The "Sex Age"

Archaeologists and anthropologists have come up with names such as the "Stone Age" and the "Bronze Age" to label earlier eras of human society by their most distinctive features. Given the prominence of sex in our current society, it would not be a wonder if future anthropologists were to label our culture the "Sex Age."

We are surrounded by sex. Its assault on our senses and our minds is almost inescapable. Images that were once confined to magazines sold in brown paper wrappers to adults only, are now publicly displayed, for all ages to see, in larger-than-life advertisements on billboards and shopping mall walls. Marketers use sex to sell everything from potato chips to radial tires.

This widespread display of sexual imagery damages our culture in more ways than we can count. Women are objectified, and feel pressured to judge their physical beauty by the standards of the airbrushed, digitally and surgically enhanced women they see in the media. Men are harmed, too—trained to see women as mere sources of sexual pleasure, rather than as equals and partners they can love and respect.

Our children also suffer. Marketers have discovered the lucrative KGOY formula—"Kids Growing Older Younger." The sexually revealing and enticing fashions little girls see on television, and are at first taught to want for their dolls, become the styles they demand to wear for themselves as they grow a little older.

God designed sex (cf. Genesis 1:27–28), and He meant it to be a powerful force in the lives of married couples. The sexual union provides not only for the creation of children, but also for the intense emotional bonding He wants husband and wife to experience. The Bible describes the "way of a man with a maiden" as almost too wonderful for words (Proverbs 30:18–19, RSV), and in the context God intended, it truly is. Sex is a wonderful and joyous part of married life, when used as its Creator intended!

But, as my wife's grandfather used to say, God did not design sex to be a spectator sport. In this present age, under Satan's influence (2 Corinthians 4:4), it is no surprise that advertisers want to exploit this powerful force that can move the human mind at its deepest levels. What once stayed in the private confines of the marital bedroom is now commonly found on public display, to adults and children alike, just to increase some business's profits! The consequences have been disastrous for society—and for individual families. Sexually transmitted diseases now run rampant. Children are "sexualized" even before reaching puberty.

God Almighty wants us to find sexual satisfaction in the powerful bonding intimacy between husband and wife. Today, however, many seek sexual satisfaction through "technique" or "experimentation." They search for an "experienced lover" in the bedroom, but never experience true love there. What a shame.

Thankfully, the Bible tells us that a day is coming—called the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21)—when all will be as God intended. Like a beautiful gemstone in a perfectly fashioned setting of gold, sex will take its proper place where its God-designed potential finds its fullest and most powerful expression: in the happy marriage of husband and wife.

But you do not need to wait for the Kingdom of God to experience a happy marriage. Marriage is a gift from God, and you can learn today to make your marriage the gift it was intended to be. You can read more about that in the article "Five Keys to a Successful Marriage" on page 10 of this issue. Write to the address nearest you, listed on page 30 of this issue, to request your free copy of our inspiring booklet, God's Plan for Happy Marriage, or order it online at www.tomorrowsworld.org.