Beautiful Biblical Sexuality:

When we think about sexuality, most of us, without conscious thought, turn our minds to “having sex.” Male and female fantasies about sex revolve around sexual attraction, in most instances, to persons of the opposite sex. Our minds, unreined, wander into thinking about that person’s body and what it would be like to be with them. God created our first humans after his image, male and female. When God brought Eve to him, Adam declared “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). There certainly was a physical attraction to her on Adam’s part. Even more explicitly in the Song of Solomon, there is a strong mutual physical attraction between both Solomon and, most likely, Pharaoh’s daughter, the Shulamite.1 One of the Shulamite’s most beautiful descriptions of her beloved’s physical appearance is found in Song of Solomon Chapter 5:10-16. My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold; His locks are wavy, And black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, Washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are like a bed of spices, Banks of scented herbs. His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His hands are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem! Chapter 6:4 – 10 gives Solomon’s corresponding description of the Shulamite’s beauty. O my beloved, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners! Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats going down from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which have come up from the washing; Everyone bears twins, and none is barren among them. Like a piece of pomegranate are your temples behind your veil. There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, The only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed. The queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners? If there was not physical attraction, God’s command “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28) would likely not have been fulfilled. Having said that, sexuality is so much more than biology. It encompasses every aspect of the human person. Consider this definition: sexuality is the constitution of an individual in relation to sexual attitudes or activity. This is a broad concept that includes aspects of the physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual makeup of an individual. It is not limited to the physical or biological reproductive elements and behavior but encompasses the way individuals use their own roles, relationships, values, customs, and gender. As Davidson states “The human being is a sexual creature, and his/her sexuality is manifested in every aspect of human existence. This wholistic view of sexuality means that the ‘one flesh’ experience of husband and wife (2:24) involves not only the sex act but also a oneness – a wholeness – in all the physical, sensual, social, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of life.”2 This broad definition implies that our sexuality is as much about who we are as it is about what we do.