The Body and the Image of God
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Why may some not associate our physical bodies with the fact that we are made in the image of God?
Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body - which believes that matter is good, that God Himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us in heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty and energy. C.S. Lewis - “Mere Christianity”
God Experienced in Our Bodies
God Experienced in Our Bodies
Psalm 139:1-16.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
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.
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.
God made our bodies
God made our bodies
“For” (13)
“For” (13)
This looks back on all that has been said in the first twelve verses.
So, what is said in verses 13-16 is the foundation of what was said in verses 1-12.
So, that God:
knows us (1)
Knows what we do and when we do it (2-3)
He knows what we will say (4)
God is everywhere (7-9)
Nothing will overcome God… not even the darkness (11-12)
“you formed my inward parts” (13)
“you formed my inward parts” (13)
formed = created
inward parts - kidneys: metaphor for seat of emotion and affection
“you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (13)
“you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (13)
takes us back to the first moments of a person’s existence of conception
Jesus was conceived in the womb by the Holy Spirit. It is a striking thought that the Father knitted together the incarnate Son in the womb.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (14)
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (14)
wonderfully takes us back to verse 6
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
the psalmist considered in wonderful to possess such knowledge of God and what He does.
fearfully referencing the fear of God, so there is reverence in the psalmist’s consideration of the fact that God created him.
“wonderful are your works” (14)
“wonderful are your works” (14)
wonderful are your works references the weaving together of human life.
that God makes man with physical form and in the womb is good.
“my soul knows it well” (14)
“my soul knows it well” (14)
knows is the verb that shows up in the first six verses of this chapter and has as its object, God.
you know when I sit sown and when I rise up (2)
you know it all together (4)
Jesus knew the Father shaped His incarnate life
It is a mark of grace to know very well that we are woven together by the loving hand of God.
“my frame was not hidden from you” (15)
“my frame was not hidden from you” (15)
frame = bones and structure of our physical being.
was not hidden from you - God was at work during those months in the womb
“when I was being made in secret” (15)
“when I was being made in secret” (15)
though the work of God in the womb is unseen by man’s eyes, it should be considered nothing less than God’s fruitful work.
“intricately woven in the depths of the earth” (15)
“intricately woven in the depths of the earth” (15)
the depths of the earth in the sense that the womb is hidden from human sight.
“my unformed substance” (16)
“my unformed substance” (16)
embryo, not fully formed
embryos are of course intricate, but they are not fully formed. But God chose to create people this way.
“in your book were written… the day that were formed for me” (16)
“in your book were written… the day that were formed for me” (16)
all our days are written in God’s book.
They are all foreordained in the perfect foreknowledge of God. He shaped our being and He shaped our days.
Intended for physical presence
Intended for physical presence
God made our being
God made our being
my Facetime exchanges with the grandkids.
What the does the fact that this is not enough for us say about our physical being?
Scripture shows us the importance of physical presence in numerous ways.
1 Thess 2:8
8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Christian ministry for Paul was much more than imparting information. He and his colleagues shared their lives with the Thessalonians. His ministry required presence. He continues in
1 Thess 2:17
17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
Leaving them was difficult. Separation was painful. Paul longed for a reunion. Presence mattered to them.
Bottom line: physical presence matters because we are physical people.
Since he [God] has made each of us and the whole of humanity in his image, the value of the body does not depend on its worth to the person who owns it; it does not come from its social status or usefulness, nor is it derived only from its place and function in the natural world. The worth of the body is conferred by its divine Creator. The triune God designed it for himself and for participation in his own eternal life. He made it as it is so that he could give himself and his gifts bodily to people on earth and work with them in caring bodily for others and the world, which is their natural habitat. He designed it so that he could show himself bodily to other embodied people and give them bodily access to himself by his theophany, his physical appearance to them in Jesus. John Kleinig - “Wonderfully Made”
Jesus and Our Bodies
Jesus and Our Bodies
The Word became flesh
The Word became flesh
John 1:14
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Why did and do some say that this is a scandal? What assumption does the rejection of God becoming flesh possess?
John did not say that the Word assumed manhood ore adopted the form of a body.
God chose to make Himself known in a real, historical man. When the Word became flesh, God became man.
That Christ dwelled among us literally means that Christ lived in His tent among us. This would have most certainly called to mind the tabernacle for John’s readers. The tabernacle, of course, was where God met with His people.
28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these.
Just like the people were to make the tabernacle in order for God to dwell with His people, now God has chosen to dwell among His people in a much more personal way: the Word became flesh.
Jesus’ incarnation is the highest compliment the human body has ever been paid. Sam Allberry - “What God Has to Say About Our Bodies”
Our bodies and the incarnation
Our bodies and the incarnation
Heb 10:1-6
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Verse 5 quotes Psalm 40:6, which is what Jesus declared for Himself.
The sacrificial system has become obsolete because Jesus as come in the flesh to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Only by means of the incarnation can Jesus accomplish the will of God to do away with sin.
Our bodies point to the incarnation of Christ. Our bodies point to redemption. The need for it and the means by which is was accomplished.
But our bodies also point to the result of redemption.
Our bodies and the image of Christ.
Our bodies and the image of Christ.
Remember last week we considered Rom. 8.
Rom 8:29
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
From eternity, it was the will of God that people be conformed to the image of His Son. The image of God is the image of the Son. This includes our bodies.
Think about the resurrection of Christ and its implications for our bodies.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
We will bear the image of the Son. The thrust of this chapter centers on the resurrection of the body, and here Paul makes clear that we will be resurrected to the image of the man of heaven.
This idea is also see in Phil.
Phil 3:20-21
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Our Bodies Now
Our Bodies Now
Are our bodies good? Why is this a tricky question? What clarifications do you feel burdened to make in answering?
1 Cor 6:12-20
1 Corinthians 6:12–20 “12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised 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 prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from…”
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised 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 prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Body Image
Body Image
Christians are free (12)
Christians are free (12)
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
We are not bound by some set of external rules. Christ has given us freedom.
The law makes clear that we do not have what it takes to be the people God made us to be. It makes clear that the only way for imperfect, sinful people to relate to God is on the basis of His forgiveness of us.
What the Corinthians were doing was harmful to themselves. The issue at hand for the Corinthians was how they viewed their bodies.
What we need and what we desire (13)
What we need and what we desire (13)
13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
We have a bodily appetite for food, so when we get hungry, we eat.
The same logic however, was being used to justify sexual sin.
What’s the connection between food and sex?
Sex is a physical appetite as well. As insignificant as eating food was to the Corinthians, sex was the same. It’s just a physical reality that needs to be satisfied.
As one commentator put it:
In a typical Greek dualistic thought, the Corinthians apparently reasoned that God is concerned only with those aspects of a person that survive death, that is, their soul or spirit.
Is this a prominent idea in the church today. Maybe not spoken, but is it something that impacts our approach to life?
Our bodies are relevant to God’s purposes.
Our bodies are for God (14)
Our bodies are for God (14)
14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.
Our bodies may be fallen, but that does not mean that they are inconvenient and inconsequential.
We know this in part because of what we considered regarding God’s future plans to redeem our bodies.
Jesus’s body was not a temporary necessity. N.T. Wright uses the imagery of the space shuttle. Jesus did not shed his body after ascending to heaven like the spaces shuttle sheds its booster rockets after leaving the world’s atmosphere.
If our bodies will one day be raised, and they will, then they have a future. If they have a future, they have significance now.
This is what Paul turns to next
Our bodies are not self-contained (15, 16, 19)
Our bodies are not self-contained (15, 16, 19)
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 prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
In each case, Paul is showing how our body is not entirely self contained. It is connected to and bound up with key external realities.
It is a member of Christ - part of His body - and a temple of His Spirit.
Being members of Christ means we are bound up with Him. We are united with Him and are joined to all that He is. Everything that flows to us from Him flows to us through this union.
And we are completely defined by this union, and this includes how we are to think of our bodies.
Paul applies this directly and bluntly to the Corinthian christians. Again, verse 15:
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 prostitute? Never!
We cannot assert ownership of our bodies. Kevin DeYong said something that will make all a little uncomfortable, but gets the point across vividly and memorably:
…when you put your sexual organs where they don’t belong, you are putting the Lord Jesus where He doesn’t belong.
Day-to-day, many of us tend to be oblivious to the significance of all this. We might ignore our bodies and simply indulge its every appetite or we may become obsessed with them which often leads to being ashamed of them. Wither way, what we must remember day-to-day is that Jesus wants us, along with our bodies, as His own.
As verse 19 says, our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the means by which Christ dwells in us and belong to Him.
Through no merit of our own, we are dwelling places of God. This is what it is to be temples of the Holy Spirit. A temple is not an insignificant building. To use the OT imagery, it is where God dwells with His people.
This called to mind what Jesus said to His disciples regarding His departure:
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
The Holy Spirit is not a hold-over until Jesus returns. He is not a substitute teacher. He is the Spirit of Christ, and as He indwells us in our bodies, we experience the union we have with Christ.
