SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (UNDEFILED)

(Apr11/Wk1) GREATEST SEX EVER!

SEX has long been a taboo conversation in most churches; but guess who came up with the idea of SEX in the first place? Is it possible that the one who invented SEX is actually pro-SEX and wants us to have fulfilling SEX lives? Is it possible that what we're experiencing is only a second rate imitation of what God hoped our SEX lives would be? Is it possible we've lost the original design and have settled for something else? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:4... "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be UNDEFILED..." The term UNDEFILED can be defined as pure, free from stain or blemish... IMMACULATE! Could it be possible that God designed our SEX Lives to be IMMACULATE & beyond our wildest imaginations?

If you want to EXPERIENCE the GREATEST SEX you’ve ever had – then you have to KNOW something ahead of time! You have to know… WHERE IT’S ALL GONE WRONG! In Romans 1:24–25… the Apostle Paul says that people either worship God their Creator and enjoy HIS CREATION -- including our bodies -- or people worship CREATION as God! Paul goes on to explain that those who worship creation - invariably worship the human body because it is the apex of God’s creation! In this skewed concept – SEX (itself) becomes a RELIGION! I believe that one of the greatest threats to Christianity is SEX!

Dr Kevin Leman writes in his book SHEET MUSIC… “Our marriage beds are one of the most CROWDED places on the face of this earth! It is teeming with people, some of whom you’ve never met, but they’re all there – all affecting your sexual intimacy, looking over your shoulder, and shaping the quality of your sexual pleasure! Don’t look behind the pillow, but be aware that your parents are lurking right underneath it! And if you think that’s bad, you also better get used to your in-laws, who are hiding under your spouse’s pillow! At the foot of the bed? Oh, that’s your & your spouse’s siblings. Underneath the bed? Don’t even get me started about that! WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? You come into marriage with more baggage than you know! This baggage has formed into what I call your “RULEBOOK” – your unconscious but very influential beliefs you hold about HOW things should be done - especially in bed! Here’s where you might say… ‘I didn’t know I had a RULEBOOK?’ Few of us do, but all of us get furious when a RULE from our ‘RULEBOOK’ is broken! (Example) A husband will ultimately pay for the mistakes of his father-in-law, just as a wife will pay dearly for the mistakes of her mother-in-law! YOU’RE NOT GETTING MARRIED TO A PERSON WITHOUT A PAST! You’re going to bed with a person who has been indelibly imprinted by his order of birth, her parents’ style of child-rearing, and his early childhood experiences with sexuality! He or she may be naked when they come to bed, but the last thing he/she is – IS ALONE!”

What does SEX really mean? For starters – you need to know that God is not FREAKED OUT about this topic! It’s His INVENTION – His CREATION! Matter of fact – God actually COMMANDS His Creation to HAVE SEX! 1 Corinthians 7:4-5…The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband… (All the guys say right about now… AMEN!) …the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife! (All the women say right about now… OH MY!?) (5) Do not deprive each other…except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.

The main problem with this gift from God is what the world keeps saying… “IT’S JUST SEX! It’s just two people getting together – fulfilling each other’s needs! It’s just PHYSICAL! IT’S JUST SEX!” Now think about that… You realize the UNDERLYING THEME with that line of thinking right? It’s basically implying that YOU & I are just ANIMALS! If it’s nothing more than PHYSICAL! That if we continue to DO IT ENOUGH – DO IT DIFFERENT WAYS – DO IT WITH MULTIPLE PARTNERS – that somehow or sometime – it will SATISFY YOU! To be honest with you… NOTHING could be farther than the truth with this line of thinking! Here’s the reality folks… if God designed for us to experience ‘Big Bed Sex’ (the Greatest Sex ever) – then ‘Little Bed Sex’ (the ‘it’s just sex’ thinking) WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU – IT CAN’T! You know WHY!? WE’RE NOT ANIMALS! Matter of fact – God said something completely different to this in Scripture - He said something along these lines… “You’re not like that! You’re not an ANIMAL! I designed you incredibly DIFFERENT than that!” Check it out - Genesis 1:25-26… God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 THEN... (After God got done making the ANIMALS) THEN… (God says… I’m gonna do something DIFFERENT – I’m gonna do something UNIQUE – ONE OF A KIND!) God said, "Let us make MAN (ready for this…) in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over (the animals) the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." (Because they are NOT AN ANIMAL – they are a HUMAN – created in OUR IMAGE – in OUR LIKENESS! THEY ARE DIFFERENT!!)

The language used here… ‘OUR IMAGE & OUR LIKENESS’ means that you and I have… PHYSICAL BODY / SOUL / SPIRIT. This is what makes us DIFFERENT from ANIMALS! It’s also why you & I can NEVER just ‘Crawl Into Bed’ together – we can NEVER have a ‘Sexual Relationship With Each Other’ – and it ‘JUST BE SEX!’ Because you & I – bare in OURSELVES – IN OUR SOULS…(Ready for this!?) THE IMAGE OF GOD! And because of this… it’s IMPOSSIBLE for you & I to PARK OUR SOULS at the DOOR OF THE BEDROOM & GO IN WITH ONLY OUR BODIES! Because the MOMENT that we convince ourselves that ‘THIS IS JUST SEX’ – IT’S ‘PURELY PHYSICAL’ – we violate… OUR SOUL! Here’s what I know… SEX IS HIGHLY SPIRITUAL! With everything that’s happening PHYSICALLY – our SOUL is hoping to be SATISFIED & FULLFILLED as well!

Come check out the Church of Celebration over the next few weeks (Apr 11-May 02) as we take a closer look at how GOD views SEX & MARRIAGE!

CHURCH OF CELEBRATION

Maricopa Wells Middle School / 9A & 10:45A