truth matters
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Key Issues in Human Sexuality
Foundational texts
A Christian discussion of human sexuality has to begin with the opening pages
of the Bible. Whilst there is a modern suspicion of beginning here, we have
good precedent. When Jesus was asked about issues in human sexuality he pointed
to God’s created intention (see Matthew 19:4-6). Similarly, writing about
human marriage, Paul argues that the creator’s purpose extends beyond the
human institution of marriage, and is caught up in God’s cosmic purposes
for Christ and His people (see Ephesians 5:31f.). For both the Jew and the Gentile,
Jesus and Paul in turn point to the opening pages of the Bible as being key.
1. Made In God’s Image - Genesis 1:26-28
The climax to the creation account indicates that only human beings image God.
You get a glimpse of God by looking at the hills, the stars, the plant life,
or the animal kingdom. You see much more of God by looking in the mirror. In
human beings you see a reflection of God’s own character.
First - the image implies fruitfulness
In the Ancient Near East, vassal kings multiplied clay images of themselves,
placing them at strategic points around the kingdom. Wherever the people saw
his image, they were to remember the vastness of his kingdom. Humans are encouraged
to make more images of God, not by removing the rib from the husband’s
side, but through procreation.
Secondly - The image involves dominion
The vassal king had another purpose in multiplying his image. It served to remind
people that wherever they saw his image, there he reigned. So too, human beings
show something of God’s reign in the way they image him. Men and women
do this by creatively ruling the creation.
Being ‘made in God’s image’ clearly has very much to do with
our sexuality.
2. Made especially for each other - Genesis 2:23-25
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Gen.2:24. ESV)
Marriage is for Intimacy
There was no suitable companion for Adam in the rest of creation. But, in Eve,
Adam found the answer to loneliness, and a genuine partnership. He exclaimed:
‘at last, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh’. The language used implies
joy and intimacy.
God could have said: ‘Now you’re not going to like this, but in order
for the human race to continue, you must engage in sexual intercourse!’
However, God chose to make love-making one of the most pleasurable of human
experiences, celebrated in places such as Song of Songs, and intended to be
enjoyed in the relationship he has designed it for.
Marriage is Forever!
The phrase ‘one flesh’ literally means ‘stuck’, implying
that in marriage, you are ‘stuck with each other!’. However, the Bible
means this in a positive sense. Yes, there are circumstances when this glue
may be dissolved, but that is not part of the created intention of the glue!
3. Messed up by Sin - Genesis 3
Space does not permit a detailed look at this important chapter. However, we
should notice:
First - the Shame of Sin vv.8-13
Having broken the express command of God, when they hear Him walking in the
garden, they hide. What a contrast to the naked, unblushing intimacy of chapter
2! They blame each other for their sin (v12ff.). Adam said: ‘The woman
you gave me…’. Eve responded: ‘The serpent deceived me’.
There is a constant tendency in human relationships, particularly in the so-called
‘battle of the sexes’, for each to blame the other, and for each to
avoid squaring up to the sin which self evidently is in everyone’s life.
Secondly - the Consequences of Sin vv.14-19
The serpent is cursed by God (v14f.), and ultimately will be crushed. The woman
will experience pain in childbirth (v16) and the loving complementarity of Genesis
2:23f. will turn into tyranny and rule. The woman will continue to desire her
husband, but, rather than giving the godly lead she wants, he exercises dominion
over her. The curse on the man, (v17ff.) turns work (a good thing) into toil.
This is something we know well from our love/hate relationship with work.
The intimacy the couple once enjoyed with God and with each other is, for now,
lost (v24). This is not the end of the story, of course, and even in Genesis
there are several indications of God’s mercy and grace (he calls them,
he promises to crush Satan, and he clothes them).
Conclusions
From this lightening tour of Genesis 1-3 we conclude:
a) The Bible assumes the full equality of men and women - both are made in the
image of God and precious to Him;
b) Men and women are different - they are in complementary relationship with
each other. Long before Men are From Mars; Women are From Venus, the Bible taught
co-equality and complementarity!
c) The marriage relationship is the place for procreation and intimacy between
the sexes. This is not to say that the Bible does not have a special word to
say to the single person and the widow (and a challenge to the Church to be
their extended family). Nevertheless, God has made marriage to be an enacted
parable of his relationship with his people.
Homosexuality - current challenges
I have been ‘stuck’ on this subject for nearly 10 years now, and there
is no indication that it is going away. It seems to me that the current debate
surrounds:-
a) A growing acknowledgment that the biblical case is irrefutable. Robert Gagnon’s
book The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 2001), is as close to ‘a last word’ as we will get.
It is also acknowledged by the House of Bishops report Some Issues in Human
Sexuality (Church House Publishing, 2003) that there is no reason to reject
the traditional view of homosexuality (see pp.310f.).
b) The standard liberal position is that the Bible is ‘an authority’
but not ‘authoritative’. The consequence of this is the argument that
‘the Bible does not anticipate the modern gay scene’.
c) A championing of faithful, stable, same-sex relationships as healthy –
even liberated – alternatives to marriage. For, the argument goes, same-sex
partnerships do not have all the trappings of a ‘hierarchical’ view
of marriage, but celebrate co-equality. This argument is having a powerful but
worrying effect. If God has determined that marriage is ‘very good’
(Genesis 1:31), then it is not just that it is ‘good for us’, but
that, according to Ephesians 5:31f, it is designed by God to provide eloquent
testimony to the world about who He is, and His purposes for His people! Losing
this view of complementarity has serious consequences.
Implications
a. We can not assume that the biblical case is either known or welcomed (but
we need to keep teaching it). If Evangelical leaders feel the pressure of the
world at this point, how much more do congregation members? Christians must
continue graciously to insist on the foundational truths of Scripture.
b. We need to teach and rejoice in the blessings we receive from recognising
the God-given complementarity of the sexes.
Further Reading
Pure Sex Tony Payne & Phillip Jensen (Published by The Good Book Company)
Conduct Which Honours God Simon Vibert (Published by FWS, Orthos 20)
The Bible & Homosexual Practice Robert Gagnon (Published Abingdon Press)
Biblical Manhood & Womanhood Piper & Grudem (Published by Crossway)
Revd Dr Simon Vibert is Vicar of St Luke’s Wimbledon Park and currently
writing a book on Christian Marriage