Just What Is Godly Sex?—Part 1

Although most Christians know the moral guardrails of sex, they’re unable to explain the deeper realities behind God’s design. But the Bible has much more to say about sex than procreation or “just wait until marriage.” In this video, we’ll briefly discuss two theological aspects of godly sexuality.

First, Scripture is unashamedly positive about sex, because God is a God of pleasure. Genesis 2 records the beauty of human sexuality prior to the fall: a one-flesh relationship in which Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed. Shame surrounds sexuality because of sin. But God designed sex to be pleasurable, crafting the orgasm and declaring it to be very good. Although we idolize and overdo pleasure, God intends his good gifts to lead us to a deeper worship of him as the Giver.

So the Bible extols the pleasure of sexuality. Proverbs 5 tells husbands, “Rejoice in the wife of your youth… Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.” God wants married couples to be drunk with sexual delight. Further, the Song of Songs contains passages with profoundly sensual language. Prudish views of sex are added by church tradition, but are foreign to Scripture.

Secondly, God created our erotic drive so we’d glimpse his heart for us and be amazed by his love. Beginning in the Old Testament, God describes his relationship to Israel as a husband with his bride. In the Gospels, Jesus picks up the theme, telling parables placing himself in the role of the bridegroom. Revelation teaches that eternity begins with the wedding feast of the Lamb. Jesus taught there will be no marriage at the resurrection, because marriage ultimately points to our relationship with him. And Ephesians 5 makes this explicit. Speaking of marriage, it concludes, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

So what does all this mean? God created you as a sexual, romantic being with deep, powerful longings, so you would understand his longing for you. When I was engaged to my wife, Isaiah 62:5 blew my mind: “For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” My love and longing for my wife was a drop in the Pacific Ocean of God’s heart toward me, and you. He created us to catch a glimpse of the Ephesians 5 profound mystery through our longings: Christ’s love and desire to be consummated with his bride. Our sex drive, too, is an invitation to worship.