Our Hidden Sex Lives: Part III
What happened to make “sex” such a problem?
- Eve and Adam disobeyed:
All was good good until the serpent entered the Garden of Eden and asked Eve and Adam that one key question: “Did God really say that?”What is it that God had said? “If you eat of that apple, you will know good and evil. When you know good and evil you will be like God.”So Eve saw the fruit as tasty and appealing to the eye. Plus she really wanted to be like God. (Of course, we all have a pull to be like God, don’t we?)
- We “lust” after our cravings, and don’t turn the heat down.
Just like Adam and Eve, we ended up preferring the lust of the flesh (which we can see and feel), the lust of the eyes (which we can see and know), and the pride of life, over obedience to God. Just to be clear: lust is a Greek word, epithymia, which is derived from thymus, meaning to heat something to boiling. So anything — in this case our sex drive — is lust if it is put on the burner, the heat turned up, and it begins to boil over. Pride is a Greek word alazoneia, which means a bragging and insolent trust in one’s own power.
- God put a curse on mankind for our disobedience:
— The man was punished by having to work hard, tilling a ground that was cursed and full of thorns and thistles. And mankind ended up cursed with death, and buried in the very dust he had tried to cultivate. — The woman was given over to a craving for her husband, who in turn would dominate her and rule over her. She would also experience severe pain when it came to her childbearing experiences, including her monthly cycle. The image of man and woman being equally yoked from Gen.2:24 was shattered. — God’s curse reduced the serpent to the lowliest animal. Enmity and hatred was introduced into the relationship between human beings and Satan. The devil would continue to bruise, strike, crush and injure man’s heel throughout history. This refers to the difficulties that Satan throws in our way about sexuality.
- This curse created a downhill slide of evil. We see evidence of man’s toil and hard labor; woman’s rough menstrual cycle and childbearing issues; the unbalanced cravings of woman for man, and the distortion of man’s dominion over woman; and an ongoing battle for all mankind with evil. These factors are the cause of the mess we experience as sexual immorality.
Satan played a leading role in this problem of sex. What do you think he did specifically to corrupt this potentially beautiful gift?