Glorify God With Your Body

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

INTRODUCTION

I am 36 years old. I was born on February 14th, 1988. The reason I give you the exact date is to remind you that February isn’t that far away to so start thinking about my birthday now. Anyway, some of you in here may be thinking “wow, he’s only 36, that’s young”, and you would be right. Some of you however, might be thinking “he was born in the 1980’s, that’s old”, and you would be wrong. But truth be told, I am getting older and from my bald head to the gray in my beard, it’s starting to show, and like others I am in denial about it somtimes. But I got a nice reminder of how old I am back in March when I led a group of college students to Boston for a mission trip. See at first, I felt like I was one of them. We seemed to a lot in common, I was keeping up with their cultural references, they didn’t treat me like the weird old guy, so I was thinking that I was pretty cool. We arrive in Boston on a Sunday and it’s a long travel day, 2 flights, plus an hour long bus ride and then a 30 minute walk. So we didn’t do much of anything on arrival day. But the next day was our free day in Boston. We did a lot, we explored downtown, walked around Fenway Park, went to the famous Quincy Market for a lobster roll, toured Harvard, I mean it was a long day. I ended up walking over 26 thousand steps before dinner and trust me, I was feeling it. We wanted to go out to eat after our day of exploration but wanted to freshed up at the air bnb before going back out. When we got back to the air bnb and I made a huge mistake. I sat down. As I’m sitting down I let out the biggest old man groan you’ve ever heard, I mean the house shook. And they looked at me and were like “are you okay?” I couldn’t believe it. As I look back on that moment, I don’t think the issue was my age, it was my shape. Years of eating junk food and avoiding the gym have not paid off in my favor. The reality is, I haven’t been taking care of my body, and the worst part about it is, it’s a rental, it doesn’t even belong to me, my body belongs to God, and so does yours. We live in a culture that tells you that your body belongs to you. And you need to be the you that you want to be. Culture tells us we need to embrace and celebrate whatever someone chooses to do with their body. God’s Word tells us something completely different than our culture. Scripture tells us that your body doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to God, so it matters how you treat your body. Question from today’s passage: Will you honor God with your physical body? Or, will you give into your sinful cravings and do with your body what you want to do with it? This is a difficult passage where Paul addresses sexual sin head on. Paul wanted the believers in Corinth to know that their bodies did not belong to themselves but to God, and they needed to honor God with their bodies. In this passage, we are going to see three ways to fight sexual sin.

A quick reminder of what we’ve learned so far about Corinth. Corinth was a city in Greece located at the southwest end of this little strip of land called an isthmis. Becuase of where Corinth was located, it became a very popular port city becuase ships could be hoisted on logs and rolled accross that isthmis, back into the sea and then continue their journey. This saved them from having to travel all the way around Greece. Corinth would naturally become populated becuase of the increased trade. The Greek culture such as philosophy, eithics, and religion was also very prominent in Corinth, so much so, that it was impacting the church, which is why Paul wrote to them. And in chapter 6 verses 12-20 we see Paul addressing a big misunderstanding that the Corinthian church had regarding the physical body. The first way to fight sexual sin is

YOU NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR BODY BELONGS TO GOD

Verse 12 - “everything is permissible for me”, let’s stop right there. I really like the way the CSB , ESV and NIV add quotations around this line becuase Paul is quotting what appears to be a popular phrase for the Corinthians. They’ve mistaken the idea of freedom in Christ to mean you get to do whatever you want, and that’s simply not the case. Having freedom in Christ, means having the freedom to not sin, not freedom to sin. Becuase those who put their faith in Christ, have the Holy Spirit living in them, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and guides us to live the life God desgned for us. That’s what freedom is, not getting to do whatever you want. So Paul reponds to that popular saying, he says but not everything is befeficial. He says the quote again, then responds with but I will not be mastered by anything. What Paul is doing here is saying that yes, you technically have the ability to do whatever you want, but should you really? I’m a prime example of that right? I’ve taken the liberty to eat whatever I want when I want, and it clearly hasn’t been beneficial for me.

Verse 13 - He’s quoting another popular saying about food, but he’s relating it to sexual immorality. Remember, temple prostitution was rampant in Corinth. Sex was a part of the worship of pagan gods. The prevailing attitude of men: marriage was for producing heirs and social alliances, not for sexual satisfaction. That’s what prostitution was for. The Greeks during this time had an interesting view of the body. Becuase of the work of Plato. His view was that our physcial bodies are just vessels or tombs for the soul. There were generally 2 mindsets about the body within Greek philosphy, and they were either you deprive yourself of physcial satisfaction, or you indulge as much as you can, so it appears that the Corinthians took the latter view when it came to sex. The Corinthians viewed sex like they viewed food-a biological need. In their minds, ultimately, their bodies were disposable. God would do away with their bodies, so it didn’t matter what they did with them. From their perspective, God was far more concerned with their souls than their bodies. Their logic: As long as I love God with my soul, what does it matter what I do with my body? Or, what I do with my body doesn’t affect who I am on the inside.

Verse 14 - You’re body and soul are intricately intertwined. You are a WHOLE person. Your BODY and SOUL matter to God. Jesus was a whole person, who lived a whole human experience from conception to death-and also fully God. He rose from the dead, and some day he will raise you from the dead. Eternity is not a disembodied soul floating on a cloud. When Christ returns, He will resurrect your body, and your body will be reunited with your soul, and for all of eternity you will exist in a glorified body as a whole person. Since God sent His Son to die and rise again for you, you can look forward to resurrected life, your body belongs to Him. He paid the price through the death of His Son to purchase you out of sin and death. Your WHOLE person belongs to God. Therefore, you do not exist to gratify your bodily desires, you exist to honor the Lord.

There are 3 lies our culture tells us:

It’s my body. The lie of this culture-it’s your body to do with what you want. The culture tells you to be true to your desires. NO. You were created by God and for God and you were redeemed from your sin for His glory.

I must listen to my body. The lie: It’s just biology. Or, sex is like eating-If I’m hungry I feed my appetite. You must listen to God, not your bodily urges. Romans 6:12-13 says, “12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die.”

What consenting adults do with their bodies harms no one. NOT TRUE. Marriages are harmed. You are harmed. The person you consent with is harmed because sex is never just biological or recreational. It is always an intertwining of persons at the deepest levels. Facts: some of the biggest regrets people have are sexual regrets. Some of the greatest shame people feel is over past sexual sins. Some of the greatest emptiness people feel is when sexual sin doesn’t deliver on what it promises.

The second way to fight sexual sin is:

YOU NEED TO EMBRACE THE GIFT OF ONENESS INSIDE OF MARRIAGE.

Verse 15 - You belong to Christ. You are united with Him. Why would you take what’s united with Christ and join it to a prostitute? Sex is never just physical. It’s never just casual. Sex always attaches you with someone else at a deep level. That’s why God created sex: to attach you at the deepest levels with one person for life. Sex is physical, but it is also profoundly spiritual. If you’re a follower of Jesus attached to Christ, why would you sinfully attach yourself to someone else for the sake of your own sexual gratification when you know that Jesus, who you are attached to, has a better way for you?

Verse 16 - That sinful encounter with a prostitute, or a person who is not your spouse, is a soul joining encounter. It’s not just physical. By the nature of what sex is, it is uniting two into one (Genesis 2:24). Look I get it, I don’t really think we have a prostitution problem in the church. But we do have a similar problem, pornography. Just like temple prostitues were readily available, so is porn. Look at this brain MRI. A study done by Cambridge University took MRI’s of a healthy volunteer and someone addicted to porn. The results you see in yellow is called the ventral striatum, commonly known as the reward center. In this image, the bottom one is showing the reward center engaged. For this study, they showed each participant a sexually explicit image, and as you see, the reward centers have different reactions. There’s hardly any reaction to the top scan, but the bottom scan is showing the reward center engaged, and according to Cambridge University, that means this bottom participant is presenting the same symptoms as an alcoholic. So while the physical symptoms of porn addiction don’t show like in alcoholism, it certainly controls or masters you like alcoholism does. If you or someone you know is struggling with porn addiction, please seek help, becuae it is damaging to you and to your relationships. Sex outside of marriage is also damaging. One of my dad’s best friends, who he’s knows since he was 5 got divorced several years ago. Growing up I remember our families hanging out quite a bit and we all got close. When I heard about their divorce I was shocked. I asked why, and my dad said that the husband and wife started inviting other people to join then in bedroom. I couldn’t beleive it, I asked why they would do that, and he said it’s becuase they started watching porn together and it spiraled out of control, and to the point where it destroyed their marriage. We as a church, cannot underestimate the damage pornography has.

Sex always engages the whole person. It’s never just physical. Sex is meant to bring two people together as one in the context of biblical marriage. Yet, in our culture, people join together all the time in sexual sin with no desire to actually be one in all things. In our culture sex is transactional and self-serving. Sex outside of marriage communicates, “I want your body, but I don’t want you as a whole person. I don’t want commitment. I just want to use you for my gratification.” If you are in that kind of relationship right now, you are in sin. You need to repent.

God’s design for sex is life-giving. The world’s design is life-taking. It may feel life-giving in the moment, but it leaves you empty and often broken-hearted. Sex inside of marriage, when you give your body to your spouse, you’re not just saying, “I give you my body.” You’re saying, “I give you my whole life. I’m committed to you for your good and God’s glory.” Inside of marriage, sex always points to the Gospel. As uniting and satisfying as sex is and as much of a celebration of love sex is, it points us to a greater oneness, a greater love, and a greater satisfaction that is found only in Christ.

Verse 17 - Sex is a reminder of the promises you made on your wedding day, and those promises point you to the even greater promises of Jesus who promised to never leave you nor forsake you, who promised to be with you for eternity, an eternal union that no one can separate you from. Sex is not just a bodily function, it is profoundly spiritual, and in it’s proper context, it is a beautiful picture of love and union that points us to the love ofJesus. Sex is never ultimate, but it does point us to the One who is ultimate: Jesus.

Marriage is meant to be a picture of the ideal relationship between man and God. The Bible often uses marital imagery to describe this relationship ( Revelation 19:7) Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.” If we as Christ followers treat our marriage as a representation of God’s relationship with us, then we would see much healthier marriages in the church. Y’all, I love my wife, and I never want to live in a way that causes me to be unfaithful to her, becuase I am called to love her like Christ loved the chruch, and I know that Christ will never be unfaithful to me. I want to read from Ezekial chapter 16, you don’t need to turn there, just listen. This continues on and on. When I read this passage, I sometimes get emotional. Becuase when I sin, I am cheating on God, I am unfaithful to Him, and it breaks His heart. As I work hard on my earthly marriage to stay faithful to my wife, I need to work twice has hard to stay faithful to God.

The 3rd way to fight sexual sin is

YOU NEED TO FLEE FROM WHAT POLLUTES GOD’S DESIGN

Verse 18 - Paul’s command: Flee sexual immorality. All other sins are outside the body while sexual sin is against the body. All sin is sinful, and all sin deserves punishment. However, no other sin affects you quite like sexual sin.

Sexual sin

1. Rejects God’s design.

2. It is a sin against someone else because you have used someone as an object for your pleasure.

3. It is a sin against yourself because you have given of your body and soul to someone who is not your spouse.

Verse 19 - Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. When Paul writes this, the temple still stands in Jerusalem. What would never happen in the temple of God in Jerusalem was sexual activity. It was a holy place, and in Jerusalem, priests worked to protect the sacredness of the temple. However, the Spirit of God didn’t indwell the temple in Jerusalem. The Spirit of God indwells believers. Your body is a sacred space.

Verse 20 - You were bought with a price, redeemed by God and for God.1 Corinthians 6:11: Just like you wouldn’t pollute the temple in Jerusalem with sexual perversion, why would you pollute your own body with sexual perversion? Your body is a sacred space inhabited by the Spirit of God. Glorify God with your body. Sexual sin is rampant in our culture, and even in our churches. How can you glorify God with your body?

Flee to Christ. Flee from sexual sin by fleeing to the One who you know has something better for you. For some, this is a call to once and for all give your life to Jesus by repenting of your sins and believing that Jesus died and rose again so that you could have eternal life. What you need is for Jesus to change your heart and life this morning.

Make a decision now! Determine that God’s way is best and obey Him. If single, a teenager, etc. The enemy is coming hard after you. Stand strong! If you are married, you’re not exempt from sexual temptation. If you give in, it will only result in destruction. Make a decision now that you will live as who you are in Christ.

Don’t be afraid to have necessary conversations. Men, we need each other. Women, you need each other. We need people who will hold us accountable and have hard conversations with us. When I think of Steve Lawson, I can’t help to think how it is for pastors to find somene they trust to hold them accountable. As I’m starting off being a pastor myself, I’m grateful for the Northwood Family of churches. I’m grateful to have Tommy, Randy, Logan, Trey, and Cody at Greenridge, and Pastor Jay at Berkeley, these are men I know I can count on alongside Buck to help me when I need it. So men, if you are struggling with sexual sin, please come to Buck or me, and for you ladies, if you are stuggling with sexual sin, we will help you find someone that can help you. Parents, don’t be afraid to have conversations with your children about God’s design.

Feed your soul. Are you feeding your soul with the lies of the world? Are you feeding your soul with media and images that cause your mind and heart to wander sexually? Are you feeding your soul with pornography? Inappropriate conversations? Or, are you feeding your soul with the things of God(Colossians 3:1,So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Philippians 4:8, Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things).

Cherish what God cherishes. God has a high view of your body. He sees you as a whole person whom He loves and cherishes. You need to see you as God sees you, and you need to see your body as something worth cherishing and protecting, not just as a biological clump of cells and tissue to gratify your desires.

Fight for God’s design. Let’s not be ashamed to talk about sex by God’s design. Let’s not be afraid to celebrate God’s design for marriage. For some, fighting for God’s design means this morning repenting of sexual sin. It may mean stopping a relationship that is sinful. It may mean ditching your smart phone for one that doesn’t have internet. However God is calling you to respond, glorify God with your body.

Let’s pray.

The praise and worship team is going to come back up and we are going to have a time of invitation, for the believer in this room, I want you to know that you can fight the sexual sin in your life, you have brothers or sisters you can come to keep you accountable, and for the non beleiver in this room, I want you to know that you have hope, that through putting your faith in Jesus Christ, you can beat sexual sin.