Many years ago in England I worked with young people in a coffeehouse ministry. I didn't approach them with any kind of canned talk. I'd simply invite them to talk about what concerned them most. And sex was always at the top of their list.

"Whoever heard of a preacher who believed in sex?" was obviously their attitude. My response was usually very simple: "I'll be very happy to talk to you about sex. It's one of my very favorite subjects, because if it were not for sex I would not be here. If it were not for sex, you would not be here either. Therefore, if it were not for sex, nobody would be here--what a dull meeting that would be!"

When the laughter died down, I would go on: "In fact, the only reason we can have a meeting tonight is because of what?" And they would chorus, "Sex!" Then I would say," Wonderful, you learn very quickly. Therefore, let's have three cheers for sex!- hip, hip, hooray!" and we would all applaud sex.

After this introduction, I would then say: "Now then, the next thing we notice about sex is that God invented it, and He's not a dirty old man. Therefore, if you want to understand sex and its beauty, fullness, and purity, you had better find out what God says about it." At that point you usually could have heard the proverbial pin drop. They were eager to hear what God has to say on the subject then, and I think young people today are just as eager.

To sum up, the second principle of a real marriage is that it incorporates a healthy, biblical grasp of sexuality. We must be willing to reject ideas antithetical to Scripture and be ready to respond to all that God says on the subject. Otherwise, we get into all kinds of trouble.

Marriage Means Commitment

In verse 7 Jesus says, quoting Genesis, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife" (NIV). Why would a man have to leave his father and mother? Because "at the beginning of creation God made them male and female."

I know some men who have it pretty good with their fathers and mothers. They are single and well cared for. Somebody does their laundry. They don't even have to pay room and board. They have life by the tail--and then they throw it all away. What do they do? They decide to leave mother and father, giving up all that security, and get married, picking up all the expense of a wife and home of their own. Why on earth would they do that? Because God, from the very beginning of creation, "created them male and female." A divinely created male felt a response to a divinely created female. If it's right, it is also a divinely created response. For that reason the man chooses to leave the old life, and moves into a whole new situation. But notice the key to this. He chooses to leave.

This relates particularly to the society in which Jesus was living and to which He was addressing His remarks. In those days the male left his family to move to the area in which his wife lived for a very simple reason. If anything should happen to him (if he suffered an untimely death), then her father and brothers would care for her. She had no welfare or insurance. They were her insurance.