Why did God create sex? Was it only for procreation or did God have other purposes for sex? Does God speak of his specific purposes for sex in the Bible?
There is no single passage of Scripture where God says “I created sex for these purposes…”. God created man in his image to show his attributes and display his glory. God created woman as a helper for man (Genesis 2 & I Corinthians 11). God tells us why he created marriage in Ephesians 5, as a symbol of the relationship between Christ and the Church.
So yes we know why God created us, and why God created marriage. But why did God create sex?
One of God’s purposes for sex was for reproduction
There is no doubt that one of the reasons for God creating sex was as a method for procreation.
In fact it is one of the first commands God gave to the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:”
Genesis 1:27-28(KJV)
When God created Adam and Eve the first command he gave them was to have sex! Go make babies!
God commands that sexual relations between a man and woman are to be only within the institution of marriage
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Hebrews 13:4(KJV)
How God could have handled reproduction in human beings
Up to this point, we have seen that one of the purposes for which God created sex was procreation. We then see that God wanted sex only to occur within marriage. When you put together what we have so far, you can see that God only wants children being produced between and a man and a woman within the confines of marriage.
But God could have created marriage without sex. He could have made man and woman having the same relationship as the Bible defines, with man leading, protecting and providing for his wife as Christ does the Church, without giving him the capability of having sex. He could have still created woman as the helper to man, with her symbolizing the role of the Church in submitting to her husband, as the Church submits to Christ, without designing her to have sex with a man.
All of this could have been done without needing any sexual contact between a man and a woman.
In fact God could have made humans like fish, where the female lays eggs and the male comes by and fertilizes the eggs, and they do this with no physical contact.
Even if God wanted us to have sex just for reproduction, he could have made us like many animals that just go into heat once or twice a year for a short period. During this limited period they have sex for reproductive purposes only and then they are done.
How God made our sexuality tells us a lot about his purposes for sex
In Paul’s letter to the Romans we are told that God reveals his design and purposes for many things by looking at how he created things:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse”Romans 1:18-20(KJV)
The context of this passage from Romans chapter 1 is talking about sexual depravity.
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another”Romans 1:26-27(KJV)
But even though Romans 1 is talking about sexual depravity, it also reveals some other truths. We can see the phrase “the natural use”, referring to human sexuality. The truth we can see about Romans 1 is, God has revealed his purposes for sex by looking at human sexuality from a biological perspective.
So what does our biology tell us about our sexuality?
Let me be clear that as with any other area of Bible study, God’s explicit commands regarding sexuality must be our starting point. But God’s Word does not give us express commands about every area of our sexuality, he has left some things for us to discover by us looking at our own biology.
The first thing that is abundantly clear from the human body, is that one the purposes of certain human body parts is for sexual pleasure. For instance, God could have gave us the same feeling in our erogenous zones(genitals) as we have in our fingers. Instead, he gave us thousands more nerve endings in these special areas that are especially sensitive to touch and can generate great pleasure. Biologically speaking, if our genitals were created only for relieving ourselves and procreation there would be no need for these extra nerve endings. If God only intended sex for procreation, there would be no need for the human orgasm. Yet he built the human body with all these wonderful characteristics.
Next we will explore the distinctive differences in sexuality that God designed in man and woman.
God created men and women with very different sexual natures
Man’s Sexual Nature
A man is created with a polygynous capacity for fathering multiple children with multiple women at the same time. Men are capable of fathering children until the day they die, there is no expiration period on their reproductive capability. So every time a man has sex (baring physical abnormalities or surgeries), he has the capacity for reproduction.
Not only is a man’s body capable of impregnating multiple women at the same time, but his mind is also polygynous in nature, where his brain draws him to a variety of women. After the Roman empire eliminated polygamy in most of the western world, men had to adjust to monogamous marriage, even though they still retained a polygynous nature and polygynous biological capacity. Some men chose not to adjust and kept mistresses besides their wife(as some men still do today).
I realize many women reading this may be shocked at this because of the modern monogamous marriage culture we have been brought up in. I have written many posts on this blog dealing with the subject of polygamy and man’s sexual nature and I encourage you to step outside your cultural conditioning and read them. My most recent post dealing with this subject is “How a Christian woman should handle her man looking at other women”.
The male sexual nature is primarily visually and physically based on his need to release his semen, and it is only secondarily based in his emotions. The typical male is biologically driven to release his semen at least every 72 hours, for some men it might be less. A man’s sexual chemistry is driven by his testosterone, and the typical male has 10 times more testosterone flowing through his body than the typical woman.
Woman’s Sexual Nature
A woman can only be impregnated by one man at a time and she can only carry one man’s child at a time. Unlike a man, a woman’s ability to bare children comes with an expiration date as she ages and reaches menopause. God did miraculously allow exceptions to his design with Sarah and some other women in the Bible, but this is not the norm of his design.
Just as a woman’s sexual reproductive system is built for monogamy (for her to have only one husband), so too her sexual nature and desire is designed to match her body being monogamous in nature. A woman’s sexual drive is primarily driven by her emotions, and only secondarily by her physical need for release.
How God designed our our minds and bodies tells us his intentions for our sexuality
“ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…” – Romans 1:20a
When we do what God tell us to do in Romans chapter 1 and look at how God has designed men and women’s minds and bodies differently we can then see other purposes for which God designed sex.
The fact that most men and even some women are aroused and receive pleasure in their brain from seeing the form of the opposite sex tells us that God gave us sex not only for reproduction, but also for visual pleasure.
“7 “How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.” – Song Of Solomon 7:1 (NASB)
In the Song of Solomon we see how man sees a woman’s body as a work of art.
In Psalm 45 – a prophetic song about Jesus Christ we see how he desires the beauty of his Church:
“So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.” – Psalm 45:11 (KJV)
Our God truly is a marvelous God. There is so much symbolism in the way he has designed us. The fact that men receive pleasure from and desire to see the beauty of women is no accident. It is by the design of God and is a symbol of God’s desire for the beauty of his church.
The fact that men and women both have certain zones of their body that give them great pleasure from touch tells us that God gave us sex not only for reproduction, but also for physical pleasure.
“6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;” – Song of Solomon 7:6-8 (KJV)
The human ability to have an orgasm(present in both men and women) tells us that God gave us sex not only for reproduction, but also as a mental and physical release from the stresses of daily life,
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