WHAT SEX IS
The book of genesis is the logical starting point for our quest into the Biblical view of sex. The first statement relating to human sexuality is found in (Genesis 1:27) “so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them” it is noteworthy that while after every previous act of creation, scripture says “it was good” (Genesis 1:12, 18, 21, 25), after the creation of mankind as male and female, it says that God saw that “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31) this initial divine appraisal of human sexuality as “very good” shows that scripture sees the goodness and perfection of God's original creation.
Let's explore some Bible points of what sex is.
Becoming “One flesh”: The oneness of intimate fellowship between a man and a woman is expressed in (Genesis 2:24) by the phrase “one flesh”. Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh. The phrase becoming one flesh sheds considerable light on God's estimate of sex within a marital relationship. “One flesh” is the total union of body, soul, and spirit between marital partners and this can be experienced especially through sexual intercourse. God sees sex as a means through which a husband and wife can achieve a new unity.
Sex as “knowing”: Sexual relations within marriage enable a couple to come to know each other in a way which cannot be experienced in any other way. To participate in sexual intercourse means not only to uncover one's body but also one's inner being to another. This is why scripture often describes sexual intercourse as “knowing” the same verb used in Hebrews to refer to knowing God. (Genesis 4:1) says “and Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived” obviously Adam had come to know Eve before sexual intercourse, but through the latter he Came to know her more intimately than ever before. The nakedness and physical coupling is symbolic of the fact that nothing is hidden or withheld between them.
Sex as “pleasure”: A revolution has taken place in Christian thinking about sex within the last hundred years. Until the beginning of our century, Christians generally believed that the only function of sex was procreative, th