Matt Nelson - September 24, 2023
Part 2: Brokenness
GOD & SEXUALITY Brokenness 9.24.23 Secularism disciples a man to learn to live without God 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. Romans 1:21-23 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. When we reject who God is, we inevitably create a god that looks like us. Romans 1:24-28 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. John Mark Comer Deceptive ideas (the devil) -- that play to disordered desires (the flesh) - that are normalized in a sinful society (the world) When a generation turns away from God and His design, it is the next generation's responsibility to restore it. We must be willing to stand in the face of cultural secularism with a vision of God’s design for our sexuality We must be God’s holy people; living in God’s design for our sexuality. We must continue to love well with both grace and truth; leading people into freedom and life in Christ. Love is a rugged commitment to someone, which involves presence, advocacy, and companionship over time as we walk toward the kingdom of God - which means growing in holiness, love, and righteousness together. – Scot McKnight
From Series: "God & Sexuality"
As society grapples with an array of complex sexual issues, this series invites us to understand human sexuality through the lens of God's greater narrative. Part I explores the 'Beauty' of God's original design for sexuality, while Part II examines the 'Brokenness' introduced by sin.