From the Christian perspective the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the instrument of the mind, the dwelling place of the inner person. In considering the stewardship of our bodies let’s give attention to four questions.
- The body, whose is it?
- The body, what is it?
- The body, how should we use it?
- The body, what of it?
For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of this manuscript.
You can see the entire service from November 22, 2020 on the Christ Church YouTube Channel. https://youtu.be/X__It6P8MUY
Scripture Reading:
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (NKJV)12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.14 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Text:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Introduction
Over the past few weeks we have talked about our stewardship of, time, our talents our gifts, and last week stewardship of thanksgiving. Today I want to talk about stewardship of our bodies.
The Apostle, who wrote the scripture that I read, considered our bodies to be very important. Its care and discipline were an essential part of his thought processes. Would Paul have agreed with the proverb “Cleanliness is next to godliness” (that is not in the Bible by the way)? He might have added, “Cleanliness is a part of godliness, especially so if you understand this to include ethical and moral cleanliness.”
Concerning the relation of the body to religion, human opinion has oscillated between two extremes.
On the one hand, some have considered the body to be the seat of sin and have set themselves to degrade and debase it with every indignity and torture.
“Mortification of the flesh” is an act by which an individual or group seeks to put to death, their sinful nature, as a part of the process of sanctification.
In Christianity, common forms of mortification that are practiced to this day include fasting, abstinence (which in themselves are not bad things).
Also common among some Christian sects in the past and even today is beating or flogging, in imitation of Jesus' suffering and death by crucifixion.
But since starts in the heart and no amount of mortification removes the stain of sin.
James 1:14-15 (NKJV)14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
If we could somehow overcome bad thoughts and evil suggestions, we wouldn't have so much trouble with our bodies.
So one extreme is the mortification of this sinful body, the other extreme is in worshiping our bodies with the desire to have the “body beautiful, the perfect body.
Both extremes are wrong. Both put a disproportionate emphasis on the body itself.
From the Christian perspective the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the instrument of the mind, the dwelling place of the inner person. In considering the stewardship of our bodies let’s give attention to four questions.
The body, whose is it?
The body, what is it?
The body, how should we use it?
The body, what of it?
The body: Whose is it?
The body is God’s. This is why, as far as our bodies are concerned, we are stewards.
Why is the body is God’s? Well, He designed it.
From ancient times people have studied the heavenly bodies, the stars, planets, the sun, the moon;; but it wasn’t until the 15th century AD. they started to investigate the human body.
The scientific study of anatomy dates back to the work of the Flemish scientist Andreas Vesalius and the publication of his book On the Fabric of the Human Body.
But before Vesalius the psalmist wrote,
Psalm 139:13-16 (NKJV)13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Think of the brain, the heart, the lungs. Even primitive humans sensed that these organs played dramatic roles within the body, although their functions long remained clothed in mystery and superstition.
Think of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, and skin. They keep us in contact with the world around us, introduce us to its delights, and protect us from its dangers. Together the muscles, nerves, and bones give us the control we need to carry out the incredibly complex commands of the brain.
Think of the laboratories of the body: the stomach, the liver, the colon, the gallbladder, the pancreas, and the kidneys. Think of the chemical wizardry of the blood and glands. Only God could have done that. God designed the body.
God designed and then He created it.
In the simplest language possible, the creation record tells us the true nature of man.
Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
It is the fact that “God breathed” that makes humans different from animals. Because God’s breath is in them humans enjoy the privileges of participating in God’s creation with the capacities of growth and fellowship with Him.
The body is God’s; He designed it, He created it and he redeemed it.
Long ago God said this to his people:
Isaiah 43:1 (NKJV)1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Because God designed, created and redeemed you should gladly do what Paul says in;
Romans 12:1 (NKJV)1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Ok so we have determined whose body it is now let’s look at What the body is
In simplest terms, the Bible tells us that the body is a dwelling place, the home of the inner person.
2 Corinthians 5:1 (NKJV)1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
The body is the dwelling place of our soul which is our minds, our rational nature.
Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Created in the image of God could not refer to man’s body because “God is a Spirit” remember.
John 4:24 (NKJV)24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
God does not have a body so it must be, then, that the rational, moral, and spiritual nature of humans are what is meant by us being made in “the image of God.”
The body is also the dwelling place of the human spirit.
We have a body and we are a soul and spirit. It is good to care for the body but only as we would care for a complex and fine piece of machinery made to serve us. For the Christian the body is the dwelling place. The body houses the soul and spirit and allows us to function on the earth, God’s creation.
C. Most important for the Christian, the body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Our text tells us this.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Jesus told his disciples this about the Holy Spirit:
John 14:15-17 (NKJV)15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
This gives us the full impact of our text:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Paul also told the Ephesians to, “Be filled with the Spirit”.
Ephesians 5:18-21 (NKJV)18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
But too often we are filled with something else. We have a tendency to be filled with ourselves instead of him.
Now that we know all this how should we use the body in order to be good stewards?
Here are two sides of a coin to consider.
On the one hand, there are the wrong uses of the body.
This is to be unfaithful in our stewardship.
Whatever impairs the body’s normal functions is wrong. We know that the habitual use of alcohol can cause cirrhosis of the liver and damage certain parts of the brain. Who has the right to treat his body in this way? No faithful steward of the body would do it. Smoking causes lung cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory diseases. How can any pleasure from smoking compensate for such damage to the body? The point is that whatever impairs the body’s normal functions is wrong, is sin, is poor stewardship of the body.
Whatever weakens the body is wrong; whatever makes it old before its time is sin. If we don't take care of our bodies we may one day look back and say if I had only known I would have eaten better or I would have gotten more rest, or I would have not been stressed out so often. I would have taken better care of myself.” Most of you have taken excellent care of your bodies. You have been good stewards.
Whatever causes the body to be used in an unworthy way is wrong.
In the paragraph from which our text comes, fornication, or sexual impurity, is Pau’s primary concern.
1 Corinthians 6:15-18 (NKJV)15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh."17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
Whatever permits the body to become a vehicle of uncontrolled passions is wrong.
Whatever defiles the body is wrong.
Here’s an example of a real place of worship being defiled and I’ll use it as an example for us today.
In the city of Strasbourg Germany, there is a world-famous cathedral that was more than four centuries in building. When Napoleon captured the city, he stabled his horses in that cathedral. Think of it! He let those horses live in the light of jeweled windows before the altar that was meant for prayer. He defiled the temple. We want to be sure that we don't do the same to our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, there are the uses of the body that God intended.
God intends that our bodies be used as instruments of his worship and praise. The parts of the body, the eyes, the tongue, the mind, and the emotions have important parts to play in worship.
Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV)1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help?2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 63:3 (NKJV)3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
Psalm 63:4 (NKJV)4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
God intends that our bodies be vehicles of righteousness.
For the Christian, a twofold process is going on as we get older.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (NKJV)16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
The body decays as time destroys it. But while we are wearing out a body, we are growing a soul.
God intends that our bodies be instruments of his glory.
The resurrection body of Christ bore the print of the nails in his hands and of the sword thrust into his side.
John 20:27 (NKJV)27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
Paul’s battles for Christ left scars on his body, but he did not consider them a disgrace. They were a badge of honor.
Galatians 6:17 (NKJV)17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Paul prayed that Christ might be magnified in his body
Philippians 1:19-20 (NKJV)19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
The body: What of it?
To what conclusion are we to come? In ancient Greece there was a thinker named Porphyry who was so devoted to the life of the Spirit that he was ashamed of his body. That is a big mistake.
The supreme revelation of God was in His taking on of human flesh in the person of his Son.
John 1:14 (NKJV)14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is why Christians must think of the body as sacred.
Jesus, our Savior, had a human body subject to all the ills and pains of flesh. He shared all our sorrows and woes but not our sins.
John 1:14 (NKJV)14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 2:17-18 (NKJV)17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV)15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Therefore let no one despise his or her body, abuse it, pollute it, defile it, or fail to be a steward of it. Remember that God himself once took on a human body.
Conclusion
I am going to end with one of the most precious elements of Christian hope.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 AMP So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body .
What did Paul mean, “a spiritual body”? We cannot know fully. But we do know this: the body is the carrier of our individuality, and that individuality survives the grave. Meanwhile, let us wear this physical body well.
Are you free from sin, guilt, shame, and death? If you are not, please allow me to offer a few difficult but effective steps:
Ask Christ to forgive you of all your mistakes and sins.
Ask Him to set you free from all addictions and bad habits.
Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit.
Tell someone else about your personal battles
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