Chapter 5
The Divine Purposes of Sex
Now comes the big truth! Ses was designed and created in humans for purposes other than reproduction -- for purposes totally foreign to animal or plant life!
But the world has continued in unhappy and wretched IGNORANCE of these glorious and God-bestowed purposes!
AND WHY?
The Only Authority for Morals
This brings us again to that striking truth, that THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL KNOWLEDGE! GOD is the Supreme EDUCATOR! The Bible is far, far from the sum total of knowledge. It is the BASIS -- the FOUNDATION -- the starting point, and the foundational approach to the acquisition of discoverable knowledge!
God, through the Maker's Instruction Book, reveals what man cannot otherwise learn! Full TRUTH comes from the biblical revelation, PLUS acquired and discoverable knowledge approached through the CONCEPT revealed in the Bible.
Man, without divine revelation, has been able to observe that plant life reproduces; animal life reproduces; and human life reproduces. From this, IGNORANT of the divine revelation, man has formulated erroneous and happiness-destroying concepts about purposes and uses of sex.
Through the centuries pagan dualism had assumed and taught the erroneous premise that the only purpose of sex is reproduction -- and it has viewed even that purpose with suspicion! Not understanding the real meaning and true purposes of marriage, and inheriting its concept from the Babylonian Mystery religion, it placed marriage on a LOWER PLANE than celibacy of lifelong virginity!
Today educators, scientists, psychologists, doctors and those who set the moral standards, rely on the evolutionary concept as their assumed and erroneous basic premise and approach to knowledge. They do not know the origin or PURPOSES of sex. They do not know how, why or when MARRIAGE originated.
The Bible reveals knowledge otherwise unacquirable!
So once again, let us go to that SOURCE of knowledge!
Remember, the Eternal (Heb., Yahweh), who literally spoke to and instructed Adam and Eve, was the very Person of the Godhead who later became Jesus Christ.
The Second Purpose
Jesus taught the Pharisees precisely the same thing about sex that He had taught Adam and Eve. To the Pharisees, He said: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife ... What therefore GOD hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:4-6).
For what cause shall a man marry? Because God made them male and female -- because God created SEX.
Sex did not evolve, without intelligence or purpose! It was GOD, by miraculous creation, who made humanity male and female! And God always has a purpose for what He does!
So because God created sex, He ORDAINED THE MARRIAGE INSTITUTION. And it is GOD who binds together, as husband and wife, a man and a woman.
MARRIAGE, then, is the second-named PURPOSE of sex.
Marriage is a physical union, but a divine institution. Almighty GOD ordained it! It did not evolve. It is not of MAN'S devising.
Notice, in the scripture quoted above, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Have ye not read ... ?" He quoted an already written passage of Scripture. He said the Pharisees should have read it! Where is that scripture found? It is found in the second chapter of Genesis. It is part of the brief SUMMARY record of the ETERNAL'S original instruction to the newly created Adam and Eve. The creation of Eve had just been described, and God then said, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife" (Gen. 2:24).
So the Almighty revealed the sacred MARRIAGE institution to the first man and woman.
WHY Marriage?
Now stop and think for a moment. WHY did God ordain the human relationship of MARRIAGE?
The old repressive, dualistic morality taught that the only purpose of sex was reproduction. But if merely reproducing their kind were the only purpose of sex, NO MARRIAGE WOULD BE NECESSARY! God made animals male and female. Animals reproduce -- BUT THEY DO NOT MARRY! Marriage is not necessary to procreate.
Realize this! UNDERSTAND this truth! We can, through sex, have reproduction without marriage! Indeed, that is one of the world's greatest evils today -- there is entirely too much reproduction without marriage!
Animals reproduce. But animals do not marry! Animals are born with instinct. They need little or no teaching.
Ever see a little calf born? The mother cow does not need to call an obstetrical physician or go to a hospital for the delivery of her calf. As soon as it is born, the calf will begin to stagger to its feet, while the cow just stupidly stands waiting. She does not need to teach her calf how to walk, how to take its food, how to do anything. A little wobbly and unsteady at first, the calf is up and walking in just a minute or two.
Now how long does it take a human infant to learn to walk? Usually a year -- and often more. But the newborn calf walks almost immediately. No one teaches it. THE CALF HAS INSTINCT. And where does it start walking? It has no instruction from anyone. It starts walking for its first "dinner." It knows where to go. And the mother cow just stands stupidly still while her calf sucks its milk.
And where is "Daddy" -- the bull? That's hard to say. Perhaps miles away. He probably is nowhere around. And soon the calf will not even need the milk from its mother -- and will be on its own.
There is no marriage -- no FAMILY LIFE -- no HOME LIFE.
But with humans all this is different. The purely reproductive process is the same in all mammals. But beyond this, all is different! The only purpose for sex in animals is reproduction. But HUMANS ARE DIFFERENT! In humans reproduction is not the only purpose of sex. A second purpose is MARRIAGE -- and there is yet a third purpose!
The newborn human does not get up and walk immediately to its food. The tiny baby is absolutely helpless. It has a few instinctive reflexes, but no instinct, in the strict sense of the word. It has MIND -- but at birth there is NO KNOWLEDGE as yet in its mind. It knows virtually nothing at birth. It must be taught! It needs parents to teach it! It matures so very much more slowly than animals! Yet its potentiality is infinitely higher! And for this higher purpose, parental guidance and FAMILY LIFE are NECESSARY!
For God had said, "Let us make man in OUR IMAGE."
God made cattle "after their kind" -- after the cattle kind. He made "every winged fowl after his kind" -- after the winged fowl kind! But He made MAN after the GOD kind !
Man's Destiny
Now, incredible as it may sound to those who do not UNDERSTAND the revelation of God's TRUTH -- and only an infinitesimal minority does -- GOD is a FAMILY! This we have explained in Chapter 4.
And in MAN, God is reproducing HIS kind! Man has the supreme potentiality of being actually born into the very divine GOD FAMILY!
Do you realize what that means? Of course, God is composed of immortal SPIRIT -- while man, like animals, is composed in this life of material FLESH -- matter! But the transcendent essential factor is that GOD IS PERFECT SPIRITUAL CHARACTER! It is the supreme intelligence, combined with holy and righteous CHARACTER of MIND that most importantly distinguishes GOD from every other living creature. No animal has this potential -- but it is the true destiny of MAN. Of course God, too, possesses supreme ALL-MIGHTY POWER. But without right CHARACTER, this power would be destructive and dangerous!
What is this righteous spiritual character?
It is that controlled ability, in a separate independent entity, to come to a right knowledge of the TRUE from the false -- the RIGHT from the wrong -- and, by free choice, to CHOOSE the right and the true, and, further, to use the self-discipline to will and to actually DO the right. And how define right? By the spiritual Law of God!
This necessitates that each individual human be an independent entity, with a mind of his own -- with freedom of choice (free moral agency) -- and it requires MIND power -- intelligence -- intellect -- ability to absorb KNOWLEDGE, to reason, to think, to plan, devise, to draw conclusions, to will and to act.
Inanimate objects have no mind, make no decisions, have no character. Animals have instinct installed in brains. But animals do not possess human-level consciousness of self, do not absorb knowledge from which they reason, make choice, and will to act even to enforcing self-discipline. Animals do not comprehend such things as art, literature, music. Animals do not imagine, and by thought and reasoning processes design creatively. Animals do not acquire scientific knowledge. Animals do not create, question or decide whether to obey moral codes. Animals are not made in the image of God -- do not possess mind power to comprehend the right ways of God's spiritual Law. They develop no character.
Humans are born with MINDS. Humans must be taught, or learn. But the human mind can absorb knowledge and reason from it -- think creatively, formulate plans, make decisions, render judgments and exercise self-discipline. Man has the POTENTIALITY of developing righteous CHARACTER.
So the human baby is born without knowledge, but with capacity for acquiring it, and of developing righteous CHARACTER. The human has the supreme potential of receiving God's own HOLY SPIRIT, to impart the divine nature, to equip the MIND to comprehend revealed spiritual knowledge!
Human babies are born helpless! They need the tender care, the loving instruction, the patient training and discipline and the warm affection and love of a father and a mother. They need the warmth and protection and security of family and of home life. And they are of supreme importance -- for they are the potential HEIRS OF GOD!
This righteous CHARACTER is not created instantaneously. It develops through experience, and experience requires TIME. Instinct in animals is automatic, set in the animal brain from birth. But divine righteous CHARACTER must be developed over a span of years.
All this is one reason for marriage and the FAMILY relationship.
But there are more! There are other reasons for marriage -- for FAMILY -- and for HOME!
WHY should humans marry?
Well, the educators today do not really know! The scientists do not fully comprehend! They suppose that somewhere along the evolutionary trail, perhaps millions of years ago, man himself started it merely as a custom. They do not know when the marriage institution started, by whom, or for what purpose! Of the tremendous MEANING of this institution they are ignorant! The Communist USSR even experimented for a time on abolishing marriage and producing humans outside marriage.
Angels Are Sexless
The real TRUTH about sex and marriage in humans goes deeper still! Its overwhelming significance and meaning seems to have become lost by man.
We have seen that animals have sex, that animals reproduce; but MARRIAGE is not required for reproduction, and animals do not marry. They do not establish HOME LIFE and the FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.
Now consider angels. The skeptic doesn't believe it, but the Bible reveals that angels do exist. Angels are on a higher level than men. It is written that man was made "a little lower" than the angels -- that is, during this mortal, fleshly, human life, now.
Yet angels, on a higher plane than physical man, do not marry! (Matt. 22:30). Each angel was individually and separately created, not born. Among angels there is no marriage -- -no home life -- no family life!
And NO SEX!
Then what is the function of angels?
Angels are spirit beings -- composed, not of material flesh, but of spirit -- immortal. "And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits ..." (Heb. 1:7, Ps. 104:4). GOD is immortal, and composed of SPIRIT. Then are angels on the same level with God? Not at all! They are mere spirit creations of God, created to be His servants, messengers, representatives in the administration of God's UNIVERSE-RULING GOVERNMENT.
The Heritage of Man
Angels, on a plane far lower than God, are higher than mortal man, now. But consider man's ultimate heritage -- if he chooses it!
Speaking of the relative difference between man and angels, in the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews, we read:
"For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come [the WORLD TOMORROW], whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified [Ps. 8:4-6], saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? ..." (Heb. 2:5-6).
UNDERSTAND THIS! The earth was once put in subjection to angels, with the archangel Lucifer on that world throne as God's administrator to administer God's government over the angels that then populated the earth. But Lucifer became proud, filled with vanity, and decided to become an aggressor, attempting to dethrone God and place himself on the throne of the UNIVERSE! He was cast back down to earth, his name changed to Satan, meaning Adversary. The angels which joined his mutiny became demons.
Satan and his demons still sway, invisibly, this world. But Jesus Christ conquered Satan, and qualified for WORLD RULE. He is coming again to earth -- soon, now as KING of kings to set up and re-establish on earth GOD'S GOVERNMENT.
Now what of MAN? Those truly converted before Christ returns shall RULE the WORLD TOMORROW, under Christ (Rev. 3:21, 2:26-27). Yes, but ultimately even more than that!
Notice, now, this passage in Hebrews 2. The statement is made that angels will not be ruling the WORLD TOMORROW. But what of MAN? Yes, insignificant flesh-and-blood mortal MAN! Why should the Great GOD consider him? And here comes the stupendous answer few humans, blinded by Satan's deceptions, have ever noticed:
"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with GLORY and HONOUR, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put ALL THINGS in subjection under his feet. For in that he put ALL in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him ..." (Heb. 2:7-8).
You won't quite grasp that at first. It is too overwhelming! To be crowned means to be given kingly RULE. To be crowned with GLORY and HONOR is to be given such rule as Christ has, NOW -- and that is described in chapter 1 of Hebrews as being the administrative, ruling Executive over the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! Christ is now ruling over "ALL THINGS"! The Moffatt translation renders this, properly, from the Greek as THE UNIVERSE -- that is, all that God has created! -- all that EXISTS!
Christ rules it all now! The FATHER OF THE GOD KINGDOM HAS PLACED THE RESURRECTED, LIVING CHRIST as Chief Executive over the GOVERNMENT OF GOD over the entire, vast limitless UNIVERSE. And converted humans are HEIRS of Christ -- JOINT-HEIRS with Him to inherit with Him, in due time, all that HE has now inherited! (Rom. 8:17 -- which read!)
But continue the passage in Hebrews 2, "... But now we see not yet all things put under him" (verse 8). Oh, then the rulership over the universe is NOT YET under man -- not while he is human -- mortal! But what do we already, now, see? Continue the passage:
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [even as we, now] for the suffering of death, CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOUR ..."(verse 9). And verse 10 shows that Jesus Christ is the captain -- the Leader, the Pioneer who goes on before -- of our salvation!
Christ already is CROWNED with this HONOR and GLORY. Christ ROSE from the dead! He is ALIVE -- and He is DIVINE! He has been GLORIFIED -- and in His glorified SPIRIT condition His eyes are like flames of fire, and His face shines as bright as the very SUN -- FULL STRENGTH! (Rev. 1:14-16.)
Are you really comprehending this? Are you?
And mortal man, if he repents, surrenders unconditionally to God and God's government, accepts in living FAITH Jesus Christ as personal Savior, can receive God's gift of His HOLY SPIRIT -- the very life, essence, nature, mind and power of God -- BEGETTlNG him, now, as God's own (yet unborn) Son! If he then GROWS spiritually (II Pet. 3:18), overcomes and endures, he shall -- at Christ's soon coming, be changed (or resurrected if he dies) from mortal to immortal (I Cor. 15:44-54).
And then -- IF the very CHARACTER of God has been developed within him -- his vile material body will be instantaneously changed (converted) into one "like unto his [Christ's] GLORIOUS body"! (Phil. 3:21.) But your vile character will not then be instantaneously changed -- THAT change must take place NOW, in this life!
So THAT is the supreme heritage of MAN -- if he is willing!
But what is a function of angels, NOW? They are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14).
Man, now lower than angels, has a destiny far higher!
A GOD-PLANE Relationship!
So GRASP this colossal TRUTH, if you can!
Here is the greatest TRUTH you can ever know! MAN, and man only, of all life forms God has created, can be born into THE GOD FAMILY -- the KINGDOM OF GOD!
Animals have never been given FAMILY relationship. Angels have never enjoyed FAMILY status. The family relationship is a GOD-PLANE relationship -- not an angel-plane relationship. And God bestowed it on MAN! Because MAN is to be BORN into the GOD FAMILY.
Of all life forms -- whether plant, animal or angel in all God's creation, MAN ALONE was created for MARRIAGE -- for HOME, and FAMILY LIFE!
Read that again! Try to comprehend it! THINK of the significance! This pivotal truth has been hidden from a deceived world!
Man is, now, composed of matter. Yet in man -- and in MAN ONLY, is God's CREATION still going on! Humans, by repentance, surrender to God and acceptance of Christ, may be in mind and attitude converted -- may receive God's Holy Spirit. Thus they are actually begotten as God's children! They may have direct communion with God, and call Him FATHER! They are brought into a FATHER-AND-SON relationship with GOD!
This is possible for no other creature -- not even angels! Angels were not, never can be, begotten and BORN of God! Each angel is a separate creation. No angel can ever become a part of the DIVINE FAMILY OR KINGDOM OF GOD!
Notice! Of angels, God says: "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" (Heb. 1:5.)
Neither animal, nor angel, nor any other being, except MAN, can be literally begotten by spiritual reproductive process, and then actually BORN into the divine GOD FAMILY!
What a matchless, supreme, awe-inspiring, breathtaking potential!
The Function of Angels
Angels, higher than man is now, are the ministering servants of God in the administration of His universe-ruling government! And, in relation to MAN, angels are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14). Invisible angels actually minister to, and serve the human children of GOD. Begotten humans are the actual heirs of God -- and joint-heirs with CHRIST (Rom. 8:17).
Notice! "And because ye [converted Christians] are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a SON; and if a son, then an HEIR of God through Christ" (Gal. 4:6-7).
A young son of a wealthy man, while still a child, may be under the care of an adult servant. The servant is older, farther advanced in knowledge, on higher status physically and mentally -- but far lower potentially. For when the son is mature, he will inherit his father's wealth and power. Therefore the servant, temporarily older and farther matured, is servant, ministering to the young HEIR! That illustrates the fact of angels ministering to humans!
Humans are, if converted through Christ, the heirs of the GOD FAMILY. They are to enter the divine FAMILY. They are, even now, the begotten children of God. Therefore God ordained the family relationship for human beings.
NO OTHER BEINGS -- whether angel or animal -- HAVE THIS RELATIONSHIP.
But it goes further!
The FAMILY relationship demands the HUSBAND-AND-WIFE relationship! And that demands MARRIAGE, and faithfulness to that matrimonial bond! The CHURCH of God is merely that BODY composed of the begotten children of God. And the Church, as a BODY, is the affianced BRIDE OF CHRIST -- to MARRY Christ at the time of the resurrection and His second coming!
So there is also the divine MARRIAGE relationship!
Now UNDERSTAND! The husband-and-wife relationship, and the family relationship, are God-plane relationships!
These are NOT animal-plane, or angel-plane relationships!
Since humans were put on earth for the very PURPOSE of being begotten, and then BORN into the GOD FAMILY -- which is the KINGDOM OF GOD -- the ETERNAL has endowed this GOD-PLANE relationship for HUMANS -- and for humans only! What a WONDERFUL PRIVILEGE to be HUMANS -- to be given the MARRIAGE relationship now, but later to marry Christ and become part of the GOD FAMILY!
The Affianced Bride
Here is another vital REASON for the institution of MARRIAGE in the human family. It is to teach us -- to constantly remind us -- of our sacred relationship to Jesus Christ!
Here is the vital teaching:
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ..." (The Word, if obeyed, washes away error.) "That he might present it to himself a glorious church [GLORIFIED -- DEIFIED], not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies .... For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
"This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Eph. 5:22-32).
Notice! For this cause -- because of the coming MARRIAGE (spiritually) between Christ and the Church -- because the Church is, now, the affianced Bride, engaged to marry Christ -- FOR THIS REASON, God ordained the MARRIAGE institution for humans! But not for animals! Not for angels!
Notice Revelation 19:7 -- speaking of the second coming of Christ in GLORY, "... the MARRIAGE of the Lamb [Christ] is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready." ONLY those made ready in righteous CHARACTER will be presented to Him then!
WHY Home and Family
So, in addition to the FAMILY relationship, there is also the divine MARRIAGE relationship.
So UNDERSTAND! The husband-and-wife relationship, and the family relationship, are God-plane relationships!
These are not animal-plane or angel-plane relationships!
Humans are free moral agents. God never forces one to be truly converted -- to become His very begotten son. Yet the PURPOSE God is working out here below is to reproduce Himself -- to bring, through Christ, "many sons unto GLORY" (Heb. 2:10) in the divine KINGDOM OF GOD!
And since humans were put on earth for the very purpose of being begotten, and then BORN into the GOD FAMILY, the Eternal has endowed this God-plane family status for humans, now -- and for humans ONLY!
What a WONDERFUL PRIVILEGE to be given the MARRIAGE and FAMILY relationship -- that we may be prepared for the spiritual marriage to CHRIST and the divine family status, for eternity, in THE KINGDOM OF GOD!