Is your body important?
We know that our spirit goes to Christ when we die and that it endures forever. So does that mean that your body is disposable, kind of like a yogurt container that you throw out—or maybe recycle—once you’re done with the contents?
No, the body is much more. The Bible says that it is God’s beautiful and intricate creation, his handiwork.
Consider Psalm 139, where David praises the LORD:
You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Already when we are first conceived by our parents and very small, God is closely watching over our life in his providence. Already then God knows us so well, for he is the one who puts together our frame.
Sin, of course, has wreaked havoc on everything. Sin has corrupted the soul and broken the body. Right from the day of conception, our body is so vulnerable.
It is amazing then, that Jesus was willing to take on human flesh.
He too, was put together by the Father in his mother’s womb. After being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary, God continuously upheld his Son’s life. God formed his inward parts and he knit Jesus together, until the moment when he was ready to be born and to start growing up.
As a man of flesh and blood, Jesus knew all the physical limitations that we know: hunger and thirst and fatigue, pain and suffering, and finally, death. This was deeply humbling for him as the Son of God, but Jesus was willing.
He took on the body, in order to save the body.
Jesus’ conception and birth shows that God has a glorious plan for our bodies. Having a body is so basic to what it means to be human that when Jesus returns, our body will be reunited with our soul. In the power of Christ’s resurrection, God will transform in us what is now dishonourable, and God will glorify what is now corrupted and weak.
That is our wonderful future. And what does it mean for our bodies today?
Your body belongs to Christ, not to you, so you shouldn’t use it for whatever activity you please. God says that your body has become his temple, so it is important to God what your hands do, where your feet go, and what your eyes look at.
Because he died to save it, Christ wants your body—and all your days here on earth—to be devoted to his glory.
Comments