3 Day Bible Reading Plan - “Why Does God Care About My Sexuality and Gender”
The reason God cares about our sexuality and gender, which the question implies, is because He created us to experience joy. God wants us to find value in our biological gender and happiness in our sexual behaviors. The Scriptures speak of the beginning of the human story as the place where we can discover God's beautiful design for our gender and sexuality. I want to explore the start of the human story with you today to show you how God has designed our genders to complement each other and experience sexual intimacy. - Pastor Paul Crandell, 7/28/24
Day 1
Featured Verse:
1 Corinthians 11:2-3 - “The Head of Man is Christ, the Head of a Wife is Her Husband”
Cross References:
Genesis 2:18 - “I Will Make Him a Helper Fit For Him”
1 Corinthians 11:7-9 - “Woman is the Glory of Man”
Proverbs 12:4 - “An Excellent Wife is the Crown of Her Husband”
Reflection:
God saw Adam’s loneliness and decided to make another human that was of the same substance, but totally other; like him, yet unique to him. She was created to be Adam’s friend and companion, but also, much more to him than that. How did God give the woman dignity by calling her his “helper”?
What does it mean that a woman is the glory of man?
Only the excellent wife is a crown to her husband. Proverbs 12:4 goes on to say, “She who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” What are some traits of an excellent wife? In remembering that God made Eve to be Adam’s helper, how can fulfilling her role make her a “crown to her husband”?
“A true wife is her husband’s better half, his lump of delight, his flower of beauty, his guardian angel, and his heart’s treasure.” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 2
Featured Verse:
Ephesians 5:22-33 - “The Mystery of Christ and His Church”
Cross References:
Isaiah 54:5 - “Your Maker is Your Husband”
Hosea 2:16 - “In That Day, Declares the LORD, You Will Call Me, ‘My Husband’”
Ruth 3:8-9 - “You Are a Redeemer”
Reflection:
What can we learn about God by thinking of Him as our Husband? Why does He want us to view Him in this way?
If marriage between one man and one woman is a picture of Christ and His Church, what greater mysteries does this tell us about the deep, intimate nature of our union with Christ by His Spirit?
For Ruth, Boaz was her Kinsman Redeemer, a title also used for Christ Himself. Their story was a foreshadowing of God’s plan to come in His Son. How might a man become a redeemer, a type of Christ, by marrying a widow or a woman deserted and cast off (Isaiah 54:6)?
“O Christian, if the Master condescends to say, ‘I am married unto you,’ you will not any longer ask, ‘What is my duty?’ but you will say, ‘What can I do for him?’ The loving wife does not say, ‘What is my duty?’ and stand coldly questioning how far she should go, and how little she may do, but all that she can do for him who is her husband she will do, and everything that she can think of, every thing she can devote herself to, in striving to please him in all things, she will most certainly do and perform. And you and I will do the same if we have realized our union with Christ.” - Charles Spurgeon
Day 3
Featured Verse:
Romans 1:21-27 - “God Gave Them Up to Dishonorable Passions”
Cross References:
1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 - “Control His Own Body in Holiness and Honor”
Colossians 3:5 - “Put to Death…Sexual Immorality”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - “Such Were Some of You, But You Were Washed”
Reflection:
When God’s created order for men and women is ignored, He eventually gives them up who revel in dishonorable passions. In other words, He removes His grace that might otherwise open their eyes to their sin, so that they do not repent. Why does He do this?
Consider: All throughout the Bible, sexual immorality is the one sin that always seems to ensnare the human race. Why is this passion so easy for the enemy to distort and manipulate?
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul has a laundry list of various types of sinners who will not inherit the kingdom of God, including the sexually immoral and those who practice homosexuality. These were some of his readers! Yet he says, “But you were washed.” What does this mean, and how might “being washed” give hope to any caught up in this lifestyle?
“There must be a divorce between you and sin, or there can be no marriage between you and Christ.” - Charles Spurgeon