And so we're going to be looking at some big subjects that's in the media, in the news a lot, in our discussions about our sexual identity, things about life, the sanctity of life, abortion and euthanasia.
So these are some of the topics, issues that we'll be looking at under this title, Made in God's Image.
And the first one that we're looking at today is asking the question, simply, is God anti-gay?
What does the Bible have to teach about that?
Now, the title, I've stolen, and it comes from this little book by a guy called Sam Allerby, who's a pastor in an Anglican church in England.
And the subtitle is, Is God Anti-gay? And Other Questions About Homosexuality, the Bible and Same-Sex Attraction.
So I recommend it as a great little book.
Sam is somebody who struggles, he would say, he struggles with same-sex attraction.
That's how he would describe himself.
And I have a number of these copies available this morning, not enough for everybody, but if you would like one, you can buy it off me for a couple of euro if you like.
Also, by way of resources, if you're taking notes this morning, there's been sheets passed around with headings.
You can write this down, but two websites that you might like to look up.
One is truefreedomtrust.co.uk.
We had the director of that, Jonathan Berry, here a few years ago.
You can listen to his talk on our church website.
But there's a magazine called Ascend, which I get every month or two.
It's excellent.
Really helpful just in how we understand ourselves as human beings and how we relate to each other.
So I recommend that.
So that's True Freedom Trust.
And the other website is simply called Living Out.
All one word, livingout.org.
So have a look at them in your spare time.
You'll find some great stories, testimonies, and helpful things there.
So, with all of that said, we're going to pray and then look at God's word together.
We thank you that we come to a God who loves us, who made us, and who cares for us.
A God who understands us better than we could ever know ourselves.
A God who knows what's best for us.
And so we pray that you would give us hearts today that are open to you and to your truth, to your word.
So that we will understand ourselves better and how we should relate to one another.
Help us then, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So the question we're looking at this morning is, is God anti-gay?
Now, sadly, many have the impression that God is against gay people.
And that's not surprising when you consider the attitude of the church.
The message the world has heard from the church is that being gay is detestable and unforgivable.
Gay people are unwelcome.
Caleb Kaltenbach, who wrote a book, which is also very good, called Messy Grace,
is now a pastor of a church, and he grew up with parents who were both gay.
And growing up as a child within the gay community, he attended gay pride marches.
And he describes one experience as a young person.
He says this,
He continues,
Now, these attitudes are extremely difficult.
They are wrong.
And they need to be repented of.
We all need to repent.
God is not anti-gay any more than God is anti-straight.
Looking back on his experience,
Caleb, who I just quoted, writes this,
Jesus' command to love your neighbour as yourself
does not have an exception clause for a gay neighbour,
or for that matter, any other neighbour we might find it hard to relate to.
To be anti-gay is unloving and ungracious
and does not represent the God of the Bible.
So, four things we're going to discover or look at together this morning.
And I want us to be all-inclusive.
So, there's an emphasis this morning on the word all.
Okay?
So, first, we are all uniquely created.
The story opens with this wonderful account of a loving God
who creates a good and beautiful world.
And the pinnacle of God's creation is the creation of human beings,
people like you and me.
We are first made in God's image.
Look at verse 26, chapter 1, Genesis, if you have it open there.
Then God said,
Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
so that they may rule over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, over the livestock and all the wild animals
and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
Now, to be made in God's image
means we are uniquely different from the rest of creation.
We're all uniquely different in terms of how we look
and our personalities and characters.
But as a race, as a human being,
we are different from the rest of creation.
We've been made differently to the animals and the plants.
For example, God has given us a command to rule over the animals
as an expression of God's rule over us.
But also, to be made in God's image
means we're not gods,
but that we are like God.
We're not the same as God,
but we're similar to God.
That means we have the capacity to relate to God.
God talks to us,
and, well, we can talk to Him.
God doesn't speak to the animals like He speaks to us.
God treats us differently to the rest of creation.
And God made us in this unique way
so that we could be in relationship with Him,
we could enjoy Him,
and know Him.
So we're uniquely created,
made in God's image,
and made male and female.
Look at verse 27.
So God created mankind in His own image.
In the image of God,
He created them.
Male and female,
He created them.
God made us different to each other.
Different in terms of our sex.
We are either male or we're female.
As male and female,
we're equal in value and worth in God's sight.
But we're different biologically.
And the primary point of our sexual difference
is reproduction.
So look at verse 28.
This is the first command God gives.
God blessed them and said to them,
Be fruitful and increase in number.
Have children.
Fill the earth and subdue it and rule over it.
So as a man and woman engage in sexual intercourse,
they produce either a baby male or a baby female.
And of course there's a context for this sexual union.
It is to be within an exclusive relationship,
what we call marriage,
between one man and one woman.
Verse, chapter 2, verse 24.
Chapter 2, verse 24.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and is united to his wife.
And they become one flesh.
So one flesh is that union,
that intimacy that they enjoy together.
So this is how God has made us and designed us.
And when God had finished all of creation,
back in chapter 1, verse 31,
God looked at his creation.
It's like he stepped back
and looked at all that he made
and he said it was very good.
Each one of us is God's unique creation.
Each person a representation,
a reflection of who God is.
We are wonderfully made.
So first, we are all uniquely created by God.
Second, we are all sexually flawed.
We are all sexually flawed.
You see, while God made a beautiful and good world,
it's no longer all good and beautiful.
The world and its people were all broken in different ways.
And Romans, the book of Romans,
explains to us what happened.
It kind of fleshes out a little bit more
what Genesis 3 would have to say.
So let's go to Romans chapter 1.
Romans 1, verse 21.
So what has happened?
Well, it explains verse 21.
For although they knew God,
so it's talking about all people,
although they knew God,
they neither glorified him as God
nor gave thanks to him.
But their thinking became futile
and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise,
they became fools
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God
for images made to look like mortal human beings
and birds and animals and reptiles.
You see, just like the first man and woman,
Adam and Eve,
that we just read about in Genesis,
we're people who have pushed God out.
pushed God out from the centre
and put ourselves in the centre.
Rather than God tell us how we should live,
we decide how we should live.
It's a little bit like what happens
when I get something from Ikea.
It's an exciting thing for me.
Not many things excite me,
but something from Ikea.
Wow.
I open it up and there's a box full of goodies,
bits of wood,
bags of screws,
all kinds of little things,
and an instruction book.
But why would you ever read the instructions
when you can do it yourself?
Of course, sooner or later,
it has to be taken apart if I can
and read the instructions.
Well, in a sense,
that's what we've done.
We've ignored the creator,
the designer of our lives.
We've pushed him to one side.
We have tried to live life without God.
We think we're being wise,
but we're foolish, verse 22.
Sooner or later,
things become disastrous.
And it has.
The image that we were created in,
the image of God,
made to reflect him,
made to represent him,
has now been distorted.
It's broken.
We no longer reflect God
as we should.
Now, one of the consequences
of this brokenness is,
and there are many,
is that we are all now sexually flawed.
We no longer relate to each other
as human beings as we should.
We're all born where we are,
where our sexuality is confused
and mixed up.
All of us,
whoever we are,
experience fallen sexual desires,
whether those desires are heterosexual
or homosexual.
Very simply,
men and women,
we don't relate to each other
as we're meant to relate to each other.
Now, before we move on,
I think it would be good
just to define
a couple of terms.
Sometimes you hear the expression
homosexual or gay orientation.
That simply means
you are attracted to
someone of the same sex,
a gay or homosexual orientation.
The other is
a heterosexual orientation.
That simply means
you are attracted to someone
of the opposite sex.
Now,
I want to be very clear about this.
Neither orientation
is sinful
in itself.
If my orientation
is that I'm attracted
to the same sex
or the opposite sex,
that's not in itself
sinful.
It's what we do
with our attractions.
That's what's wrong.
It's the behaviour
that matters.
It's how we live our lives.
So, look at Romans 1,
verse 24.
Because we are fallen people,
it says,
God gave them over to,
in their sinful desires
of their hearts,
to sexual impurity.
for the degrading
of their bodies
with one another.
It's talking about
all of us,
whoever we are.
This is what happens.
Verse 25.
They exchanged the truth
about God for a lie
and worshipped
and served created things
rather than the Creator
who is forever praised.
Amen.
Rather than looking
to Christ
or to God
for fulfilment
and satisfaction,
we look to each other,
to relationships
with each other
and in all kinds
of different ways,
distorted relationships.
Because we have turned away
from God's design,
we now live
according to our
fallen sexual desires.
That's why some
with a homosexual orientation
engage in same-sex relationships.
And it's why those
with a homosexual orientation
engage in multiple
sexual relationships.
And even those
who seek to live
within God's design,
that is,
a lifelong marriage
between one man
and one woman,
even they don't relate
to each other
as they should.
We have all failed
and we all fall
in this area.
Now,
living according
to our fallen
sexual desire
is not just simply
a choice
that we make,
something that I
decide to do.
It's actually
judgment
from God.
Look at verse 24.
Look at the words
carefully.
You see,
we think at times
that we're
making all the choices,
but verse 24,
God gave them
over to the
sinful desires
of their hearts
to sexual impurity.
It's like God
removes his hand,
removes his hand
of restraint,
and says,
well, live however
you want,
do whatever
you like.
Verse 26,
because of this,
God gave them
over to shameful
lusts.
Even the women
exchanged natural
sexual relations
for unnatural ones.
In the same way,
the men also
abandoned natural
relations with women
and were inflamed
with lust for one
another.
You see,
God's judgment
is giving to us
what we want.
It's letting us
live without
any kind of
restriction,
any kind of
restraint.
And rather than
bring blessing,
it leads to
brokenness
and distorted
lives.
It leads to
an eternity
without God
and without
his good gifts.
And in case
anyone is reading
and thinking,
well, you know what,
I'm not like that.
I'm not twisted.
I'm not distorted.
I don't have
anything wrong.
I'm sexually
pure.
We'll have a look
at chapter 2,
verse 1.
You,
therefore,
have no excuse,
you who pass
judgment on
someone else.
For at whatever
point you judge
another,
you are condemning
yourself,
because you who
pass judgment
do the same
things.
let not one
of us go
pointing fingers
at other people
and saying
what an awful
life someone
may live.
All of us
are sexually
flawed,
men and
women,
whatever our
orientation may
be.
No one lives
according to
God's good
design.
So we are
all uniquely
created.
We are all
sexually flawed.
God.
Third,
but we are
all equally
loved.
We are all
equally loved.
God is our
loving creator.
He loves us
immensely.
And in fact,
the picture of the
Bible all the way
through is this,
that the more
human beings
turn away from
God,
the more we
rebel against
him,
the more he
pursues us
in love.
Have a look at
Romans chapter 5,
verse 6.
It's a wonderful
description of
God's love
for us.
Romans 5,
verse 6.
You see,
at just the
right time,
when we were
still powerless,
when we were
still powerless,
when we were
still living
according to our
sinful nature,
when we were
still acting out
our fallen
sexual desires,
when we were
unable to change
our behaviour
or attitudes
towards each
other,
at just the
right time,
when we were
still powerless,
Christ died
for the
ungodly.
God had
every right,
and he has
every right.
He would be
perfectly just
to condemn us,
but instead,
verse 7,
he dies
for us.
very rarely
will anyone
die for a
righteous person,
those who do
good,
though for a
good person,
someone might
possibly dare
to die.
It's possible
that someone
would die
for a good
person.
But,
verse 8,
God demonstrates
his own love
for us in this,
while we were
still sinners,
enemies,
rebels,
walking away
from God,
ignoring him,
pushing him
out.
Christ died
for us.
This is the
beauty of
God's love.
He doesn't
say,
now look,
stop behaving
like that,
and then I
will love you.
God doesn't
say,
change how you
think or how
you feel
towards other
people,
and then I
will love you.
No,
God sees us
in our sexually
flawed,
sinful mess,
and he says,
I love you.
In fact,
he doesn't
just say it,
he demonstrates
it,
verse 8.
He demonstrated,
he took action,
he came into
the world,
the God-man
came to us,
and he died
for us.
That is the
love of God
for all people.
And this love
can be experienced.
You see,
when Christ
died,
something wonderful
happened.
Look at just
the last few
words of
verse 8.
It said,
Christ died
for us.
That's in
our place.
That's the
meaning,
in our place.
Jesus Christ
came as
someone who
is absolutely
pure,
and he
came to
take all
our sin,
all our
flawed sexuality
on himself,
all our
past,
all our
struggles,
so that
we might be
forgiven,
and so that
we might be
treated
as a
sexually
pure
child of
God.
He takes
our sexually
flawed sin
and treats
us as
God's
sexually
pure
son.
Jesus is
condemned
in our
place.
He sets
us free
from our
past.
He sets
us free
from our
sin.
He takes
my life so
that I can
receive his
good and
perfect life.
You see,
one of the
things about
our sexual
immorality,
whether
homosexual
or heterosexual,
is it can
leave us
feeling unclean
and unacceptable.
We can engage
in a relationship
that's wrong.
We can act
out an image
or a thought
and we feel
dirty inside.
Well,
the good news
is that Jesus
has come to
take our
uncleanness
and to give
us his
cleanness.
Nothing that
we can do
can ever make
God unclean.
He comes to
us to make
us perfectly
clean.
Now,
if we're to
experience this
love,
it does require
a response.
We were singing
about it earlier.
It requires
repentance.
A turning
around from
going the way
we go to
turning towards
God.
Entrusting
our life to
him.
He owns
our life.
He made
us.
He creates
us.
He knows
what's best
for us.
And the
only right
thing to do
is to submit
to him
and to
follow him
as the
God who
loves us
more than
we could
ever imagine.
So,
we are all
uniquely
created.
We are all
sexually
flawed.
We are all
equally loved.
and we
can all
be
graciously
changed.
You see,
God loves
us so much
that he not
only just
dies for
us,
he loves
us enough
to change
us.
You see,
the image
that we
were made,
created in
the beginning,
made in
God's image,
has now
been broken
but can
once again
be restored.
You see,
when we
entrust our
life,
here's the
promise,
if I
entrust my
life to
God,
I can be
graciously
changed.
What will
that change
look like?
Well,
three things.
First,
I am
changed.
Look at
2 Corinthians
chapter 5
verse 17,
so just
go forward
a little
bit.
2 Corinthians
chapter 5
verse 17.
2 Corinthians
5 verse 17.
We read it
at the very
beginning.
Therefore,
if anyone
is in
Christ,
if anyone
has entrusted
their life
to Christ,
the new
creation
has come
or they
are a
new
creation,
the old
is gone,
the new
is here.
It's a
wonderful
picture of
what God
has done
for us.
We are
new
creations.
Just think
of that
image from
creation
itself,
that dirty
little
caterpillar
grub
that forms
into a
chrysalis
and then
all of a
sudden it
bursts from
its shell
into a
beautiful
colourful
butterfly.
The old
is gone,
the new
has come.
God now
looks at
us,
when we
trust in
him,
as a
new
creation.
He
transforms
us into
new
people.
He gives
us a
fresh start,
a new
beginning.
He gives
us new
desires to
live his
way.
He gives
us his
Holy Spirit
so that we
can live
and obey
him.
You see,
God now
sees us
differently
to how we
see ourselves.
We often
view each
other in
terms of
our
sexuality,
that person's
gay,
that person's
straight.
God
doesn't do
that.
He either
sees us as
one that
you are a
new
creation,
or he
looks at
people and
says,
you are a
potential new
creation.
Now,
wouldn't that
transform our
whole view
of one
another if
we could
see each
other in
that way?
We are
either a
new
creation,
or someone's
a potential
new
creation.
When we
entrust our
life to
Christ,
I am
changed.
I am a
brand new
person.
Second,
I am
being
changed.
Now,
just as
we receive
or are
given this
new
creation,
that does
not mean
perfection.
We will
continue to
struggle with
our sexual
desires.
We still
will face
temptation.
We will
fail and
we will
fall.
All these
things will
go on
through our
life.
But there
is a
process of
change going
on through
our life at
the same
time.
if you
just go
back a
page or
two or
a chapter
or two
to 2
Corinthians
chapter 3
verse 18.
2
Corinthians
3
verse 18.
It says
there,
because of
the change
God has
brought
about,
well,
let's
read verse
17,
actually.
Now,
the Lord
is the
Spirit,
and where
the Spirit
of the
Lord is,
there is
freedom.
So we
can come
to him,
and we
all who
with unveiled
faces
contemplate
or reflect
the Lord's
glory,
so as we've
received this
new creation,
as we are
new people,
we are being
transformed
into his
image
with ever
increasing
glory,
which comes
from the
Lord who
is the
Spirit.
Did you
get that?
We are
being
transformed
into his
image.
God,
by his
Holy Spirit,
is changing
us and
transforming
us into
his image.
God's
desire
is to
make us
more like
the Lord
Jesus.
That's what
he's seeking
to do
in us
all.
You see,
we think
it's all
about changing
behaviours,
about changing
how I
feel.
Well,
the change
that God
is interested
in is
transforming
us into
the image
of Jesus.
The question
is not
what is my
orientation
and should
my orientation
change,
but am I
becoming more
like Jesus?
That's what
he's changing
us into.
So I am
a new
creation,
I am
being transformed
and changed
into the
image of
Jesus,
and third,
I will
be changed.
We need
to go
back a
couple more
pages to
the end
of 1 Corinthians
chapter 15
verse 49.
1 Corinthians
15
verse 49.
Here's a
wonderful
verse
about
who we
are
or rather
what we
will
become.
Verse 49,
and just
as we
have borne
the image
of the
earthly
man,
so just
as we
have been
like our
ancestor
Adam in
our fallen
nature,
broken
image,
so shall
we bear
the image
of the
heavenly
man,
talking about
Christ.
One day
we will
be like
Jesus.
We were
made in
the image
of God,
but that image
has been
broken and
distorted.
We are
in the
process of
being
transformed
bit by
bit,
shaped and
conformed
to be
more like
Christ each
and every
day,
but we
can also
look forward
to that
image being
completely
restored and
made right.
We will
bear the
image of
the heavenly
man,
the Lord
Jesus.
One day
we will
experience our
full and
final transformation
no more
sin,
no more
temptation,
no more
struggles,
no more
confused
sexual desires.
The broken
image will
be fully
restored and
we will
be like
Jesus.
You see,
the point
is,
God is
not
anti
any one
of us.
He longs
that people
like us
would run
to him
just as
we are,
however we
feel,
whatever we
have done,
that we
would run
to him
so that
we can
become
more like
Jesus,
forgiven
people,
that we
could be
changed to
be more
like him
bit by
bit,
with the
future hope
and the
assurance
of one
day,
I will
see him
and I
will be
like him.
That is
God's
plan for
every human
being.
That is
his desire.
Uniquely
created,
but sexually
flawed,
wonderfully,
equally loved,
and by
trusting in
him,
we can all
be graciously
changed.
let's pray
together.
Father,
thank you
for your
word,
for its
truth,
for its
clarity,
helping us
to see
that we
have been
made by
you.
Yes,
we confess
that we
have pushed
you out
and we
are sorry,
we repent
of that.
Thank you
that you
love us.
You love
us enough
to die
for us,
but love
us enough
to go
on changing
us.
And we
pray that
by your
Holy Spirit
that you
would continually
transform us
to be made
more like
the Lord
Jesus.
Do your
work.
and help
us to
have that
vision
before us
that one
day we
will see
Jesus
and we
will be
like him.
Thank you
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
We're going
to sing
as we
reflect on
what we've
been
through.
Thank you.