The Last Word
We live in a sexually obsessed culture. According to The New Yorker (June 2025), nearly three-quarters of American teens have watched pornography by the time they turn 18. Even more startling, 15 percent say they were first exposed at age 10 or younger.
A 2024 study reported that 73 percent of teens under the age of 18 have watched online pornography, with the average age of first exposure being just 12 years old.
Research from Data for a Difference (2024) shows that porn isn’t only found on obscure websites—38 percent of teens see it on social media and 34 percent encounter it on video platforms they already use every day.
When it comes to media, the numbers are just as eye-opening. On television, 83 percent of programs contain sexual content, 80 percent include sexually suggestive references, and nearly half—49 percent—feature flirting. In fact, teenagers report that television is their most common source of sexual information, with 8–10 sexual references per hour of prime-time TV, adding up to around 14,000 references each year.
Music videos paint a similar picture. One study found that 73 percent of music videos contain sexual content, and in hip-hop and R&B, that number skyrockets to 90 percent.
Finally, the Education Resources Information Center reviewed more than 250 studies and concluded that exposure to sexuallyized popular music is strongly linked to shaping gender ideals, objectifying women, influencing sexual attitudes and behaviors, and even contributing to gender-based violence.
It’s important as followers of Jesus that we understand, as obsessed as our culture might be when it comes to sex and sexuality, that our culture didn’t invent sex, nor does it get the last word on it. My hope in writing this is not to convince you of anything specific when it comes to sex or sexuality but to understand our value as God’s creation and God’s position as the designer of human sexuality. Simply put, as the creator of our bodies and the creator of sex, God gets the last word on the way in which we use them.
In the book of Genesis, we are given the story of creation. After creating the heavens and the earth, the land, trees, and animals, God makes man, and God says that this creation is very good! The creation of humanity is different from all of the other creations because upon it God bestows his very image.
This is a fundamental truth that we must understand as we approach any topic as followers of Jesus. God made you! On purpose and for a purpose. God designed the human body, spirit, and soul in his image, and something’s worth is determined by who made it. There is a reason a Ferrari costs more than a Ford!
God created our bodies, which means God designed us to be sexual beings. That’s why it’s important that we understand sexuality is not sinful; it’s natural. Sin enters the conversation when our sexuality is taken out of the context of God’s design.
While our sexuality is natural, it is not where we should find our identity or value. We are worth so much more than our “sex appeal”. Our bodies have more worth than what they can do for someone. Our beauty is found in our maker and not some impossible standard. You are made by God!
The second vital understanding we must have is that God made sex. Sex was Gods idea, and as the creator of sex and sexuality, God knows the parameters under which it best operates.
Sex is a powerful thing! Marketers will tell you that “sex sells”. The more powerful something is, the more restrictions there are on who can operate it. There’s a big difference in who can legally ride a bike and who can drive a car. There’s an even greater difference in those who can drive a car and those who can fly a plane. Think about it, why doesn’t anyone ever complain about the FAA not letting more people fly jets? It’s not because the FAA doesn’t want people to have fun, but because they don’t want people to get hurt. The same is true when it comes to sex, that God has set up parameters around it for the safety of everyone.
Maybe you’re wondering, “What is God’s design for sex?” God has desired from the very beginning that it is 1. Protected by commitment and 2. Free from shame. The bottom line, God’s plan for sex from the beginning has been between one man and one woman, who are committed in a covenant of love and service to one another, for life.
