Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
As you consider all the headlines in the news these days, and all the conversations on social media or even the conversations you overhear in your world, what are the most volatile, emotional topics? One of the great things about God is that HE doesn’t hide from any human conversation, any emotional human issue, any political or social debate.
God stands ready to engage the conversation with His truth, His wisdom, His love and compassion, for God designed and created EVERY human being thus He knows far more about us and how we think, and how our bodies function, and our history and our future, than any of us or all of us can imagine!
So, come on friends, let’s not be afraid to bring the volatile topics to God and ask Him to help us understand HIS perspective on them and the wise future path HE advises us to take as we live our lives, raise our families and shape our shared human future!
We’re with the apostle Paul in the year 50ad, as Paul is writing his first letter of encouragement and wisdom instruction to a relatively small group of new Christians in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica. Amazingly the moral issues they were facing are very similar to what we face, no matter where you live in our world in 2023!! That’s because human nature has not changed from the days of Adam and Eve!
We’re in Paul’s fourth chapter and Paul writes: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.” (1 Thess. 4:3-5)
Wow, that’s powerful, and challenging, and clear, isn’t it? Even a child can understand Paul’s words! And look closely, while written in 50ad, from Corinth in Greece, to a city in Macedonia, these words are God’s desire for any person, living in any society, any country in the world, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, education, socio-economic status, political affiliation, or religious orientation. Am I right about that?
Yesterday we dealt with the first part of this powerful statement, so if you missed yesterday, I urge you to turn back and review it even before continuing today.
Ok, let’s pick up our discussion with Paul’s statement: “each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” That is a very, very powerful challenge isn’t it my friends? Without comparing yourself to anyone else, how are you doing in living that powerful phrase Paul wrote to Thessalonian Christians almost 2000 years ago? What does “holy and honorable” living mean to you? What does learning to control your own body mean to you?
And the phrase becomes even more powerful when you add the next, contrasting line which Paul wrote: “…not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God…” There it is my friends, one of the greatest schemes of the devil in leading us to self-destructive lifestyles which also deeply wound others is: “Passionate Lust”.
Passion is a wonderful, God given attribute! God is passionate, did you know that? In fact, God is passionate about many things. He’s passionate about His TRUTH being respected. God is passionate about Holiness and purity especially in relationships. God is passionate about honesty and integrity. God is passionate about the human race He created in His image; do you see that in the Gospel? “For God SO LOVED the world that He sent His only Son…” (John 3:16)
“Now this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…” (1 John 4:9,10) Yes my friends, PASSIONATE, God honoring, holy LOVE is a God given emotion and attribute. God has designed us in our human sexuality, in our male and femaleness, to experience and express love in wonderful, beautiful, holy, passionate ways!
But in Satan’s hatred for God and his desire to see humans live in shame and deep wounding, the devil’s schemes are to turn this God given holy passion into selfish, self-serving, manipulative, abusive, harmful passionate lust that takes advantage of others in despicable ways. That’s child molestation and spouse abuse and prostitution and the entire pornography industry, do you see that my friends?
In fact, look closely at what Paul wrote next, it’s almost as though God was giving Paul the ability to look forward in time 2 millennia, into the current, passion driven, sometimes violent debates being held today on university campuses, in government offices, on social media and mainstream media, in protests and rallies being held all around the world.
Paul writes: “…in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins…for God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” (1 Thess. 4:6,7)
Do you see God’s attitude and response to those who harm others through their distortion of God’s DESIGN for human sexuality and human sexual expression & experience? What, you ask? As God designed our human sexuality, our identity as male and female, did God also design holy, honorable ways for us to express and experience our sexuality and our sexual encounters with each other?
Yes, absolutely yes, my friends. In fact, in EVERYTHING God created, God has a very specific design for how that creation will function at its very best! To the Corinthian Christians Paul wrote: “Flee from sexual immorality. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.“ (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)
God has some high expectations of how we humans live respecting the bodies God has designed and created for us and treating each other with respect and dignity. It is a deception of the dark kingdom that our bodies are less than wonderful designs and creations of God and we therefore can improve on God’s unique creation of us by piercing our bodies, or permanently tattooing our bodies, or intentionally disfiguring our bodies, or submitting to surgeries or medications that will change our bodies from what God has made wonderful and uniquely you!
Now of course, friends, I’m not talking about corrective medical help to repair damage or birth defects or illnesses. I’m talking about the repulsion many people feel as they look into the mirror and the sometimes drastic measures they take to remake how God has made them, rather than learning to nurture and care well for their bodies as an expression of worship and thankfulness to God!
Finally, Paul wraps up this powerful section of his first letter to the Thessalonian Christians with these words: “God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 4:7,8) My friends as we bring these volatile global, social, moral conversations to God, asking Him to guide our understanding with HIS holy wisdom, do you see the power of Paul’s statement?
That God has designed for and called us to living HOLY, pure, sacred, God honoring lives, especially in everything and anything related to our sexuality! Now ponder that for a moment and let’s each look closely at our beliefs, our attitudes, our choices, our words, our behaviors that are in any way related to human sexuality, our own or other people. Do you see HOLY or impure as you look very deeply into your own soul?
Now finally, I’ve learned that whenever Paul uses the word “Therefore” he’s about to make an important statement of conclusion, so look at this one: “Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 4:8) Now that’s all very clear isn’t it my friends?
It tells me that any ideas, any attitudes, any opinions that I have which are in any way out of alignment with God’s clear, pure, holy design for human sexuality are placing me in a position of opposition to God for I am REJECTING God and REFUSING the instruction, the wisdom, the guidance, the work of the Holy Spirit in my life as I embrace anything that is different from God’s clear design for holy human sexuality.
Now that’s powerful isn’t it my friends? And that leaves me at an important crossroads of decision. God has given me and every human being a brain to think, to reason, to learn, to understand. God invites me to pursue filing my mind with God’s truth and learning to THINK in God’s honoring ways about everything. (Romans 8:5-9) God has given me a free will to choose and act on my choices. And God invites me to use my reasoning and free will to make wise choices that will position my life to be God honoring and holy in all ways. And God calls me to understand that both my God given mind and free will come with responsibility.
I stand accountable before God for my every thought, every word, every decision, every attitude, every action in my life, and the same is true for you and ALL of us! (Hebrews 4:13) Now that my friends, is worth spending some considerable time thinking about and talking with God about!
Oh, how we need to discern God’s truth, God’s design, God’s desire for us in all things related to our sexuality, our morality, our passions, and our relationship with God, and every human being we come in contact with. Now here’s a song to help us reflect on these powerful truths today…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Thess. 4:6-9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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