Human Sexuality and the Holy Spirit

The God Who Is Love created man male and female for love.

Human sexuality is a gift of Creation. The image of our God who is love is

borne by “man” as “male and female,” with no hint of either sex's imaging

the divine more fully than—or apart from—the other. Through this gift, we may

love and be loved deeply, may enjoy a profound oneness in marriage, and, from

love's natural self-giving, may give life to children, the greatest ongoing fruit

of such love.

Despite all its goodness, many on this planet experience sexuality in brokenness

and pain. We know sin and evil spoil and steal from God's good creation, but we

do not despair. The Good News of Jesus Christ reckons seriously with every enemy

of human fl ourishing. His victory has won healing the Holy Spirit applies to the

broken, through loving ministry.

These truths of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration unify the essays in this

book. Most began at the Scholars' Consultation of the Empowered21 Asia Global

Congress in Singapore in 2017. Here they explore God's intention for our sexuality,

ways we misuse and abuse this gift, and ways Spirit-empowered communities help

heal brokenness and restore the divine image. Expressing theological and socialscience

scholarship and front-lines ministry experience from the First and Majority

Worlds, these essays probe gender theory, inequality, and fl uidity and dysphoria;

sexual exploitation of children and women and their resilience; homosexuality;

fi ghting HIV/AIDS; promoting sexual wholeness; and more. Readers will deepen

their biblical, theoretical, and practical understanding so they may minister healing

and restoration with wisdom and compassion in the power of the Holy Spirit.