When the Lord created Adam and Eve He created the process of sexual intimacy between a man and woman in marriage. After he created the marriage and sexual intimacy, the Lord saw all He created was good. Genesis 2:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Sex was created by God to be enjoyed by man and wife and the Lord called it very good.
We are living in a world where sex is prevalent and is not something people are ashamed to talk openly about.
It wasn’t much more than 70 years ago that sex was something that people did not talk about. Back then, it seemed as though sex was seen only as a means of procreation and should not be used in terms of pleasure and intimacy. I believe the reason for this is because of sin and how the world distorts God’s original intent for sex. When sex is used outside the confines of marriage between man and woman, it is fornication and is a sin against the Lord.
Sexual Intimacy
In a Godly marriage though, sex between a man and a woman is not sin because that is the original intent for sex. The Lord gives us a Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) as His explanation of how sex is to be used in marriage. We see vivid imagery of a husband to his bride in the love that he has for her as well as her desire for him.
This section of Scripture shows how a relationship develops from the beginning of a relationship between a man and woman to their getting engaged, to their being married and one in flesh.
Solomon is the man in the Scripture that delights in his bride and looks at her with loving affection. The bride, who is from Lebanon, also delights in Solomon and desires him above all other men. Solomon and his bride have playful fun, and delightful exchanges of their love together and give us a picture of how God intended marriage to be and how sex was to be enjoyed.
An easy way to understand how sex was intended for pleasure for both parties involved is to think of how much pleasure sex brings the husband and wife. If it were not intended for pleasure, why would the Lord have made it so pleasurable?
If it was not intended for pleasure the Lord would have made it a hard, painful, and arduous act that most would only enter into when they desired to conceive a child. Because the Lord said everything that He created was good, the pleasure of sex in the confines of the marriage is a good thing.
Sex was also created for intimacy in marriage. There is no more intimate act than the act of sexual intimacy between a husband and a wife. Intimacy is an emotional, physical, and spiritual closeness with your spouse. It is a very personal and private act that brings the husband and wife together to become one in flesh.
Without the union of the man and woman in sexual intimacy, the marriage is not complete. Sexual intimacy was created as a byproduct of the marriage of the husband and wife to fulfill many of their needs. Only in marriage, will true intimacy be reached by two people as designed by the Lord.
To fully go through the book of Song of Solomon would be an entirely different blog post because there is so much to learn. To gain more understanding of the pleasure and intimacy sex brings into the marriage, I encourage you to read Song of Solomon to see the entire picture the Lord wanted to give about marriage and sex.
The Apostle Paul helps married couples understand that sexual intimacy is very important in your relationship. Without sexual intimacy in marriage, one or both of the spouses may fall into temptation and sin because of lack of self-control.
“Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
Sexual intercourse is intended for both pleasure and intimacy.
Here is a saying to keep your marriage protected.
“If it has been a week, it has been too long. Even if, my spouse has done something wrong.”