The Christian's Body - A Temple Of The Holy Spirit

1st Corinthians 6:19-20

Our body - a Temple of the Holy Spirit

We have all heard people say: "It's my body" and

"I can do what I want so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else."

We have probably said something along these lines ourselves

from time to time.

But the bible makes it clear that our bodies are not our own;

at least not completely.

God made them through our parents, and in a way loaned them to us,

and we are accountable to Him on the Day of Judgement

for how we have used them.

To the Atheist the human body is nothing more than a physical set of organs

hung onto a framework or scaffolding of bones,

which are protected by a very thin covering of flesh,

fueled by oxygen and food, and lubricated by blood.

There was no ‘Plan’; we are the result of accidental evolution, from monkeys!

There is no purpose to life

and after it there is only oblivion.

To the Christian, however, we are more than what can be seen or smelled

or touched or heard,

because our bodies contain something of God, planned by God;

made in His image; whether people believe that or not.

The Ancient Greeks used to think the human body was irrelevant,

and that only the psyche, ‘soul’ or mind or intelligence was important.

This led to Antinomianism, the belief that what a person does with their body is unimportant,

Because it is what they do with their mind that matters.

This meant a person could eat, drink and be merry,

getting up to all kinds of sin with their bodies,

as long as they did not do anything wrong in their minds!

How convenient; how ridiculous.

The Jews had no such illusions;

they believed the human body was a creation of God, reflecting His glory;

and had to be treated with respect, and used morally; used for His glory.

In the Bible, in Psalm 139 v 14 it says ‘We are fearfully and wonderfully made; and that ‘God’s works are wonderful’.

We are god’s works as much as mountains and rivers are.

Our body temperature can only fall or rise by just a few degrees,

and we will die f our temperature gets too hot or too cold,

and does not return to normal in a short space of time.

Just a few days without water or a few minutes without air,

and our bodies will die.

A fall of a few feet, a few well placed blows, especially to the head,

or a small puncture almost anywhere between the waist and the neck

and our bodies will die.

Even those with the best trained, most fit, strongest bodies

need food, air, water and shelter around them in order to survive,

so we must be very careful how we treat our bodies.

We must take care of our bodies physically.

The Queen, the President, the Prime Minister, the millionaire, the tramp:

all of us need a certain amount of food, drink, exercise, and sleep,

and everyone, whether believer or unbeliever

must avoid hot, sharp, or jagged objects.

We must not touch certain chemicals

or eat anything that would hinder our body's normal function.

This means that we must avoid anything which harms our body,

even though it smells, tastes, or feels good.

Drinking alcohol, abusing drugs, smoking, overeating -

all these harm the human body.

So to take care of our body we must avoid them.

Not only are physical things, too much or too little, important to the human body, but also emotional things.

How we feel affects how well our body functions.

If we are happy, positive, confident, loved, appreciated,

good chemicals encourage our metabolism to flourish.

If we are sad, negative, down, rejected, lonely, discouraged,

bad chemicals have the opposite effect

and can lead to illness and depression.

When we have a good attitude and everything is going well,

our blood pressure stays within reasonable limits,

our heartbeat is steady,

and we are calm and relaxed.

On the other hand, negative emotions like worry, fear, and guilt

make our blood pressure rise,

our heart pound,

our muscles tense.

So to help keep our bodies healthy, we must watch our diet and our attitudes.

The Bible makes it plain that over and above food and exercise and taking care of our physical and mental well-being,

our bodies and our health are affected by moral or spiritual beliefs and actions.

I read somewhere that patients in hospitals who have some religious faith, any religious faith, recover quicker than those with none.

When we obey God's law we enjoy the benefits of His promises, and we feel good.

We might not always be punished at the moment we disobey,

but a clean conscience goes a long way towards having a good attitude, which in turn helps to keep our bodies fit and healthy.