So we're continuing in our Adult Sunday School class on gender and sexuality.
I am re-recording this session because the Sunday School recording device did not work on the 13th,
so we won't have any Q&A recorded from that session, but I did want to re-record the lesson.
Last week we considered how our bodies, gender, and sexuality are all good and beautiful gifts from God.
And we also considered how every part of human nature and experience is broken because of sin and its effects.
And that's how we wanted to begin this class, to recognize that we are beautiful because God has made us in his image,
and yet we are broken because of sin and its effects.
And in order to have a healthy perception of ourselves and of others and of God,
we need to hold together these two biblical truths because they reflect the reality that we live in.
We're both beautiful and broken.
God's Word helps us to receive and celebrate what is beautiful and to resist being pulled along by what is broken.
So today and next week, we will be focusing on the shape of God's redemption.
That's sort of the third part of the biblical story.
We're created in God's image.
We're fallen and broken by sin.
But Christ has come to redeem us.
And one of the things that we see in the New Testament is that Christ's redemption includes our bodies.
Christ redeemed us by taking on our human nature, including a fully human body.
He accomplished our redemption through his faithful obedience to God throughout his entire earthly life,
culminating in his atoning sacrifice on the cross.
I've included some verses on the handout.
The Word became flesh.
Jesus Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh.
He bore our sins in his body.
And because Christ accomplished our redemption in his body,
his redemption is also applied to our bodies.
Some of the early church fathers were particularly responding to a heresy called docetism.
And docetism basically meant that Jesus only appeared to be human,
or he only appeared to have a body.
And some of these docetists taught that Jesus sort of appeared in a body,
but really he was a spiritual being, and he abandoned his body,
so he didn't really, so the Son of God really didn't die on the cross,
is sort of what they were saying.
But the early church fathers were saying,
no, it's important.
It's important to affirm the biblical truth that,
these biblical truths that Christ became flesh,
because he came to redeem all of us.
He didn't just come to redeem our souls, to sort of zap us away,
but our salvation involves the redemption of the whole person.
Athanasius says,
the Lord touched all parts of creation and freed them all from every deceit.
And that's wonderful news,
that every part of us can be touched and renewed by the power of God.
But Jesus, so Jesus redeemed us through his body,
Jesus was raised bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven,
and he will come again with his body.
And so just as the consequences of the fall are written on our bodies,
our redemption in Christ is also written on our bodies.
Hebrews 10.22 talks about our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience,
and our bodies are washed with pure water.
Most likely that's a reference to baptism, right?
The New Testament commands believers in Christ to be baptized in water,
and among other things,
that outward act is a sign that our bodies are now set apart for the holy service of Christ.
Our bodies are now as holy,
and even more so perhaps,
than the temple in the Old Testament,
and the objects that were used in the sacred worship of God.
In the Old Testament temple.
So Paul encourages us in his letters to live in light of that reality,
to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice,
and be transformed by the renewal of our mind.
Again, Paul holds together our outer selves and our inner selves,
our minds and our bodies.
1 Corinthians 6, he says,
Don't you know your bodies are members of Christ?
He doesn't just say,
Your souls are united to Christ,
and Christ lives in your soul.
No, he even says,
Now our bodies are members of Christ,
and so glorify God in your body.
So what we're looking at today,
and next week,
is what does it look like to glorify God in our bodies,
in light of how Christ has redeemed us,
particularly as it relates to our gender and sexuality.
Now there are many aspects of this,
there are many complex challenges that we may find ourselves having to navigate,
but today and next week,
I want to focus on two positive visions,
two paths that are clearly and repeatedly affirmed in the New Testament,
as ways that we can glorify God in our bodies,
namely,
faithfulness in marriage,
and celibacy in singleness.
So today,
we're going to focus on marriage.
And next week,
we're going to focus on singleness.
But really,
these two need to go together.
Jesus,
in Matthew 19,
he begins by affirming the goodness of marriage,
God's creational design from the beginning.
He quotes from Genesis.
And then in the same passage,
Jesus also affirmed that some of his disciples
will voluntarily renounce marriage
for the sake of God's kingdom.
1 Corinthians 7,
The Apostle Paul also affirms singleness and marriage
for the sake of God's kingdom
as ways that followers of Jesus can glorify God in our bodies.
Paul begins by saying,
I wish that all were single,
as I myself am.
And he goes on in that chapter
to elaborate some of the benefits
of being a single person
and a follower of Christ
and the particular opportunities that provides
to express devotion to Christ.
But then he goes on to say,
each has his own gift from God,
one of one kind and one of another.
Marriage and singleness
are both gifts from God
that can be received
and offered to him.
So today,
we're going to focus on God's affirmation of marriage,
which we see in both the Old and New Testaments.
And the next week,
we'll look at the distinctively New Testament
affirmation of singleness
for the sake of God's kingdom.
So here's the question we're looking at today.
In our beautiful and broken world,
how does marriage bear witness
not only to God's original design
for created humanity,
but also to God's redemptive purposes
for fallen humanity?
Well, from the beginning,
from Genesis,
we see that God intended marriage to be
faithful,
fruitful,
exclusive,
enduring,
and full of love and wonder.
So,
marriage is meant to be faithful.
Bone of my bone,
flesh of my flesh,
that was an ancient vow of loyalty.
It's what the Israelites said to King David
when he came,
when they were acknowledging him as their king.
They're saying,
we are bound together.
We are in this together.
We are yours,
and you are ours.
And that's what marriage is supposed to be.
Faithfulness to that one flesh union.
Marriage is also,
we see in Genesis,
intended by God to be fruitful.
God says,
be fruitful and multiply.
Genesis 1.28.
And so,
one of the outcomes of marriage
is that
it would be blessed with offspring,
and that life would be continued
in that way,
and fruitful in other ways as well.
Exclusive.
Marriage is also meant to be exclusive.
We see in Genesis,
the man shall be united to his wife,
the two shall become one flesh.
There are only two.
There are a man and woman,
and they become one.
Enduring.
Right?
Marriage is supposed to hold fast,
and full of love and wonder.
The first bit of poetry
is what,
is the word in the Bible
are the words that come out of Adam's mouth
when he sees Eve.
This at last.
This is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh.
And Adam rejoices.
He bursts out
in exclamation
in love
and joy
and wonder.
And so that's what marriage
is meant to be
from the beginning.
Faithful,
fruitful,
exclusive,
and enduring,
and full of love and wonder.
However,
the Bible is realistic,
and the Bible recognizes
that on this side of the fall,
we see the effects of sin
in marriages that do not,
and marriages or spouses
who don't embody those qualities.
So we see examples
in the Bible
of marriages
that become adulterous
instead of faithful.
For example,
David and his relationship
with Bathsheba.
Now,
the assumption
throughout the Bible
is always
that sexual union
is the bodily expression
of the marriage promise.
So that's why adultery
is so serious
because it's a bodily act
that is in itself
a repudiation
of the marriage promise.
It's the opposite
of confirming
and affirming
the marriage promise.
It's absolutely repudinating it
because sexual union
is inherently
the bodily expression
of the marriage promise.
It's saying,
I am giving myself
completely to you,
holding nothing back
and to you alone.
So in the Old Testament,
adultery
and other violations
of the marriage covenant
were punishable by death.
Premarital sex
was also something
that had serious consequences
even though it was not
punishable by death.
But if an unmarried man
and woman had sex together
consensually,
the man was required
to pay the bride price
that was given to the woman
or her family.
It was sort of a form
of life insurance
if the husband were to die
or abandon the marriage.
He was required
to sort of pay up
and marry the woman.
Now,
the point of that law
was to build a culture
where sex
among God's people
was neither cheap
nor casual.
And in particular,
the law prevented a man
from taking advantage
of a woman
and then avoiding
responsibility to her
and or children
in the future.
The New Testament
also contains
strong warnings
against sexual intimacy
outside the marriage covenant.
Now,
on the other hand,
the Bible
unabashedly celebrates
sexual love
within marriage.
It says,
this is something
that married couples
are intended by God
to enjoy.
We see that in Genesis,
we see that in Proverbs,
we see that in Song of Songs,
an entire book
of the Bible,
which is love,
poetry,
celebrating that relationship
between the man
and woman.
And we see that
affirmed in the New Testament
as well.
So that's sort of
the first distortion
of marriage
that we see
is when marriages
are adulterous
instead of faithful.
We also see examples
in the Old Testament
in particular
of marriages
that are infertile
instead of fruitful.
Now,
infertility is not
itself a sin.
But in the Old Testament,
it is seen as a curse
because God's covenant promise
was established
with Abraham
and his physical descendants.
And the primary way
that God built his kingdom
in the Old Testament
was through the people
of Israel,
the descendants of Abraham,
having babies
and circumcising
the male descendants
and raising them
according to the law
of the Lord.
So,
the emphasis shifts
in the New Testament
from expanding
God's kingdom
primarily through
the physical descendants
of Abraham
to expanding God's kingdom
through the spiritual
family of Jesus.
So,
in other words,
we seek to expand
God's kingdom
and to be fruitful
not only by having
lots of biological children
but by proclaiming
the gospel of Jesus Christ
and by showing hospitality
to our children,
to our neighbors
and even to our enemies.
And we'll see
that this shift
influences the New Testament
vision of singleness
for the sake of God's kingdom.
We'll get to that next week.
So,
that's the second way
that we see marriage
not living up
to God's creational design
is when it is infertile
instead of fruitful.
And again,
that is not a sin
but that's sort of
in the bigger picture
it's one of the effects
of living in a fallen world.
Something that
is to be mourned.
The third way
that we see marriages
falling short
in the Bible
is when they are polygamous
instead of exclusive.
Polygamy begins
within the line of Cain.
Then the first polygamous
Lamech
is characterized
by violence
and vengeance.
Polygamy's negative effects
and associations
are evident.
It leads to rivalry,
jealousy,
conflict,
neglect.
So,
you know,
there are many
prominent characters
Abraham,
Jacob,
David,
and Solomon
who had multiple
wives or concubines
but this is always
presented as a deviation
from God's original plan
with clearly negative effects.
Fourth way
that marriages
fall short
of God's design
is when they end
in divorce
instead of enduring
until death.
Divorce is always
a result of sin
even if
in some circumstances
such as one spouse
engaging in unrepentant adultery
pursuing divorce
is not in itself
a sin
but a response
to an unrepentantly
sinful situation.
And finally,
we see marriages
that are characterized
by complacency
and contempt
instead of love
and wonder.
For example,
Nabal
who's verbally abusive
toward his wife
Abigail
in 1 Samuel 25
or Michal
who has contempt
for her husband David
in 2 Samuel 6.
So,
again,
the Bible is
very honest
about these distortions
of God's design,
the pain
and the sorrow
caused by sin
and by its effects
but God doesn't
get rid of marriage
and he doesn't
replace it
with some other
arrangement
in this fallen world.
Throughout the Bible,
marriage is seen
as a gift of God
to the entire
human race.
it's a creation
ordinance.
Even non-believers
can recognize
and experience
some of the good
effects of marriage.
If a married couple
from another
religious background
or no religious
background
become Christians,
they don't need
to get married again
for their marriage
to be seen
as fully legitimate
before God.
However,
while marriage
is a creation
ordinance,
while it is a gift
that all human beings
can experience
and enjoy from God,
among God's
redeemed people,
marriage is also
a covenant sign.
And this is really
the point
of this whole lesson
as what I want
to sort of
lead us up to here.
Marriage,
biblical marriage
is intended
to point to something
greater than itself.
In particular,
marriage is a sacred
picture
of the covenant
union
between God
and his people.
So,
in the Old Testament,
God is the husband
and Israel
is the wife.
We see that
in Hosea,
sort of very
dramatically portrayed
in Jeremiah,
in Isaiah.
I think it's also
in Deuteronomy,
though I don't have
the reference.
In the New Testament,
Christ is the husband,
the church is his bride.
But in both
the Old
and the New Testaments,
the great mystery,
as Paul puts it
in Ephesians 5,
the great mystery
of marriage
as the union
of male and female
bears witness
to the far more
staggering
and awe-inspiring
union
of God
and his people
and the hope
that one day
heaven and earth
will be reunited
for all eternity.
See,
Christian marriage
is meant to be
a sign of that.
The union
between God
and his people,
the coming union
between heaven
and earth
when Jesus
comes again
and is united
with his bride,
the church.
And so this idea
of marriage
as a covenant sign
is the main difference
between the biblical
vision of marriage
and other understandings
of marriage.
In some traditional
societies,
marriage is primarily
the union
of two families
for the sake of,
for social reasons,
for social cohesion,
for family honor.
marriage is mostly
about the broader
society
or community.
In individualistic
societies
like the modern
western world,
marriage is primarily
a means of promoting
the happiness
of the two people
involved,
however those two
people might define it.
But the biblical
view of marriage
is distinctly
God-centered
rather than
human-centered.
Why is marriage
intended to be
faithful
and fruitful,
exclusive
and enduring
and filled
with love
and wonder?
Because that
kind of relationship
between a husband
and wife
reflects the character
of God's relationship
with his own
people.
You see,
those characteristics
aren't arbitrary.
And they're not
just things that
people like.
They're characteristics
of God's
relationship with us.
God is faithful.
He unwaveringly
follows through
on every one
of his promises
to us.
God,
in relationship
with us,
bears fruit.
God's word
produces the
spiritual fruit
of godly character,
of good works,
of transformed
relationships,
of spiritual children,
other people
coming to know
Christ and grow
in him.
So the union
between Christ
and his church
is faithful
and it's intended
to be fruitful.
It's also intended
to be exclusive.
God allows
no idols,
no rivals,
and no third parties.
Nothing
that can take
God's place
in our lives.
And God
is not distracted
but devoted
to our well-being.
Enduring
marriage
endures for a lifetime
but our
relationship with God
will last
for all eternity.
Marriage
is to be a picture
in this life
pointing
to an even
greater relationship
with God
that will last
for all eternity.
And finally,
our relationship
with God
is meant to be
full of love
and wonder.
That only increases
as we come
to know Christ
better.
Paul prays
that we would know
how high
and wide
and long
and deep
is the love
of Christ.
See,
that's the core
of what biblical
marriage was meant
to be.
A picture
of God's
very own
relationship
with us.
when Adam
and Eve
sinned,
they were sent
out of the garden
and sent away
to wander
in the wilderness.
So much
of our life
in this world
is wandering
in the wilderness.
So much
of the history
of God's people,
they were wandering
in the wilderness,
they were sent
into exile,
and marriage
in this fallen
world
where we are
far from our
true home,
marriage is a picture
of God's mercy
in bringing
his people back
into a temple
of intimate fellowship,
into a garden
of pure delight
under the protective
shadow of his wings
resting in
his reliable
promises.
And isn't that
at some level
what all human
beings truly
long for?
That place
of intimacy
and delight
and protection
and provision
and promise
faithful love.
Now,
that salvation
is not found
by getting married.
Let me be clear
about that.
If you think
that marriage
will be your salvation,
you will eventually
be disappointed
because all idols
eventually disappoint.
But marriage
in its most
ecstatic moments
and its most
enduring legacies
as well as in
its deepest struggles
and disappointments,
marriage is intended
to point us.
to God's
unchanging
and redeeming
and eternally
satisfying love.
Marriage is temporary,
but it's a picture
of a relationship
with our covenant
keeping God
that will last
for all
eternity.
Now,
the questions
I wanted us
to discuss
and reflect on
were these.
First,
what difference
does it make
for you,
either as a married
or a single person,
that marriage
is intended
to point beyond
itself to the
reality of a
faithful and fruitful
and exclusive
and everlasting
and full of joy
and wonder
relationship with Christ?
second,
how can we promote
a God-centered
rather than
human-centered
vision of marriage
in the Christian church?
Third,
can you think
of any examples
of Christian marriages
through which
non-Christians
have seen
God's character
or Christ's gospel
display?
break.