The sexual revolution. When did it begin? How have we as a society come to the point that we have so many gender-related issues and issues of same-sex marriage? These questions have been rolling around in my head for quite sometime. The more that I hear the more disheartened I am. I am not disheartened at the fact that our culture and society are at this point. It stands to reason that when you excuse God from being a part of a society that this sort of thing will eventually come about.
“Yeah, yeah! We’ve heard it before!” you might exclaim.
But when was the last time that you really wondered where all of this began? Some say that the sexual revolution began in the 1960s here in the United States. Others will say that the paradigm shift in America has followed the way of Europe. The reality is that man is simply doing what man does. What I mean by this is that man will do what seems right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25) especially when there is no fear of God in man’s eyes (Romans 3:18). It should come as no surprise to us that this revolution has been raging not just since the 1960s, but since the beginning of mankind.
In Genesis 3, the first man and woman are caught in sin. It was not sexual sin, but nonetheless, it was sin. God had forbidden the man and woman from eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day that they ate of it sin and death was ushered into this world and this sin spread to all (Romans 5:12).
After sin entered into the world, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. They had two sons, Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-8). Cain killed Abel and after the Lord had told him what his punishment was he moved from east of Eden to the land of Nod (Genesis 4:16).
Cain then has relations with his wife and she conceives and gives birth to their son Enoch (4:17).
Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was thef ather of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (Genesis 4:18-22)
Did you see where the sexual revolution began? Free love? It was when Lamech, the son of Methushael took for himself two wives: Adah and Zillah. It was God who said that it was not good that man should be alone so He made him a helper–one who is the perfect complement to him. This he did in the Garden of Eden for Adam when He brought him Eve. This is how it is written:
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:18-22)
The ideal situation is one man, one woman in relationship to each other and with God. Adam saw this created woman after the Lord woke him up and he realized that she was his complement. Now it is obvious to note that there was not another woman there at this time. It was just Adam and Eve. But the institution that God ordained from the very beginning was that the man would leave his father and mother behind and cleave to his wife (singular).
After Cain left Eden and settled in the land of Nod, his descendants filled their lives full of everything under the sun rather than filling their lives with the Lord. Of course this is the case simply because Cain did not lead his life nor his family to follow after the Lord. Rather, they began to fill up their emptiness with things such as music, arts and even sexual sin. This is the case with Lamech, the son of Methushael, who took for himself two wives. This is against the natural order that God has established in Genesis 2.
Throughout the Scriptures you will read other stories of men falling into sexual sins. David with Bathsheba, Solomon with 700 wives and 300 concubines, Samson with Delilah are some examples. In the New Testament you will find that there was a man in the Corinthian church that was proudly committing adultery with his father’s wife, his stepmother.
Moreover, you will find that Paul the apostle addresses these sexual sins and includes homosexuality as sin (read Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The sexual revolution, in other words, has been raging for thousands and thousands of years.
So how do we as Christians address these issues? Let me make a few suggestions. First, we need to approach people with love. Jesus made it clear in John 13:34-35 that if we do not have love for each other and for others that those who are not believers have the prerogative to judge us based on the lack of our love. We cannot win someone who is involved in sexual sin by simply bashing them with Bible verses and our views. Rather, we need to love them enough to speak the truth of the sin and let them know that there is still room for God to forgive them and save them from their sin.
Second, we need to be careful with what we do with these relationships with our family and friends who are involved in sexual sins. Relationships are important to the Lord Jesus. After all, His desire is that we be in relationship to Him and to be in right relationship with others as well. Relationship is everything and if we can bring one to the Lord to be their Savior then we have helped someone to be saved from their utter destruction.
Finally, we need to really consider ourselves. We need to speak the truth in love. Do we really love those who are living in sexual sin? What loving anyone else in any other kind of sin? Sin is sin. All of us have sinned in one way or another. Moreover, we need to realize that when we speak the truth in love it is not being judgmental. Rather, we are simply speaking the truth and we are to do it loving those with whom we come into contact.
The sexual revolution has been around for a long time. The issues we face today are nothing new. There is nothing new under the sun. Let’s bring people hope in our Lord Jesus Christ by letting them know that they can be freed from the bondage of sin–even those who are part of the sexual revolution of today.
D.J. Gorena 