God the Trinity created human flesh, the body and breathed a spirit into it, “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:6-7). Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of God says, “God is spirit,” (John 4:24) and yet that Spirit took a body (Colossians 1:16, 2:9), and died so our spirits could have eternal life (John 3:16, John 6:40), and that we one day may have new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-58 ). Religious cults tend to veer into one of two extremes, they either emphasize the spiritual over the carnal, as in the case of the Nestorians who believed all flesh and seeable matter was evil but the unseen spiritual world is good or they verge into Roman territory, “if grace abounds all the more, why not sin more,” (Romans 6:1-23), and allow the body and its lusts to become the focus to the determinant of the spirit and eternal standing.
The Body is important. God formed it as he made our ancestors Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:7-22). The fibers of our flesh were forged by His Spirit, making the body spiritual already, and double spiritual when God breathed a living spirit into us. But then a problem came, a separation of body and spirit, death. Our ancestors tricked by the deciever cursed us to decay and cut us off from God who made body and spirit. The solution to our inevitable death and the risk of the second death, damnation, was that Jesus, God, took on flesh (John 1:14) and allowed His body to be scourged (John 19:1) and broken (Luke 22:19) and pierced (John 19:34) so that we could be forgiven and have the promise of eternal life instead of eternal damnation (John 3:16), and new bodies to replace these feeble and broken ones (1 Corinthians 5, whole chapter).
Hollywood and misinformation on Christianity has people thinking we will strum harps as disembodied spirits in heaven. The truth is we shall have new bodies, “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.”Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory. 42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless,” (1 Corinthians 15:1-58) and, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.[a] 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body,” (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). Man is a cross, a hybrid of spirit and flesh, a organic cyborg that in place of circuits and electricity is a spirit. To deny the body is to join the futile ascetics who believe hardship to the body is good piety, “these have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:23). But equally dangerous is to neglect the spirit in the orgies of carnality and forget your body is a temple, “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20. We must not forget that we do not only carry our own personal spirit inside our bodies but also God’s Spirit is in us (1 Corinthians 3:16, Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:15).
The body is godly, for God has a body. Our flesh allows us to touch, to feel, to harness our emotion and spirituality and thoughts through a finger touch. God designed us to touch. Our bodies respond like transmitters and our spirits filter through our eyes, breath, taste, and embrace. Hence why sex [in matrimony] was God ordained (Genesis 1:27-28), it ushers new vessels of flesh and spirit, children into this world. So that the cycle of this glorious dance, fusion of flesh and spirit is carried on.
A quintessential belief that we Christians hold to be true is that Jesus came in a body. That the Divine Creator became the Savior and in the process clothed himself in our matter, human flesh. The Apostle John goes as far as to say anyone who denies this is antichrist, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [body] is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3). The Apostle Paul tells us Jesus is “The Fullness of God in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:9). We are meant to read this as Jesus is the full and true God in a body, but there is also another thread, we can experience God in fullness because He can touch us, He is clothed in same flesh as we have and now God has joined us in flesh and spirit fusion, even though It was He who conceived and created the body from the dust (Genesis 2:7).
When God took on flesh He did something incredible. He who is the Spirit who made flesh and spirit now was housed in flesh like us, even born as a babe (Luke 2:6-7). Now the body is elevated with the Spirit, as God has both His Spirit and His body. Redemption has come to the body as well as the spirit, and so this is why not only shall our spirits taste eternal life in Christ, but our bodies shall be renewed too (1 Corinthians 15:1-58).
Beware of those who preach against the body, who strive for the spiritual at the expense of the body and be warned not to trust those who strive to please the flesh at the expense of the spirit. Either extreme is not human. We are spirit and body, and shall be forever just as Jesus is flesh and spirit always and forever, “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:3-4), “But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:25-27), “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God [John 1:1-17]. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” (Revelation 19:13-16). The human flesh is a gift, through it we express our inner soul and spirit. God always intended for us to have bodies. In Eden, paradise, our ancestors had them and in the New Jerusalem, Earth, and Heaven we shall have them! We will not be bodies without spirits or spirits without bodies but both body and spirit, “Nor we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.“ (1 Corinthians 5:3 NLT).
The Body and Spirit where always intended. For God the Trinity said, “let us make man and woman in our image.” (Genesis 1:26). Thus the body comes from God and His likeness (Ezekiel 1:26), and He then took on a body to save our spirits and bodies from death and the second death. Just as we worship The God Man, Jesus Christ Son of Man and Son of God, we should take care of this body and spirit. Amen.
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