Jesus' True Sexual Revolution: Freedom Beyond What Society Offers

Introduction

What does Jesus change about how you live out your sexuality? Many would answer, "I don't want to know." We live in a world deeply shaped by the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and the very idea that someone could tell us how to live our sexuality seems scandalous. Yet 2,000 years earlier, the Christians in Corinth made the same argument: "The body is material, God doesn't care about it, we can do whatever we want with it." The apostle Paul answers them that this is false. Your body matters to God. It is precious to him. What you do with it is of great importance. The true revolution is the one Jesus brings, and it sets you free for a sexuality far more beautiful and healthy than what society offers you.

Sermon Outline

1. Our body matters to God

• We have been redeemed by Jesus (v. 9-11): you have switched teams, like Neymar transferred to PSG, you now play for God and live his way.
• No matter your sexual past, if you have believed in Jesus, you have been washed, declared holy, declared righteous, God sees you clothed in his Son's perfectly clean jersey.
• We will be raised with Jesus (v. 12-14): your body is not a snakeskin to be discarded. God will raise your body just as he raised Jesus' body.
• We are joined to Jesus (v. 15-17): marriage and sexuality are a portrait of the relationship between Christ and his people, a public, permanent, and physical commitment.

2. Let us consecrate our body to God

• Flee sexual immorality (v. 18): the right question is not "how far can I go?" but "how do I flee the danger?" Run far, like a child fleeing a big barking dog.
• Be radical: filter your computer, leave your phone in the basement at night, anticipate risky moments, even if it means taking drastic measures.
• Flee toward Jesus, not just away from sin: loneliness, shame, the sense of lacking, futility, the good news of Jesus answers each of these root causes.
• Glorify God in your body (v. 19-20): seeking a sexuality that pleases God is a form of worship. The sexuality he created for this body is truly the best.

Key Takeaways

• Your body does not belong to you: you were bought at a great price, and this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
• If you have believed in Jesus, you have been washed, sanctified, declared righteous, even if the memories remain in your mind, they no longer cling to your skin before God.
• Sex is not a simple, neutral biological process: God invented it as an image of Jesus' public, permanent, and physical commitment to you.
• Fleeing sexual immorality is a radical calling, not a search for a limit: it is running far from danger and running toward Jesus.
• The true sexual revolution is the one Jesus brings: our culture is both hypersexualized and devalues sex, the authentic version is found in him.

Personal Application

1. When you think about your body, who actually owns it in your daily life: you, other people's opinions, Instagram, or Jesus?
2. Is there an area of your sexual life where you are still looking for "the limit" instead of "fleeing"? What radical decision can you make this week?
3. What is the deep root of your sexual temptations, loneliness, shame, a sense of lack, futility? How does the good news of Jesus answer it?
4. If you are married, are you being proactive about living out a beautiful sexuality in your marriage? Is there something you need to bring to someone you trust?
5. If you are carrying a heavy struggle alone (pornography, same-sex attraction, past wounds), who in the Church will you open up to so you no longer carry it alone?

Verses Cited

• 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 (ESV)
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
• Genesis 2:24 (ESV)
• Psalm 23:1 (ESV)
• Psalm 34:11 (ESV)
• Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Jesus actually change about how I live my sexuality?

Jesus shifts the question. The world tells you, "My body is mine, what I do with it is nobody's business but my own." Jesus tells you, "Your body does not belong to you, you were bought at a great price, and it is the temple of the Holy Spirit." Your body has a past (redeemed by Jesus), a present (joined to Jesus), and a future (raised with Jesus). This doesn't make sexuality shameful, quite the opposite: God has a far more glorious vision of sex than we do. He created it as an image of his relationship with you, a public, permanent, and physical commitment.

What does "fleeing sexual immorality" practically mean today?

Paul doesn't ask where the limit is; he says, "Flee." Practically, this looks like a child who sees a big dog barking and runs to his father. Fleeing means avoiding situations that leave you alone facing temptation (sleeping alone in an apartment with someone you're attracted to), it's downloading a filter for your devices today, putting your phone in the basement at night if necessary, planning other activities during risky moments. But it's not only fleeing away from sin: it's fleeing toward Jesus, because that's where the long-term fight is won.

If I have a heavy sexual past, does God still look at me with disgust?

No. "You were washed, you were declared holy, you were declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." No matter what you did or suffered, if you have believed in Jesus, God does not see you defined by your failures. He sees you clothed in Jesus' perfectly clean jersey. The memories may remain in your mind, but they no longer cling to your skin before him. And if you are in a struggle that doesn't stop, one step forward, one step back: God does not look at you as stained by your failures, he looks at you as righteous as his Son.