Hi, I'm Henry Reyenga, I'm back with you talking today about God's creational design. Before  we can really understand how our sexual desires and identity, connect to ministry and victory, we must know that God created our sexual desires as good. We read that God created  humanity with the desire for sexual intimacy, to populate the earth. He created sexual  intimacy to be practiced in a life long marriage. Genesis 1:28, God bless them and said to  them, Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Genesis 2:24, for this  reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will  become one flesh. In the world of philosophy, Christian philosophy, there will be a discussion  about the pre fall types of activities, because they are core to the creation of image bearers,  male and female, the living souls, the nephesh, as they're called, if you study Hebrew here,  but not know, that's very important discussion, because sexual intimacy is hardwired, in the  pre fall identity of human beings, like you and me. So the desire for sexual intimacy is  strongly crafted inside our very person. The desire for sexual intimacy is a pre fall, hardwired,  desire that God put in humans to populate the earth. But not just to have that population and  animal alone, like urge, but to do it in intimacy, to do it with husband and wife, male and  female, that it is both pleasurable. And in that unity of husband and wife, that's where  children are born. So that's a pre fall setup that every human has given by God. Now there  was some other pre fall hardwiring, that occurred. One was the wisdom to create, produce,  work, thrive and survive. And Genesis 2:15, we read the Lord God took the man and put them  in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it. So our work is a pre fall hardwired truth about you and me. We want to produce, we want to do something, we want to create  something, we were made the image of God, He created the heavens and the earth, we want  to be part of creating something special with our lives, purpose. So that's purpose is  hardwired, in all humanity. Eating too often think of eating as hard wired. Genesis 2:16, And  the LORD God commanded that the man you are free to eat from any tree in the garden.  There were two trees in the garden that were Of special note one is the tree of life. Adam and  Eve are free to eat of that, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And that's another story. We'll get into that in our next session. So eating is something hardwired. But one more  thing, and we and I mentioned that just in the last slide, being together in intimacy. Genesis  2:18 The Lord God said is not good for a man to be alone now we'll make a helper suitable for  him. Now what the intimacies thing was interesting, you got to helper for work and that  purpose, but also intimacy, for sexual union and for the population of the world. So these are  all hardwired things. Now, being hardwired God also created them pleasurable. So to actually, like, think about pleasure in eating as easy to do, how hungry when you are and how  pleasurable it feels, when you eat something you really like. The sex is very pleasurable. And  it was in the pre, or pre fall fate. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, enjoyed sexual  intimacy, and it was pleasurable. And they felt no shame. When it comes to their work, their  work of naming the animals and setting up a world developing a world and being a steward, a deacon of a new world, all of that was pleasurable, God hardwired, our bodies and spirits, for  working, creating, subduing, eating, and drinking and intimacy. All of this is wonderful. If love  and service is the operating system of our souls, so God sets up all of this. Now, I want to  really make a really important point here that is going to come up later in this course, that  this all was good, and it was all pleasurable, you and I in in our deepest brain, hard wiring, in  it as humans before the fall of sin, we find pleasure that is the release of dopamine, which  we're going to talk about a little a little bit. When our work is getting done, our stomachs are  filled and our intimacy needs are being met. So the first key understanding in overcoming  sexual sin is to understand that we have to look at this as something very core in deep inside  of the hard wiring that God did in creation, when he created a man and a woman, and he put  them on this earth. So to address this in a compassionate in an honest and self aware way, is  vitally important as we think about ministering with victory over sexual sin.



Last modified: Monday, September 26, 2022, 8:20 AM