If you were in space, you would need a special kind of suit to be able to navigate and live in that environment. You would need a space suit. In order for your spirit man to navigate and live on this earth, you also need a special kind of suit. Let’s call it your “earth suit.”
This earth suit is your body, and it is the holder of your spirit and soul (Daniel 7:15). (See Made in the Image of God for a more detailed explanation of this truth.) It is what enables you to navigate and live (in a physical sense) in this environment. We’re going to take a close look at your body today, and I’m going to show you what God has been revealing to me over the past several months about it.
When teaching spirit, soul, and body, often times teachers will skip over this part saying things like, “You’ve lived in your body a long time. I don’t need to tell you about your body.” Or “You easily identify with your body so we don’t need to waste any time on it.” I have come to see that this is wrong, and that it has led to misconceptions and misrepresentations of your body.
An avoidance of this topic has led to many people criticizing their body and cursing it. It has led many to believe that their body is their enemy and not their ally. After suffering from years of sickness and pain, I can relate with those that begin to hate their bodies and blame it for their daily struggle. But once you see the truth about your body, you will never curse it again. You will bless it and only speak words of life to it.
Your Amazing Body
I am going to give you a glimpse of how truly amazing your physical body is. Did you know that there are 10 to 50 trillion cells in your body and that they work together to make your heart beat 100,000 times a day, inflate your lungs 7.5 million times a year, and produce approximately 40 thoughts in your brain every minute? Those are mindboggling facts.
Your amazing body was created to heal itself and to fight sickness. In other words, it was designed with its own physician and built-in security system. Let’s look at the physiology behind a basic cut.
Your In-House Physician
When you cut yourself, the blood vessels at the site contract, slowing the loss of blood. Next, blood platelets that come in contact with the air begin to form a blood clot. White blood cells begin to accumulate at the cut to destroy and digest dead cells to make room for the new ones. Almost simultaneously, new cells begin to form, pushing the older cells to the site of the cut, which fills in the space made by the cut (aka, a scar). This process continues until it’s complete. And you don’t even have to think about it, it just happens!
Built-in Security
One example of your body defending against sickness is a fever. When a foreign substance, such as bacteria or a virus, invades your body, a fever turns on your immune system to fight. Not only does it trigger the white blood cells in your body to attack the intruders, but it also makes your body uninhabitable to that intruder. Most bacteria and viruses can’t survive or reproduce in a body with an elevated temperature. We think fevers are bad (and they can be when they top 104°) because they make us feel terrible, but they are actually your body’s way of defending itself.
God-given Senses
Your body was created with five senses – sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Each one of those sense was given to you for a reason, and that is to help you navigate through this world safely.
Your sight keeps you from walking off a cliff or in front of a car. The sense of smell helps you detect a dangerous gas leak in your home. Taste keeps you from eating something that is rotten that could harm you. Hearing helps you detect danger that may be coming. Your sense of touch triggers your brain to recoil your hand when you touch something that is too hot and could burn you.
All of your senses were created to protect your body. Are you beginning to see how amazing your body is? Despite any defects or flaws it may have, it was designed perfectly, just like everything else God created, but don’t take my word for it.
The Meat of the Matter
There are two words used in the New Testament that refer to your earth suit: body and flesh.
The Greek word for “body” is soma and it has two meanings. Literally, it is your living body. In other words, your organs, skin, bones, muscles, etc. Figuratively, it is referring to a collection of something, either people or things. It could mean the body of Christ or a body of water.
The Greek word for “flesh” is sarx and it also has two meanings. Literally, it specifically refers to the meat on your bones, your muscle. Figuratively, it’s referring to the carnal nature inside of you, your passion, your will. In other words, your soul (mind, will, and emotions).
God’s Opinion
There are four verses I’m going to use to show you how God views your body, and I’m going to start in 1 Corinthians 6:13:
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.
Don’t get hung up on the first half of that verse. All that means is that God created food for your body and your body for food. Your desire for food is a God thing, unless it becomes perverted and turns into gluttony. Regardless, some day (whether you die or Jesus comes back), you won’t need either one.
The second part is what I want you to focus on, and let’s read it without the not for sexual immorality part because the meaning is the same: Now the body is … for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. It can’t be said any more plain: Your body is for the Lord.
Extension Cord
First Corinthians 6:15 says, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Inserting the Greek meaning for the word “members,” it says that your physical body is a limb of Christ. You are an arm, a leg, a foot, a hand. Your body has purpose. Your earth suit is an extension of Him that He uses to touch the world around you. Think of your body as an extension cord that enables Him to reach those that would otherwise be unreachable.
Holy Ground
Our third verse is 1 Corinthians 6:19:
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?
Again, substituting the meaning for the word “members” into the verse, it says that your physical body is the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary. Your body is God’s dwelling place. Your body is holy ground because Christ lives within it! This should give you a new perspective on any sickness or disease that may have taken up residence inside it.
Notice the second part of that verse that says you are not your own.Your body does not belong to you, it belongs to God. You’re just borrowing it to get around while your spirit is on this earth. Think of your body as a car you borrowed from a good friend. It doesn’t belong to you, so you’re going to take great care of it. You’re going to wash it, change the oil, and put the right kind of fuel into it. If you’re driving a car with a diesel engine, you’re not going to put regular gas in it because it will ruin the engine.
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Why would you treat your body any different? It is God’s and you should take care of it. This means fueling it properly by eating nutritious foods, exercising, and decreasing the stress in your life. Poor food choices, lack of activity, and unmanaged stress all lead to the breakdown of your body’s self-healing and disease-fighting abilities. Don’t be a bad steward of what God has given you!
Your body is wonderfully made because He personally knitted it together in your mother’s belly. Your frame was not hidden from Him (Psalm 139:13-15). He fashioned you to be short or tall, stocky or thin. I used to despise the fact that I was “bigger boned” and not a waif that could wear a size 0 jean, but after spending two years in the Middle East, I was thankful that God created me to be strong!
There is a reason your body was created the way it was created. Start thanking Him for it instead of despising it. Start loving it instead of hating it. And most of all, start blessing it instead of cursing it!
A High Price
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:20
God purchased relationship with you (through forgiveness of sins) and healing for your body through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. It was a high price to pay, but He loved you so much that He didn’t even blink twice at paying the cost. You were, and are, worth it. Your body is for Him, it is an extension of Christ, it is holy ground, and He holds the title to it. Because of this, you are instructed to glorify God in your body. How do you do that?
You glorify God in your body by taking care of it, and also by being His voice to spread the Good News about all that He’s done. You glorify God by using your hands to praise Him, to touch the hurting around you, and to lay hands on the sick. You glorify God with your feet by going where He asks you to go, even to the unlovely places where it seems to be the darkest. You glorify Him when you allow your body to be the vessel that He can flow through to impact the world around you. This is what your body was created for and why it’s so important to God.
Finally…
I pray this teaching has changed your thinking about your body. Your body is your ally, not your enemy. Your body is the tank that you take into battle to fight the enemy. If it takes on damage during the battle, don’t blame the tank. Blame the enemy that caused the damage. Don’t curse the tank, curse the enemy that caused the damage.
Open the eyes of your understanding to the true enemy. Ephesians 6:12 says you don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, so don’t wrestle against your body. Instead, wrestle against the evil that comes against it. Bless your body and speak words of life over your body because it is your ally.