I have to admit that I am a Grey’s Anatomy fan. Don’t hold it against me – hold it against my wife; it’s her fault. The one thing I am always amazed at is the amount of sex these doctors and nurses can have with one another. They are quick to jump into a broom closet, rip each other’s clothes off, and get it done. It is not rare for two people to be in the broom closet when another two people are trying to get in and follow in their footsteps. The world’s picture of sex is so casual. The point of sex is purely physical and intended to meet a selfish desire. Is this God’s intention for sex? Did God intend for sex to be completely physical? Is the only parameter to distinguish if you should have sex whether you want it or not?
In the book of Genesis there is a crazy story about Joseph and the King’s wife. Although she is married to the king she has a strong attraction to Joseph who ran all the household affairs. Joseph was a good-looking man and Potiphar’s wife developed a strong sexual attraction towards him. On numerous occasions she would ask Joseph to have sex with her. He always denied her the opportunity, responding,
“No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing fro me except you, because you are his wife.” [GENESIS 39:9]
Everything in the house is merely stuff, accessible to others, but the King’s wife is reserved for the King. When you are engaging in sex it is more than physical. If sex is merely physical then it wouldn’t matter who I engaged in sex with just like it doesn’t matter who I choose to join me for a steak dinner. Sex is not simply something to be passed around but to be reserved for the one person you are committed to in marriage. The most meaningful thing about sex is not the physical pleasure but the union of two individuals into one. Sex connects people at the deepest and most intimate level. It is an act of bare transparency. Sex opens up a person to complete vulnerability. When you abuse sex it has the power to disrupt your life like no other act. Sex passes from the physical realm into the spiritual.
“If sex is merely physical then it wouldn’t matter who I engaged in sex with just like it doesn’t matter who I choose to join me for a steak dinner.”
“There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.” Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never “become one.” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:16-18]
Paul describes the most meaningful thing about sex as oneness. Deep inside all people is the desire to model the oneness available with Christ in a relationship with another person. When we experience that oneness through sex it is an act of worship. We come before one another naked, exposed, and vulnerable, confident that we will be received and accepted. We come to one another to give ourselves and to offer our bodies to one another. Sex is a sacred act that transforms two people into one entirely new person.
Although sex feels great physical, the real meaning comes from the bond and oneness that is formed.