Yesterday we saw that because of the powerful nature of sex to connect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually, God designed sex for one specific environment, which is one man and one woman united in a monogamous marriage relationship for life. The sexual intercourse that occurs in a covenant marriage relationship that provides for the open expression of love in the context of total vulnerability and intimacy is a glimpse of the depth of the intimacy that we will have in our relationship with Christ for all eternity.
And because of this reality, we see the Apostle Paul give a timeless command to followers of Jesus that reveals a timeless truth that can occur when Christians act unchristian. And that timeless truth is Christians act unchristian when we fail to flee from sexual immorality. We see this timeless truth revealed for us in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20:
Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Paul commands the members of the church at Corinth, and us today to flee immorality. When Paul refers to immorality, he is referring to unlawful sexual intercourse, which is any sexual activity outside of a covenant marriage relationship; whether it is sex before marriage, sex in addition to marriage, which we call adultery, homosexual sexual activity and any other sexual activity that occurs outside of marriage.
Paul then gives the reason for such a strong command by stating that every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Paul’s point here is that the nature of sexual sin is so unique that the person who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse pollutes and corrupts their bodies in a way that no other selfish and sinful act can.
Paul reveals for the church at Corinth, and us as well, that followers of Jesus are temples of the Holy Spirit. In other words the Holy Spirit takes up residence and dwells in the bodies of followers of Jesus. Paul then provides another reason why we should flee sexual immorality when he states that you are not your own. As followers of Jesus, the reality is that we are God’s possession. God owns us.
Now you may be wondering, what do you mean God owns us? How does God own us? Paul answers this question for us by stating for you have been bought with a price. Paul is bringing the members of the church of Corinth back to the reality of the cross. The cross reveals the reality that Christ rescued and redeemed us from our selfish and sinful lives by allowing Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And it is the price that Christ paid that not only brings us the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for but also makes us His possession.
Paul concludes this section of this letter by explaining that in light of the price that Jesus paid to rescue and redeem us; in light of the reality that we are His possession, we are to glorify God with our bodies. The idea of glorifying God means to influence one’s opinion about God so as to enhance God’s reputation. Paul here is calling the members of the church at Corinth, and us here today to honor, extol, and make much of God by how we handle our physical bodies when it comes to sex. One of the ways that we reveal and reflect Christ to the world around us is by how we handle ourselves when it comes to our sexuality.
We best reflect God’s other centered sacrificial love when we engage in sex in the context of marriage. And to do that, as followers of Jesus, we must flee sexual immorality. We must flee, flee, flee. Because the reality is that Christians act unchristian when we fail to flee sexual immorality. And if you were to ask many of us, some of our greatest regrets in life revolve around our failure to follow this principle. And while you may be thinking that this is old fashioned and unrealistic, I can tell you this; there is not one person who has followed this principle in their lives who regrets that decision. There is not one person who would look back in the rear view mirror of their lives and say “I wish I would have been more promiscuous. I wish I would have been more sexually active prior to my marriage”.
And I can also tell you this; it is never too late to implement this principle in our lives. The church at Corinth was filled with people who had a past, but had received grace, forgiveness and a fresh start as a result of repenting or changing the trajectory of their live that was moving away from God back towards God by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And regardless of you past, regardless of your present circumstances, regardless of your regrets, God is ever present and ever willing to extend grace to those who ask for it.
So may we flee from sexual immorality. May we recognize the amazing gift that sexuality is that has been given us by God. And may we act in a way that glorifies God with our bodies by engaging in sexuality according to God’s design as one man with one woman in a covenant relationship for a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment