Is God the Authority?

The Bible is written by One professing to be God. This “One” leaves no doubt as to His authority and power, and that He created everything. Here is His declaration and challenge to all sceptics: “I am the Eternal, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me...Thus says the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command you Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded” (Isa. 45:5, 11-12).

This statement is not ambiguous. If we are to accept the Bible, God establishes Himself as the One who has authority to answer life’s BIGGEST QUESTIONS!

In the same passage, God continues to establish Himself as the Author of the Genesis 1 creation account: “For thus says the Eternal that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it...I am the Eternal; and there is none else...who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I the Eternal? And there is no God else beside Me...I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me every knee shall bow...” (Gen 1:18-23).

There is no ambiguity here! These are very strong words. They are either true or false—they cannot be both. You need to know which it is, because all who are unwilling to investigate—to even consider—what God says will one day be required to “bow the knee” before the God they rejected (also Phil. 2:10). Since sex is such a big part of the human experience and existence—and has become the very centrepiece of so many lives today—the God of the Bible would have much to say about its use and purposes, and whether it is for exclusive use in marriage. He does!

It is possible to prove that God exists and that the Bible is His Word—His divinely-inspired Manual for how to live. (You may read our series of books and booklets available to prove that the One who speaks from the pages of the Bible has AUTHORITY—and that the Bible is, in fact, God’s Word. Fulfilled prophecy, referenced above, is only one of the proofs of the Bible’s divine inspiration that our material discusses. Also, we have carefully prepared extensive material proving the folly of evolution and the truth of God’s existence. This literature augments this volume.)

Great Purpose Revealed!

This book is written for those who will consider what Almighty God instructs, not for the unwilling. God reveals that marriage and sex have a marvelous purpose completely beyond the bounds of human imagination. After hearing God’s explanation, you be the judge of whether it makes more sense than that which is offered by evolutionists and traditional Christianity.

Remember, if you will not accept God’s revealed Word, you are left with no choice but to be ignorant of how and when marriage began, and of the purposes of sex. You must accept that marriage is either a human invention on the road of evolution, or the falsehood of religion—that it is for no purpose other than procreation because celibacy is a “higher calling.” These are your only options! With either, the marvellous answers available here, to the great questions of marriage and sex, remain shrouded in mystery.

True Values

The world has been devoid of right values—TRUE values, which would have brought it to enjoy every wonderful and good thing that a loving God could give to His creation. God is a parent. And like human parents with their children, He has wanted His children to enjoy all the good things that He could provide for them.

The problem is that God’s children have ingested false values, having wandered out of the “house” and into the “neighbourhood,” where they absorbed the thinking of different “parents.” For generations, humanity has sought the WRONG GOALS, it has had the wrong purposes in mind. Even though it has reaped a host of wrong results, and pain of every imaginable sort, it has not sought to examine the faulty foundation upon which it stands—WRONG VALUES!

Not long ago, none could have dreamed that so many today would be choosing a variety of “alternative lifestyles,” and that many centuries of basic marriage values and customs would be under attack—challenged, lampooned and ridiculed as hopelessly out-of-date. With many abandoning the once-sacred institution of marriage, and the now near wholesale loss of traditional values, many are left confused, not knowing where to turn for answers.

Why is all of this happening?

The Bible is filled with true doctrines. Each has a well-established counterpart—a substitute—a clever counterfeit—that has been largely accepted by the orthodox Christian world. These include the gospel, the nature of salvation, punishment in the afterlife, which day of the week Christians should keep holy, observance of men’s holidays or God’s Holy Days, and many others of God’s doctrines or teachings. Each requires one to not only learn the truth of what is being studied, but to also unlearn the common, popular errors taught about it.

It is the same with marriage and sex. Recognize that you have been trained—actually conditioned—in wrong knowledge and values. Not only do you need to learn the truth of when and why sex, and its vital, hidden role in marriage, but you have to be prepared to unlearn all of the error that has been pumped into you about them. You must be reconditioned to the truth about this subject. As you would with any other Bible teaching, this means that you must be prepared to wash your mind from all assumptions, error and wrong thinking.

Mr. Armstrong’s book contained explicit drawings and diagrams. So does this one—but only in hardcopy. This is because the online version is publicly posted on our website and is therefore available to those under 18 years of age. In addition, there are more (and very detailed) manuals now available than ever before, reducing the need for such illustrations. The hope is that all parents who read this book in hardcopy will teach from it and give it to their teenagers.

Before Reading

A couple of points to consider before continuing. The reader may be familiar with the fact that I have written a number of books, booklets and brochures that speak with clarity—and God’s authority—to the many different aspects of marriage, sex, the family, childrearing, dating and courtship, and other related topics. If you have not, it is hoped that you will take the time to explore all that we offer. Some are mentioned in context within the book and others are found in a list of related, available literature, located at the back.

Also, there are some few paragraphs that are basically repeated between related publications for help in a different context. These brief overlaps are important to what is being covered. (And it is vital that the reader remember that this volume is a companion to my thorough book Dating and Courtship – God’s Way, and recognize that each is incomplete without the other.)

Before examining what God reveals about the HIDDEN, MISSING DIMENSION in sex and marriage, we must first take a long look at the problems that misunderstanding this vital dimension has brought to the world as a whole. The reader will be much better prepared for the chapters that follow—much more ready to comprehend what has not been known to the vast majority.