1. God’s Design
Our Distortions

2. “President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.”

3. God’s Design
Our Distortions

4. Computer CD Drive

5. Or coffee cup holder?

6. God’s Design
Our Distortions

7. Matthew 19:3
And Pharisees came up to [Jesus] and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

8. Matthew 19:3
And Pharisees came up to [Jesus] and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
tested Jesus

9. Matthew 19:3
And Pharisees came up to [Jesus] and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
Is it lawful…?

10. Matthew 19:4-6
He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

11. Matthew 19:4-6
He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Have you not read?

12. he who created them from the beginning made them male and female
Matthew 19:4-6
He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
he who created them from the beginning made them male and female

13. and the two shall become one flesh
Matthew 19:4-6
He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
and the two shall become one flesh

14. Matthew 19:7-9
They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

15. Matthew 19:10-12
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

16. Better Not to Marry?
“The disciples had an anthropocentric [man-centered] outlook. They felt that their designs for their own ‘well-being’ had to be better than their Creator’s design just communicated to them by the Messiah himself.”
Heth & Wenham

17. “Not everyone can receive this saying”
Matthew 19:10-12
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
“Not everyone can receive this saying”

18. “Not everyone can receive this saying”
Refers to :
Jesus’ words about the permanence of marriage (v.9)
Matthew 19:10-12
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
“Not everyone can receive this saying”

19. “Not everyone can receive this saying”
Refers to :
The disciples’ words about refusing marriage
Matthew 19:10-12
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
“Not everyone can receive this saying”

20. Matthew 19:10-12
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
“There are eunuchs . . .

21. Conclusions:
Sex is neither a human right nor a requirement for human flourishing (except in marriage)

22. Conclusions:
It is a joy to forfeit even the best of God's gifts for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom

23. Conclusions:
Celibacy is the only alternative to sexual expression in marriage (one man [male] and one woman [female] joined as one flesh in the marriage covenant)

24. Conclusions:
Loving Jesus involves finding, following, and flourishing under God's design in every aspect of life.

25. God’s Design
Our Distortions