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Scripture clearly demonstrates that God established the union between a man and his wife to be a metaphor of the relationship between God and His people - between Christ and His church. Paul states in his letter to the Ephesians: "'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:31-32 ESV). The pure, intimate sexual union experienced in marriage was designed to dramatize the pure, intimate worship that we were created to experience with God.

But everything changed when Adam doubted God and turned away from His wisdom and instead pursued his own selfish ambition - and as a result he (along with the rest of mankind) would never again be the same. Paul writes to the Romans that "...[mankind] exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator... For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions" (Romans 1:25-26a).

In His wisdom, God ordained that mankind's sins have consequences, in order to make known our fallen condition and our need for salvation (Romans 8:20-25). How does this fall of mankind affect the dramatization that sexual union was designed to parallel? Reading on in Romans 1: "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..." (Romans 1:26b-27a).

Why does Paul single out homosexuality here? Because it is the most vivid example of what happened to the drama when mankind "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man" (v 23). Dr. John Piper explains it best: "God and man in covenant worship are represented by male and female in covenant sexual union. Therefore, when man turns from God to images of himself, God hands us over to what we have chosen and dramatizes it by male and female turning to images of themselves for sexual union, namely their own sex." (from his sermons on Romans 1:18-27, available at desiringGod.org - I have found no better resource on this topic, and I commend it to you).

Kidneys sometimes break. Mental sanity sometimes snaps. White blood cells sometimes mutate. And sometimes, sexual ordering breaks too. Homosexuality is just one of the many disorderings in society that exist because "the creation was subjected to futility", and this was done by God "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:24). Futilities exist to point us to the solution: Since our brokenness came about because mankind turned away from God, the healing of our souls (homosexual or heterosexual) must begin with restoring God to His rightful place in our lives.

I am a Christian who desires to live my life for God, but I also still have a homosexual orientation. How can this be? When we become saved, we are not immediately lifted out of this world of futility: Yes, God will many times bring victory: Cancer can be healed - addictions can be overcome - and broken sexuality can be healed! But this is not always God's plan for us. If God does not provide complete healing in this lifetime, then He has promised He will provide us with the ability to live a fulfilled life with our existing futilities and dispositions. For me, this means God will either grant sexual healing in this lifetime, or He will grant me a triumphant capacity to live for Him in celibacy. For even we, God's redeemed people, "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23) - and what a glorious day that will be!

So much more could be said, but I will finish with this exhortation: while we as Christians must remain firm in our Biblical convictions, we must also remain faithful to our calling to show love and compassion to all. There are no easy answers - individually and corporately we must diligently study Scripture and seek God's direction in how we should respond to all situations. It is downright wrong the way many Christians treat gay and lesbian persons - we must do better.