What possible connection could there be between the sexual culture around us and the God who created us, other than the fact that sexual intimacy is a function of the body? As a young woman growing up in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, I experienced a lot of confusion about sex and how it related to me as a Christian. The book, Intimate Issues, by Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus, helped me find clarity and pointed me to solid biblical teaching at a time when I was raising daughters of my own. These authors helped me to understand that every function of the body is carefully crafted by God to serve his purpose of drawing all people to him. Their book was written as a response to women’s questions about sex and has provided much needed clarity and light to a subject that the world has perverted and shrouded in darkness.

To Create Life 

“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth!” (Genesis 1:28, The Message). Creation and love have been hand in hand from the beginning. Because of God’s desire for companionship with a being he could love and be loved by in return, he created Adam and Eve. His overflowing love resulted in the birth of the human race and continues to result in new creation each time a baby is born. God’s love for us is expressed with life-giving power in the love between a man and a woman.

Intimate Oneness 

“Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). God has devised a plan for two separate bodies to become bonded together so completely that God sees them as one. Just as two pieces of duct tape cannot be separated without leaving bits of the adhesive behind, the bond between a man and woman was meant to be permanent and cannot be undone without a part of each partner being left behind. 

Knowledge 

“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain” (Genesis 4:1, New King James Version). Through sex, a husband and wife receive an intimate knowing of each other and a connection of their spirits that nothing else can accomplish. This earthly relationship is a training ground as God teaches us spiritual intimacy; an opportunity to look beneath the surface of who he may appear to be and understand the mystery of who he really is. It’s as if God is saying to us, “I’ve given you a visual picture so that when you experience the beauty of physical intimacy, you will have a glimmer, an earthly idea, of all I desire for you spiritually, a sweet union of your spirit with mine.”

Pleasure 

“Oh yes! Your breasts will be clusters of sweet fruit to me, Your breath clean and cool like fresh mint, your tongue and lips like the best wine” (Song of Solomon 7:8, 9, The Message). “I’ll give myself to you, my love to your love!” (v. 12b) Song of Solomon provides beautifully written, intimate details of sexual intimacy. The joy that God intends for married couples to experience together is a far cry from the perversion it has become in our world. 

Defense Against Temptation

“Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder” (1 Corinthians 7:2). If a married couple enjoys the kind of sexual relationship God intends, it will be like applying a blindfold to sexual temptation. There will be no reason to look elsewhere if sexual needs are being met between husband and wife. 

Comfort

“David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son” (2 Samuel 12:24). Spouses have a unique way to comfort one another in a relationship of true and deep intimacy. Sexual intimacy is not only a tension reliever in times of stress, but it’s also a way to feel loved even in times of sorrow. Physical comfort on such a deep level is something God provides through the love of a spouse.

My thanks to the authors for confirming that, as his creation, God is indeed a part of all that we are and all that we do.

Sue Wilson and her husband, Don, are retired from Christ’s Church of the Valley in Arizona, a church they stated together in 1983. They are now leading a ministry to encourage pastors and wives, to give consultation to church leaders, and to help the global kingdom of God grow though healthy churches.