Why Sex?

Why Sex? 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NLT)

“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer[a] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

• Paul has been speaking to the church about sexual sin for a while now and we can hear it from his tone of voice “You guy are not getting it 
• He tells them that he was talking about not associating with believers who continue to have sexual immorality. 
• Such people you should not even eat with them- they should not be part of your life 
• He understands that this message is not for the unbelievers and so is the message today
• Paul speaks of greed, idol worship, abuse, drunkenness and cheaters – if you look carefully at this list; you can see that are all these are ingredients of sexual immorality (greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people)
• He concludes by saying that “We in 2023 heading to 2024 we should remove such evil people from among us 

Intro:

• • It January 1998, these soon to be famous words came out of our then Current President – I did not have any sexual relationship with that woman “Miss Lewisky”
  • What followed was an outcry of millions of people wanting President Bill Clinton to be impeached 
  • Sex both good and bad has gone to claim entire generation and the victims continues:
    • Sodom and Gomorrah 
    • Solomon – Drawn to idol worship
    • David – a mighty man of God
    • Tiger woods – Slept with at least 15 different women when still married 
    • John Edward -Former senator from North Carolina (2008 Presidential election- had a baby with his aide
    • Eliot Spitzer – Former New York Attorney General 
    • Ravi Zacharia
    • And the list is endless…
  • These days you don’t have to leave your home to be enticed by the world definition and display of sex 
  • The world knows that sex sells – and its doing everything it can to normalize sex in a perverted way 
  • The sad part is that there is no way of stopping it – It’s the snake that you cut off one head and another grows in its place – It’s a spiritual war!!

• And what does a Good Bible Believing Church do, they speak about God’s Standard on everything including sex 

• Genesis 1:27 (Nkjv) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;

• Genesis 1:31(Nkjv)Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. 

• Sexuality (including the act of sexual intercourse) is part of God’s creation, part of his crowning act. And God’s creation is very good. Therefore, declares the first chapter of Genesis, sex is good, very good. It is not a mistake, a sinful aberration, a “regrettable necessity,”27 a shameful experience. : it is part of God’s perfect design from the beginning and willed as a fundamental aspect of human existence.
• Let me let you on a secret of preaching – Meditate of the word – something pops up and you can’t let it go – Hence the question that kept coming was “Why Sex?”
• This evening I want us to take a few minutes and look at the standards set by God regarding sex
• I am very aware that tonight I am wielding (weel·duhng) a very sharp sword that touches many people either in a positive way or a repulsive way. I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will only cut out what’s necessary 

Why did God institute sex?

• • The obvious answer is for procreations 
  • Sexual intimacy is the only place where we truly get to aid God in the mystery of creation. Sex sometimes produces new life, babies. Therefore, it such a honor to be part of creation (FVC babies)
  • In addition to that; for man and woman God went a little further 

• Matthew 19:4-6 (Nkjv) And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who [a]made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

• • Did you know that only human species demonstrate a constant availability for and interest for sex as opposed to a “heat” season in animals?
  • Unlike the animal kingdom, we don’t have to fight for a different partner during the mating season 
  • In addition to this, there is the bonding where two become one – a relationship that goes further than just reproduction
  • Mark 10:7, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife…”  The word cleave is translated from the Greek word, proskollao.  Its essence means to join as if glued together. – God glues a husband and wife together
  • God applies the glue that holds them together and warns that no MAN/Human  should separate the two

• I know some of you are confused, because I am now speaking of Marriage – some of you are like phew! And others are like, lets get back to the title 

• Ephesians 5:31-32 (Ampc) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning [the relation of] Christ and the church.

• You have a husband-and-wife relationship that is likened to the Church and Christ 
• It’s a very big deal

True Covenant 

• • God views marriage as a covenant and He also views sexual union as a binding covenant act 
  • How is sex a binding covenant you may ask? Keep listening 
  • All covenants have a sign and most of them are sealed with blood 
    • Noah – the rainbow 
    • Abraham – Genesis 15 – God passed through the sacrifice 
    • Abraham again – circumcision in Genesis 17 that marked Abraham as belonging to God
    • Jesus, last supper – Luke 22
  • Sex is a sign of marriage and a binding covenant and hence we say “They consummated their marriage 
  • Even my non-Christian google says that Consummate: “ make (a marriage or relationship) complete by having sexual intercourse.
  • We see this in the Old Testament:

• Genesis 24:67 (Amp) – Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

• • Genesis 29:23-25 (NLT) – Jacob intents to marry Rachel, and a feast is thrown for Jacob and Rachel. However Laban ( the father in law) tricks Jacob and brings Leah to Jacob 

• Genesis 29:23 (AMP) But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob [a]went in to [consummate the marriage with] her.

• Sex is not just an act but it a binding Covenant- Hence God cannot stand sexual immorality 

• • This evening I am not speaking on the symptoms of sexual immoralities: namely; homosexuality, incest, living with someone who is not married
  • The issue is that we are so focused on fighting the symptoms that we ignore the root cause 
  • I love the analogy of knowing the currency – I don’t care what they come up with next, I want to know the standard 
  • Remember when I said that “All covenants have a sign and most of them are sealed with blood 
  • And the standard is so profound, that when a man and a woman who have lived a pure life ( No sexual sin before marriage) first consummate the marriage after living a pure life, and it’s the first time you are coming together, there is a covenant that happens – and that covenant is sealed with blood 

• Ephesians 5:31-32 (Nkjv) For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

False covenant 

• Matthew 4:8 (Nkjv) Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

• We know that there was already a promise (Covenant) set before hand and the blood of Jesus on cross was the glue 

• Matthew 28:18 (Nkjv) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

•  Hebrews 1:2 (NLT)And now in these final days, He has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son He created the universe.

• Jesus already had everything promised to Him – The blood on the cross would seal the covenant 

• • The devil was trying to make a false covenant with Jesus. If he could stop Jesus from going to the cross, all the promises that followed Him would have been gone 
  • We see this happen daily in our lives today!! – Look around – Devil same trick/different time 
  • The pornography industry generates more income than the combined revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS and more than the combined revenues of NFL, NBA, and MLB. In the USA, the porn industry generates between $15 billion – $97 billion a year. Every second, $3,075.64 is spent on pornography.

• 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (NLT) Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

• • The devil has created helpers/servants through the porn industry – It has become one of the best tools to defile the Temple – God’s temple 
  • If he can capture you mind – then the rest is history
  • James 1:14-16 (Nkjv) But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
  • Do not be deceived that its harmless sin – I am just looking – You are a second away from making  a false covenant with the enemy!
  • Sexual sin does not only affect the person in sin but also the other person involved, robbing some the beauty of freely and joyfully creating a covenant between man and woman
  • I want to speak to those who have been abused sexually- It was not Gods plan for this to happen 
  • If the enemy can use someone else to defile you, then his attempt is to destroy the temple of God is successful 
  • If he is successful, it changes how you look at Sex, how you view commitment, covenants, how you relate to others, to the opposite sex, to your spouse 
  • It affects your future husband or wife (intimacy is not the same- The true picture of Christ and the Church)– it has lasting impact, and this is why the devil is after our children 
  • If he can get them early enough – he can keep them slaves showing them that they are no longer worthy to bring glory to God or enjoy the good things of God 
  • We must protect the purity of sexual relationships – it’s more than just hooking up!!

• Genesis 2:25 (Nlt) – And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

• This is how God wants sex to look like – and remember Genesis 1:31(Nkjv)Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. 

• • The truth is, it’s not how you started but how you finish- There is power in the blood of Jesus- There is one who can and is able to break false covenants and He has a new covenant that is sealed with His own blood on the Cross 

• And for the rest of you who are like me that in the past you fell for sexual sins: Every time the enemy remind me of my old self, I appropriate; 

• (Galatians 2:20 NLT) My old self has been crucified with Christ.[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Acts 10:15 – And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has [a]cleansed you must not call common.”

• 1 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT) Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

•  1 Corinthians 6:18 (AMPC) Shun immorality and all sexual looseness [flee from impurity in thought, word, or deed]. Any other sin which a man commits is one outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

• • God does not take sexual sin kindly- Did you know that only death and Sexual sin can break a marriage covenant made in the presence of God? – Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
  • This is because its serious business – It’s a breaking of a covenant!! 
  • In 1st King David is dead and Solomon his son succeeds him 

• 1 Kings 3:3 – Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking [at first] in the statutes of David his father, except [for the fact that] he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places [ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle]

• • The law was clear; 

• Leviticus 17:3-4 3 “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull[a] or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle[b] to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer.[c] Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community

• • Soon we not only see Solomon continue to sacrifice outside the “standard” 

• 1 Kings 11: 7-9 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,[a] he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.9 The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

• • Watch out least you be like Solomon 

• Matthew 5:27-28  “You have heard that it was said [a]to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

• Every time you are sleeping with someone who is not your wife or thinking about it, every time you are playing husband and wife or even considering it , every time you are having an affair, committing adultery- or even thinking about it – you are building alters to sacrifice to the enemy- a covenant is in the making 

• • As I close – I would encourage you to continue having babies – it’s a blessing 
  • Continue having communion and enjoy the marriage bed – that every time you uncover each other nakedness- make sure that it honors the covenant that you made 
  • Speaking of communion –Paul warns not to associate with sexual immoral people in the church, not to even eat with them
  • Because we are one body, when you are in sexual sin, you are in a covenant with the devil and since you are in a relationship with us (Church) you become the crack – the one rotten potato that ruins the entire bag

• 1 Corinthians 11:25-29 (NLT In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[b] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,[c] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself