Have you ever thought about how, why, and to what degree we as human beings place value on things, whether the object is a person, idea, behavior, piece of art, other? There is something called the Value Theory which basically states that we place a value on something based on how “good” it is perceived to be. In other words you would place a higher price value on a pencil drawing created by Michael Angelo than by me. For example, a jersey worn by Michael Jordan in his last game sold for 10.1 million dollars. We associate value with a certain kind of good or excellence. Why am I talking about this? Because we are in a battle when it comes to who determines the value, purpose, and significance of our bodies.
Today, we are in the last sermon in our Stewardship series this August. Two weeks ago, Rob Floyd talked about the stewardship of time, last week, Scott talked about what the Bible says about stewarding our money (or treasure), and today, we will be talking about being good stewards of our own bodies (the temple).
In the book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman challenges the church to recover the high view of the natural body. We can’t separate the immaterial from the material because the spirit and body is makes up a Soul or the human beings. Timothy Tennent wrote a book called, For the Body, where he raises the topic about the concerns over the secularization of the church. However, he also brings out the danger of over-spiritualizing the church where we focus on our private and individualistic inner life to the neglect our physical being.
How often have we been taught that spiritual things matter more than the physical because the material world is passing away? We should focus on eternal things but there is a need to recover a positive view of the physical world and the body. As Christians we should have a higher view of the body and creation than the secular world does.
My question is: How do we view our bodies?
If you only see your body through a natural world view - you will view yourself as a product of chance, the product of the blind material forces of evolution, which conveys no purpose or significance for your existence. Therefore, it’s ultimately up to you to find your significance, identity, and the reason for your existence.
But if we see our bodies as a gift made by God, if we understand that He made man and woman in His image, we understand that He made you and I the way we are for a reason. God is saying as a soul you have significance, purpose, and value. That is why we should take care of ourselves as best as we can because we matter to God, how we think about ourselves matters to God and what we do with our bodies matters to God.
Let’s read Psalm 139:13-18
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.a Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
The Scriptures make it clear that:
God made us
Jesus came to redeem us
We belong to God
Let’s look at how:
1. God made us
The Psalmist is saying that God individually handcrafted each of us with great care and attention both inwardly and outwardly, giving us our own distinctive traits. We were intentionally made to reflect Him as our Creator. When God created us, every part of us, within and without, the physical and the spiritual - He said it was very good.
There is a place in Vienna called, “Made By You”
where you can make your own pottery and put your initials on it and call it your own. The teens had an event there recently and made some very beautiful, creative works of art. We all have creativity /however it is manifested/ but think about the significance of something being “made by God's own hand” Made by the Creator of the universe. We, as human beings, were handcrafted by Him inside and out.
Yet we have issues with our bodies due to the fall, no matter what stage we are in life, even when we’ve long outgrown our new-born baby cuteness, when we’re long past our prime or physical best, and when our bodies begin to show all the frailties and limitations that come with advancing age–– God is reminding us that no matter what we see in the mirror we have been fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the Universe. We can’t begin to count God’s thoughts towards us or measure the unchanging value God has for our bodies, no matter how it looks or however we feel about it.
Today, there is a big debate about identity, separating our physical body from how we feel. The naturalistic transgender worldview argues that your body is not part of who you really are. It basically says that just because you have boy parts doesn’t mean you are a boy or have girl parts doesn’t mean you are a girl. You determine who you are by how you feel. This gnostic worldview has created discontentment about our bodies and confusion about our identity. It means anyone can choose their gender according to how they feel or how they see themselves at a particular moment. And, then, and then they can change that in the next moment. Instead of loving and accepting who they are, they want to be someone or something else.
Some will go to great lengths to change their physical appearances to align with who they feel they are or who they would like to be. Some hate their bodies because of perceived imperfections or maybe because they have suffered sexual abuse. We know that hatred of our own bodies is not uncommon and it is increasing because many young people are fixated on media produced, perfect air-brushed bodies. This is why we should have compassion on those who are struggling with these issues because we as Christians have a message of hope for them.
The Creation worldview teaches us that we were made by God and have intrinsic value - so much so that one person is worth more than the whole world (Mark 8:35-37). God created us, our lives have purpose and value, and we were meant to be here. Even though sin came into the world and disrupted and distorted everything including our feelings and perceptions of self, the starting point for who we really are or are meant to be starts with what God said about us before the fall. God created our feelings and they are important but they do not define our identity…only the one who made us can.
Even though we are fallen, were far from God and who He created us to be, you and I still have incredible value - so much so that:
2. Jesus Came to Redeem Us
We know we have incredible value as human beings because Christ came to earth and took on a physical body so that He could die in our place for our sins, rise to new life, give us that life, bring us into fellowship with Himself, and begin the process of putting right all that’s gone wrong. He gives us life/ and through His Spirit and His Word transforms the way we think about ourselves and the way we live physically. He willingly paid the highest price to purchase our freedom. The apostle Peter wrote,
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:18-19 NASB).
You were bought with a price. This word “redeemed” speaks of the price one pays to free a person from the slave market. Jesus was willing to pay the highest price, the price of His very own life, in order to set us free from slavery to sin and death and then to make us members of His own family with all the rights and privileges that come with this new relationship.
Since Jesus redeemed us with such a high price:
3. We belong to God
Paul said in I Cor 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
The context of 1 Corinthians 6 is talking about how we have been washed by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, set part for God, and made holy. Paul was talking about our bodies being created for the Lord and not intended for sexual immorality (whether in thought or behavior). Therefore this body is not our personal playground, it is something that we should neither neglect nor flaunt. Our bodies belong to God.
Can you imagine that as Christians, that the Holy Spirit lives in our body? Paul is telling us something truly stunning: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (v. 19). The temple was a sacred space, where people went to meet with God. Astonishingly, this passage is saying that your body is where people will see and meet God. And other people’s bodies are where you will see and meet God. When people meet you they will see the embodiment of a person who has been with Jesus. They get a glimpse of the future realities of the kingdom, including forgiveness, holiness, peace, and hope, all of which the world is desperate for.
As we mentioned before, our Christianity is personal but not private. We often underestimate the impact of our physical presence in this world and in the church. I am not talking about presence on social media but your actual physical presence. Tennent wrote, “We need to correct the overly individualistic concept of our Christian faith that overlooks the corporate manifest presence of the church around the world. The Scriptures show us the importance of physical presence in many instances. We see that in how Paul reflects on the time he spent with the Christians in Thessalonica:
Having such a deep affection for you, we were delighted to share with you not only God’s good news but also our own lives, because you had become so very dear to us (1 Thes 2:8 AMP).
The apostle John said:
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete (2 John 12 ESV).
If a holy and righteous God cares enough to live in this body, who am I to despise or neglect what He created, loves, cares for, and values. Even with all my imperfections I have been fearfully and wonderfully made - made by God and made for Him.
When we first moved to Vienna many years ago, someone loaned us a car for the summer. We wanted to be very careful about how we drove it, especially learning how to drive through the center of Vienna with all the traffic, trams, and people. We were careful because we didn’t want to get into an accident but also especially careful because the car wasn’t ours. It belonged to someone else. When we returned the car, the tank was full and it was cleaner than when we received it. This was one way to express our gratitude to the one who loaned it to us.
It is the same with our bodies - Paul said, “you are not your own, because someone else paid for your life.” This redeemed body is a gift given to us by the Lord and therefore we should glorify God with our bodies. Paul did not say glorify your body but glorify God with your body. My question for you is: What are some ways we can honor God with our bodies?
By the way we live and take care of our bodies (1 Cor 10:31)
when we serve others with our spiritual gifts (2 Thess 1:11-12)
To honor God with our bodies means to align our lives with the way God meant them to be.
We honor God with our physical presence in people’s lives and in the local expression of the body of Christ.
We honor him with our actions and decisions (Col. 3:16)
What are other practical ways we take care of our body?
We honor God when we take care of ourselves, getting proper rest, exercise, and eating well. We honor God in the way we conduct ourselves with others, by the way we dress. We honor God by listening to our body and giving it proper attention when it isn’t functioning optimally whether mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. Why? Everything we do in and with our bodies matters. Paul said that no matter if he lives or dies he wants his life to honor God. I pray this is our attitude, no matter if I am single,married, widowed,young or old, I want my life to honor God. Whether times are good are tough, I want my life to honor God. Why?
Because a day will come when our bodies can no longer do what we want them to do or go where we would want them to go. We may lose our mental and physical capabilities but the good news is that despite the pain and anguish we may face in this life, if we have been redeemed by Christ, our bodies have a glorious physical future awaiting us because of His bodily resurrection. 1 Corinthians 6:14 says, “God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.” God made us, Jesus came to redeem us, and we belong to God. I want to encourage you to view your bodies the way God does as fearfully and wonderfully made, to live your lives aligned with the way God created you to live and glorify Him with our bodies.
