Our bodies are not our own - Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
C.S. Lewis once said, “Christians have talked as if Christianity thinks that sex or the body, or the pleasure we experience within our bodies were bad in themselves. But they are wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions that throughly 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 us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty, and our energy.”
Over the past several weeks we have taken a look at this wonderful fact that God has wonderfully and uniquely designed and created our bodies. Last week we took a look at how God has designed us as male and female and set up the marriage union. We addressed the fact that in God’s good design of marriage, it is designed for a man and a woman and not the same sex with each other. Now I think that people who struggle with same sex attraction and hear the church address this can feel like their particular sin is picked on, so what about other sins in relation to the body? That is where I want to begin to head today and finish up next week. So this is part one of this message on, “Our Bodies are not our Own.” There are in fact many other abuses to the body that we need to address as well, things that the bible specifically calls out and says is sinful.
Something that needs to be addressed again at the beginning of our time. Homosexuality, having an affair, lying, cheating, anger, having an abortion, or any sin can be forgiven. We need to of course see these things as wrong and desire to change, and ask the Lord for forgiveness. The problem is when people don’t see these things as wrong and hurtful behavior and continue in them without any change of repentance. In other words, this is a pattern of their lives and they don’t want or desire to change. Here is what the Apostle John says about this type of behavior or seeing that nothing is wrong about sinful behavior.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
So, whatever sin you are struggling with today can be met with forgiveness. You don’t have to continue in your sin. I want you to know that today. In fact, that is why Christ Jesus came to die and rose again on the third day. He did that so that you and I could gain victory over sin and some day experience eternal life with Christ. So I want to begin today in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Let’s look at these few verses.
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,
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
When I was growing up I heard this message from my Sunday School teachers as well as my mom on several different occasions. “Matt your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, honor the Lord with what you do with your body, with your words and actions, but even more so with your body. My parents taught me not to have sex before marriage, and to watch out what I put in my body, wether that was smoking, drinking or taking drugs. As a young man this did make sense because I understood that this was a healthy barrier or boundary marker put in place so that I would not self- destruct or live any old way that I wanted to live. As a christian my body now belonged to Christ and I should honor him with it.
Ask yourself this simple question this morning, “Am I honoring the Lord in everything I do with my body?” Is Christ my treasure? And if so do I realize that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that I have been bought with a price (the blood of Jesus) so I should glorify God in my body and with my body.
-This would mean what I drink. Or have I given over to drunkeness continually?
-Drugs and smoking. Getting high to numb the pain, or getting high just to get high.
-How much I am eating. Am I destroying my body because I eat too much?
-What I am viewing or looking at that could potentially hurt my body.
-What I am doing with my body sexually.
-Even violence to our bodies, hurting ourselves, cutting ourselves, etc...
“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 should keep our bodies clean for God and for His use. We shouldn’t want to harm our bodies or do things with our bodies that can bring dishonor or shame to the Lord. We should want to see and think clearly, we should want to remember the things we did last night and know that it was good. We should want to praise God for the things that He is doing in and through our bodies and not be ashamed or driven to guilt. When it comes to understanding that our bodies are not our own there are several areas that I want to address. First I want us to look at the problem of sexual sin and then next week we will look at how we can hurt our bodies by drugs and alcohol, food, and abuse.
1. Sexual Sins.
I want to begin here especially after last week as we took a look at marriage and homosexuality. So while it is true that sexual sin does not make any of us a worse sinner in God’s eyes than do other sins. Sexual sins does affect us more obviously in regards do our body, soul, mind, and spirit. When we sexually sin there is guilt and shame. In our conscience we are reminded that we have fallen short of God’s glory. We have sinned against our own bodies because we have really been idolators. We have put creation before the Creator in that we are worshiping our bodies and the pleasure that comes with it more than God.
In our present culture, I think that it can be very difficult at times for us as Christians to come out and speak truthfully about some of the controversial aspects of sex. Here is why, because they have so often been misclassified and even misnamed.
-We would say remarriage today instead of divorced.
-We say sexual partner or partner today instead of spouse, let alone husband or wife.
-And now there is separation of gender from sex and all of this talk today is about sexual orientation. Are you heterosexual or homosexual?
-What about sexual identity? How do we choose to identify ourselves sexually?
-Then there are other terms we are hearing about gender dysphoria and sexual reassignment and what all of this is ultimately doing is trying to reconstruct sexuality in contradiction to what God’s Word has to say. So while, these ways of speaking may describe certain kinds of sexual behavior, they are actually misconstruing our actual God given sexuality. Church, God has made us in his image, and since the fall there has been a lot of devastation and damage that has happened since then.
The main issue here that I want you to see today is that of sexual purity. Let’s jump to 1 Thessalonians to see what Paul has to say here.
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Paul begins his opening statement here in verses 1 and 2 by giving the Thessalonians some instructions. Church these instructions are put in place because they show us how to walk or how to live and please the Lord. When it comes to our bodies are we pleasing God with what we do with our bodies? That is the question we must ask ourselves.
Paul now moves into verse 3 by telling us that these instructions or this plea is the will of God. Now this is very important because all of God’s Word contains God’s will wether it be His affirmations or His prohibitions. But, even more specifically God’s will includes submission to the Holy Spirit, self-sacrifice, suffering and particularly here sanctification. This literally means or refers to being set apart from sin to holiness. God requires total abstinence from the Greek word (porneia) sexual immorality or fornication. This is basically all types of sexual sins between a male and female.
Since we are called to be holy, we cannot tolerate sexual abuse and must not turn a blind eye to it or excuse it in the church. Instead we have to confront it and deal with it appropriately. Some of the major abuses today would be sex outside of marriage. Many folks today see no problem just living together or sleeping together before they get married. But there is also folks who are married who see no problem with having affairs. This would be cheating on the spouse that God has given them. The abuse does not stop there. We also have a massive problem today with pornography. Pornography is another instance of idolatry, the worship of the human body rather than Christ as the Creator.
What is so interesting during the time Paul is writing this letter is that the pagans during this time viewed moral corruption or sexual fornication as indifferent or favorably. And because of this it is possible that the Thessalonians could have slipped back into this lifestyle after their conversion. That is why Paul is giving them these instructions. They are desperately needed not only for that time and church but even more so for us today!!! Paul wants us to see here that a wholesome marriage between a man and woman is the antidote for sexual immorality. A holy and honorable marriage is how the Lord set up this bond between a man and his wife. So, the instructions now come in verses 4-8.
The first principle Paul lays out here for us is that we are to control our bodies by being holy and honoring what God has given us.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Athletes understand what controlling their bodies is all about. They wake up early to train, they have a strict diet, they get a proper amount of rest so they don’t over do it and get hurt. They control their bodies in order to receive the prize or gain victory. So, Paul wants us to see the importance of keeping our bodies under control so that we honor the Lord and we do this because we are believers or Christians unlike the Gentiles that Paul mentions in verse 5. Notice this here. Paul wants us to see that when he writes about the Gentiles he is referring to non-christians or unbelievers, “those who do not know God.”
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Paul now begins to move into some specific reasons on why we as believers need to comply to these instructions and standards for moral purity. He begins verse 6 by telling us not to defraud or transgress against our brother. What he is referring to here is to all the destructive social and spiritual implications of illegitimate sexual activity.
So, the first reason Paul lays out here for complying or obeying God’s standards for us is that there will come a time when the Lord executes or lays out his punishment for all such types of sexual sin. Paul uses this word “Avenger.” We are familiar with that today because of the movies that portray these super heroes. But here in Thessalonians Paul is telling us it is God who ultimately works out his just recompense for sexual sins.
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
2. The Second reason Paul lays out compliance for God’s standard is here in verse 7. Notice that Paul uses the word call here. Whenever we see the call of God it is always a reference to His effectual saving call and this is never a general plea. So, God has not called us to live impure lives but to live in holiness. This is talking about justification. Remember because of what Christ Jesus has done for us, his sacrifice on the cross and conquering sin and death by coming out of the tomb on the third day He justifies us or declares those of us who have trusted in him just before God. Paul wants us to see here that these believers now belong to a community or church with values that are different from those of the world. We are to live differently because we are the children of God.
3. The last reason Paul shares for following the standards of the Lord are because these standards are God given and not man given. We live in a world where there are a lot of rules and regulations put in place by men. From the federal government down to local state and even city officials. The point Paul is trying to make here is that even though there are now certain laws that say specific behavior is ok in the country’s view or states view if it goes against God it’s not ok. So, when we disobey or reject what God’s Word says we are in reality choosing to reject God. Church God has given us His Spirit. His spirit is a free gift to those who believe in the Lord for salvation. The Holy Spirit helps us and convicts us of those things that are impure or unholy.
The wonderful design of Sex works best when it is done by the right persons, (that would be male and female) at the right time, (when you are married), in the right context, and in the right way. Sexual impurity damages our relationship with God because what people are doing is being rebellious against Him. Choosing to sexually sin makes an idol of the ideal human body and puts it in God’s place.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
In Romans chapter six Paul tells us that we are to present all of our body or members to God. This would include every part of our bodies, like the sexual parts. We present our bodies to God because this is well pleasing to Him. And if we are believers because we understand that our bodies are not our own, they are ultimately His so we honor God with what we do in our bodies and live for him.
Next Sunday, we are going to finish this series by looking at several other issues regarding the body.
2. Drugs and Smoking.
- Is It Legal?
-What Will It Do to Me?
3. Alcohol.
4. Overeating. What am I Eating and taking care of our bodies.
5. Abortion. How we treat our bodies and the sanctity of life.
(Pray and Lead into Communion)