V.T.I. Week 2

VTI: Sexuality & Gender (Week 2)

Biblical Sexuality 101

While the culture has perverted and distorted sex, as Christians, perhaps we have _______-corrected.

The ___________________ sexual revolution was actually a Christian sexual revolution.

1 Cor. 6:13-17:

13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.[c] 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.”

It was the Christian message that was the first to require sexual _______________________.

1 Cor 7:4, “A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.”

In Christian theology, the man has no right to either physically or emotionally __________________ or coerce the woman into any kind of sexual relationship to which she does not consent or desire.

4 Reasons God Created Sexuality

1. Sexuality was designed by God as a way to help us _________________ God more fully.

John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Ephesians 5:31-32: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

1 Cor. 6:16-17 when He says Or do you not know that he who is joined[d] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

Ezekiel 16:15, “But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. [16] You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be. . . . 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! [33] Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings.”

God uses sexual language to intensify our understanding of what it means to be in a ____________________ with Him.

The inability to have sex, or the ________________ of sexual experience in one’s life does not mitigate one’s opportunity to know God incredibly deeply.

2. God designed sex for_________________________.

Gen. 2:22, 24-25, “And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. . . . 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. [25] And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Gen. 1:28, “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it . . .

3. Sex isn’t simply for procreation; it’s for recreation and ___________________ in the context of marriage.

Proverbs 5:18-19, “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, [19] a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight.”

4. Sex is designed to symbolize and illustrate complete and total _____________that lasts until death.

1 Cor 6:16, “Or do you not know that he who is joined[a] to a prostitute (in the sexual act) becomes one body with her? For, as it is written,(J) "The two will become one flesh."

Joined = “holds fast, or glued”

v.16 “or do you not know that he who is glued to a prostitute becomes ONE body with her”

“do you not know that he who holds fast to a prostitute becomes one body with her”

When the sexual act happens, God intended it to only be part of a relationship that would be _______________ together forever.

“Billions of people on this planet have had intercourse. I don’t know how many have actually made love.” Sheila Gregoire

Sex is not simply a biological union; it’s a ___________________ union.

Questions for Discussion

How did your family and/or church upbringing affect your views on sexuality?
In what ways were you affected by the “purity culture?” (True Love Waits, Promise Rings, etc)
In what ways do Christians today face shame, guilt, or pain in the area of sexuality?
What can churches like PVCC do to create environments for honest/vulnerable conversations regarding sexuality?