Womanhood and Sexuality: The Rock Solid Truth (Part 3)
The beautiful God-given design of maleness and femaleness has been heartbreakingly perverted. Although today we are living in a world where this perversion is impossible to ignore or avoid, it is not something new. From the beginning, in God’s beautiful garden, shortly after He created the universe and formed human beings, the enemy showed up and turned everything upside down. And ever since we have needed to go back to God’s Word to get our footing and reorient ourselves to the truth. It didn’t take long after the Fall of Genesis 3 for sexuality to be corrupted. Polygamy shows up in Genesis 4:9; lewdness in Genesis 9:22; adultery in Genesis 12; fornication, Genesis 16;4; incest in Genesis 19:36; and rape in Genesis 34:2. As Pastor John MacArthur once said, “When man forsakes the Author of nature, he inevitably forsakes the order of nature.”
Let me suggest two reasons why the attack on sexuality, manhood and womanhood, is so focused and strong. First, this is an attack on God, Himself……on His image. Adam, male and female, are image bearers of God the Creator. And so are we. Think of what Satan tried to do to the very, exact image of God, Jesus. (Hebrews 1:3) Of course, Satan was defeated at the cross. But the battle continues as he tries to defeat us, who are still being made in God’s image. Our sexuality is bound up in who we are as image-bearers; therefore, it seems reasonable that sexuality would be the focal point of the enemy’s attack on God’s image. It is an attack on God.
Secondly, we know from the Bible (Ephesians 5) that man and woman joined in marriage is the earthly illustration of Christ and the Church. This is a picture of the Gospel itself. So when our sexuality and all things connected to it, like marriage, are attacked, it is an attack on the Gospel.
We mustn’t be surprised at the disorientation regarding womanhood and sexuality that is permeating our culture. But we must be strengthened to stand against the lies. Sexual lies and sexual sin lurk around every corner and into every life. And for some of us, it is the guilt of sexual sin that keeps us weak, afraid, and ineffective.
Here’s the truth about sexuality and God’s Word. God lovingly created us as sexual beings. He takes our sexuality seriously. In the Bible, God defines explicitly and in detail the boundaries for our sexual conduct. God sees sexual sin as outward behavior, the sins of the tongue or nod of the head in approval, and most deeply and personally He sees the hidden sins of the heart and mind. And God comes down hard on sexual sin. In fact, in Revelation 22:15, the sexually immoral are named among those who will be outside the city gates. I don’t know about you, but when I read such things I feel like the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6 when he saw God high and lifted up, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” What in the world are we to do when confronted with our own sexual sin?
The Bible is clear regarding boundaries and commands related to sexuality. So the best thing we can do when we step outside those boundaries is to call it what it is…..sin. Why? Because “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) This is our greatest hope. All have sinned. We all have fallen short. This is the truth. But there is good news. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin! The blood of Christ. Think of it. The Son of God, the Lamb of God, shed His blood on the cross for you and me. This is the blood that cleanses us. This is our hope.
Yes, all have sinned. And so much of our sin is in one way or another related to an issue of sexuality or an aspect of our womanhood. So many women are dealing with shame and guilt…some from many years ago. So many are scarred and paralyzed because of their own sin or the sexual abuse and assault that came from others. When it comes to our sexuality we, women, can be very sensitive and fragile. We need hope. We have hope!
One ray of hope comes when we think of the women who are in the line to Jesus. Tamar was an abused and sexually manipulative woman. Rahab was a sexually immoral woman. Bathsheba was taken advantage of sexually by the man in authority. Ruth was a Moabite widow, a minority woman. Her family line traced back to the incest of Lot and his daughters. Her entire family origin was one of atrocious sexual sin. And yet God plucked her out of this miry family bog, put her feet on solid ground and made her an indispensable part of Jesus’ lineage. Lastly, Mary, Jesus’ mother, was falsely accused of sexual misconduct. The fact that these women are in the line to Jesus is a glorious hope for all of us!
You are not doomed to darkness. You are not shackled to shame. You are not captive to guilt. You are not a slave to sin. No! Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ you have been set free. Free to live, free to serve, free to love, free to honor Christ. This is rock solid truth!
Let’s bring our series on womanhood and sexuality full circle. We started at the beginning of the book in Genesis. Let’s end at the close of the book in Revelation 22:14-15. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
When Christ returns and God’s eternal city is established, those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb will joyfully enter in. And what will we find there in that city? The tree of life! Yes, the same tree that was in the Garden, before the Fall. God will redeem his people. He will redeem his creation. He will redeem you and me. And our sexuality will be redeemed and restored to all the goodness, the very goodness, of Creation.
The rock solid truth about womanhood and sexuality is found in the Bible. Know the Bible. Trust the Bible. Know God and trust Him. He created you. He loves you. He sent Jesus for you. He has set you free to live for him. Embrace who you are in Christ. Celebrate your womanhood. Rejoice in Jesus!