Sex within the context of marriage is pointing to a greater reality in heaven. Knowing and being known. Intimacy. We long for it but we are also a bit afraid of it because we know, this side of heaven, we may be hurt. This is a primary reason many indulge in pornography. Pornography provides sexual pleasure without the dangers of rejection.

Did you know that there are approximately 300 new pornographic websites launched a day? Were you aware that there are over 30,000 people viewing internet pornography a second? These statistics are staggering. And they are not going down anytime soon.

Why are we so driven sexually? Some would argue that it is just the biological/evolutionary impulse to maintain the human race. But Scripture argues differently. Scripture describes sex as a way of knowing another human being. Beneath the surface of a torrid industry is a God-given desire for intimacy run afoul.

The Hebrew word yada is the word often used to talk about a man and a woman having sex. The Hebrew word yada means to know. Older translations of the Bible actually translate the text in this manner. For instance, the King James Bible translates Genesis 4:1 this way;  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain. This tells us that sexual union is a significant aspect where we can experience intimacy with another person. It is a deep knowing of another and being known by another.

That is a very strong reason the Bible places sex within the context of marriage. This is where an understanding of the nature of heaven is so critical. At least two passages are essential for this task: Revelation 21:1-5; 21:22-22:5.

From these passages, a number of things can be said about the nature of heaven. We could spend quite a while elaborating on each, but I will only focus on one.

•    Heaven is a place that is utterly centered on the Triune God.

Now, we are ready to see the thing that supersedes sex. While there is comfort for past miseries there is so much more. It is a place where we enjoy the fullness of life. We are welcomed into the very presence of the Triune God, who is the fountain of love. This is heaven. Complete and unbridled intimacy with God and with one another. This is ultimately what we want. Jonathan Edwards writes this about the nature of heaven,

God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love.

There, even in heaven, dwells the God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is, or ever was, proceeds. There dwells God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear, and incomprehensible, and mutual and eternal love. And there this glorious fountain forever flows forth in streams, yea, in rivers of love and delight, and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged with love.
(Charity and Its Fruits, Jonathan Edwards, The Banner of Truth Trust, pp. 327-328.)

Therefore, marriage and sex are good gifts that ultimately function as signposts to something greater. Covenantal union between husband and wife becomes a metaphor for covenantal union between the believer and God (2 Corinthians 11:1-2 and Ephesians 5:32).

Sex within the context of marriage is pointing to a greater reality in heaven. Knowing and being known. Intimacy. We long for it but we are also a bit afraid of it because we know, this side of heaven, we may be hurt. This is a primary reason many indulge in pornography. Pornography provides sexual pleasure without the dangers of rejection.

A way of combating any struggle with a misuse of sex can be found in a deep understanding of the nature of heaven and what God has in store for those who would be joined in relationship with Him.

Tim Lane is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and lives in the Philadelphia, Penn., area. This article appeared on his blog and is used with permission.