The following sermon speaks on the controversial topic of homosexuality. It was presented on Sunday, September 2, 2012. It is presented here to encourage Christians and non-Christians to think Biblically about homosexuality and to encourage homosexual men and women to see their need for Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord.
This morning we will discuss homosexuality from a Biblical perspective and prove three main points: 1) It is not God’s design (it is unnatural) 2) God clearly forbids it (it is unlawful) and 3) Jesus can redeem someone from it (it is unchristian).
It is not God’s Design (Homosexuality is Unnatural)
God created human beings, gave them sexual desire, and designed the sexual desire to occur between a man and a woman who have joined together in marriage. God alone, as Creator, has the authority to determine the proper and improper application of sexual desire.
Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Humans alone have the distinction of being in the image of God. We read that after God created Adam, He created Eve. Genesis 2:18 says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Later in verse 22 we read, “and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.” It is at this moment that Adam rejoiced in the creation of the helper fit for him, an indispensable companion who would supply what the man was lacking (and vice versa). He said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’ (Gen 2:23).
In Genesis 2:24, we have the Word of God saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The importance of this passage is that both Adam (male) and Eve (female) are complementary images of God. Both are created in the image of God and both are different. There are aspects of the image of God particular to being female and aspects particular to being male. These two genders together complement one another as part of God’s design.
Matthew 19:4-6 says Jesus “answered, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh.”
This passage is important because we have Jesus going to Genesis 2 to show His affirmation of the male/female marriage covenant. Despite what you may hear, Jesus is not silent on the issue of homosexuality. Jesus knows homosexuality is a perversion of God’s design for sexual relations. Jesus, being a good pious Jew, knew the commands in the Law of Moses against homosexuality and other sexual sins. He also knew God’s original design for sexual desire. Jesus says that the proper application of sexual desire is in the context of the male/female marriage covenant.
Paul, knowing the teaching of Genesis 2 and Matthew 19, says:
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Paul affirms the Biblical truth of God’s creation of sexual desire and God’s blessing of sexual desire in a marriage covenant between a man and a woman. This is understood to be “natural relations” (i.e., as God designed). Homosexuality, is “contrary to nature”, “dishonorable passions”, “shameless acts”, and “error”. Paul is not arguing contrary to Biblical teaching, but is in accords with the entirety of Biblical truth.
God Forbids It (Homosexuality is Unlawful)
God alone has not only the authority to determine the proper and improper application of sexual desire, but He also has the authority to punish it. In the Law of Moses, the Lord gave Israel rules by which they may be holy and set apart to Him. Some of these laws were Ceremonial (feasts, sacrifices), some were civil (redemption of property), and others were moral (sexual sins). Jesus is the fulfillment of the law (Matt 5:17) and thus frees us from the ceremonial and civil aspects, while leaving the moral aspect binding. The prohibition against homosexuality (Lev 18:22; 20:13) is considered binding precisely because it is a moral law which is reinforced in the New Testament.
The punishment prescribed in the Law of Moses for homosexuality was death (Lev 20:13). This severe punishment reveals to us how strongly God feels about this perversion of His design for sexual relations. The punishment for all sin (such as homosexuality, adultery, theft, greed, etc.) is still death, but by the grace of God, the sentence is not to be carried out by God’s people or the our government. Rather, we understand that the wages of homosexuality (like other sexual sins and all other sins) is death (Rom 6:23). In the New Testament, God’s attitude towards homosexuality has not changed; but we see that God has graciously provided forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Homosexual people need not die for his sin. If they repent, believe, and submit to Jesus; they will find that Jesus has already died for his sin: taking the punishment due to them. They will find a gracious savior.
Jesus Redeems (Homosexuality is Unchristian)
Homosexuality is unchristian. A gay Christian is an oxymoron. It is like saying “wise fool” or “legal crime”. A homosexual person cannot live that lifestyle and be a follower of Jesus because they are violating God’s commands for human sexuality. The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus can redeem a person from homosexuality. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Notice that the Apostle Paul lists sins that used to define a person (sexually immoral, thieves, greedy, drunkards, etc.) but do so no longer. When a person become a Christian, they are cleansed from those sins.
Christians, let us pray for those in a homosexual lifestyle. Pray that God would create in them a new heart and transform the unnatural sexual desires into God-honoring sexual desires. Pray that God would open their eyes to see that they are not to be defined by their sexual desires but by their Creator. If you are homosexual, please know that Jesus offers salvation, repentance, and restoration. Come to Him in faith and seek to worship Him because He is worthy of your love, service, and obedience.
First Baptist Scott City, MO 