It was not good for man to be alone, so says Genesis, thus woman was created, they were married and ‘knew’ each other (which means sex!). So establishes God the pattern to underlie human society ever since – the marriage of a man and a woman into an exclusive one-flesh union from which children a born and society built.
God, being an incredibly creative and loving God, determined that the very act that defines a marriage and conceives children is also one of humanities greatest pleasures – sex! In the unique emotional and physical intimacy and pleasure of sex, new life is conceived, marriage is affirmed and wife and husband can ‘know’ each other in this wonderful gift of God.
Not all are called to marriage, not all will find marriage; for those living single rich fulfilling love is still available, as we will explore in the next sermon, but the majority of us will marry. It is this marriage union that forms the foundation of society and is the bedrock of human relationships.
The Bible has lots to say about marriage and sex (we’ll look at some of the texts), but unfortunately this is often lost either by stereotypes, historical tradition that is not to be equated with biblical truth, or by sheer prejudice. These sermons will try to articulate a Christian vision for marriage and sex, the first focussing more on marriage and the second more on sex:
Marriage:
· A relationship that reflects God’s faithfulness
· A relationship that reflects the image of God in the uniting of gender
· A relationship that provides the solid foundation for new humans to grow and flourish
· A relationship that forms the building blocks of society
· A relationship that reflects the love of Christ for his church
Sex:
· A gift of God reserved for marriage, because it expresses and establishes the one-flesh union that is only truly good within the commitment and responsibilities of marriage
· A crucial part of any marriage.
· A gift that is always hugely important emotionally, physically and spiritually.
· A gift that is meant to produce pleasure, intimacy, ‘knowing’, life.
The sermons will also seek to address the reality that marriage is hard and sex is often distorted. How do we continue to grow into the love of God, given through marriage and sex, over the years? How do we help support marriage and sex when we are single? We will also use this moment to offer people the chance to take part in the marriage course, pre-marriage course or seek marriage/sex counselling.
