Find your humanity part 4: Marriage and singleness

• A Great Adventure, a journey of discovery

• A desperate search for something that has been lost

• A delightful gift

Romans 5:15,18,19,23

Find your humanity...

Not 'male' or 'female'

our language of God is analogy. This means we need a rich language with both masculine and feminine metaphors for God.

At its best, lets us focus on God

sexuality

Matthew 19:12

So God created humanity in his image, in the image of God he created them,

Male

and

Female

Luke 24:32-36

Marriage in THIS life is a temporary state

Genesis 2.

he created them.

complementarity

singleness

and

marriage

Male: leadership (head)

S I N

Female: partnership,

completer (heart)

1 Corinthians 7:8,17,26-31,35

Leadership becomes domination

Community

Completion becomes control

Contentment:

only God can fully complete us and give us perfect intimacy

God's agape love brings

Christ's true leadership is self-giving sacrifice

restoration

Ephesians 5:21-33

Ephesians 5:21-33

This enables mutual submission -

self-giving for the sake of the other

through Jesus

John 8:1-11

Luke 10:38-42

John 4

Luke 7:36-50

At its best, reflects the union of Christ with the church

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

ion

Galatians 3:26-28

Intimacy

"into-me-see"

In our desperate search for intimacy,

we often do things that are

1 Corinthians 10:18-27

We take 'good things' and make them 'God things'

and that's a 'bad thing' (idolatry)

"It is NOT GOOD for the man to be alone."

Genesis 2:18

'You are all SONS of God through faith in Christ...

There is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ...

you are HEIRS according to the promise.'

IMAGE

Revelation 21:1-2

God said,

Let us make

humanity

in our

Revelation 21:3-5

Ephesians 5:25-27

Before the beginning...

The wedding party at the end of the universe

Father

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Matthew 22:1-12

The eternal community

of the Trinity

"Let US

make humanity

in

OUR image"

Holy

Spirit

So God created

humanity in his image,

in the image of God

he created them,

Male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

'My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?'

Matthew 27:45-46

Son

We are created for community

Find your humanity: only in community

The Story of the Bible:

God makes a people

Broken Community

Hebrews 12:2

Romans 10:11

• shame

Genesis 3

• fear

1 John 4:18

• blame

Romans 8:33-34

A sermon series for

Sunday Night at St John's