God’s good ways

13th November 2022 

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man,
and he brought her to the man.  
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother 
and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24, NIV

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Where do you think you would find the following statements? 
Sex must be taken seriously.  Men and women are different.  Some desires are bad.  Loveless sex is not empowering.  Consent is not enough.  Violence is not love.  People are not products.  Marriage is good.

They certainly sound like things that the Bible says, yet none of them is a direct quotation from the Bible.  Surprisingly, perhaps, they are the chapter headings of a book called, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution.  What is surprising about this is that the author Louise Perry is not a Christian and describes herself as a liberal feminist. 

But she can see the untold destruction brought by the so-called freedom of the sexual revolution, especially to women, and she documents it clearly and movingly.  She demonstrates how the ‘hook-up’ culture, pornography, prostitution and more are all especially damaging to women.

We can thank God that she should have the insight and courage to write such a book, and that there is evidence that there are others like her who are coming to see.  And we can pray that the book will get the hearing it deserves, and that she and others will come to see not only the damage created by the sexual revolution but also the best way to repair that damage – namely by returning to God and his ways.  And we can thank God for the goodness of his ways, which have been there for us all along.

Lord, help us to trust that your ways are good, including your will for sex and marriage; have mercy on those most hurt by having departed from those ways.  Amen.

Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)