C.S. Lewis said that we are far too easily pleased, “like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
This is certainly true in the area of sexual fulfillment. Too often we seek satisfaction in ways that fall far short of the pleasures and joys that come with God’s design for physical intimacy.
- The Mystery: In Ephesians 5:31-33 the scriptures tell us that marital intimacy is a mysterious picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church. When we give ourselves to one another in marriage we reflect the Gospel in ways we can’t comprehend but sense in our most fulfilling moments.
- The Design: Each of us has a complete respiratory system, a digestive system and nervous system. But our bodies only consist of one-half of a reproductive system. That’s because God made us male and female as complimentary parts of the image of God. It is no accident that the first command given those God made “in the image of God…male and female” was to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28) Our bodies have a wonderful design stamped into us at creation that can only be fully experienced through the mystery of marriage.
- The Act: We yearn for a mate because we are designed for intimate communion with the opposite sex. It is also no surprise that the only thing God called “not good” after creation was a man without a woman. That is because we are made in the image of the Trinity, a loving communion of persons who gives most of us the amazing privilege of participating in the process of creating more in His image!
