Welcome again, if you don't know me, my name is Chris, I'm one of the leaders here, and
we're starting in a new series which is like a time bomb.
It's the kind of issue that churches divide over, people leave the faith over, it's an
issue which both scares and excites us, because if you start talking about sex, the room is
usually full.
But it's a very challenging topic, I think, for many of us, and we want to start in this
series because if you look at the world that we live in, the world we live in is very different
from the world 20 or 30 years ago, right?
Just our culture is sex-saturated, right?
You just go down to Causeway Bay, look at the billboards there, you think about music videos,
you think about online porn.
Sex is big business, sex sells pretty much most things, right?
And it's not just the kind of, the fact that it's everywhere, it deeply impacts us in every
area of our lives, some very personal ways.
Whether that's from the gay rights to transgender to broken marriages to women complaining about
not having adequate quality guys in Hong Kong to men despairing that no money, no honey.
And then we have the selfie culture, which, you know, if you're walking along the road, you
just see everyone trying to look as sexy as possible because it's all, we all judge each
other based on our appearance and what and sexy counts.
And then we have cohabitation and divorce on the rise and we have compensated dating, we have
consumer sex, we have online hookup websites, we have apps like Tinder, and then we haven't
even begun to start talking about Me Too campaigns, the sexual bullying and pressure at schools, and
you could go on and on and on, okay?
Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Right?
It's everywhere.
Everywhere.
And in churches, whether you're married or you're single, the shame of sexual sin or the
longing for intimacy is very prevalent.
And the church has often seemed to come across very harsh and often even hypocritical because
it's often married pastors like me who are even failing in their own marriages, just tell
everybody else, just don't do it.
And they just say, don't, just say no.
That's the message you get.
And it all seems very unfair and even harmful to people.
And I don't know where you personally are up to with this area.
But my prayer is, the reason we want to go through this as a series is because we want to have an
open conversation and for us to hear from God rather than just hearing from the culture of what
he wants to say to us.
So that I, my prayer is that your heart would be open for him to speak to you wherever you
are right now.
Because, you know, we've, we've seen even in the, we deliberately did the series in one
Peter first because we wanted us to see the calling that God has on us as a community to be a distinctive
community in a tough world.
And we're living in a city which we need to have a different, more beautiful story than the story our
culture is telling us.
And we need to know the story that the Bible gives of sexuality, not just up here, but deep
in here.
We need to know it inside out so that our lives are shaped by this story because we find it
attractive and compelling.
That's what God wants to do in us as a community.
And so the same kind of situation we face in Paul's day, their young church that he's talking
to in 1 Corinthians was also surrounded by a sex-saturated culture.
And Paul speaks to two views of sex that were very prevalent as they are today in his world.
And he's going to show us actually the Christian view was totally radically unique than any other
view that was there.
And so the first view is actually found in chapter 7, verse 1.
First view is, it's not good for a man, sorry, it's good for a man not to have sex with a woman.
So traditional Chinese culture, often traditional church culture, the message is sex
and sexual desire is necessary, but it's really unclean.
You know, it's taboo.
You just don't talk about it, okay?
Because it's a little bit dirty.
You know, I'm from UK and they used to have this film which used to say, no sex please,
we're British.
And I think we have this kind of, no sex please, we're Christian.
You know, that's kind of what we come across.
Like, how many of you, did your parents talk openly to you about sex and sexuality, boundaries
in dating, all those kind of things?
How many of us in church have ever heard people talk about how to have good sex within marriage?
Anyone?
Like, if the only time that we talk about sex is usually, don't do it until you're married,
and then we condemn and shame anyone who doesn't fall in line, that's generally the impression
we give.
Someone, I was reading this the other day, someone said this, religion has only ever made
us feel bad about sex as if it's shameful and dirty.
Everything fun is a sin.
Again, when I abandoned religion, I gave myself permission to have a healthy sex life with
all that guilt and shame attached.
That's so common.
And which is why many people go to the other view of sex, and in Corinth, they had this other
view of sex, which is found in chapter 6, verse 12.
It says, the second view is this, all things are lawful for me.
As long as it doesn't harm anyone, what you do or your neighbors do in the bedroom isn't
my issue.
You can do whatever you like.
You should be free to express yourself.
It's your body.
Sex is the way to have happiness.
So you don't want to restrict anyone from finding happiness in life, do you?
That's repressive.
That's what these conservative religious people do.
Set yourself free.
So, here was another quote I found in The Guardian from someone sharing about this.
They said, each individual has the right to explore their own sexual or romantic preferences.
Nobody ever wants to be placed in a box.
I never did.
I just wanted to live my life and love whom I wanted to.
Has anyone got any friends who say that?
All of my friends will say that.
And in Corinth, here's how they argued it.
They said, the stomach is for food, and the food and food is for the stomach.
In other words, this is their version of, do you know that, remember that song which
goes, you and me baby are nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do it on the Discovery
Channel.
Does anyone know that song?
Everyone's going to be Googling it now afterwards.
Right?
What they're saying is, since we just evolved animals, mammals, with natural biological desires,
sex isn't a big deal.
Okay?
If some people can have it, why can't everybody have it?
Bonobos do it, so why can't we?
Okay?
You have needs, fulfill them.
That's the idea.
And that's where when people talk about pornography and masturbation and they argue for it, what
they'll say is, it's just fulfilling a need.
And so, like Freud, the psychoanalyst said, he said, it's harmful to repress things, so express
yourself.
That's what the people in Corinth were saying.
And so, if you go into Fifty Shades of Grey, everything is okay, as long as it's just consensual.
Right?
All things are lawful.
But we know everything's not okay, as the Me Too movement and sex trafficking shows us.
We know that if I expressed all my desires, just think of what sometimes you've thought
about your boss, if we actually expressed them, we'd get locked up.
Right?
But in our society, we have no bigger vision and purpose behind sex than our own self-fulfillment.
And what happens is, if you have few boundaries, the vulnerable always get exploited by the
strong.
And so, Paul and Christianity comes with a radically different vision of sexuality, which
is not the first view.
It is not, it is good not to have sex.
It is not, all things are lawful for me.
It is something else.
And now, I want to just share that in three things.
A vision, sexuality, brokenness of sexuality, and a redemption of sexuality.
Okay?
Everyone with me?
Okay.
Good.
Okay.
If you have your bulletin with you, I'm going to go through a little bit of the passage.
6, verse 13 says, the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and
the Lord for the body.
What he's saying is, there is a purpose to sexuality.
Sex is not nothing, no big deal.
Sex is not everything that means to happiness.
Sex is not dirty or shameful, but sexuality is a sacred calling.
It is a holy gift because the body, your body, is for the Lord, and the Lord is for your body.
What he's saying is, anything outside of God's design, what is for him, is sexual immorality.
What he calls, that's the word in Greek, porneia, which is where we get pornography from.
Saying anything outside of that is going to miss the purpose for it, of God's design.
So what is God's design, is the question.
If you go to Jesus, Matthew 19.
Jesus is dealing with the kind of hot ethical issue of their day, which was divorce.
Because pretty much everyone got married, but that seemed overly restrictive to people.
And so some people wanted to kind of get easy out divorce, so they could just fulfill themselves.
And they asked Jesus about this, and here's his reply.
He says,
Have you not read that he who created them male and female, and said,
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh?
So they're no longer two, but one flesh.
And whatever God has joined together, let not man separate.
Do you see what Jesus is doing?
He doesn't go, well guys, it's kind of up to you in the debate of what you're wanting to do.
Because the Bible's difficult, and it's open to lots of interpretation.
He doesn't do that.
He says, have you not read?
And then he goes all the way back to the original design in Genesis 1 and 2.
He says, God created humans, male and female, in his image.
Just stop and think about that for a minute.
God created them male and female.
In other words, God created sexuality.
Our sexuality is part of who we are.
It's not all of who we are, but it's part of who we are.
It's part of imaging God and his glory.
You know, he put higher levels of testosterone in men so that they grow beards,
and you know, they get physically stronger.
They get man flu.
And they have a penis.
I can use that word in church.
And the woman has extra estrogen in them,
which is where the breasts develop,
and they get larger hips,
and they get a vagina.
Okay, some of you are getting uncomfortable,
but it's okay, because it's God's idea.
It's God's idea.
And God says, it's not good for man to be alone,
and he creates Eve, and he brings him to Adam.
And do you know what the first thing Adam does?
He goes, woo-hoo!
He bursts into song.
It's actually, or it's kind of like a rap.
He goes, hey, at last, flesh of my flesh, bone of my bones.
It's a poem.
Because what is it saying?
And God says about it, it's good.
It's good.
It's very good.
He's not going, oh, man, what are they up to?
Because the holy God who created us to worship him
created everything for his glory and our good,
created sex and sexual desire for his glory and our good.
So finding someone physically attractive is not wrong.
It's meant to lead you to worship God,
not to a self-indulgent stare.
You know, I've got friends that go,
God, I love the summer because everyone's wearing so little.
That's not worship.
That's self-indulgence.
But enjoying the body of your spouse is meant to lead you to say,
God, you're so good, and to praise him
because you're goodness.
But you know when we stay silent and we get embarrassed in church
in talking about this or as parents,
maybe because of our upbringing,
do you know what we're actually saying?
The message we come across is it isn't good
because we don't want to talk about it.
Just thinking that if you're married,
when was the last time you actually had a conversation as a couple
about how you can make your sex life better for the glory of God?
Because it's good.
But what we do is we end up twisting this.
And no wonder people go from,
it's not good for a man to have sex with a woman,
to everything is lawful very quickly
because we have desires that God has made.
And this is why we need to be talking about this
and get beyond the fear and the shame that we held.
It is good.
But the design is not just it is good.
He then says, Jesus then says,
since God made us sexual beings,
therefore, therefore,
just have sex with whoever you want as long as it's fulfilling.
No, he doesn't say that.
He says, therefore,
a man leaves his father and mother,
one man, one woman,
entering into a covenant relationship of commitment with her.
He holds fast to her.
That word hold fast means to be glued together,
to become one flesh.
And one flesh doesn't just mean physical sex.
As a society, we're generally fixated on the act of sexual intercourse.
But the Bible says sexuality is more like what somebody called the mingling of souls.
It actually embraces the intimacy,
the vulnerability of being naked and unashamed physically,
emotionally, relationally before another,
which includes sexual intercourse,
but is not only restricted to that.
It is far bigger.
You know, chemically,
when you have sex,
it releases oxytocin,
which is the same chemical
which actually helps a mother bond with her child.
Because sex is not merely an act.
It's a whole life,
whole person bonding experience.
I don't know if you've seen the movie Vanilla Sky,
but Cameron Diaz says this,
When you slept with me,
your body made a promise,
though you did not know it.
Your body made a promise.
Our society increasingly says,
sex is for recreation and self-fulfillment,
but we don't know that we're making a whole life promise when we do it.
You see,
some of my friends,
they say,
don't commit to someone
until you know you're sexually compatible.
But it's really surprising how no one says,
well, it was good for me,
but not for you,
therefore we should break up.
Because we've actually made it all about ourselves.
But the scripture says,
the only place that self should come
is before giving,
donation,
denial.
And so if someone is not willing to give you their whole life,
their whole person to you,
which means legally,
socially,
economically,
spiritually,
which is what the marriage covenant is about,
then sex outside of that
always cheapens the act away from whole person,
whole self-giving experience to the other
for the glory and worship of God.
You know,
it's like taking diamonds and using them as toilet paper,
and that always hurts.
So in our marriages,
guys,
we need to be taking the initiative to say,
how can I develop deeper intimacy,
relational intimacy in my marriage?
To be asking our partners,
what do you find sexually arousing?
So that I can serve you better.
It's not just about me.
And if you're single and you're going,
well,
what do I do?
I've got these desires and I can't do anything with them.
It's time to say,
well,
my body is a gift for the Lord.
How can I use my singleness to develop greater relational intimacy
and vulnerability within his church,
within the community,
particularly with people of the same gender?
How can I learn not to indulge myself by just going on 50 holidays,
but actually learn self-sacrifice on his mission?
Because I'm learning that true sexuality of self-giving.
Does that make sense?
Sex is good.
It's about a whole person thing.
It's about a self-giving thing.
But secondly,
sex is broken.
He says the body is meant for the Lord
and the Lord for the body.
But then he has to go on and he says,
you know,
guys,
you were bought with a price.
He says that down in verse 20.
You were bought with a price.
Why does he have to say that?
Paul is saying our sexuality and our desires were made for Jesus.
But the reason Jesus died and rose again for you and for me,
and including our bodies to raise them again,
was because we've become enslaved and kidnapped by our own desires.
And Jesus pays a ransom on our cross to set us free.
He's bought us.
You know,
I've shared before,
but I had a former colleague who we got talking,
and I started sharing to him that Fiona and I were not going to sleep together before we got married.
And his response to me was,
I wish I was like you,
but whenever I see a hot woman,
I have to sleep with her
because I'm a slave to my desires.
He was honest.
That's it.
Captivity to your own desires.
Because you see,
when Adam and Eve turned away from God,
they still had those desires for intimacy and fulfillment,
which were meant to be found in him,
in God,
but so they had to start looking elsewhere.
So you think,
why does our culture,
more than any other culture in history,
like look to romance and sex to be the ultimate fulfillment?
Why?
Because we've removed God from our sexuality,
and so we're now trying to make finding the one,
our new God.
You know,
someone said this,
every man who rings the brothel bell
is unconsciously looking for God.
Here's what somebody else said.
This guy,
Ernest Becker,
he actually was a prize-winning author.
He said,
after all,
what is it that we want
when we elevate the love partner
to the position of God?
We want redemption,
nothing less.
We want to be rid of our faults,
of our feeling of nothingness.
We want to be justified,
to know that our creation
has not been in vain.
That's what we're looking for
from somebody else.
He actually says,
and no human being can take that weight.
One more quote.
Somebody else said this,
ironically,
one of the reasons our society
is so sex-saturated
is because we're so transcendence-starved.
Unable to reach the heavens,
we go under the bedsheets.
It's because our society senses
that there must be something more to life,
something more to sex
than casual encounters,
that people continue to ramp up the experience,
trying new methods,
new partners,
new medicines,
staking their identity
in their sexuality,
whatever it takes
to achieve sexual satisfaction.
Do you see what he's saying?
He's saying,
that one,
or that,
in that marriage partner,
that you either wish you had,
or that you have,
and you wish you had another one,
that is a desire,
because you're ultimately longing fulfillment
that only God can provide.
I mean,
just ask anyone who's married
if your spouse fulfills you fully.
But how many of us,
if you're married as spouses,
particularly after an argument
or you've seen all the faults in your spouse,
sometimes secretly wish
that you were married to somebody else?
Anybody?
Okay, I've got some nods,
so we're getting honest now.
This is good.
Just look at your partner
and say,
I'm sorry.
But why do we do that?
It's because at that moment,
we're looking to a human
to fulfill that deep longing and desire
that only God can fulfill.
And this is so important for us
as a church to get.
In a church community like ours,
when we hear about marriages breaking down,
when we hear about adulting,
when we hear about sexual sin
or someone coming out as gay
or transgender,
whatever,
our natural tendency
is often to go into shock
or to go,
how could they?
And then we begin to judge
or get scared
and withdraw.
Because in our hearts,
we believe the lie
that if we're married or single
and we're not sleeping around,
we're sexual saints
and everyone else is a sexual deviant.
But Jesus said,
out of the hearts
comes porneia,
lust, envy, greed.
You see what Jesus is saying
when he says that?
And this is what the gospel says.
Our greatest problem
in the area of sexuality
is not our sexual orientation
or what we do with our genitals.
It's our heart orientation.
It's because we are self-centered,
self-gratifying,
self-pleasing
instead of God-glorifying,
self-giving,
self-denying,
intimate relationships.
You know,
that's the issue with masturbation.
It's actually
not about self-giving.
It's about self-taking
for me.
If I can be real now,
which means
every single one of us
in this room
is a sexual sinner.
Do you know that?
Every one of us.
Because every one of us
is living in a way
of our heart orientation
which is not fully
seeking to glorify God
and self-give to others.
You see,
some of us are into porn.
Some of us have sex
outside of that
full body,
mind,
soul commitment.
Some of us actually believe
our value and our worth
is found in finding
a partner for us
or whether we're
in a relationship or not.
Do you know that's idolatry?
You know,
some of us,
because in marriage
we've been withholding,
not self-giving.
Some of us,
our marriages are functional
and we just kind of
do the tasks,
kids,
other stuff,
but we're devoid
of passion and intimacy
and love
and we've taken
no steps to remedy it
and it doesn't glorify God.
We're all in the same boat,
guys.
I am,
we all are.
We're all broken
in this area
in some ways or other.
And we all have
not just sexual sin,
we also have
sexual sufferers.
Like,
just think,
how many of you
had parents
whose marriage
was emotionally
dysfunctional?
Many of us.
How many of us
have desires
for that whole life
bonding with someone
and we're going,
will I ever find someone?
And there is a suffering
involved in that.
And sometimes
that suffering
makes us doubt
the goodness
of God's design.
you know,
but if we get
that reality
that we're both
sexual sinners
and sexual sufferers,
then we'll not be
a church
when somebody
comes in
and comes up to you.
Like,
so many of my friends
say,
I don't want to go
to church
because I know
what I'm going to get
from church people.
So many of us
don't actually want
to admit the things
which are going on
in our lives
because we're afraid
that we're going
to be judged
and condemned.
But if you see
that actually
all of us
are in the same boat,
what that does,
that liberates us
to say,
this is the areas
where I have messed up.
These are the areas
where I'm struggling
and we begin
to walk alongside
each other.
And like Jesus,
you know,
with the woman
who was caught
in adultery,
he was brought to her.
She'd come out
of a hot,
steamy affair.
It was not good.
And yet Jesus says
to her,
I don't condemn you.
But he says,
don't go and sin
any longer.
As a church,
we're not about
judging people
who sin,
but we're also not
about people
just saying,
hey, it's okay.
It's just your choice.
We're going to say,
hey, it's okay
not to be okay.
But we're going
to walk alongside
each other
to not stay there,
but to come into
God's design
for what he's
called us to be.
That's the brokenness
that we experience.
Sexuality's good,
but we all suffer
from ourselves,
from other people,
but the third thing
is the redemption
of sexuality.
I've got three things
from the passage
which it shows us
of how the gospel
reshapes our sexuality.
First thing,
you're already taken.
It says here,
for he who is joined
to the Lord,
this verse 17,
becomes one spirit
with him.
And then verse 19,
it says this,
or do you not know
that your body
is a temple
of the Holy Spirit
within you
whom you have
from God?
You are not your own.
You were bought
with a price,
so glorify God
in your body.
You know that word
joined?
It's the same word
that Jesus used
for what happens
when a husband
holds fast,
joins,
same word,
to his wife.
He's saying,
do you know,
the Bible starts
with a wedding
and it ends
with a wedding,
and our sexuality
now is a trailer
for that final day
when we will see
our great lover,
the one that we
are joined to.
because that whole
Bible story
is about a story
as God is a
passionate lover
seeking a rebellious
people as his bride.
And his greatest
demonstration
of sexuality
in the way
that God has
demanded it
and called for it
is a love
which is self-giving,
self-sacrificial,
dying on a cross
so that he could
hold you fast.
All sexuality
is providing you
a taste,
starter,
the appetizer
for the main meal
which is God himself.
And so that means
if you've,
we come to God
with nothing in our hands
but sin and shame.
If we repent
and come to him,
if we've turned to him
as a believer
and said,
God,
I need you
to shape
and to heal me.
To do what only God
you can provide.
Do you know what it says
in verse 9 and 11
which we didn't read?
It says,
he says to the Corinthians,
some of you guys
were just messed up
in so many ways
sexually.
But that is who you,
that is not who you are.
That is not who you are.
That is who you were.
Some of you right now,
you have a lot of shame
in your life.
You have a lot of things
that actually you don't
want to share
because you know,
you know some of the things
and it still weighs on you.
But this passage says,
that is who you were,
that is not who you are now.
Because you were washed,
you were sanctified,
you were justified
by God,
you are his.
Your body is no longer
yours to do as you please.
Just as a married guy,
I can't do what I want.
But that is not restriction,
that is freedom
to focus my attention
on the intimacy
and longing
that I have
and want to develop
with my true love
of God himself.
You know,
he says,
you are a temple
of the Holy Spirit,
of his presence.
Do you know in Hong Kong,
what's the temple
in Hong Kong
where people go to worship?
Well,
there's a few little ones,
but actually the biggest temple
is the shopping mall.
Right?
That's the temple of worship
in Hong Kong.
And actually,
it's the temple
where we often go
and trade our bodies
in for somebody else
making us feel good.
Or we withhold intimacy
and love
when our desires
are not satisfied.
But the gospel says
you're not a good
to trade.
You're not damaged goods
because you've abused
your body.
You're not leftover goods
because you're not
in a relationship.
You're not soon
to expire goods
because your sexual desire
is waning.
You are the temple
of the living God.
That means
your sacred space.
You're defined
by the Spirit of God
living in you,
not by anything else
or what anyone says
about you.
So don't cheapen yourself
for anything less
than what honors
and glorifies God
with your body
because he selflessly
gave himself for you.
And we're to reflect
that love
in the way we use
our own bodies.
You're already taken.
Second thing,
your sexuality
is a community thing.
He says,
do you not know
that your bodies
are members of Christ?
Modern society
has privatized
our sexuality
to be all about
the individual.
It's all about
my desires,
my identity,
my choice,
as long as it doesn't
harm anyone.
But Paul is now saying,
as a church,
your bodies
now belong to Christ.
You are members of him.
And that word member
is the same word
that he later uses
for being members
of the church body
where Christ is ahead
and we're interconnected
together.
And he's saying,
your sexuality
doesn't just affect you,
it affects
your relationship
with God
and your relationships
with others.
You know,
I once got on a plane
and we're flying
at 38,000 feet.
And you know
on the door
there are those levers,
those red levers
which have
do not pull
while flying.
Have you seen those?
And there's this little kid
who started walking up
and started playing
with the lever.
Now I know
there's probably
some extra security measures
but just think,
if I at that point
said,
well it's okay,
you just follow
what your heart
desires to do
at the moment.
Like,
it's okay,
I don't want to restrict
you in any way.
That's scary,
right?
I mean,
he's not just
going to take himself
down,
he's going to take
the plane down.
And actually,
that's the same thing.
Sin is never individual.
It always has
communal effects
on other people.
You know,
I was in one church,
one of the leaders
had a fair.
It devastated
the community.
Another time,
I was talking to
a non-believer
and they said to me,
the reason I don't
believe in Christianity
is I see no difference
between the way
you Christians do sex
than anybody else does.
He says,
the only difference is
you guys get more
guilt put on you.
You see,
our sexuality
impacts others
and impacts
the gospel,
which is why
we need to be real
with each other,
with the struggles
we go through.
It's why
if you know
your marriage
is just functional
with no passion,
you need to start
talking about that
with other brothers
and sisters here.
It's why
we need to start
openly confessing
and repenting
where the areas
we've not lived up
to God's design
and receive
the grace
from the community
around us.
It's why
if you're married,
you should be engaging
with singles
in your life
to help them
both experience
their intimate family
but also give
realistic expectations
that a marriage partner
is not going to be
the ultimate one.
Your sexuality,
you're already taken.
You're God's.
It's a community thing.
Last thing,
your happiness
is in your holiness.
He says this,
verse 18,
flee from sexual immorality.
He says,
every other sin
a person commits
is outside the body
but the sexually immoral
person sins
against the body.
He says,
flee it.
Don't just kind of
dabble with it.
Flee
because you're sinning
against your own body.
He means
because sex
is a whole body,
whole soul,
whole mind thing
unlike other sins,
it's a sin
which is going to
defile and tear
off a part of your soul.
It's not going to
give you life.
You know,
traditional Chinese society
cared little
for the afterlife
but said sex
is essential
for you to have
a family
which is the essence
of life and happiness.
That's why
if you're single
and approaching 30
or over 30
all your relatives
are coming up to you
seeing whether you've
found a partner
or not yet
because they're worried
that you might
list out on life
if you don't have one.
It's FOMO,
right?
Our culture says
there's no afterlife
but YOLO,
get maximum happiness now.
Now,
you see,
our society believes
sex is essential
for your happiness.
I read a BBC article
it said,
it was entitled
The Sadness of Living
Without Sex.
That's the idea.
So to restrain yourself
now is to just say
kiss goodbye to happiness.
That's what we believe
in the culture.
And the church
has often said
no,
life is not about happiness
it's about holiness
so just cut off
your desires
and hold on
until Jesus returns
and then you'll get life.
But the gospel says
your happiness
is found
in your holiness.
Because Jesus himself
the epitome
of the man
Christians
we believe
lived the most
fulfilling life
how great
was his sex life?
He was single.
He didn't date.
He wasn't playing around.
He never acted out
on his sexual desires.
Instead he gave himself
out of love for us.
Jesus said
if anyone wants
to follow me
he must deny himself
take up his cross
and follow me.
For whoever
wants to follow me
sorry
whoever wants to find
his life
will lose it
but whoever loses it
for my sake
will find it.
That means
even if
you're following
Jesus in his design
and it will sometimes
feel like dying.
It will sometimes
feel painful.
But Jesus is saying
if you choose me
and to find
your glory
and your satisfaction
in me
whether in marriage
or in singleness
you will find life
in finding
the one
that you were
truly made for.
Jesus Christ himself.
So let's be a church
which celebrates sex
that delights
in the good gift
but let's be real
about the brokenness
of it
and let's be
walking with each other
to point each other
to the only one
who will truly
satisfy and fulfill us.
cool comments.
Thank you.