I looked up the definition of sexuality. It is, “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex; concern with or interest in sexual activity, and sexual character or potency.” From the definition alone, we might assume it is all about our identity and behaviors, but what if sexuality is really more a description and distinction displaying all that God is. What if it was more than just a good gift given to Adam, Eve, and their progeny ever after? God is a good God, and He does give good gifts, but He also uses His Creation to reflect the very nature of His realm, His design, and His will. When Adam looked around, “there was not found a helper suitable for him.” Adam, created to reflect the image and likeness of God, found himself with no counterpart.
God is Spirit, and is, in His fullness, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—three distinct natures of God within the Holy Oneness. They are separate and distinct from one another, while at the same time, reflecting in their diversity, what ‘oneness’ is comprised of. Adam, in, and of himself, was inadequate to display the image and likeness of God, and needed a ‘holy other’ to complete this earthly display of a heavenly Creator.
“And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” God is One, yet is reflected in three distinct personalities. Adam was insufficient to reflect the image and likeness of His Maker alone. God addressed this by drawing out from the man, the second part of His own nature…..the woman. Man and woman together best depict the image and likeness of our God. It is through plurality and diversity of design, that they are a composite of their heavenly Designer.
With the Creation story in mind, let us consider Paul’s words in the book of Ephesians. There is a passage in chapter five that is always used for instruction concerning Christian marriage. Yet, this often quoted scripture was not written to give us marital counsel alone. There is a greater truth to draw out.
“For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”
Here is how a mystery is displayed: God, who is Spirit will be seen in the role of the Husband, and the Bride (both male and female) will be the responsive ‘feminine’. Christian marriage was to be an earthly display of a heavenly truth. Male and female, together, display the nature of our God who is Spirit. The watching world sees how two ‘unlike’ beings are brought into oneness with the Father, and display on earth not only what the triune nature of our God is like, but also, how we are to live with Him relationally. It takes both male and female to display the diversity of God, and marriage becomes the ‘stage’ where we display this divine mystery of Christ (the husband) and His Church (the Bride).