Putting the Body in Perspective

The body is not meant for sexual immorality,
but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body . . .
Therefore honor God with your body.
—1 Corinthians 6:13, 20

In Paul’s day most philosophers believed that only the mind mattered or,
more precisely, the things on which you put your mind mattered—the
“Ideals.” The body therefore was base, and either you got it into line or you
gave up on it and went for all the gusto. Stoic or Epicurean, monk or a drunk,
one was the same as the other. The body was bad.

Paul would disagree.

First, God is for the body—an idea that appeals to me as I get older and
fewer parts work, and those that do work don’t work as they used to. Saint
Francis was right: “Brother Ass” is just the right name for one’s body, often
stubborn and always absurd. Yet Paul affirms that the Lord is for my body.

Second, the body is for the Lord. He not only loves it, but He has a purpose
for it. Our bodies were made to contain the living God and make His invisible
attributes known. Looks don’t matter—tall, dark, and handsome; short,
shot, and shapeless—our bodies are beautiful when they make His beauty
known.

Furthermore, He has an eternal purpose for our bodies. This isn’t all there
is. “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us
also” (1 Corinthians 6:14). When our bodies are redeemed and perfected,
they’ll display His beauty forever. That’s what bodies are everlastingly for.

Because our bodies have an eternal destiny, Paul maintains that we
shouldn’t misappropriate them now. They aren’t made for self-indulgence and impurity. Sex is good, but illicit sex prostitutes our bodies. It’s a sellout.
He calls us to “flee from sexual immorality.” As he puts it, “All other sins a
man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his
own body” (6:18). Sex outside of marriage is uniquely a sin against the body
because it violates the purpose for which the body was made. Bodies aren’t
meant to be indulged on whim; they have a nobler purpose. They’re made to
contain God and display Him forever.

There was a saying in Corinth: “Food for the stomach and the stomach
for food” (6:13), by which the Corinthians meant that nature demanded satisfaction. The stomach was made for food, and food was made for the body. When Mac-attacked, therefore, indulge oneself! True, Paul agreed, the body
was made for food and food for the body, but we mustn’t extrapolate from
that principle to another—that the body was made for sex and sex for the
body. No, the body is more than its parts and is made for more than sex
and self-indulgence. It’s a sanctuary intended for God and meant to house
Him—a place where He can be seen and known.

This leads Paul to his bottom line: “Therefore honor God [manifest His
glory] with your body” (6:20).

That’s what bodies are for!

“But,” you say, “why would He want my body? It’s the source of almost
everything that’s wrong with me. It has a dirty mind, it’s lazy and selfindulgent,
it’s been abused by drugs and booze and too much partying. It
has a sexually transmitted disease. It’s wasted and ruined!”

And yet God still wants your body. It doesn’t need to be tanned, toned,
and terrific for Him. He asks that you bring it to Him with its attendant
problems so He can make something good of it.

Most of us don’t know what to do with our bodies. We have a love-hate
relationship with them—alternately trashing and treasuring them. They’ll
never truly please us until we give them to God. He made our bodies, and
only He knows what they’re for.

Give your body to Him, and He’ll let you know how to use it. Given God’s
love for you and your body, it’s the only reasonable thing to do.

Taken from Seeing God, © 2006 by David Roper. Used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566, Grand Rapids MI 4950l. All rights reserved.

One Response to “Putting the Body in Perspective”

1. Dale Fletcher says:

   February 26, 2010 at 11:59 am

   Well said David. Most of us just take our bodies for granted and roll along in life.

   The truth that God lives in us and we are His temple sure ought to motivate us to better care for our bodies….. so they can be the best temple for the best God!