Overcoming Lies About SexSýnishorn

Sex Is Not Meaningless

If you browse through your streaming service of choice to find a good action movie, it won’t take you long to scroll past a heart-thumping hijacking flick. The subgenre of hijacking films is quite popular, and their basic premise gives us a modern parallel to an age-old scheme used by the devil. Hijackings happen when a means of transport is seized and used for an alternate—and usually nefarious—scheme. Satan, unable to create or make anything original himself, has used a ‘hijacking’ method to pervert and destroy much of God’s good creation. One obvious way we have seen him do this is with sex.

When you compare how loud the world is about sex to how silent the church tends to be, you might think sex was the world’s idea. But you’d be wrong. Sex was God’s idea—a good gift He gave to humanity in the beginning. By hijacking sex, Satan has perverted the oversexualized world we live in. As the father of lies, he is behind the deceitful messages about sex that we see in movies, ads, and pornography. His deception even extends to inaccurate biblical teachings on sex (more on that later). Over the next three days, we will explore three common lies many believe about sex: that sex is meaningless, that it is dirty, and that it is one of our greatest needs.

Looking more closely at the first lie (sex is meaningless), we see that this lie portrays sex as something purely physical, no more significant than a handshake or a hug.This can lead people to sleep around, thinking there will be no lasting consequences. But the truth is that sex is one of the most intimate things two people can experience. During sex, the brain releases oxytocin, a kind of ‘relational superglue’ that causes two people to become deeply bonded. Even the biggest proponents of the lie that sex is meaningless have to concede this belief has its limits. If sex were truly meaningless, we’d have no laws against sexual assault. The entire #metoo movement would be without basis.

We know within us that sex is deeply meaningful. Jesus taught that sex was deeply spiritual and sacred. He also taught that sex was to be shared within marriage, where one man and one woman are joined in covenant relationship before God (Matthew 19:4-6). God’s purpose for sex also lends to its meaningfulness. Four of the purposes that we find in Scripture are: procreation (Genesis 1:28), bonding (Genesis 2:24), pleasure (Proverbs 5:18-20), and illustrating the intimate closeness of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Sex in this context is biblical, meaningful, and beautiful.

Thought of the Day: I will lean into the counsel of God’s Word to shape my thoughts and conduct around sex.