Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."...So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:18-25)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27)
"Women, for centuries not having access to pornography and now unable to bear looking at the muck
on the supermarket shelves, are astonished. Women do not believe that men believe what pornography says about women. But they do. From the worst to the best of them, they do."
Andrea Dworkin
Why in the world would I ever stoop so low as to quote a radical feminist? Dworkin had some radical views of men and their predispositions. Sadly, it would seem that the feminist movement around the world has done far more to battle the legalization and distribution of pornography than any church movement. Although I completely disagree with Dworkin on many of her ideas about the male gender, her insight into the destruction of the humanity of women via pornography was spot on. And Dworkin wasn't even arguing that women were created in the image of God.
Andrea Dworkin's statement above is obviously dated, however. Surprisingly, in today's culture, women are consuming pornography along with men at an alarming rate. As I outlined in a previous post (Challenge and Reflection: Inadequate), statistics from 2006 show that for every man that searches for "sex" on the internet, there's a woman searching too. In Dworkin's day, many women were appalled by the growing pornographic industry, but today, women don't seem so alarmed by the growing trend. In fact, they're helping it grow larger and larger, faster and faster.
We live in a day-and-age when Miley Cyrus' recent behavior is not that shocking. What did you expect? is often the rebuttal to the controversy surrounding her recent escapades. Is Miley Cyrus an all too real and too-close-to-home product of our culture's image of women? Although some mothers remain completely stupefied by Cyrus' quick deterioration from innocent Hannah Montana to the newest sex symbol in pop culture, most Americans weren't really shocked by her behavior. It absolutely should be shocking and appalling, but somehow, it isn't.
Sex sells. Pornography is merely a product. Like every product, it is only profitable if there is a demand. I could try to sell access to read my blog, but such an endeavor would be a ludicrous business proposition because there is hardly any demand whatsoever to read my blog, let alone pay to do so. Every second, over $3,000 dollars is spent on pornography. There's an astonishing demand for pornography. A staggering amount of demand. To think that in the time it takes me to write this sentence over nine thousand dollars will be spent purchasing pornography is sickening.
The most sickening part of the demand of pornography is the toll it takes on God's image bearers. Men and women that search for "sex" on the internet are not looking for humanity but animals. They're not hoping to find image bearers of God, but they're hoping to find people shedding their shame, exposing their nakedness, and behaving like creatures of sin. They are searching for objects and not people. They are searching for self-gratification, and their eyes are blind to the invisible attributes of God that are clearly perceived in the things God has created (Rom. 1:20). They reject the image of God, and replace it with an image of their own desires, their own sexual infatuations, and the effect is debilitating to them and to the society they compose.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Romans 1:24-32)
Sadly, this is a problem in the church, too. Christian men, publicly professing faith, actively participating as members and even leaders in the church, are searching for images of women that have, "exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature" online. Christian women are searching for "men committing shameless acts with men" online. Man was created in the image of God, male and female. Look what we have done to the image of God. We worship it rather than God. And the result is tragic: God gives us up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Beauty is defiled by sin. Pornography has usurped the definition of "beautiful" and replaced it with the notion that completely exposed, idolatrously sculpted bodies are the epitome of beauty. Women scantily clad and men exposing their bare chests is considered the epitome of beauty to a growing number of Americans. The words "beautiful" and "sexy" are now used interchangeably, as if they were synonymous. The less a person wears or the more revealing their clothes, the more beautiful they become. The most beautiful dresses on the red carpet are the most revealing, figure hugging, and lowest cut ones. Nobody cares about the men dressed in their tuxedos that leave a lot to the imagination, rather, the attention is on the "beauty" and brazenness of the women who try to get away with wearing as little as possible.
Ironically, Adam and Eve didn't feel very beautiful when they discovered that they were naked. They didn't look at each other and think, Wow! What a beautiful body God has created for me! It wasn't art to them. They immediately tried to cover up because the realization of their nakedness was a result of their sin. Why did they feel ashamed of their nakedness? Why did they feel like they had to cover themselves up with leaves?
Throughout Scripture, complete exposure and nakedness is always a mark of great shame and embarrassment. Ezekiel 16 describes Jerusalem's sin against God, and God's people are likened to a young girl that was rescued from destruction by a loving husband and returned the favor by prostituting her body to every stranger that came around.
"When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine."
(Ezekiel 16:8)
"And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his."
(Ezekiel 16:14-15)
"Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords."
(Ezekiel 16:35-40)
Male and female bodies are beautiful, there is no doubt about that. But what makes them beautiful? Notice how God's bride's beauty is world renowned because it was perfect through the splendor that He had bestowed on her? The beauty of our bodies is a gift from God. God created us in His image, and therefore, He created us with beautiful bodies to reflect His invisible attributes. They are beautiful, therefore, as long as they conform to the image of Him that created them. As soon as we use the beauty that God has created in our bodies to sin against him, lavish our whorings on any passerby, and give our beauty to whoever wants it, it loses its splendor and grandeur. What was God's judgment against Jerusalem for doing so? Basically, God told them that if they wanted to expose themselves to anyone and everyone, then He would help them by stripping them and leaving them naked and bare, awaiting judgment. In Romans 1, Paul explains a similar punishment for those that worship the image bearer of God by explaining that God gives them what they want: He gives them up to dishonorable passions (Rom. 1:26).
Brothers and sisters, God has created us in His image and He has bestowed us with beautiful bodies. God created men so that they would be attractive to women, and God created women so that they would be attractive to men. There is no doubt that the male and female bodies compliment each other in a way that the divine nature of God is easily perceived. Our bodies are gifts from God, and the beauty and splendor of our bodies only remain as long as we remain wrapped in the corner of God's garment. We grow exceedingly beautiful the more and more we cloth ourselves with God's good gifts (Ez. 16:13). Notice in Ezekiel 16 how the word "beautiful" and "beauty" are used to describe Jerusalem until she uncovers her nakedness? She uses God's beautiful gifts to prostitute herself to other nations, turn to other gods, and commit spiritually adultery. That is not beautiful. That is shameful.
Men, remember this the next time you are tempted to or find yourself in the midst of viewing pornography online or in a movie. Remember the woman on the other side and how she has volunteered or has been forced to remove the beauty God has given her as an image bearer, and has used that beauty to prostitute herself to other men and women in the video, to you, and to anyone else who falls upon her video online. Remember that she is using God's gift to her, and rather than using it in a way that glorifies God, she has decided to use it in a way that strips it of glory, that defaces it as the image of God, and worships it in an animalistic manner. How can you, a professing Christian, find any pleasure or arousal in that?
You do not find pornography arousing because you have a biblical appreciation of sexuality and women. Continue to worship the images of women being stripped of the image of God, given up to their dishonorable passions, treated as animals, property, objects, all for your twisted pleasure and you will be given a debased mind to do that which ought not be done (Rom. 1:28). It is not the road to sanctification, but rather, it is the road to destruction. It does not lead to righteousness, but rather leads to all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. You will find yourself full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness. You will not view the women in your life or the women that surround you as image bearers of God whose nakedness should be covered up to protect their beauty. Rather, you will only desire to see their nakedness uncovered so that their beauty might be yours for the taking. You will see women all around you, and your thoughts will be full of envy, murder, strife, and maliciousness towards them. You will become a gossip, a slanderer, a hater of God. You will be insolent, haughty, boastful, and an inventor of evil. Your life will be marked by disobedience to your parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness.
In essence, you will become a product of the pornography that you worship. You worship immoral, depraved, evil, unrighteous, malicious behavior, and God will give you over to your heart's desire. In the instance of Jerusalem, she wanted to prostitute herself with the beauty that God gave her, and God gave her what she wanted by stripping bare, exposing her for every eye to see, and pronouncing the sentence of death upon her. You become what you worship. If you want to worship and privately applaud the depravity and utter abandonment of reverence for the image of God created in men and women, then you will begin to think like the idols you worship.
Those who make them (idols) become like them, so do all who trust in them.
(Psalms 135:18)
Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Romans 1:32)
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Romans 1:24-32)
Sadly, this is a problem in the church, too. Christian men, publicly professing faith, actively participating as members and even leaders in the church, are searching for images of women that have, "exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature" online. Christian women are searching for "men committing shameless acts with men" online. Man was created in the image of God, male and female. Look what we have done to the image of God. We worship it rather than God. And the result is tragic: God gives us up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Beauty is defiled by sin. Pornography has usurped the definition of "beautiful" and replaced it with the notion that completely exposed, idolatrously sculpted bodies are the epitome of beauty. Women scantily clad and men exposing their bare chests is considered the epitome of beauty to a growing number of Americans. The words "beautiful" and "sexy" are now used interchangeably, as if they were synonymous. The less a person wears or the more revealing their clothes, the more beautiful they become. The most beautiful dresses on the red carpet are the most revealing, figure hugging, and lowest cut ones. Nobody cares about the men dressed in their tuxedos that leave a lot to the imagination, rather, the attention is on the "beauty" and brazenness of the women who try to get away with wearing as little as possible.
Ironically, Adam and Eve didn't feel very beautiful when they discovered that they were naked. They didn't look at each other and think, Wow! What a beautiful body God has created for me! It wasn't art to them. They immediately tried to cover up because the realization of their nakedness was a result of their sin. Why did they feel ashamed of their nakedness? Why did they feel like they had to cover themselves up with leaves?
Throughout Scripture, complete exposure and nakedness is always a mark of great shame and embarrassment. Ezekiel 16 describes Jerusalem's sin against God, and God's people are likened to a young girl that was rescued from destruction by a loving husband and returned the favor by prostituting her body to every stranger that came around.
"When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine."
(Ezekiel 16:8)
"And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his."
(Ezekiel 16:14-15)
"Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber and break down your lofty places. They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords."
(Ezekiel 16:35-40)
Male and female bodies are beautiful, there is no doubt about that. But what makes them beautiful? Notice how God's bride's beauty is world renowned because it was perfect through the splendor that He had bestowed on her? The beauty of our bodies is a gift from God. God created us in His image, and therefore, He created us with beautiful bodies to reflect His invisible attributes. They are beautiful, therefore, as long as they conform to the image of Him that created them. As soon as we use the beauty that God has created in our bodies to sin against him, lavish our whorings on any passerby, and give our beauty to whoever wants it, it loses its splendor and grandeur. What was God's judgment against Jerusalem for doing so? Basically, God told them that if they wanted to expose themselves to anyone and everyone, then He would help them by stripping them and leaving them naked and bare, awaiting judgment. In Romans 1, Paul explains a similar punishment for those that worship the image bearer of God by explaining that God gives them what they want: He gives them up to dishonorable passions (Rom. 1:26).
Brothers and sisters, God has created us in His image and He has bestowed us with beautiful bodies. God created men so that they would be attractive to women, and God created women so that they would be attractive to men. There is no doubt that the male and female bodies compliment each other in a way that the divine nature of God is easily perceived. Our bodies are gifts from God, and the beauty and splendor of our bodies only remain as long as we remain wrapped in the corner of God's garment. We grow exceedingly beautiful the more and more we cloth ourselves with God's good gifts (Ez. 16:13). Notice in Ezekiel 16 how the word "beautiful" and "beauty" are used to describe Jerusalem until she uncovers her nakedness? She uses God's beautiful gifts to prostitute herself to other nations, turn to other gods, and commit spiritually adultery. That is not beautiful. That is shameful.
Men, remember this the next time you are tempted to or find yourself in the midst of viewing pornography online or in a movie. Remember the woman on the other side and how she has volunteered or has been forced to remove the beauty God has given her as an image bearer, and has used that beauty to prostitute herself to other men and women in the video, to you, and to anyone else who falls upon her video online. Remember that she is using God's gift to her, and rather than using it in a way that glorifies God, she has decided to use it in a way that strips it of glory, that defaces it as the image of God, and worships it in an animalistic manner. How can you, a professing Christian, find any pleasure or arousal in that?
You do not find pornography arousing because you have a biblical appreciation of sexuality and women. Continue to worship the images of women being stripped of the image of God, given up to their dishonorable passions, treated as animals, property, objects, all for your twisted pleasure and you will be given a debased mind to do that which ought not be done (Rom. 1:28). It is not the road to sanctification, but rather, it is the road to destruction. It does not lead to righteousness, but rather leads to all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. You will find yourself full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness. You will not view the women in your life or the women that surround you as image bearers of God whose nakedness should be covered up to protect their beauty. Rather, you will only desire to see their nakedness uncovered so that their beauty might be yours for the taking. You will see women all around you, and your thoughts will be full of envy, murder, strife, and maliciousness towards them. You will become a gossip, a slanderer, a hater of God. You will be insolent, haughty, boastful, and an inventor of evil. Your life will be marked by disobedience to your parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness.
In essence, you will become a product of the pornography that you worship. You worship immoral, depraved, evil, unrighteous, malicious behavior, and God will give you over to your heart's desire. In the instance of Jerusalem, she wanted to prostitute herself with the beauty that God gave her, and God gave her what she wanted by stripping bare, exposing her for every eye to see, and pronouncing the sentence of death upon her. You become what you worship. If you want to worship and privately applaud the depravity and utter abandonment of reverence for the image of God created in men and women, then you will begin to think like the idols you worship.
Those who make them (idols) become like them, so do all who trust in them.
(Psalms 135:18)
Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
(Romans 1:32)
Does Romans 1:32 describe you? Even though you know God's righteous decree against pornography, prostitution, rape, licentiousness, sexual immorality, and immodesty, that those who practice such things deserve to die, do you not only approve of them but also practice them? Are you supporting the pornographic industry in their efforts to strip men and women of the image of God? Are you increasing the revenues of an industry that worships image bearers rather than the God that created men and women in His image? Are you fighting against the growing trend to label women as "beautiful" when they expose more and more of their nakedness to any passerby? Are you combating the deimagization of women in our society, stripping them of the image of God and replacing God's image with a man-made image? Are you fighting against the practice of women "[exchanging] natural relations for those that are contrary to nature" or are you actually searching for lesbian images because you want to practice with them?
Remember, brothers, the women on the other side of your computer screen are image bearers of God. Their beautiful bodies were given to them as a gift from God. Their fathers are supposed to cover their bodies, and protect their bodies from exposure. Their bodies are supposed to be saved as a beautiful wedding gift to their husband. They are supposed to glorify God with their bodies, but they have decided to expose their nakedness to any passerby. It is not beautiful. It is shameful. They have taken something beautiful, sacred, and full of splendor, and have made it ugly, sacrilegious, and despicably common. You know that what they are doing deserves God's just judgment, but you do not only approve of their prostitution but you join in it with them. They need your prayers, not the lewd desires of your flesh. They need God's grace, not you self-entitlement and need for instant sexual gratification. You are not watching an animal. You are watching a woman that God created. You are watching woman: bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh! You are watching somebody's daughter. You are watching somebody's sister. You might be watching somebody's mother. You are watching a woman created in the image of God! Will you be like Ham, the father of Canaan, and find pleasure in her nakedness, or will you be like Shem, the father of Israel, and cover up her nakedness?
Women, despite the proliferation of the lies of Satan, you must trust in the Word of God. God created you as His image bearers along with men. God created you with beautiful bodies that men are supposed to find beautiful and attractive. But your bodies are a gift from God, and they are beautiful as long as they are covered in holiness and purity. God has given you a beautiful gift to be shared with your husband and with him alone. Don't take the beauty God has lavished upon you and give it to any passerby. Don't use the beauty God has given you to glorify Him and use it to prostitute yourself to others. No man, except for your husband, has any right to see your nakedness. Your nakedness is beautiful as long as it is covered up, left pure and undefiled for your husband. As soon as you expose yourself, prostitute yourself, and share your beauty with everyone that asks for it, it is defiled and no longer beautiful.
You are image bearers of God and don't you ever forget that. Our culture will tell you many lies to try to strip you of this honor, but don't believe them. True beauty is conformity and obedience to the will of God. The most beautiful woman in the Bible is the bride of Christ, the church. Listen to how Paul describes the splendor of the church:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(Ephesians 5:25-27)
Flawless beauty is accomplished by the sanctifying work of Jesus Christ. The most beautiful woman in the world, both physically and spiritually, is the one that is cleansed by the washing of water with the word. Women, seek to be conformed to the image of Christ, wherein true beauty resides, rather than be conformed to the image of fallen men's desires, wherein true ugliness resides.
Our culture will tell you that the less you wear the more beautiful you are. You are beautiful naked, but only your husband should know and admire that. Your body is a precious jewel, and the real beauty of it is that it's exposure is very rare. Require that men and women that see you recognize you as an image bearer of God, and even more, one that is being conformed into the image of Christ. The world that surrounds you will call you a prude, unfashionable, plain, and unnecessarily chaste. Don't expect the world to admire beauty defined by God. Rather, know that the Lord delights in your beauty, your chastity, your purity, and your devotion to Him and to the man that you will perhaps marry some day.
Sisters in Christ, God has given you a gift, protect it. God has created you in His image, don't debase it. Adorn yourself in Christ's righteousness, and be admired and respected as the beautiful woman that you are. Don't hand your body out like a cheap party favor for anybody's wanton eyes to devour. Clothe it, keep it sacred, adorn it, and prepare it for your husband. Demand that people treat you like an image bearer of God by acting like one. Female goddesses and the idols that portray them are always nude, but the bride of God is adorned in holiness (Rev. 21). The world loves the image of an exposed female body, but God's bride is always clothed in a radiant outfight without spot or wrinkle.
Let the clothes you wear reflect the holiness that God desires to adorn His bride in. Would Jesus let His bride wear this outfit? If not, then find something else to wear.
If you want to be treated with respect, if you want men to stop looking at you as an object, if you want to be honored as an image bearer of God, then you have to act like one. More and more women are searching for pornography, and I do not believe for a minute that their fascination is similar to men's. I have a suspicion that more and more women are looking at pornography in order to know how to better please men. Our culture tells women that pornography is the standard for their sexual behavior, and if they don't act like the girls in the videos then they cannot please a man. Teen girls are looking for ways to please their boyfriends. Married women are looking for ways to please their husbands. Women, pornography is never a demonstration of human sexuality but, rather, animal behavior. In fact, as Romans 1 tell us, not even the animals behave in this manner. It is completely debased and unnatural. Don't look at pornography as the standard. It is the lie that has proliferated into becoming the false standard that grows exponentially upon itself.
Pornography is a great lie of the devil. It is false intimacy. It is false beauty. It is false love. It is false humanity. It is idolatry. It is an exchange of the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and animals. It is taking the beauty and intimacy of a husband and a wife, both image bearers of our holy God, and exchanging that image with that of a dominant male animal having his way with a submissive female stranger, acting in a debased manner that doesn't even resemble the natural beauty of God's creation being fruitful and multiplying. There is nothing godly about pornography. It is a complete rejection of everything that God has commanded regarding intimacy between men and women. It is idolatry. And as Paul tells us in Romans 1, if you want to approve of it and practice in it, then you will become what you worship. You will be a woman with no self-respect, who wears revealing clothing to get the wrong kind of attention from men, using your beautiful body to debase the image of God that you bear, to debase the beauty of Christ's unexposed church, and to embrace fleeting vanity rather than the everlasting beauty that comes from fearing the Lord. You will be a man who always desires the exposure of female image bearers of God, stripping them of God's image, replacing it with your own, desiring to ruthlessly have your way with them, use them for your own pleasure and gratification, discard them as mere objects for your pleasure, and resist any sort of honor or respect for them. It is inevitable.
Therefore, just remember: The woman on the other side of the screen is an image bearer of God. Treat her accordingly. Seek to cover her nakedness rather than expose it. Pray for her and her salvation rather than find pleasure in her destruction. Stop looking at pornography, but rather, seek to clothe the millions of unclothed women around the world that are being stripped of the image of God by participating in pornography. Women, stop exposing your beauty to any passerby, and start clothing yourself and clothing other women in the beauty of chaste obedience to God. Set the example for what it right rather than following the example that is wrong.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'"
(Matthew 25:34-43)
Remember, brothers, the women on the other side of your computer screen are image bearers of God. Their beautiful bodies were given to them as a gift from God. Their fathers are supposed to cover their bodies, and protect their bodies from exposure. Their bodies are supposed to be saved as a beautiful wedding gift to their husband. They are supposed to glorify God with their bodies, but they have decided to expose their nakedness to any passerby. It is not beautiful. It is shameful. They have taken something beautiful, sacred, and full of splendor, and have made it ugly, sacrilegious, and despicably common. You know that what they are doing deserves God's just judgment, but you do not only approve of their prostitution but you join in it with them. They need your prayers, not the lewd desires of your flesh. They need God's grace, not you self-entitlement and need for instant sexual gratification. You are not watching an animal. You are watching a woman that God created. You are watching woman: bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh! You are watching somebody's daughter. You are watching somebody's sister. You might be watching somebody's mother. You are watching a woman created in the image of God! Will you be like Ham, the father of Canaan, and find pleasure in her nakedness, or will you be like Shem, the father of Israel, and cover up her nakedness?
Women, despite the proliferation of the lies of Satan, you must trust in the Word of God. God created you as His image bearers along with men. God created you with beautiful bodies that men are supposed to find beautiful and attractive. But your bodies are a gift from God, and they are beautiful as long as they are covered in holiness and purity. God has given you a beautiful gift to be shared with your husband and with him alone. Don't take the beauty God has lavished upon you and give it to any passerby. Don't use the beauty God has given you to glorify Him and use it to prostitute yourself to others. No man, except for your husband, has any right to see your nakedness. Your nakedness is beautiful as long as it is covered up, left pure and undefiled for your husband. As soon as you expose yourself, prostitute yourself, and share your beauty with everyone that asks for it, it is defiled and no longer beautiful.
You are image bearers of God and don't you ever forget that. Our culture will tell you many lies to try to strip you of this honor, but don't believe them. True beauty is conformity and obedience to the will of God. The most beautiful woman in the Bible is the bride of Christ, the church. Listen to how Paul describes the splendor of the church:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
(Ephesians 5:25-27)
Flawless beauty is accomplished by the sanctifying work of Jesus Christ. The most beautiful woman in the world, both physically and spiritually, is the one that is cleansed by the washing of water with the word. Women, seek to be conformed to the image of Christ, wherein true beauty resides, rather than be conformed to the image of fallen men's desires, wherein true ugliness resides.
Our culture will tell you that the less you wear the more beautiful you are. You are beautiful naked, but only your husband should know and admire that. Your body is a precious jewel, and the real beauty of it is that it's exposure is very rare. Require that men and women that see you recognize you as an image bearer of God, and even more, one that is being conformed into the image of Christ. The world that surrounds you will call you a prude, unfashionable, plain, and unnecessarily chaste. Don't expect the world to admire beauty defined by God. Rather, know that the Lord delights in your beauty, your chastity, your purity, and your devotion to Him and to the man that you will perhaps marry some day.
Sisters in Christ, God has given you a gift, protect it. God has created you in His image, don't debase it. Adorn yourself in Christ's righteousness, and be admired and respected as the beautiful woman that you are. Don't hand your body out like a cheap party favor for anybody's wanton eyes to devour. Clothe it, keep it sacred, adorn it, and prepare it for your husband. Demand that people treat you like an image bearer of God by acting like one. Female goddesses and the idols that portray them are always nude, but the bride of God is adorned in holiness (Rev. 21). The world loves the image of an exposed female body, but God's bride is always clothed in a radiant outfight without spot or wrinkle.
Let the clothes you wear reflect the holiness that God desires to adorn His bride in. Would Jesus let His bride wear this outfit? If not, then find something else to wear.
If you want to be treated with respect, if you want men to stop looking at you as an object, if you want to be honored as an image bearer of God, then you have to act like one. More and more women are searching for pornography, and I do not believe for a minute that their fascination is similar to men's. I have a suspicion that more and more women are looking at pornography in order to know how to better please men. Our culture tells women that pornography is the standard for their sexual behavior, and if they don't act like the girls in the videos then they cannot please a man. Teen girls are looking for ways to please their boyfriends. Married women are looking for ways to please their husbands. Women, pornography is never a demonstration of human sexuality but, rather, animal behavior. In fact, as Romans 1 tell us, not even the animals behave in this manner. It is completely debased and unnatural. Don't look at pornography as the standard. It is the lie that has proliferated into becoming the false standard that grows exponentially upon itself.
Pornography is a great lie of the devil. It is false intimacy. It is false beauty. It is false love. It is false humanity. It is idolatry. It is an exchange of the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and animals. It is taking the beauty and intimacy of a husband and a wife, both image bearers of our holy God, and exchanging that image with that of a dominant male animal having his way with a submissive female stranger, acting in a debased manner that doesn't even resemble the natural beauty of God's creation being fruitful and multiplying. There is nothing godly about pornography. It is a complete rejection of everything that God has commanded regarding intimacy between men and women. It is idolatry. And as Paul tells us in Romans 1, if you want to approve of it and practice in it, then you will become what you worship. You will be a woman with no self-respect, who wears revealing clothing to get the wrong kind of attention from men, using your beautiful body to debase the image of God that you bear, to debase the beauty of Christ's unexposed church, and to embrace fleeting vanity rather than the everlasting beauty that comes from fearing the Lord. You will be a man who always desires the exposure of female image bearers of God, stripping them of God's image, replacing it with your own, desiring to ruthlessly have your way with them, use them for your own pleasure and gratification, discard them as mere objects for your pleasure, and resist any sort of honor or respect for them. It is inevitable.
Therefore, just remember: The woman on the other side of the screen is an image bearer of God. Treat her accordingly. Seek to cover her nakedness rather than expose it. Pray for her and her salvation rather than find pleasure in her destruction. Stop looking at pornography, but rather, seek to clothe the millions of unclothed women around the world that are being stripped of the image of God by participating in pornography. Women, stop exposing your beauty to any passerby, and start clothing yourself and clothing other women in the beauty of chaste obedience to God. Set the example for what it right rather than following the example that is wrong.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'"
(Matthew 25:34-43)
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