what I want to do in this class is over the course of the next, I think it's about 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:14.979 nine or ten weeks, is really to tell a story that I think makes sense of our bodies and gender and 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:20.500 sexuality in light of the biblical story. And I think it's a really compelling story. I think it's a 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:26.719 beautiful story. I think that's what the Bible gives us. And, and I think that, that sometimes, 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:33.719 sometimes that's, that's just missed. So if you look at the outline of the class schedule, 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:40.319 today we're basically talking about creation and fall, right? That we're created and fallen, 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:45.460 beautiful and broken. And we'll talk about our bodies and gender being male and female, 00:03:45.579 --> 00:03:51.979 and sexuality, the fact that we are, we are our sexual beings and, and, and, and God made us that way, 00:03:51.979 --> 00:03:57.000 and how those things are both beautiful and also broke, beautiful because of God's creation and 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:02.099 broken because of sin. The next two weeks we're going to be looking at, there's sort of two paths 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:07.780 that the Bible, particularly the New Testament outlines for the redemption that are sort of 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:12.479 connected to the shape of God's overall redemption in the world, but two paths of redeemed 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:23.060 sexuality or marriage in, sexuality in particular. So one is faithfulness in marriage. And so that'll 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:27.339 be next week, we'll look at what is marriage, sort of a big picture of marriage in the Bible. 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:33.879 You know, what's, what's the biblical vision of marriage, right? Because that's, that's one of 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:39.360 the things that the Bible commends as a good thing and a good gift of God. But the, the second part, 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:45.639 which we'll look at on in two more weeks is about Christian singleness and particularly how this 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:50.480 is a unique thing in the New Testament. We don't really see this in the Old Testament. We'll look 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:55.939 at why it's not really in the Old Testament, but there's sort of a redemptive path of Christian 00:04:55.939 --> 00:05:03.199 singleness in the New Testament and, and how that bears witness to the sufficiency of Jesus Christ 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:10.139 in a particular way. So these are both sort of paths that God commends, right? That God says, 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:15.699 you know, as the redeemed people of Jesus Christ, these are ways that you can give glory to God in 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:24.680 your body through faithfulness in marriage or through celibacy and singleness. And those might be, 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:30.019 you know, those might be things that, that are experienced in different parts of life. Some people 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:34.219 will be in that state for all, you know, in, in, uh, some people will be single for their whole 00:05:34.219 --> 00:05:37.139 lives. Some people will be married until they die. Some people will be married and then widowed, 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:43.740 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, um, anyway, so then we're going to go on and sort of look at 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:48.519 some of the particular challenges of living in a fallen world and some of the particular challenges 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:54.939 and questions that are, uh, sort of facing us in our church and in, uh, sort of the broader culture 00:05:54.939 --> 00:06:01.500 today. So we'll look at homosexuality. Uh, does the Bible really mean what it says? And then, 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:06.740 or what if I'm a Christian and I only feel attracted to people of the same sex? Like, 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:13.339 is, is there a redemptive path for me? Uh, what does that look like? Um, and then we'll look at, 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.480 uh, we'll sort of think about how do we relate to our neighbors outside the church? People who don't 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:24.159 share Christian assumptions or convictions. Um, and you know, what does it mean to love our neighbor? 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:31.640 Uh, and be sort of faithful to God in that. Um, and then I think there we'll also talk about 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:35.920 addressing gender and sexuality with children and youth and Christian families, which I think is an 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:42.060 important topic to talk about, um, whether you're a parent or not. Um, I think that's, that's, 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:51.720 I want to put that in here. Uh, then we will look at, um, sort of, this is like the, the, you know, 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:57.520 I taught this, taught a version of this class. I've reorganized it, um, three or four years ago. 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:03.240 And, uh, I taught a session on, on transgender and I asked people to raise their hand if they'd 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:07.180 ever heard any teaching in the church about transgender at all. And there were about 40 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:11.660 people in the class, nobody raised their hand. Um, and I think in the last four years, right? 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:16.640 Like it's all over the news, right? People transitioning, um, right? Many people have, 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:21.060 many of us have loved ones who, uh, have, you know, are biologically male, but now identify 00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:26.180 as female, et cetera, et cetera. So how do we, you know, how do we understand these things? Um, 00:07:26.419 --> 00:07:35.819 and, uh, as well as, as gender dysphoria and, uh, what, what, what is, you know, how do we navigate, 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:45.180 um, these, um, matters as Christians and relate to people? Um, uh, let's see, November 17, 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:48.360 we're, uh, we're having a visiting missionary presentations. That's going to be sort of a 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:54.959 break from this class. Uh, and then I, um, want to look at two other issues, uh, that are related 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.600 to this overall topic of gender and sexuality. I want to take one week and look at pornography. 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:04.840 Um, pornography is a pervasive problem in our society and in the church, and, uh, we don't 00:08:04.840 --> 00:08:10.579 always talk much about it. So, uh, I want to look at that and about sort of a path to redemption, 00:08:10.579 --> 00:08:16.180 uh, sort of why, why that is such a problem and, and sort of what is God's path to redemption, 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:22.439 uh, uh, from that. And then I want to take a week and look at sexual abuse and sexual assault, 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:29.860 um, and sort of what the Bible has to say about that. So we're looking at our topics, um, and, uh, 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:35.699 but, you know, the Bible, the Bible speaks to these things and, you know, the Bible, um, 00:08:35.700 --> 00:08:40.500 has wisdom for us. And then we'll end with looking at sort of our hope of glory, right? 00:08:40.520 --> 00:08:44.080 Where we're going in the end. That's our ultimate hope. And we'll, you'll, we'll, I'll, we're going 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:48.780 to sprinkle that in throughout, right? Because isn't that how we make it through life in a fallen 00:08:48.780 --> 00:08:54.620 world is we look forward to what Jesus has promised and we start to experience sort of like sprinkles 00:08:54.620 --> 00:09:01.680 of that in the present, right? That's what we hope and long for. So, uh, so I hope you see like 00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:05.280 there's a flow to this class. There's a story that we're, there's an overarching story 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:10.360 and really the question is how do we live into this story as, as Christian believers and how 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:16.139 does that help us navigate, um, some of the particular questions in our world today? So, 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:23.559 um, I've listed a lot of books as you may have noticed with different topics. So these are, 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:29.980 um, uh, I've read all these books. I don't recommend, I don't usually recommend books that I haven't read. 00:09:30.139 --> 00:09:33.919 So, um, if you read one of them and you want to dialogue about them, I'd be happy to. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:41.519 Um, I think they, uh, uh, if you don't want to read a book, but are like, is there some shorter 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:46.819 stuff like an article that I can read? Talk to me. Um, I'll be sort of trying to throw in some 00:09:46.819 --> 00:09:51.439 articles along the way, but, uh, you know, some of these things sort of, we, it's helpful to, 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:56.439 to read something from somebody who's thought more deeply and sort of walked with people in, 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:02.179 in some of these ways. So, um, so these are some, uh, books that I would recommend, uh, that I think are 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:10.339 insightful on these topics. Um, there are others as well. Um, all right. So that's the overview of 00:10:10.339 --> 00:10:15.679 where we're going. Uh, let me pray for us before we jump into our session this morning. 00:10:17.859 --> 00:10:24.479 Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us in your word. Thank you for, um, showing yourself as 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:30.920 our creator and as, um, our redeemer. Lord, thank you for, for the hope that we have through Jesus 00:10:30.920 --> 00:10:38.300 Christ that whatever our, um, experience of, of our sin and fallenness of the world may be, 00:10:38.379 --> 00:10:42.779 we thank you that there's hope for us because of Jesus Christ, our redeemer. And, uh, we pray that 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:49.299 you would help us as believers, um, help us to be shaped by your word, uh, and shaped by your 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:56.100 character, uh, in the way that we think about, uh, our own gender and sexuality and the way that we 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:00.159 relate to other people within the church, uh, who are facing different struggles and challenges. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.500 And in the way that we relate to our neighbors outside the church who may not, uh, who may not 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:11.000 understand the story at all, uh, who may be living in a totally different story. Um, uh, but we pray that 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:16.100 we would be able to commend the hope that is within us to, to, um, to share the hope that we have found 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:24.299 in Christ and the beauty of, um, uh, your, of, of your, uh, creation as, and the beauty of your, 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:31.279 uh, forgiveness and redemption that you have given to us in Jesus Christ. Um, so we pray you guide us 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.860 by your spirit and give us wisdom through this time together in Jesus name. Amen. All right. 00:11:36.860 --> 00:11:43.700 So the topic of this morning is beautiful and broken. Why bodies, gender, and sexuality are 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:49.560 good gifts from God and why nothing's quite the way it's supposed to be anymore. So this is sort of 00:11:49.560 --> 00:11:54.200 big picture. We're going to start big picture. Um, but I want to start by sort of asking this 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:59.580 question, you know, does what, what, what is, why do we have bodies in the first place? Right? 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:04.440 What does the Bible say about that? How does that connect to our identity? Um, one Christian writer 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.900 says God created us with bodies. That is how we begin to know that he cares how we order 00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:14.540 our sexual lives. God created us with bodies. God himself incarnated in a human body. Uh, 00:12:14.540 --> 00:12:18.320 Jesus was raised again from the dead with a body. And one day we too will be resurrected 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:24.640 with our bodies. Now, you know, that's a, that's, that's a quote from a modern Christian writer, 00:12:24.640 --> 00:12:30.020 but in the ancient world, uh, the high regard with which Christians regarded the body was very, 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:36.899 was quite unusual. Um, and, and particularly how Christianity sort of had a high degree of honor 00:12:36.899 --> 00:12:43.439 for the human body, um, and, and also called for a high level of bodily discipline and self-sacrifice. 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:49.980 Um, and, and that, the mix of those two things was pretty unusual in the ancient world. So here are 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:54.039 three sort of common attitudes toward the body that were reflected by different groups of people in the 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:59.720 ancient world. So some people saw the human body as dirty or evil or inferior. 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:05.819 Uh, these were the Gnostics and the Gnostics, uh, there were a variety of Gnostics, but they all 00:13:05.819 --> 00:13:12.639 basically believe that God made the spiritual world and then a lesser or inferior God created 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.199 the material world. Sometimes they thought it was a demon who created the material world. 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:24.120 Um, and so they saw the body as a prison and our goal is to escape. So salvation for these Gnostics 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:32.220 was escaping from our bodies and escaping into the spirit, the pure spiritual realm. And so that was 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:38.060 sort of the hope that they offered to people. And interestingly, this attitude toward the body sort 00:13:38.060 --> 00:13:43.639 of went two directions. Um, if you've come in, by the way, there's some handouts. I think they're, 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:48.360 uh, raise your hand if you don't have a handout and, um, uh, we can get one to you. Uh, there's 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:54.740 handouts over on that table. Um, anyway, so the Gnostics sort of went two ways. So some Gnostics 00:13:54.740 --> 00:14:01.519 were extreme ascetics. That means they were very harsh. So they fasted, uh, you know, for long and 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:07.120 extreme periods of time. They, um, you know, uh, there were some communities where nobody would get 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:12.860 married and nobody would have sex. And, and that was sort of the way they would live, um, as sort of, 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:20.620 uh, trying to sort of discipline, uh, in the body and reject bodily desires. Other Gnostics went the 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:24.840 opposite way. They were basically like, well, what we're really trying to do is get to the spiritual 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:29.039 world. The body's dirty and inferior, so it doesn't really matter what you do with it anyway. 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:37.220 Right? What the heck? Just go for it. And so some of those went the opposite way, right? And it was 00:14:37.220 --> 00:14:45.660 anything goes. Um, and, and I think that's interesting because I think when, uh, particularly 00:14:45.660 --> 00:14:51.340 when, you know, uh, most, uh, many people today are would, very few people today would call themselves 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:57.160 Gnostics, right? But I think many people today wrestle with a lot of shame, a lot of, a feeling 00:14:57.160 --> 00:15:06.040 that their body is dirty or contaminated or inferior, especially if you've been, especially for people 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:13.059 who've been wronged, um, who've experienced some kind of abuse, uh, bodily. And, and again, I think 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:19.500 sometimes that can go two ways. It can go either towards a very harsh strictness, um, in trying to 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:29.319 sort of be in control of your, the, your body, um, or it can go towards, I'm such a, it doesn't matter 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:38.820 what the heck, let it go. Right? Um, so I think we can, can see those sort of two ways, um, uh, that 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:46.640 even today, uh, second view, um, so other, uh, other people in the ancient world said the body is 00:15:46.640 --> 00:15:53.000 non-essential. So Plato and the Stoics were sort of philosophical groups that, that basically went 00:15:53.000 --> 00:16:00.720 this way. Um, so they said the soul, uh, and your body are sort of, your soul is like your captain 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:07.139 and your body is the ship. Right? Uh, and so you are your soul. You are not your body. Your body is 00:16:07.139 --> 00:16:13.899 basically just temporary. Um, so, uh, I remember somebody saying to me a while ago, yeah, the body's 00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:21.440 just a can, right? And it's going to be thrown in the trash one day. Um, and that's sort of a, you know, 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:26.640 that's sort of a modern, like, that's a street version of, you know, Platonism, Stoicism is 00:16:26.640 --> 00:16:33.820 probably just a can, just, you know, you dump it out and, uh, you, whatever's in there is important. 00:16:34.040 --> 00:16:41.580 The soul's in there. Um, but, but, you know, just toss it. Um, so this view, uh, sort of tends to 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:46.000 emphasize the importance of spiritual things over material things, or sometimes rational thought 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:53.340 over emotions and instincts. So sometimes there's sort of a high emphasis on rational thinking and 00:16:53.340 --> 00:17:02.259 debating, um, and a sort of distrust of anything that's intuitive or, uh, affective, um, and tends 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:08.380 to emphasize the difference between the body and the soul. Uh, so it's not so much a view that they're 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:15.619 deeply interconnected, but it's more that they're separate. Um, and we really need to lean into the 00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:22.739 spiritual aspect. Um, and I think there are, again, you know, there's not many people today 00:17:22.739 --> 00:17:27.379 who would call themselves Platonists or Stoics, but I think some people sort of live this out. I 00:17:27.379 --> 00:17:33.179 think sometimes it gets into, uh, some, uh, Christian churches. Um, you sort of hear that, 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:37.839 this kind of language, uh, you sort of distrust your body, but trust your, you know, lean into the soul 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:43.339 and spiritual things, right? And there's sort of this, like, spiritual material, like, dichotomy, 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:51.359 um, separation that's, that's emphasized. Um, now the third view sort of goes the other way. 00:17:51.439 --> 00:17:56.259 The third view in the ancient world was the Epicureans. So they were another Greek philosophical 00:17:56.259 --> 00:18:03.439 group, and they said the body is all there is. They were materialists, um, in the sense that there's 00:18:03.439 --> 00:18:08.839 no God, there's no spiritual world, uh, there's no soul distinct from the body, there's no life after 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:16.419 death. You, your body is all you've got. And so they said the goal is bodily pleasure, or they, 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:21.759 they actually didn't use pleasure so much as they talked about tranquility, right? Finding peace. 00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:27.539 So, you know, the Epic, it's not right to say that the Epicureans were just crazy hedonists who were 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:33.740 going out and just doing all these kinds of crazy things to achieve pleasure. Some of them were pretty, 00:18:33.879 --> 00:18:38.199 were more pragmatic. They're like, you know what? If you eat everything that you want to, 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:43.960 you're going to feel sick, right? If you are a glutton, you're, you're, you're not going to feel 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:50.340 good. So it's better to sort of enjoy pleasure in moderation, but the goal is bodily pleasure, 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:57.180 right? So, um, all right, how, how do you see this today? Uh, you know, maybe some version. So, 00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:05.019 um, a couple of years ago, I was walking by Elm City Market and they had some advertisement in the 00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:11.420 front window that said something like, you know, food for the body, mind, and spirit or something 00:19:11.420 --> 00:19:17.519 like that, right? Um, well, that's not quite the body's all there is. That's more of like a mix of 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:22.099 views two and three, but, but there's right. There's some of this that's sort of like, uh, 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:28.919 your body is your friend, but, but your body, your body is, is, is all, is sort of what you're living 00:19:28.919 --> 00:19:34.359 for, right? And that's, that's, that's, that's every, everything is sort of wrapped up in that. 00:19:34.679 --> 00:19:42.000 Um, so, uh, so I think we see these three views, even if people have forgotten the ancient philosophers 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.019 associated with them, right? Ecclesiastes says there's nothing new under the sun, right? These sort 00:19:46.019 --> 00:19:51.680 of views come up and recur in the modern world. And I think some people will sort of mix parts of 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:58.559 these views together. We don't always have coherent, um, you know, most, we often live in 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:06.799 self-contradictions. Um, but I think these are three common views of the body. None of these are 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:12.639 the Christian view. And the Christian view is actually distinct from all of these. So what is a 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:18.240 biblical Christian understanding of, uh, the body, gender, and sexuality? Well, uh, I think we can 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.000 start from the beginning. God made us with bodies and called them good. So we've been looking at this 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.740 in Genesis one. So I won't sort of repeat what we've heard in the sermons last couple of weeks, but 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:31.640 just a brief overview, God orders and fills the world to display his sovereignty and glory. 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:39.120 And God called our bodies good, right? Um, you know, we don't see, uh, you know, there, there were some 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:47.579 ancient philosophers who thought that our souls existed sort of from eternity past or from a long 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:52.699 time before the physical world, and then they were dropped into human bodies. Um, so, you know, 00:20:52.719 --> 00:20:58.479 the Christian philosopher origin sort of speculated about this. He was too influenced by some Greek 00:20:58.479 --> 00:21:04.239 philosophers that he really liked. Um, that is not a biblical idea, right? We don't see that idea 00:21:04.239 --> 00:21:08.879 anywhere in the Bible, right? God doesn't sort of create a whole bunch of souls up in the heavenlies and 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:15.140 then drop them into bodies and then they have to endure those bodies temporarily. Um, no, right? 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:21.960 What we see in Genesis one is God makes the physical world and he calls it good. And he puts human 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:30.620 beings there as his image bearers. Um, and Genesis two, right? God breathes the breath of life into, 00:21:31.320 --> 00:21:36.520 um, he takes, uh, let's see, uh, the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathes into 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:41.519 his nostrils, the breath of life. Uh, right? So there you have a picture of, uh, you might call it 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:47.700 body and soul. Um, but it emphasizes the interconnection, right? We're made from the dust of the, 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:54.240 we're made from just the same stuff as animals and plants, right? Same bodily material. And yet God 00:21:54.240 --> 00:22:00.660 has breathed the breath of life into us. He has put his image upon us, stamped his image upon us. Um, 00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:07.440 and so, so the Bible emphasizes, so the Bible teaches that we have body and soul, uh, but it, 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:13.700 it emphasizes the interconnectedness of them. It emphasizes that we were meant to, to live as 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:22.640 interconnected body, soul beings. Um, uh, and that makes us unique in God's creation, right? Angels, 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.640 uh, don't have physical bodies. Sometimes they will appear with physical bodies in the Bible, 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:35.040 uh, but those are only sort of temporary, um, appearances. Uh, you know, on the other hand, 00:22:35.320 --> 00:22:42.860 animals or plants, uh, are, are at their very nature physical, right? They're not destined for 00:22:42.860 --> 00:22:50.440 eternal life as, as human beings were. Uh, they were never created to be immortal. And so as human 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:57.420 beings, we sort of occupy this unique place in God's creation as body, body, soul creatures. Um, 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:05.540 uh, one quote, uh, is, uh, I put on here as man can neither be understood nor explained in his full 00:23:05.540 --> 00:23:11.180 depth with the categories taken from the world, from the visible totality of bodies, right? So we, 00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:17.640 so we don't fully understand human beings just by talking about ourselves, um, in the same categories 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:25.420 as animals, plants, dirt, rocks, um, and everything else on earth. Um, right? So, you know, the, the, 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:30.300 for example, the biological sciences give us a lot of, a lot of insight into how our bodies work, 00:23:30.300 --> 00:23:36.500 but they don't tell us why our bodies work, right? They don't tell us, you know, what we were made for. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:44.620 Do we have a purpose, right? So, so there's these bigger questions, um, that we have to ask, uh, to do 00:23:44.620 --> 00:23:51.259 justice to our, our, our, um, our human identity. Uh, but then he goes on and says, nevertheless, 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:58.519 man too is a body. That's an interesting statement. Um, but I think it's right, uh, that the body is 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:04.299 part of who we are. Um, it's not all of who we are, right? One day our physical bodies will die, 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:10.400 right? And Christian hope is that, uh, you know, our, at, at, at the time of death, our soul will go 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:17.200 to be with the Lord, but we await the resurrection of the body, right? Um, when our, our soul will be 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:23.160 clothed with a new body, right? With a resurrected body. That's the hope that we have as Christians 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:31.240 for eternity. Um, so, so I think our bodies have great dignity and value to God and they're part 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:38.940 of who we are, um, at a deep level. Uh, second thing we see is from the beginning, God made us 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:45.460 as gendered beings. What I mean by that is he made us as male and female. And, uh, Genesis one points that 00:24:45.460 --> 00:24:52.200 out in the image of God, he created him male and female, he created them. Now Genesis, uh, now that's, 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:56.779 it's interesting because that's the only time in Genesis one that it talks about male and female. 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:03.480 Now the author of Genesis knows that many animals come in male and female pairs, right? So he talks 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:10.180 about it later when the animals go into Noah's Ark, right? Male and female pairs. Um, but in the creation 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:15.120 story, the male female pairing is only specifically noted in relation to human beings. 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:21.600 Uh, so the animals are created according to their kinds, but it doesn't say human beings 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:27.579 are created according to their kinds. There's not many kinds of human beings. There's one 00:25:27.579 --> 00:25:36.519 kind of human being, right? Someone who fully bears the image of God. Um, uh, so, you know, 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:42.160 Genesis is, is, is clear that all human beings sort of are of the same kind ultimate and at the 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:48.180 deepest level. But, uh, what distinguishes us in the creation account is being made male and female. 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:54.380 Now I think, and I'm going to leave this as a hypothesis. I'm not going to say this must be 00:25:54.380 --> 00:26:01.940 true, but I think, um, that this indicates that our being male and female is more at the core of our 00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:11.360 human identity than other, uh, characteristics that we have. So I think that the Bible is indicating that 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:19.559 our maleness and femaleness is closer to the core of who we are than our race or ethnicity or our, 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:28.599 uh, class or social status, um, or our national origin, right? Now all of those things are part of 00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:34.099 who we are. Uh, some of those change over, can change over time like our class or social status, 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:39.919 right? That can change based on all kinds of, of things, uh, or the nation we live in can change. 00:26:40.439 --> 00:26:47.319 Um, uh, now our, our, our race or ethnicity won't change throughout our life. Although our understanding 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:52.899 of that might change, you might realize that you have an ancestor that you didn't know, right? And 00:26:52.899 --> 00:26:58.419 sort of you realize, oh, like my heritage includes, you know, this ancestor from somewhere else, 00:26:58.419 --> 00:27:02.659 from some different part. I've got some roots in some other part of the world that I never realized. 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:09.680 Um, and so all of these are, are part of who we are. And I think all of those are parts of us that 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:16.779 God, uh, can redeem and, and, uh, that, that are, uh, important to God. But I think Genesis indicates 00:27:16.779 --> 00:27:24.740 that, that our, our gender is, is even more, is even deeper at the core of who we are. Um, uh, and I think 00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:30.660 the New Testament indicates that as well, uh, because of how the New Testament sort of reaffirms the male and 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:37.500 female distinctions, uh, but sort of, um, moves towards relativizing some of the sort of national 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:43.940 distinctions between Jews and Gentiles and things like that. Um, anyway, so I'm going to suggest that, 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:52.600 uh, you don't have to go with me on that, but I, I think that's, that's an implication. Um, uh, so, 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:59.299 um, so God created us as gendered beings, male and female. Uh, we looked at Genesis two last week. 00:27:59.939 --> 00:28:05.500 Um, God also created us as sexual beings in the sense that that's right. That's how human beings 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:12.139 reproduce, um, uh, among other things. God could, right. There are other species that do not reproduce 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:20.320 through sexual union, uh, of a male and female. Um, but God made human beings, uh, uh, with that 00:28:20.320 --> 00:28:26.240 capacity. Um, and in Genesis one, God blessed, uh, the human race, commanded them be fruitful and multiply. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:32.200 How do we fulfill that command? Well, through sexual reproduction, right? So this is part of God's 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:37.840 creation. There's a goodness to it. And we even see in Genesis two, uh, the man and his wife naked and 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:44.699 unashamed. So there's this picture of, uh, complete security and complete vulnerability in the marriage, 00:28:44.699 --> 00:28:56.279 uh, context. Um, uh, uh, yes. So, so from the standpoint of creation, Bible has a high honoring 00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:01.679 view of human bodies of gender and sexuality as a part of God's beautiful design for his image bearers. 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:06.720 However, that's only the first part of the biblical story. That's a very important part and a foundational 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:13.019 part of the biblical story. But the second part of the biblical story is that we are also corrupted by 00:29:13.019 --> 00:29:21.720 sin. And in our present experience, nothing is quite the way it's supposed to be, including our bodies, 00:29:22.120 --> 00:29:30.740 our gender, and our sexuality. Um, so we see this all over throughout the Bible. So Genesis, 00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:40.240 we see the consequences of sin include bodily, uh, consequences, um, shame connected to nakedness, 00:29:40.339 --> 00:29:46.480 pain and childbearing, pain and frustration and working, uh, the ground, bodily death. Um, 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:51.880 the rest of the Bible see every aspect of human nature and experience has been corrupted by sin. 00:29:51.940 --> 00:29:59.099 So there's no part of us that's completely free from the effects of sin. So that means our minds 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:07.240 are darkened, right? We don't think clearly. We don't always reason well. Um, sometimes we 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:12.519 reason from the premise to the conclusion, but we have the wrong assumption. So when we start with 00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:17.539 the wrong assumption, we get to the wrong conclusion, right? Sometimes we misperceive things. 00:30:17.919 --> 00:30:22.000 Sometimes we misperceive other people's intentions. Sometimes we misperceive ourselves, 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:28.419 right? Sometimes we see ourselves in a way that is very different and contrary to the way God sees us. 00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:36.659 Sometimes we attach ourselves to, um, uh, to aspects of ourselves that are part of our brokenness 00:30:36.659 --> 00:30:43.619 instead of part of the beauty that God has made us with. Um, so everything is not as bad as it 00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:49.859 possibly could be. God restrains lots of evil in the world, um, and, and sort of sustains and provides 00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:57.480 for us. But, you know, there's nothing, there's no part of us that is completely unaffected by sin. 00:30:57.480 --> 00:31:04.819 Um, so I've listed several things, our bodies, our minds, our desires, uh, deceitful desires, 00:31:04.940 --> 00:31:10.860 Ephesians talks about, um, our identities become idolatrous. So many idolatries come from fixing, 00:31:11.120 --> 00:31:17.160 fixating on one part of God's good creation that's nevertheless twisted by the fall and looking 00:31:17.160 --> 00:31:24.380 for our hope and salvation and redemption from that created thing. So if you just look at the book 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:31.580 of Genesis, there's lots of examples of this. So the citizens of Babel, um, they idolize their, 00:31:31.580 --> 00:31:38.420 uh, their city, their nation. Um, they think that they have the power to build a tower to heaven, 00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:46.820 um, and to rule the entire earth, right? Um, and so there's sort of idolatry of national identity, 00:31:46.819 --> 00:31:53.819 right? Uh, then Leah idolizes being loved by her husband, right? The names of her first three 00:31:53.819 --> 00:31:59.539 children are, are connected to her desire for her husband who doesn't really love her to love her, 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:07.919 right? She's constantly longing to be loved. Uh, and then Rachel, who is Jacob's other wife, 00:32:07.919 --> 00:32:13.579 right? This is, again, Genesis shows us all kinds of problems from the beginning, including polygamy. 00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:19.859 Um, Rachel idolizes having children. She goes to, uh, Jacob and she says, give me children or I'll die. 00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:28.519 Interesting. Sometimes our idolatries make us want to kill each other or die ourselves 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:34.299 because we feel like we can't get what we want and we need it, right? So all these things are good 00:32:34.299 --> 00:32:38.939 things. That's the thing, right? Children are a good thing. Being loved by your spouse is a good thing. 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:45.559 Uh, uh, uh, uh, your national identity is a good thing. But when those become the most important 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:51.680 thing, when those become the thing that makes or breaks your life, then that thing has come to 00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:57.880 replace God and become an idol. And that's what we see throughout the Bible is human beings are prone 00:32:57.880 --> 00:33:08.260 to idolize all kinds of things. Idolize ourselves, idolize another person, idolize our nation, idolize children, 00:33:08.780 --> 00:33:17.960 idolize your parents, idolize whoever. Right. Right. Jesus has come to free us from idols. 00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:26.940 Um, we also experience all sorts of unwanted afflictions. You know, by definition, most afflictions 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:34.059 are unwanted, right? How many of us have asked for the troubles that we are currently going through 00:33:34.059 --> 00:33:42.539 in our life? Right. That's just the reality of living in a fallen world. We have all kinds of 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:48.619 unwanted burdens and afflictions. And sometimes we know where they came from and sometimes we don't 00:33:48.619 --> 00:33:56.299 know where they came from. So our experience of our gender, our bodies, our gender, and our sexuality 00:33:56.299 --> 00:34:03.819 must also be affected by the fall. Right. And in a whole variety of ways. Um, 00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:11.099 and you see that beginning in Genesis, um, and throughout the rest of the Bible, different 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:18.819 examples of that. So stepping back, uh, some implications so far, uh, three implications. 00:34:18.819 --> 00:34:24.639 And then I want to open it up for some questions or comments. Uh, so first I think we need to hold 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:30.059 these two truths together. We're created by God and we're corrupted by sin. Because if we emphasize 00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:35.400 only the first part, we're made by God, then what we're going to be prone to do is identify 00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:39.960 everything that we presently experience as something good that God has created. 00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:47.279 Right. So, um, uh, there's, there's a church that I drive by on my way into New Haven. And for the last 00:34:47.279 --> 00:34:53.920 month, it had a sign that said, love is love. God loves you. And it was sort of clear what the 00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:59.599 implications of that was. Right. Uh, in other words, God made you just the way you are. So everything 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:06.819 that you feel, uh, about yourself, uh, the only proper response is total affirmation and celebration 00:35:06.819 --> 00:35:13.380 and self-expression. Now the problem with that view, it does is it really doesn't leave any place 00:35:13.380 --> 00:35:19.219 for self-criticism or questioning. And I think, you know, most of us, if we're honest with ourselves, 00:35:19.219 --> 00:35:26.880 we realize there are some parts of ourselves that we, that aren't all right, that aren't only to be 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:33.340 celebrated. Right. Uh, it doesn't, this, that sort of saying like everything I experienced now must be 00:35:33.340 --> 00:35:39.420 a reflection of God's creative design. Well, that's, that's part of the story, but it's not all of the 00:35:39.420 --> 00:35:45.039 story. On the other hand, uh, sometimes we can emphasize only the second truth. We're corrupted by 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:54.079 sin. We're totally depraved. And if we only see that part, we can be prone to fall into hating 00:35:54.079 --> 00:36:01.460 ourselves and despairing. And self-hatred is not the path to atonement and redemption in the Bible. 00:36:02.900 --> 00:36:10.420 Um, you know, this, this would be, I'm so wretched and so messed up that God could never want me and 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:18.299 he could never find anything useful to do with me. And that's not true either. Right. Both of these, 00:36:18.300 --> 00:36:24.300 if you take one of these, one half of this view and ignore the other created by God, corrupted by sin, 00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:29.420 you end up in a place that's psychologically unhealthy and theologically out of balance, 00:36:29.560 --> 00:36:36.140 out of whack. Uh, so the Bible always holds these truths together that were made by God. 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:42.420 And so there's something beautiful about us, about each one of us. And we're corrupted by sin 00:36:42.420 --> 00:36:48.980 that every part of us, nothing, no part of us is free from the effects of the fall. We need God's help 00:36:48.980 --> 00:36:58.300 and wisdom, uh, to, to heal and restore us. Uh, Pascal, uh, that he was a mathematician and philosopher 00:36:58.300 --> 00:37:05.800 in the 17th century. He, he put this in a memorable way. Uh, he wrote, what sort of freak then is man? 00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:12.900 How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious, how smart and 00:37:12.900 --> 00:37:20.320 intelligent judge of all things, feeble earthworm repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, 00:37:20.640 --> 00:37:29.380 glory and garbage of the universe. He says, man's greatness and wretchedness are so evident that the 00:37:29.380 --> 00:37:35.360 true religion must necessarily teach us that there is in man, some great principle of greatness and some 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:41.200 great principle of wretchedness. That's what the Bible teaches. There's a great principle of greatness. 00:37:41.200 --> 00:37:45.120 We're made in God's image and there's a great principle of wretchedness. We're corrupted by sin. 00:37:47.019 --> 00:37:52.920 Second, uh, these two truths apply to all human beings without any exceptions. Well, with the sole 00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:58.099 exception of Jesus, who's not corrupted by sin. So in every human being, there's beauty 00:37:58.099 --> 00:38:04.420 beauty. And, uh, that reflects that person's status as a, as an image bearer of God. 00:38:05.819 --> 00:38:10.500 And let me challenge us. Do we take time to recognize this beauty, even in the people who 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:13.119 are hardest for us to love and appreciate? 00:38:15.759 --> 00:38:22.639 Do we take time to recognize, uh, the beauty that they are made in God's image and how do, how they 00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:29.500 specifically reflect that? Even if there's all kinds of aspects of their life that might be, 00:38:29.739 --> 00:38:33.400 even if they've wronged you, even if, even if there's all kinds of aspects of their life that 00:38:33.400 --> 00:38:40.759 are out of whack with God's design and purposes, we can, there's, there's still a very important 00:38:40.759 --> 00:38:45.400 truth that every person is made in the image of God. And that's how we need to see them and treat 00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:50.539 them. But second, in every human being, there's brokenness. That's ultimately a result of sin, 00:38:50.539 --> 00:38:54.800 not necessarily a result of their own particular sin. Cause sometimes we inherit all kinds of 00:38:54.800 --> 00:39:01.840 brokenness and we receive, you know, other, it's a, uh, we're hurt by others. Um, so, you know, 00:39:01.940 --> 00:39:07.940 I think some of us who feel our brokenness very deeply can be prone to look at some other people 00:39:07.940 --> 00:39:14.159 who look really good on the outside and think that they're not broken. And that's a danger 00:39:14.159 --> 00:39:19.480 because you're going to set yourself up for disappointment. If you look at somebody else and think, 00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:24.179 I want to be just like them. If only I was just like them. If only I had a marriage like theirs. 00:39:24.420 --> 00:39:30.619 If only I felt like as, as confident as they do. If only I could succeed like they do. And you know 00:39:30.619 --> 00:39:36.900 what? They have brokenness too. You just might not see it yet. They're human just like you too. Don't 00:39:36.900 --> 00:39:44.760 idolize them. Or I think for those of us who, uh, feel a lot of confidence at being made in God's image 00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:49.360 and sort of have a, have a thankfulness to God for how he's made us and how he's working in us. 00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:56.260 Um, do we, can we also look at ourselves and see our own kind of brokenness? Okay. It's very 00:39:56.260 --> 00:40:02.960 dangerous if you're trying to help somebody else with what you see as their brokenness, but you don't 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:10.520 see your own. And you can end up really hurting and damaging other people if you're trying to help 00:40:10.519 --> 00:40:19.679 them, but you're blind to your own flaws and your own struggles and the ways that you need to be 00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:27.659 growing and finding healing and in the Lord. All right. Third, uh, we need discernment. And this 00:40:27.659 --> 00:40:31.800 is what God's word gives us in order to sort out what in ourselves is beautiful and what in ourselves 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:40.460 is broken. Cause that's not always self evident, right? We sometimes think things are beautiful 00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:45.120 when they're actually broken. And we sometimes think things are broken when they're actually 00:40:45.120 --> 00:40:53.280 beautiful. And God's word helps us to sort that out. And also conversations with, uh, wise and godly 00:40:53.280 --> 00:41:00.820 believers, um, uh, confessing and repenting of our sin helps us to see things more clearly. Uh, right. 00:41:00.820 --> 00:41:05.480 It's a process of sorting out our thinking, our desires, our habits, our intuitions, our perceptions 00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:11.240 in light of who God is. And thankfully God's given us resources in his word, his spirit, and his 00:41:11.240 --> 00:41:19.620 people to help us in that process. So beautiful and broken. We've got five minutes for questions 00:41:19.619 --> 00:41:21.980 or comments. Ivor. 00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:31.500 Talking about the body being sacred, how does that, um, in today's society, a lot of people 00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:38.699 are cremated. So, uh, if the body is sacred, should we as Christians not be cremated? 00:41:39.279 --> 00:41:46.400 Ah, good question. If the body is sacred, should we as Christians not be cremated? Um, so, uh, so that's 00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:51.220 an interesting question. The early Christians, uh, you know, the early Christians, uh, many 00:41:51.220 --> 00:41:57.039 early Christians, um, and you can even see this in the Old Testament, uh, would bury their 00:41:57.039 --> 00:42:04.660 dead, um, and would even bury other, uh, people would sort of see that people's, uh, uh, corpses, 00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:12.860 their remains were, were given an honorable end when they could. Um, uh, now, so, uh, and, 00:42:12.860 --> 00:42:16.840 and I think they did that partly because of this high view of the body. Now, on the other 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:20.760 hand, there's nowhere in the Bible, there's nowhere in the Bible that says you may not 00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:26.800 be cremated if you are a Christian. Um, and, you know, Genesis says to the dust we will 00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:32.940 return, right? Um, that's going to happen one way or another. Uh, so, uh, you know, I think 00:42:32.940 --> 00:42:38.400 most people who are cremated today are cremated for financial reasons. Um, it's a lot cheaper 00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:43.559 right now in the United States to cremate someone's remains than to bury them in a cemetery. 00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:49.220 It's just gotten more and more expensive. Um, and so, uh, you know, that's just a reality. 00:42:49.460 --> 00:42:53.380 So, I don't think, I don't think cremation is a sin. On the other hand, there is something 00:42:53.380 --> 00:43:00.639 about burial that reflects, uh, sort of the, um, the honor that, that, that Christians and 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:06.320 Jews have traditionally given to the body. Um, so, that's a good question. I don't think, 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:10.100 but I don't think we can, I don't think, I don't think we should say that it's sinful, 00:43:10.100 --> 00:43:16.660 uh, to be cremated. Um, uh, and the reality is God promises to put our bodies back together 00:43:16.660 --> 00:43:21.500 again, right? Even if you die at sea and you're thrown off the boat and a whale eats you, right? 00:43:21.740 --> 00:43:26.960 Like, you know what? When you get the resurrection body, nothing's going to stop the Lord from giving 00:43:26.960 --> 00:43:32.160 you the body that he wants you to have, right? No matter what happens to your remains after you 00:43:32.159 --> 00:43:35.980 perish from the earth. Yes? 00:43:35.980 --> 00:43:41.839 I, I was just going to say, my thoughts on that question would be, is there a lot of difference 00:43:41.839 --> 00:43:47.379 between being cremated and, and a Christian burial where your body's going to decompose? 00:43:47.899 --> 00:43:50.279 Or, you know, you're just speeding it up? 00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:56.239 Yep. Yep. Your body will decompose anyway. That's true. That's true. Yep. 00:43:56.239 --> 00:44:03.939 Um, so what do you do when you see like the culture around you living sexually any way they 00:44:03.939 --> 00:44:11.739 please and just promoting it and they seem to be doing really well and it's easy to get kind of 00:44:11.739 --> 00:44:17.419 like, you know, hung up on, you know, that they have everything that they, and they, they don't see 00:44:17.419 --> 00:44:25.759 anything wrong and it feels almost like you're the odd person now, you know? Yes. Yes. Right. 00:44:25.760 --> 00:44:35.580 It's, um, it's odd now not to live together before marriage, for example. Um, so, uh, you know, 00:44:35.660 --> 00:44:40.980 uh, my wife and I even had adults in our, one of our extended families tell us that. Like, 00:44:42.220 --> 00:44:47.660 why, why, you know, why would you get married without living together first? Like, um, so yeah, 00:44:47.720 --> 00:44:52.340 there's some things that, that seem odd as in sort of doing it the Christian way seems odd, 00:44:52.340 --> 00:44:58.460 uh, in the world. Uh, one thing I would say is in one was, in one way, that's how it should be. 00:44:59.260 --> 00:45:06.480 Right? Christians should be willing to be different and distinct because we live in a different story. 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:12.280 We believe God's made, we believe that there's a God who's made us with a purpose that we've turned 00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:19.340 away from that. That's, and, and that, you know, Christ calls us to be joined to him. Um, 00:45:19.340 --> 00:45:27.800 you know, I think, I, that's, it's a bigger question, right? Uh, sort of how do we, I, I, I think, 00:45:28.840 --> 00:45:35.240 so I think it's important if you're, say, if you're relating to a colleague at work or someone in your 00:45:35.240 --> 00:45:39.519 extended family, you know, who's sort of living in a way that, that doesn't follow the Christian 00:45:39.519 --> 00:45:46.960 way, um, I don't think it's usually helpful to just go to them and say, the way you're living is 00:45:46.960 --> 00:45:52.440 wrong because of, like, this is God's command. I, I think we need to, I think we need to ask some, 00:45:52.559 --> 00:45:57.440 I think we need to ask, first of all, like, what do they, you know, like, there's an opportunity to 00:45:57.440 --> 00:46:03.159 get to know someone. Like, what do they believe? Like, what, what does motivate them? Like, um, 00:46:03.159 --> 00:46:09.859 uh, I mean, that's, that's, that's why in this class I wanted to structure it around the biblical 00:46:09.859 --> 00:46:17.379 story is, is to see how, um, the story of the Bible impacts the, the choices that we might make. 00:46:17.859 --> 00:46:22.639 So, you know, I, and I think broadly speaking, um, how are Christians supposed to relate to, 00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:27.739 to others in the world? Well, the Bible says, love your neighbor, love even your enemy, right? Pray for 00:46:27.739 --> 00:46:33.939 them, show kindness to them, um, and the Bible also says, be, you know, live differently, like, 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:40.699 live distinctly, and trust that God's way is ultimately the best. Um, and, uh, you know, often 00:46:40.699 --> 00:46:52.679 there, there are, um, yeah. Yes? I was just going to say, in response to that, two things. One is, 00:46:53.059 --> 00:46:56.519 they seem to be doing really well, but what does doing really well mean? 00:46:56.519 --> 00:47:02.679 Mm-hmm. Because doing really well, because they're happy, they might be living with someone 00:47:02.679 --> 00:47:08.940 of the same sex, whatever. In God's eyes, that's not doing really well. That's doing very poorly. 00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:16.579 And a second thing is, people are very happy and have long, successful marriages, you know, 00:47:16.659 --> 00:47:21.780 two men, two women, until they die, but God doesn't say it's impossible for people to sin 00:47:21.780 --> 00:47:26.440 and be happy. But his design, like, I've heard it described a couple different ways, 00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:31.580 but one simple way is, you can take a pen and nail it into the wall and hang a picture 00:47:31.580 --> 00:47:36.760 on it. It's going to work. It's going to hold. But that's not what the pen was designed 00:47:36.760 --> 00:47:42.580 for. And you can use a beautiful portrait as kindling for fire. It's going to burn. It 00:47:42.579 --> 00:47:49.380 will work. But now you've burned a beautiful portrait. Like, God's design for us is much 00:47:49.380 --> 00:47:53.739 more important than if we can make it work and be happy otherwise. 00:47:54.179 --> 00:47:59.519 Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. All right. We're going to have more time to talk about these things 00:47:59.519 --> 00:48:05.880 in the next several weeks. But we have to wrap up for now. So let me close this in prayer. 00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:13.599 Lord, we pray that you would help us grow as followers of you to live in a way that reflects 00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:20.900 your good design for us and be empowered by your spirit and find healing for our broken, 00:48:21.059 --> 00:48:28.019 for errors of brokenness. Help us, Lord, to be faithful and loving witnesses in the world. 00:48:28.019 --> 00:48:36.639 Lord, even to people who are far away from you or are not see you in very different ways. 00:48:36.739 --> 00:48:44.840 Lord, we pray that you would help us to find ways to love our neighbors and yet to live in 00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:50.139 a way that reflects your distinctiveness. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:48:50.139 --> 00:48:50.300 Amen.