Sex and The Kingdom of God

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied to Jesus. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12: 28-34; edited from NIV)
 
Sex is usually thought of as a fun activity. But, if the partners so engaged strive with all their heart and strength, they may sometimes experience a transcendent ecstasy. Each person may be filled with love of self but simultaneously feel an equal love for the other person. And after the physical act of love, their minds may turn to the experience and intuit that there is something spiritual in the encounter, that there has been a meeting of souls as well as bodies. And although these two people may not specifically think of the Divine, they may—perhaps—see their union as a mystical oneness extending beyond themselves.

As Jesus says, they are “not far from the Kingdom of God.”

~ Richard Russell