No Sex in Heaven: An Eternal Disappointment?

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:30)

The above verse is the first part of our Lord’s response to the Sadducees when challenged about the resurrection (Matthew 22:23-28). While not being Jesus' topic of discussion, the implications these words have for sex are stunning. Namely, there will be no sex in heaven!

How so? Jesus tells us there will be no marriage in heaven. That seems plain from the text. There will be no weddings, and those who are married on earth in this present age will no longer be married (therefore the woman in the Saducees’ story won’t be anyone’s wife). And since God confines sex to the marriage relationship, no marriage in heaven means no sex. What does that do to your conception of the goodness of heaven? Does it sound disappointing?



The bible presents heaven as a place of infinite pleasure. The lack of sex will in no way affect our eternal satisfaction. This means that in heaven there is something or someone infinitely more satisfying for us than sex. That someone is none other than God. Our delight in heaven will be found in knowing and worshipping our great and glorious God. The Psalmist certainly knew and looked forward to this reality:

You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

Our fullest and most enduring satisfaction is to be found in God alone. The pleasure of sex cannot even compare to that of knowing God and being in His presence. If it did, heaven would be an eternal disappointment.

Now what is the point of all this? We live in a society that glories in sex. Sex is everywhere (television, movies, ads, books, magazines, the internet, billboards, etc). “Sex sells,” they say, and the reason it does is because we love it. The message that constantly bombards us is, ‘sex will satisfy us', and we are buying it. How many of us have struggles with pornography, or fidelity in relationships, or masturbation?

Sex is a good gift from God, but it is not to be our god. God alone is the fountain of living water. To turn from Him to try satisfying ourselves in sex is firstly to greatly dishonour and displease God, and secondly to dig for ourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13). Turn from your broken cisterns to Jesus and be truly satisfied. He says, “whoever believes in me shall never thirst.