God Created and Defined Gender And Sexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
I have spoken a few times concerning Canada’s Bill C-4 and what that would mean for churches, pastors, and Christian counselors calling people to repentance who live in a homosexual lifestyle. Today it could be considered illegal for a pastor to tell a member of his congregation, or preach a sermon, to repent of their sin of homosexuality. It is okay for a pastor in Canada to tell his congregation to repent of their drunkenness, adultery, fornication, but not homosexuality. And there are cities and states in our country that have, or will consider, legislation like the bill that has been passed in Canada.
And for those reasons, I decided to lock arms with some of our brothers and sisters in Canada and across America and preach a sermon this Sunday on this topic. There are a few reasons for this. First, if the authorities are going to get called in, I’d rather go down swinging and let everyone know where I stand from the beginning. Second, this calls attention to what is happening just north of us. And third, I want everyone to know that I am not just bigoted, I have a higher authority that I am answering to. I have come to this conclusion, and Christians have come to this conclusion because the text has brought us here. It is not as if God’s Word is unclear on this point.
I have listed 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 as our text for today, but we will be moving throughout the Scriptures. And we will end in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. I want to do a few things today. First, I want to show that God has given us the foundation of human sexuality in His Word. The equation is considered “traditional”, but I would rather call it “historic”. It is one man and one woman joined together for life. Second, everything done outside of that equation is an act of rebellion against a holy God.
God created the world and everything in it. And in His wisdom, He created the world to work a certain way. He also created people to relate a certain way to one another. And everything outside of God’s design is an act of rebellion against the Creator deserving of death, but God has given grace in Christ for all who repent and believe the gospel.
That is the main point of the sermon today. God is Creator and Lord over all, has determined how we should live, and calls us all to repent and believe the gospel.
Let’s begin walking through the Scriptures and see that this is most definitely the case.
Creation and Lordship: God Made You And Makes The Rules
In Genesis 1:1 we read that it is God who created all things.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 ESV)
Because God is Creator of all things, He is also Lord over all things.
“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” (Psalm 33:6-9 ESV)
This is an easy concept to grasp. As Creator, God is Lord. He determines right and wrong, good and evil. What will bring human flourishing and what will bring the end of a society. He is not just Lord over some people on the Earth, He is Lord over all. He is Lord over every person. He is Lord over every person’s body. He is Lord over every aspect of your life.
God Created Both Men And Women And Only Men And Women
When God created, He did not leave our gender as something to be determined by us. He Created all things and is Lord over all things, and this includes our gender. God created men and God created women. He created only two genders and stated that all of humanity fit within those two genders.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27 ESV)
God created men and women. And because we live in a fallen world, there are some problems that arise.
In Genesis 1-2, all of creation was without sin and in harmony with God’s Law. But in Genesis 3 there was a rebellion that left all of mankind stained with the taint of sin. Adam disobeyed God and we still feel the effects today. Like dumping buckets of poison into the water source, Adam infected everyone downstream of him and we are born rebels against God. Not only do we have an inclination toward sin, but this is the reason our bodies and even our desires are fallen and at times sinful.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–” (Rom 5:12 ESV)
This means that the physical, mental, and spiritual deformities that came into being because of sin do not change the definition of what it means to be a human, sex, or gender (Differentiating between sex and gender is a very new concept brought about by this new way of thinking about gender.). They are understood for what they are, a result of the Fall and part of the damage that sin has done in the life of a person.
This does not make a person less of a person, but only a person who is marred with sin in this manner. All people are created in the image of God and owed that dignity and respect.
Your Lord Has Determined That Human Sexual Activity Is To Be Limited To One Man And One Woman For Life
God created man and woman and then He brought one man and one woman together for life. This is by no means going to be a deep look at Genesis 2:21-25. We did that already as a church and you can find that here. But we will quickly see that this event defined marriage and sexuality for all time.
“So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:21-25 ESV)
So God made the two genders and then stated that the two would come together in a one-flesh union. The rest of the Scriptures look back to this moment in time as the definition of marriage, one biological man and one biological woman for a lifetime. I am not exaggerating when I say that every time the Scriptures teach about marriage, this first marriage is pictured as definitional. This event defined what marriage is and what it forever would be.
For instance, in the Book of Malachi God was very angry with the people of Israel. One of the reasons for this anger is that they had profaned the covenant of marriage.
“And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”” (Malachi 2:10-16 ESV)
Notice that God’s message was that they knew what they were supposed to do because He had defined what marriage was to be at Creation. God brought Adam and Eve together for life, therefore they should have known what they were to do.
When Jesus taught about marriage, to where did He turn? Well, to this same account.
“He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”” (Mat 19:4-6 ESV)
For Jesus, that first marriage defined what marriage was to forever be. So, many years after the creation of the world and the first marriage, it was the first marriage that defined marriage. That event was definitional in the Old Testament and for Jesus.
When Paul taught about marriage, to where did He turn? Again, to this same place.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:22-33 ESV)
Paul understood that the first marriage defined marriage. This first marriage told the world what the definition of marriage was and always would be.
But this did not just define marriage. It defined human sexual activity. Human sexual activity is only to be done within the bounds of marriage. That means that it is limited to those people who are married. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman for life.
We see this most clearly in the commandment to not commit adultery in the 10 Commandments.
“”You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 ESV)
But as this command was applied to the people of Israel, we understand that this command not only meant that married people were not to cheat on eachother, but that all sexual activity was limited to the bounds of marriage.
So, adultery is a sin. Obviously, it is shown to be outside of the commandment not to commit adultery. And so, we see this come up again in the Books of the Law (Deuteronomy 22:22, Leviticus 20:10, Leviticus 18:20).
But as this commandment is applied to the people of Israel, another thing is clear. Fornication is also a way of breaking the commandment to not commit adultery. Because sexual activity is limited to within the bounds of marriage, one man+one woman for life, anything outside of that boundary is sin (Exodus 22:16-17, Deuteronomy 22:23-24). Similarly, prostitution was also a crime (Leviticus 19:29, Deuteronomy 23:17).
When homosexuality is discussed in the Books of the Law it is lumped in with bestiality, incest, and prostitution as crimes worthy of death, like adultery and rape (Leviticus 18:22-30, Leviticus 20:13-16).
It is plain that the Old Testament saw homosexuality as sinful, and definitely not behavior that we should be accepting of. Homosexuality stands outside of God’s design for humanity and is an act of rebellion against God’s Created order. Therefore, over and over again, we see that homosexual acts are sinful in the eyes of our Holy God. And this did not change in the New Testament.
Things Did Not Change In The New Testament
It is sometimes claimed that God was different in the New Testament and that He became accepting of behaviors such as these. But there is just as much or more found in the New Testament concerning the sinfulness of homosexuality.
Romans 1 is a good place to begin.
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-27 ESV)
Women forsake the natural for the unnatural and get with other women and men forsake the natural for the unnatural and get with each other. And here Paul calls these lusts “dishonorable passions” and calls these acts “shameless acts” and he understands that they will receive condemnation for doing so.
I want you to notice how plainly things are written here. It is unmistakable what is being discussed. It is not as if Paul is discussing some sort of temple prostitution in this text, as some people like to claim. What is he talking about? Men having sexual relations with men and women having sexual relations with women.
What about the word “natural”? Well, it is easy to see that Paul believes that these people had desires for one another, because he says so. He calls it “passion” a few times in the text above. So, why does he use the word “natural”?
It is simple really. It is what we have been discussing throughout this entire message. God created the world and everything in it. And in that first marriage, God defined what sexual relationships between men and women were to be forever. God defined that with the first marriage and anything outside of that is “unnatural”.
There are a few other times that Paul deals with the subject of homosexuality. And these are a little more controversial. It is because Paul either created the word or picked it up from some obscure place because it wasn’t used much in his day. It was used a lot later for homosexuality.
The word that we translate today as “homosexual” is (ἀρσενοκοίτης). This is a compound word that joins the word “ἄρσην (man)” with “κοίτη (bed)”. And it means, literally, a man who beds a man as with a female. And so, in days past it has been translated as “sodomite” and now “homosexual”.
With that in mind look at what Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:8-10.
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” (1Timothy 1:8-10 ESV)
And again in, 1Corinthians 6:9-10.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV)
When we understand that Paul is simply viewing these sexual sins in light of God’s design for human sexuality this all mkaes sense. Both sexual immorality and homosexuality were seen as being perversions of God’s design and those who practice such things are living in sin.
Let’s stay in 1 Corinthians for the rest of this walk through Scripture.
To Not Speak, Keeps Homosexuals From Grace
1 Corinthians 6:0-11 begins with the simple and foundational truth that the “unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. But it goes somewhere else. Look at it again and really take notice of what Paul says in this text. He says, “And such were some of you”.
Think about that for just a moment and apply that to our situation today. “And such were some of you”. I can say that about the people in this room. I am guessing that a good number of you were “sexually immoral” before you heard the gospel, turned from ruling your life, and trusted the Savior. I am sure that we were all “idolaters” in our own way at some point in our lives. It would not surprise me if there were people in this room that cheated on their spouse before they trusted the Savior. Maybe someone, or a few people in this room, practiced homosexuality before they trusted the Savior. I am guessing that there are a few former thieves, that fellowship among us, or at least some greedy people who took advantage of others and swindled them out of money. Statistically there are probably a few former drunkards in the building today. There are probably people who reviled God’s people and mocked God and His Word in this crowd today. And such were some of you.
Christian, what makes you different from the people on this list? Why are you not on this list anymore?
It’s not because of anything that you did. It’s because of what Christ has done for you. It’s because of the grace of God that is found in Jesus Christ.
We are rebel sinners who needed a Savior. God sent His Son into the world to live a perfect life on behalf of sinners and fulfill all righteousness and to die on a cross as the punishment for the sin of wicked sinners. He lived the perfect life that we were to live. And He died the sacrificial death that paid for our sins. And here is the best of news. All those who turn from ruling their own lives and entrust their selves to Him will have eternal life, that is fellowship with God. Those who entrust their whole lives to Him are in Christ and identified with Him. They are adopted into God’s family.
Christian, there was a day in your life when God the Holy Spirit did a work in your life as you listened or read the news of what Christ had done on your behalf. It may have been instantaneous or it may have taken some time. But it happened, if you are a believer. And you entrusted yourself to Christ and are not the person that you once were. You heard about your sinfulness before a holy God and that you stood condemned before Him. Then you heard that good news of what Jesus had done and entrusted yourself to Him. And we desire for that to happen with the homosexual as well.
So, we declare the gospel to the homosexual just like we declare the gospel to anyone else. They are in need of a Savior. We declare the Law of God and our miserable sinfulness before the Savior. We dare not leave off any bit of righteousness for anyone. Everybody needs the Savior. Adulterers need to repent of their cheating. Drunkards need to repent of their getting drunk. And homosexuals must repent of their homosexual activity and their identification with a sinful lifestyle and trust the Savior.
When I was a youth pastor, students would occasionally ask me if it was okay for their homosexual friends to come to church or attend an event with us. My answer was always, “Of course it is.” Then they would ask how they should speak about Jesus with their homosexual friends. My answer was, “Like anyone else that needs Jesus.” We declare to them God’s Law and then God’s mercy found in Christ. We reveal to them their need for a Savior, and then we tell them about Jesus.
Conclusion
Here is why this matters and why we had this sermon today.
In Galatians 3:24 we read that the Law is our tutor or guardian that brings us to Christ. We hear the Law and God uses that to convict us of our sinfulness and our neediness before Him. Then we turn from ruling our own lives and trust in the Savior. We love people, so we tell the truth.
If I went to the doctor and he looked at me and said, “You need chemo” and gave no explanation, then I would ignore what he had to say. It would make me sick and I have no reason to take it. But if he looked at me and said, “You have cancer. You won’t get to see your children grow up and won’t get to grow old with your wife unless you go through chemo and radiation.” Then I would gladly take the chemo. Why? Well, the doctor told me my need and then prescribed to me the cure.
The government in Canada, through this new law, has now made it against the Law to preach the love and grace of God to a certain group of needy sinners in Canada.
If I hated homosexuals then it would be awfully easy for me to not say anything at all. But out of love and obedience to God and love for others we declare the truth. Homosexuality is a sin deserving of death before a holy God. Repent and believe the Good News. Repent and trust in the Savior.
R. Dwain Minor