God and Sexuality - Three Stances: Sex is a Gift

“Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” -Proverbs 5:18-19

We've been talking about different stances on sex for three days now, so you're probably either feeling intrigued or really awkward. Just keep holding. On Monday we talked about Sex as God, and on Tuesday we talked about Sex as Gross. Today we're talking about Sex as a Gift. If you missed the other two devos, read them first. Just scroll down on the iDevo blog page.

So, sex is not God, and sex is not gross. What is it, then? Sex is a gift from God! Proverbs 5:18-19 says, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Now, this does not mean that we can just go around having sex with everybody because it’s a gift from God. God sets some limitations. We should have sex only with our husband or wife. Sex should only happen within the context of marriage. The most extensive passage concerning this is 1 Corinthians 7:1-5. No, sex before marriage is not permitted.

God does not set these boundaries to be a party-pooper, though. Sex is an extremely intimate act. When we engage in sex with someone outside of the commitment of marriage, we are acting outside of God’s plan for human intimacy. God designed commitment and intimacy to go hand in hand. In light of this, we should not have sexual intimacy without the covenant commitment of marriage before God. This is not just for our own protection. It is also for the glory of God. Marriage and all of the intimacy that comes with it is designed to be an earthly representation of the relationship between Christ and his Church. Ephesians 5:31-32 says, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” If we think about this when it comes to Christ and the Church, would Christ want his bride to be intimate with him yet have no commitment to him, able to leave whenever she wanted? Of course not!

We’ve said a lot, so let’s summarize. Sex is not God. Sex is not gross or bad. Sex is a gift from God. This gift is meant exclusively for a husband and wife to enjoy as they wish. This is a biblical representation of intimacy and it aligns with the picture of Christ’s relationship with his Church. Friends, your bodies are a precious gift. Practice restraint so that you can give that gift freely to your wife or husband, rather than letting that gift control you. It is difficult to restrain from sexual intimacy. Trust me, I know. But it is possible to wait. My wife and I are a testament to the possibility of waiting, and the gift we are able to give each other is such a blessing to us that we do not look back on our wait negatively at all!

Thanks for tracking with us these three days. Be steadfast!