Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Naked & Unashamed to Hidden & Fearful

In the early chapters of Genesis, we are introduced to the very first marriage.

Genesis 2:20-25 “20… But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.

21 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.

22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 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.” 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.”

That language, naked and unashamed, is vital language in understanding this first marriage and God’s design for marriage.

Adam and Eve had total vulnerability before each other.

They were not hidden.

They had no need to be hidden.

One person fully exposed to another.

This exposure was met with a God-centered love,.

Therefore it says that they were unashamed.

Totally exposed with nothing to hide and nothing to fear.

But things would stay this way for long.

By the end of Genesis chapter three sin has crept its way into Adam and Eve’s heart.

We find Adam and Eve trembling with fear.

Interestingly , when confronted by God they respond,

Genesis 3:10 “10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.””

Naked & unashamed has become naked and full of fear.

Exposed before God, exposed before each other, now with sin in the midst of it all, and all they can do is hide, trembling.

By the end of chapter three the beauty of naked and unashamed is lost.

Genesis 3:21 “21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

And just like that, the beauty and the vulnerability of that very first marriage, was marred.

What could possibly restore it?

Context

The theme of today’s text is Marriage, particularly we’ll be discussing sex within marriage.

It should not need much belaboring of the point to demonstrate that the outside world, the world beyond the Church, has incredibly broken views of marriage.

Marriage has become for many in our culture a self-aggrandizing game.

The nuclear family is no longer the foundational building block of our society.

That’s out there.

But inside the Church, many marriages within the Church struggle to find that level of intimacy they long for.

Many marriages within the Church fall into unhealthy rhythms, knowing and longing for more, but not quite sure what that more might be, or how they might go about obtaining it.

In today’s passage Paul is going to focus on a question that the Corinthian Church asked him particularly about sex as Christians.

But in teaching about sex, Paul ends up painting a glorious picture of what Biblical marriage can be.

Context & Setup

Paul begins this section by quoting from a letter that he had received from them earlier.

He writes,

1 Corinthians 7:1 “1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.””

What Was Likely Happening in the Church

There are likely a host of situations happening here.

It seems that there is a group of followers of Christ who are married in Corinth, who have taken the belief that true holiness requires abstinence from sex.

They were seeking a form ‘asceticism’ in which you deprive yourself of certain pleasures in order to honor God.

And so likely this group was gaining ground in the Church and a number of other married couples were in the Church saying, “Is that true?”

It could also be as we see in next week’s message, that perhaps there was a situation where there were a few believing spouses in the Church that had nonbelieving husbands or wives.

And now the believing Church-going spouse is coming home to their spouse saying, “Yeah, I’m not supposed to have sexual relations any more.”

You can see how that would be problem as well.

Context of Sexual Practices In Corinth

Additionally, we have to remember a bit of the context of Corinth.

Corinth is renowned for its sexual promiscuity.

It was a port town and so sailors would regularly be filling the streets.

It boasted a massive temple to Aphrodite who was the Goddess of Love.

Hundreds of Temple Prostitute would be working the vicinity of that temple, but then also spread out throughout the city in brothels.

Beyond the specific excesses of Corinth specifically, there was just the sexual ethic of Greco/Roman society of the 1st century.

Many-Woman-Man: In those days it was common practice on the wedding night to inform the bride that when her husband would sleep with prostitutes in the future, it was not a sign that he did not love her, but simply a way of gratifying his passions.

Wives Position As Sex: Women were virtually unconsidered in conversations on sex, and wives functioned essentially as one who exists to please her husband.

Homosexuality: Homosexuality was prevalant among men.

Pedagogical Pederasty: It was also common for men to engage in romantic and sexual relationships with young boys.

Now that might sound insane and disturbing, but it was a normal way of life.

Into that culture, steps this new Church, a group of people set on following Jesus.

And they’re looking at the sexual perversions of the culture around them, and they have questions on what do we do with sex now that we’re Christians.

Legitimate question.

Paul steps into the confusion of this early Church and presents a clear and beautiful image of God’s vision of sexuality.

Paul might be summarzed this way: Sex is God's good gift designed for the lifelong covenant of marriage.

The Apostle then lays out three reasons why this is the case.

Reason 1: Sex According to God’s Design Helps Fight Against Ungodly Temptation

Reason 1: Sex According to God’s Design Helps Fight Against Ungodly Temptation

1 Corinthians 7:2 “2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”

The Word “Temptations” is Porneias

Paul does not hide the fact that humans as designed by God have a sexual drive inside of them, and that in a fallen world like the one we live in, that sexual drive can and often does lead many into all types of temptation.

In a city like Corinth, the temptation would be too short circuit God’s design for marriage by taking what is cheap and easy just like everyone else in the city.

Paul lays out the clear command to not settle for cheap imitations of sexual fulfilment.

Don’t give into the tempation with some form of porneia (sex outside of marriage), thinking it will satisfy the drive, the way the drive was meant to be satisfied.

Song of Solomon

Many are surprised to learn that the Bible has an entire book dedicated to the sexual romantic relationship.

It is the X rated depiction of the beauty of sex within marriage.

Two lines are repeated in this book.

The first sounds like this,

Song 2:7 “7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.”

That is a poetic way of saying, “I beg of you young women, don’t cheat yourself by enjoying sex outside of the covenant of marriage.

It will not satisfy you.

It will only break you.”

A few verses later we read,

Song 2:15 “15 Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.””

This is a metaphor to say that if you let the foxes into the vineyard, if you entertain sex before the right time with the wrong people, the vineyard will be spoiled.

But at the same time, it also says that sex is like a vineyard to be enjoyed in the right way.

Illustration: The Knot

According to The Knot, a website dedicated to orchestrating details of weddings, the average age of folks getting married in 2021 was 34 years old.

Commenting on this, the article wrote,

"People are taking longer to find themselves, which is a good thing.

By the time people are getting married, they have a better sense of who they really are, meaning they're more secure in their career and their sense of self the older they get.

And that helps them make good decisions with their life partner… Life is not so traditional anymore.

Many couples are both working, therefore they are getting married for the first time later."

What we see in this cultural trajectory is a lowering of the value of marriage.

For most who take this survey, the way they deal with the sexual tempation is to just give into it.

They let the little foxes in, and the results are tragic, and are evident all over our communities.

Paul’s advice is wise.

To young single people, don’t linger in sexual tempation, but if you are able, get married.