Religion and Human Sexuality

In today’s society, we find that individuals are exposed to various sociological points that shape our perception of sexuality. People today have been influenced by many resourceful outlets such as media, internet, school, peer pressure from friends, sporting events, and music. Due to these outlets, sexuality has become one of the most profound subjects discussed in the world today. 

With the abundance of resources teaching our children, children under the age of 18 as well as adults have presented themselves as facing a conflicting battle as to what is right and wrong with the term sexuality.

God created human beings in his own image with the creation of Adam and Eve. There are many conflicting stories that have been told by society over the years. Parents and the church have strayed away from telling their children how procreation started and discussing human sexuality with their children. However, this leads to the abundance of resources in the environment such as music, television, and internet to teach our children. It is important for an individual to understand God’s purpose, and to become aware of how His purpose has taken a detour from what the bible says how an individual should live. If an individual is not aware of the theology of sex, then the human body becomes a fixation on the brain, and a consciousness debate that sidesteps the thought process (Merining, 2016).

God’s Purpose on Sexuality

As stated earlier, God created human beings in His own image. As stated in Genesis 1: 27 (New International Version), “so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he them.”  God did not create humans because he needed them. God already knew that one day His image would reject Him over a period of time, including sexuality.  God created man so that man can carry out His love and His will to all mankind. Psalms 8: 3-4 (New International Version) says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them.” God knew that man could not be on this earth by himself; therefore, God created a woman.

God created them to have similar attributes but have different gender roles (Gellman, 2006). The responsibilities that God gave man was to be the headship of his family and the woman was to be submissive. Adam and Eve were in a relationship that allowed them to become husband and wife. God married Adam and Eve by creating Eve out of the wound of Adam.  She became the physical part of Adam; therefore, he could not function properly until his help mate arrived. God wanted both Adam and Eve to become one flesh.  Meaning that their bodies are filled with wholeness and they are no longer two different individuals but one union. Genesis 2: 24 (New International Version) says, “That is why a man leases his father and mother and is unties to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Therefore, both partners must take care of each other physically and spiritually.

When God told Adam to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge, it seems as if Adam did not tell Eve the exact content of the tree. Adam just told Eve to not eat from the tree; however, Eve ate the apple from the tree. Adam and Eve expressed shameful characteristics when God called them to explain why the apple was eaten off the tree.  This incident showed that Eve did not obey her husband and was defiant. Therefore, God had to create some form of rectifying matters as a means of guaranteeing that Eve was going to obey her husband. God saw that Eve’s spirit was weak. God told Eve that “she will have strong sexual desires for Adam and she will have reasons to obey her husband” (Gellman, 2006). This was not a punishment or a curse for the sin that was committed, but to give correction for her action. It was also to allow the gift of God to be fruitful, and multiply through childbearing or procreation.

The Creation of Life and the Sin of Fornication

According to the Bible Adam and Eve endured hardship after eating from the Tree of Knowledge. One of the consequences that Adam and Eve had to face was procreation. For Eve to become submissive to her husband, God decided that He would give her strong sexual desires. Human sexuality is a characteristic that is designed to fortify the bond between man and women.  Per Mori (2009), the evolution of reproduction is considered a psychological mechanism that “optimizes the reproductive process whenever metabolic conditions fluctuate.” When discussing the ability for couples to procreate there are certain strategies that differentiate between a male and female. Evolution as compared males and females to the sexual behavior of homo sapiens (Mori, 2009). Sexual behavior is a behavior that is learned and not something that just happens by accident.

In the Christian realm, Adam and Eve procreated through being married; therefore, the bed was undefined. One of Christ’s teachings is that all mankind should practice celibacy. In 1 Corinthians 7: 8-9 (New International Version) says, “I’m telling those who are single and widow that its good for them to stay single like me. But if they can’t control themselves, they should get married, because it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.”  According to Mori the need for couples to practice celibacy was strongly influenced by St. Augustine. Per Mori (2009), St Augustine wrote “continence is better than marriage, but marriage is better than fornication.”

In the bible there is a sense of divine purpose when God created Jesus. No, God did not practice any sexual behaviors with the virgin Mary. God used his healing powers and magnificent hands to reproduce a child and used Mary as the individual who would carry Jesus. Why did God chose Mary to be Jesus mother instead of finding his own wife. When Jesus was born, he was called the Son of God. Although God was a spirit, He had to show himself through his Son. There are many conflicting stories as to why Mary chose to carry out the pregnancy.  Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel and he said that Mary would give birth. The reason why this story is conflicting, is because God conceived Mary with a child when she was not married. A lot of theologies and pastors have preached that sex without marriage is a sin. God created sex between a man and a woman as a vehicle or drive for both partners to get close to His covenant. In the Bible the book of Song of Solomon speaks about sex, love and marriage. The first Chapter of Song of Solomon verse 2 states, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth- for you love is more delightful than wine.” This song puts emphasis on the fact that a man should have passion for his companion.

We have now come to an understanding that the Bible does not prohibit against sex between a male and female. The bible describes sexual behaviors and procreation before marriage as sexual immorality. Jesus was not interested in any sexual activity; therefore, Jesus believed that the life of human beings should remain holy and pure (Barton, 2016). Mark 7: 20-23 (King James Version) says, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Jesus viewed that sexual intimacy is an expression of love, and that if children are created then they have the right to be loved and nurtured.

Marriage is a Union

As stated earlier, the book of Songs of Solomon is a book in the Bible that speaks about marriage. It is considered the love book as well as the book of Psalms. God created a woman to be a help mate to man. Therefore, He developed a convent to show his love and to spread the gospel to all mankind. The New Testament in the Bible developed household rules that offered guidance between husband, wife, children, and parents and slaves (Barton, 2016). In the early church marriage was a requirement. Many pastors and grandmothers put an emphasis on the phrase of you can not have sex before you are married. Also, in the early church if a male or female had sexual intercourse without being married then that individual becomes their partner. The early church believed that there are soul ties that comes with being intimate. Soul ties is not mentioned in the bible; however, the bible speaks of how our soul can attach to one another. In 1 Samuel 18: 1 (New International Version) says, “The soul of Johnathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

In the Bible, David was the king of Israel. David had a lot of issues when it came down to women. David the king of Israel had eight wives and ten concubines (Zucker & Reiss, 2016). David married women who were powerful and strong in character. David was also tempted by Saul, who was imposing many different women onto him. Saul even offered his sister, knowing that David was already married. Even though David was the king, he abused his powers as a ruler. Per Zucker& Reisis (2016), David raped Bathsheba who was interested in David.

When a man and a woman fall in love with each other, this is considered the first stage of love. Partners will need to have a sense of real love so as to maintain a healthy relationship. The development of real love stems from marriage vows that are taken until death. Partners experience this love with each other, and it seems to not be a love that can be shared by couples who are not married. The church states that the union between a man and wife are one body, which is compared to Jesus Christ and his disciples (Loughlin, 2016). If the bible is saying that human beings should have the same relationship as Christ did, then an individual should not put a lot of emphasis on sexuality if not married.

Sexual Brokenness

Human sexuality and marriage are gradually changing. In today’s society, the term lust has become more irrelevant through the uses of pornography, music videos and homosexuality. The term sexuality has become a disease (Yarhouse, Morgan, Anthony, & Sausky, 2017). When an individual has sex outside of marriage, then the individual violates the covenant of God’s purpose. Malachi 2: 12-13 (International Version) says, “As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob-even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty. Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. Many churches today struggle with preaching the value and meaning of keeping human beings pure. Therefore, many individuals tend to take detours and try out alternate factors that stem around sexuality.

A lot of people experience brokenness. Whether its brokenness in their marriage, or as a couple. Every human being must learn how to wait patiently for that one spouse to come into there life, so they can enjoy the fulfillment that their sexual desires have to offer. Romans 8: 22-25 (New International Version) says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have to first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For this is hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Even in the midst of having a broken spirit or if an individual is going through sexual brokenness, it is in the Will of God for them to wait. Wait until God sends them someone who can share the convent with them. In today’s society, more and more individuals are looking into participating in homosexual behaviors. The reason for this, is because there was a void that needed to be filled in one’s life. Therefore, the individual had to go out of the norm to find a substance or individual that would help them in that sexual area.

Homosexual Marriage

In today’s society, there are a lot of secular things that have occurred in our world. Homosexual marriage has been accepted by the secular population.  This population has pushed for equal rights and advocated on their behalf to justify their intentions as to what the bible say. The book of Titus 1:15-16 (New International Version) says, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and did not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and infit for doing anything good.” The bible also speaks about how this particular behavior is a form of sin. This a very controversial subject that has taken over like an addiction. God’s divine purpose for marriage was for a man and woman to join and become one union.

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