The Body Sinful—The Body Redeemed

Thinking and Doing

Common belief: right thinking leads to right action

Not entirely false nor entirely true

More often than not, our actions (practices) shape how we think

But it is, and can be, a 2-way street

Sometimes what we want to do (or know we ought to do)—we can’t bring ourselves to do it

Romans 7:22–23 NIV

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

Important to note: this comes after our current passage in this same letter

Which can unintentionally lead to dualism

Dualism

mind = good

body = bad (what our Bibles have as “sinful nature” in the Gk. is simply “flesh”)

Paul builds towards a crescendo in Romans 7

Romans 7:24–25 NIV

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Which should remind his readers of Romans chapter 5, our passage for this morning

Recap: why this mini-series

We are living in a world that is continuously de-humanizing

It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to know what’s really real

Devices, media, social media, and technology in general are held up by our world as solutions to many problems

But they create problems of their own

The more time we spend communicating through devices, the more impersonal things become, and the less human we begin to feel

Most MDiv students today are in the “counseling” stream … Why?

What insight does Scripture have in trying to bring our thinking and doing back together?

How do we hold our “spiritual” life together with our physical one?

As we considered a few weeks ago, the Incarnation is really significant for this

And so also is Jesus death and resurrection

This morning we’re going to focus on

The bodily nature of Jesus death and resurrection

Talk about why that matters for the Christian life in general

And then consider why that matters for us in our world today

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection were Bodily

Problem: Jesus only appeared to be human

Didn’t actually die

Problem: Jesus was only human

Wasn’t resurrected

None of us here (hopefully) would say these things

But sometimes we live like one or the other is true

If we focus our Christian life primarily on the spiritual, we deny Jesus’ humanity

When we see (only) our bodies as sinful

Paul is clear: we have no hope if Christ wasn’t human

When we focus our Christian life primarily on the physical, we deny Jesus’ divinity

We think “it’s all up to us”

Paul is clear: we have no hope if Christ wasn’t resurrected

Key thing in Paul’s argument in Romans 5:12–21 is that

He refers to Jesus as one anthropos

Yet, Jesus is no mere man, but “Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:21)

As is repeatedly emphasized throughout Paul’s letters

This is why we read the passage from John 20 alongside this

What kind of thoughts went through Thomas’ mind?

Not just “I’m an idiot”, but “what does this mean?”

Thomas’ exclamation is significant: “My Lord and my God”

All throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, his disciples didn’t get it

Esp. when he started talking about his death

They bounce back and forth between Jesus’ humanity and his divinity

He was a real human being who cried, laughed, hurt, hugged, bled, and died

He was also divine in that he healed, cast out demons, raised others from the dead, and rose from the dead himself

Scripture is abundantly clear on this point: Jesus’ death and resurrection were both bodily

Which leads to an important question: why is this significant?

Why That Matters for the Christian Life

Romans 5 is the clearest teaching on “original sin”

Paul doesn’t specify the “how” but is clear on sin’s origin and consequences throughout

The OT makes clear: sin separates us from God, and sacrifice atones for our sin

The proper meaning of “Total Depravity”

Not so much that we are as low and as “far gone” as possible

But rather that sin affects every aspect of our existence

Body & Soul (cf. HC Q&A 1)

Individually (selfishness, self-centeredness, rebellion/disobedience, etc.)

Collectively (politics, religion, family relationships, etc.)

Here again the Catechism can be helpful (Q&A 16-18)

He had to be fully human because if even one part of him wasn’t human, then there is no possibility of complete salvation

Only a human being can pay the penalty of human sin

If Jesus wasn’t fully human, then not every aspect of our existence is redeemed

If Jesus wasn’t fully God, then he didn’t have the power to redeem us totally

Key thing in Romans 5: Paul is not comparing “apples to apples”

The grace through Jesus Christ is so much greater than the condemnation through Adam

One act of disobedience leads to sin everywhere

One act of righteousness (the cross) comes after many transgressions

Not a wonder that Paul calls it a “gift” (v. 15–17)!

That Jesus suffered and died in his human nature is significant

That he was raised from the dead in his divine power is even more significant

This is why we read past the end of Romans 5

One natural response is: “well, if greater sin leads to greater grace, then sin freely!”

Paul answers that emphatically in Rom 6:2 - “May it never be / Absolutely not!”

If we were “baptized into Christ” then we were “baptized into his death”

Therefore “we too may live a new life” where we “have died to sin”

So, all those things affected by our “total depravity” no longer need to be under sin’s power

[and, by the way, this means the church as a community is meant to show the world what that looks like!]

Notice one other very important thing in Romans 6:1–4: how many times does Paul say “we”? (esp. v. “I” or “you”)

Jesus’ redemption impacts us individually and collectively

We need community to help us live the Christian life

How good have you been at resisting sin on your own?

The more physical barriers there are to community, the less accountability there is

The CARE team connects with a lot of people with needs

The Shepherding Elders support that by engaging with their wards (how deeply?)

But what about everyone else?

Which leads us to, finally ...

Why That Matters Today

Jesus’ bodily death and resurrection always matter for the Christian life

But what about their importance for today? For the unique world and circumstances we find ourselves in?

Technology’s dehumanizing function

Technology sees everything and everyone as ...

Problems to be solved/fixed

Processes to be improved/made more effecient

Products to be marketed & sold

Not only this, but for every “problem” technology fixes, it creates at least 2 more

e.g. plastics, the combustion engine, robots

The “worldview” of technology and science is that we are getting progressively better

Because every progress in technology is progress, therefore all progress is good

But is this really true?

Is there less suffering, loneliness, mental health issues, war, disease, famine today than there was 50 years ago? 500 years ago?

If anything, things seem to be getting worse, not better!

What does the “i” in iPhone/iPad/iPod stand for?

My opinion: isolation

Because these devices have the potential to isolate us more from one another more than they bring us together

Facetime/zoom is great, but it’s no substitute for a real hug!

Another way technology can “dehumanize” us is by creating a greater divide between our lived experience (body) and persona (what we project to the world)

i.e. who we are and who we think/want ourselves to be become further apart

Because media allows us to be anonymous

The Gospel’s Re-Humanizing Purpose

If the Christian life is only about have the right ideas and proper knowledge, the Incarnation would not have been necessary

God could have just created a “blog” or a “YouTube channel”

If humanity were not “totally depraved”, Jesus’ boldily death and resurrection would not have been necesary

Because, of course, everything people say about each other online is totally uplifting and wholesome

Jesus redeems our humanity

Jesus was (and is) the most fully human anyone could ever be

And that is who he is making us to be (a la Romans 6, 8)

To be fully human is to have a body and live an embodied life (otherwise only Jesus’ divine nature would have ascended to heaven)

To be fully human is to be more physically engaged with the world, not less

To be fully human is to resist the promises, trappings, and temptations of the world’s idea of “progress”

To be fully human is to live in Jesus’ Christ as a part of his body, the church, which is the subject of our final message in this series next week

Reflection Questions

What hope and comfort does Jesus’ bodily death and resurrection give you?

How good are you at resisting evil on your own? What difference can/does a community to hold you accountable make?

How have we (as a church / as a society) bought into the world’s idea of “progress”? What concrete steps could we take to favour God’s idea of progress in Scripture?