Prudes, Fornicators, Adulterers, Homosexuals,and other Perverts & Sexual Deviants

Each of the categories listed in this title, along with others that are not listed, are forms of idolatry.  In each of these is the false presumption that one can be in control of oneself apart from faith in God, that a person can choose the best way for oneself apart from the design that God has declared to be the true way.  In each of these categories a person trusts not God but oneself for the determination of what is the best perspective concerning human sexuality.  In each of these sexuality is not honored as the truly blessed, pure, holy, and wonderful gift that God has given it to be.

From our warped, corrupted, and perverted, sinful nature, we abuse all of God’s gifts to us, including our own bodies and the life that we are meant to enjoy in connection with our bodies.  Is it any worse to treat one’s body and the functions of one’s body, functions designed by God, as something to be despised, or is it worse to use those functions in ways that mock the very design clearly indicated even from a cursory anatomical observation?  Is it worse to steal the proper use of sexuality through being a prude, or is it worse to steal the proper use of sexuality through fornication or adultery, or perhaps through rape or incest?

All of these are perversions of human sexuality.  All of these are deviations from the obvious design that anyone can easily observe.  Moreover, the proper use of our sexuality has been clearly declared by the Creator.

The Creator also clearly states the purpose for His design.

The first aspect of this purpose is not what a person may first presume.  Procreation and reproduction are not included in the first statement regarding being created male and female, as sexual beings.  The first statement is that this is in accord with the image of God in which they would exist together as one.  Unity in God’s communion is the first stated aspect of being created as we are.  The man was created first.  But man was not complete without woman.  So from the man God took flesh and bone and created woman, to be joined in union with the man as one flesh.  In their God ordained union they were complete.  Together they were man, created in the image of God.  They were designed to be a perfect fit with one another, to unite as one and to continue in that union, in the likeness of God’s union with Man in Christ.

Next stated is the aspect of reproduction and filling the earth with children who would likewise live together in the image of God, that is, Christ.  Together Man would live in communion with God and thus with one another.  They would enjoy together the manifold blessings of the cosmos.  They would fill up the earth with people who would rejoice together in the goodness of the family of God.

And thus also is observed the aspect of family in God’s purpose.  God’s loving providence would be manifested in the family structure.  Unity and love would be demonstrated in everything.  Husband and wife would come together in the union of God’s love and design and children would be produced through God’s blessing of their union together.  These children would be nurtured by their parents in God’s love.  They would grow to become parents themselves.  All of mankind would gather on the Sabbath to be refreshed in the Lord’s communion.  They would enjoy all that it means to be the children of God living under His Fatherly care.

Adam’s willingness to accept the devil’s notion of free will overturned this design.  Now Adam and his wife saw their nakedness and were ashamed.  They no longer were covered and clothed with the image of God, but now stood as mere earthlings, creatures of dust and ash.  The glory of God was no longer theirs.  Now they stood corrupted and exposed in their corruption.  The perfect unity into which they had been joined was disrupted.  The holy relationship of God’s communion was perverted by their deviation from His Word and will.

The farther that people transgress from the Word and will of God, the more deviant their views of themselves and of what is good become.  Even the clear anatomical witness becomes muted by the noise of their corrupted thoughts and opinions and imaginations and fears and insecurities.

But the Lord was not willing to leave His beloved children to wander aimlessly to their peril and destruction.  He came calling for them with the plan of redemption and salvation and restoration that He had for them even from eternity.  He gave the promise of the Savior who would be born of the woman.  He brought that Savior into the world through the virgin Mary.  He established His Church on earth for the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments for the ongoing reconciliation of Man to God in Christ.  In this way the image of God is restored, at first still in connection with our corrupted flesh, but in the Resurrection with flesh that has been changed into incorruptible.

At that time the marital union of male and female will no longer be functional, for the marriage of Christ and His Church shall supercede it.  Those who have been incorporated into the body of Christ shall be truly one with one another in Christ and together they all shall rejoice in God’s Holy Communion forevermore.

Then no more corruption of the human nature and perversion of the human will shall exist.  Even the desire for sexual union will become obsolete, as perfect union with God in Christ shall be enjoyed by all the saints.  True fulfillment shall then be realized by all.

For the current time, however, God still has plans for husbands and wives to be joined through marriage in the unity of the one true faith so that all who are to be born in this world to hear the Gospel and be joined into God’s family shall be.  And so we wrestle with our fleshly desires, created holy but corrupted through unbelief and transgression.  Even though mankind greatly abuses these desires and gifts, God still uses them for good.  Those who recognize this seek to use these wonderful gifts of God and to enjoy them in accord with His good and gracious will.  Thus healthy families are produced and new children are brought into the world to rejoice in God’s goodness.  This is true also for those husbands and wives to whom God reserves life without children of their own, as they nevertheless rejoice in their God given union together in their bodies as well as assembling with those who demonstrate the even greater union of the common confession of the one true faith by which all of mankind is reclaimed as God’s family and restored to the unity of His image once again.

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Memorial Day

What is Memorial Day? Is it more than an opportunity for some to escape the mundane activities of their regular weekly work routine?

The intended purpose of the day was to remember the dedication, love, and sacrifice of those who have stood together with their fellow countrymen in defending those precious unalienable rights that are adamantly declared in the Declaration of Independence as belonging to all men on account of being endowed by their Creator. Among those unalienable rights endowed by our Creator the Declaration of Independence specifically lists three: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

With this firm belief the founders of the USA stood against the King of England and His military forces, standing together to defend and protect these Truths and Rights from those who would manipulate governing authority so as to limit or steal away entirely these Truths and Rights from men and their posterity. After the King tried to quell this uprising in the name of Truth and Liberty, after the ensuing war was concluded and the King withdrew and brought his military forces home to England, the freedom proponents set forth to establish a form of government that would keep these “self-evident Truths” and “unalienable Rights” as the very foundation upon which the United States of America would be built and kept standing.

The result of these efforts was the writing and ratification of the Constitution for the United States of America.

The belief in the government that these Articles establish for the sake of protecting and preserving such governance that all men may live and enjoy these blessings of their Creator has held the people of the USA together for many years. This belief has moved many to offer up all that they have, even their very lives, in defense against those they were told would destroy this Constitution and government. In thanks to God for such people and their devotion and sacrifice, in remembrance of these things and the value thereof, Memorial Day has been made a national holiday.

Does it still have the same meaning among us today? Surely many do still observe Memorial Day in this way, insofar as they are able. But does Memorial Day still mean the same to us as it did in years gone by? Can it still mean the same when in the hearts of many Americans the Constitution has been divorced from the Creator by whom the unalienable rights defined in this constitution exist? If the Creator who bestows the rights is denied and ignored and in many cases even defied, how long will the rights that He bestows continue to be honored for all men? How long can a nation stand when the very cause of its unity is denied and ignored and in many cases outright defied?

The change that swept over this nation within the last several generations, the change that is accelerating today beyond comprehension, is this not cause for deep concern and sincere reevaluation? Is the change that is needed really a change in the nation and its governance, or is a change of heart of those being governed the change that is really needed?

What exactly are the people of this nation holding in memorial today? How many even know? How many still believe that it matters?

Memorial Day is a day that calls the people of the nation to look and think beyond themselves and their own personal desires, to consider and remember what is best for all men and where this ultimate good finds its source. Are you able to remember? Are you willing to remember?

To what and whom will you turn this Memorial Day?