For Marriage
Pastor Ryan and Cathy Story
God created marriage. That truth has to be known, understood, and lived out. Marriage is not an institution man came up with. Marriage was not created to put two people in a lifelong relationship of conflict, tension, and misunderstanding. Marriage is one of the most beautiful pictures we have to see God’s mercy, grace, and love. Adam was alone, God saw that loneliness was not good. God put Adam to sleep and created Eve. Amazingly, God created women perfectly without Adam’s input. When Adam awoke, Adam was taken back and glorified God by exhorting his bride. God conducted the first wedding ceremony. Then He commanded man and women “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).
God created marriage and within that marriage, God created sex for marriage. If we hold fast to the understanding of who God is, what God has created, and to live out God’s will and plan for our lives we have to view sex as an activity that should only exist within marriage. When we view sex as our own personal outlet for pleasure, our means of finding worth, or our avenue of expressing our emotions, we are taking the gift that God has given us and turning it to worship ourselves rather than the Creator. Everything that is created was created for God’s glory, that includes sex.
We live in a world that has lost its mind when it comes to sex. Advertisements, television, and social media are riddled with sexual imagery and innuendo and yet the church remains silent on this topic. Many people, inside the church and otherwise, have lost one of the most basic warnings we see about sex in the Bible. Song of Solomon 8:3-4 reads, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.”
Even in a moment of immense physical intimacy, the bride is being held by her love. There is a strong possibility both parties just had sex with one another, they are enjoying each other’s company, and then as if out of nowhere, do “not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” It is as if Solomon while writing this realized his folly. His wisdom brought him to the truth that God created sex for His glory, not man’s. Many of us view sex through a filter that is corrupted by sin. God has given us a gift, and it is up to every person to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the self-control needed to ensure that we honor the gift of sex. Saving sex for marriage is old fashioned because it is how God made it in the beginning.
If you are reading this and thinking, “Welp, I missed.” We serve a loving God that is capable of transforming our dead, sinful hearts into hearts that are full of life. Our lively hearts need to crave to be obedient to God and follow His Law (Ezekiel 36:26). We have a loving, forgiving, and merciful God.
If you have taken God’s gift of sex and prematurely partook with a self-focused heart and if you feel shame, understand that it is not from God. I pray if you feel that, you would bring yourself humbly to the cross and ask for a new heart, and for a new desire to live a life that glorifies Him in all that you do.
Pastor Ryan and Cathy Story
God created marriage. That truth has to be known, understood, and lived out. Marriage is not an institution man came up with. Marriage was not created to put two people in a lifelong relationship of conflict, tension, and misunderstanding. Marriage is one of the most beautiful pictures we have to see God’s mercy, grace, and love. Adam was alone, God saw that loneliness was not good. God put Adam to sleep and created Eve. Amazingly, God created women perfectly without Adam’s input. When Adam awoke, Adam was taken back and glorified God by exhorting his bride. God conducted the first wedding ceremony. Then He commanded man and women “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).
God created marriage and within that marriage, God created sex for marriage. If we hold fast to the understanding of who God is, what God has created, and to live out God’s will and plan for our lives we have to view sex as an activity that should only exist within marriage. When we view sex as our own personal outlet for pleasure, our means of finding worth, or our avenue of expressing our emotions, we are taking the gift that God has given us and turning it to worship ourselves rather than the Creator. Everything that is created was created for God’s glory, that includes sex.
We live in a world that has lost its mind when it comes to sex. Advertisements, television, and social media are riddled with sexual imagery and innuendo and yet the church remains silent on this topic. Many people, inside the church and otherwise, have lost one of the most basic warnings we see about sex in the Bible. Song of Solomon 8:3-4 reads, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.”
Even in a moment of immense physical intimacy, the bride is being held by her love. There is a strong possibility both parties just had sex with one another, they are enjoying each other’s company, and then as if out of nowhere, do “not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.” It is as if Solomon while writing this realized his folly. His wisdom brought him to the truth that God created sex for His glory, not man’s. Many of us view sex through a filter that is corrupted by sin. God has given us a gift, and it is up to every person to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the self-control needed to ensure that we honor the gift of sex. Saving sex for marriage is old fashioned because it is how God made it in the beginning.
If you are reading this and thinking, “Welp, I missed.” We serve a loving God that is capable of transforming our dead, sinful hearts into hearts that are full of life. Our lively hearts need to crave to be obedient to God and follow His Law (Ezekiel 36:26). We have a loving, forgiving, and merciful God.
If you have taken God’s gift of sex and prematurely partook with a self-focused heart and if you feel shame, understand that it is not from God. I pray if you feel that, you would bring yourself humbly to the cross and ask for a new heart, and for a new desire to live a life that glorifies Him in all that you do.
Posted in The Talk
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