God's Design

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:1-2 ESV

We must learn how to direct our desire according to God's design so that it launches us to our destiny. -Christopher West

Why did God design us with bodies?

Resources that have been helpful

• Theology of the body explained and Fill These Hearts  - West
• The Forgotten Feminine -  Jordan
• Sermons from different pastors  - Jon Tyson Pastor of the Church of the city in NYC

...but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Romans 6:13–14 ESV

For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭TPT‬‬

...but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Romans 8:23 ESV

The sexual revolution was “the destigmatization and demystification of non-marital sex and the reduction of sexual relations in general to a kind of hygienic recreation in which anything goes so long as those involved are consenting adults.” –Mary Eberstadt

Christians and nonchristians live almost identically

Sexual revolution equation is:
Desire + Consent = Freedom
-Tyson

Desire + Consent = Disillusionment, Confusion, Addiction and Isolation

A person who cannot say no to themselves is not free...he or she is an addict.  “True freedom is liberation NOT from external constraints that define and call me to good, but from internal constraints that hinder my understanding and choice of good. Freedom is NOT liberty to indulge my compulsions but liberty FROM my compulsion TO indulge.” - TOB

We did not design ourselves, we are the work of a designer

We cannot recapture our design and purpose if we do not accept the Biblical account of man’s origins.

Romans 3:10-11 says:
“There is no one righteous, no, not one.
No one who understands (perfectly)
No one who seeks God (perfectly)”

We are asking you NOT to simply take our word for it but to ask God for yourselves to reveal His design for life, for your body and for your relationships to you.

We must base our view of God’s design and purpose on the interpretation of God’s Word as a whole. A wholistic vision of God’s heart starts with the “In the beginning...”

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1:26-28 ‭NIV‬‬

God FORMED Adam out of the dust and breathed into him the breath of life and Adam became a living BEING NOT BEAST.

It is NOT good for a person to be alone. Genesis 2:18

Adam alone could not accomplish the purpose God intended in making mankind a revelation of Himself .

She was distinct in biology and function, yet these very distinctions worked like a magnetic force to draw them back together into union and communion.

Together, man and woman revealed the full image of God. This was and is mankind’s purpose. Together they fulfilled it. Together God pronounced them “Very Good”!

Eve as helper: This does not mean she was made to help all of Adam’s dreams come true. This means that together they were to partner in making all of God’s “dreams come true.”

Co- mission - They are commanded to be on mission together with God to reveal His image in the created world

We were made to give to each other’s lives what we alone do not possess. But instead, we are either running from each other or appropriating each other for our own purposes

Men you are uniquely gifted by God in your body and in your role as His image bearer to represent that He is the initiator of life.

You are literally biologically equipped to initiate life and you are gifted by God to do so by making a gift of yourself not taking for yourself.

Your strength is meant to protect, your mind is meant to give direction, your energy is meant to be spent on empowering others NOT overpowering them.

Women we were created uniquely by God to represent that He is the sustainer/nurturer of life.

Forgiveness is the beginning of healing.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23‬ ‭NASB‬‬