Oh, the paradox of this human physique. How fantastic — and the way horrible.
For these with eyes to see, our Creator’s brilliance shall be on uncommon show subsequent month on the Summer time Olympics because the world’s quickest, strongest, and best-conditioned our bodies compete for the gold. For some, it will likely be the apex of their human glory. For others will come large letdown, even humiliation.
The remainder of us additionally know our our bodies as devices of each glory and humiliation. Aside from athletic achievement, many people stay within the glories of sight and style, of bodily motion, of steadiness and coordination, of buying and honing new expertise. Our bodily skills might not be Olympic, however they are often beautiful of their variety and precision, particularly when in comparison with the way more restricted and centered skills of animals — and in view of the sorrow of incapacity.
On the identical time, nevertheless, how acquainted we’re with bodily weak point, disgrace, and humiliation.
God Made Brother Ass
When C.S. Lewis quotes Saint Francis on the human physique, he too speaks of glory and humiliation:
Man has held three views of his physique. First there may be that of these . . . who referred to as it the jail or the “tomb” of the soul, [those] to whom it was a “sack of dung,” meals for worms, filthy, shameful, a supply of nothing however temptation to unhealthy males and humiliation to good ones. Then there are [others], to whom the physique is superb. However thirdly now we have the view which St. Francis expressed by calling his physique “Brother Ass.”
Lewis then feedback, “All three could also be . . . defensible; however give me St. Francis for my cash.” He continues,
Ass is exquisitely proper as a result of nobody in his senses can both revere or hate a donkey. It’s a helpful, sturdy, lazy, obstinate, affected person, lovable and infuriating beast; deserving now a stick and now a carrot; each pathetically and absurdly lovely. So the physique. (4 Loves, 93)
Lengthy earlier than Lewis, the apostle Paul additionally spoke of our current “physique of humiliation” (sōma tēs tapeinōseōs) in addition to our coming “physique of glory” (Philippians 3:21). What Scripture teaches in regards to the human physique just isn’t easy however textured. The Creator’s design is magnificent, even on this current age with its layers of sin and the curse. We will solely think about how ready and delightful have been these first two our bodies God made, earlier than they fell into sin. We don’t reside in Eden. Nor have we Christians but reached our remaining homeland within the Zion that’s to come back.
Story of the Physique
For these in Christ, we view our our bodies in layers — layers of a redemptive historical past. Our our bodies aren’t solely fearfully and splendidly advanced however vitally en-storied. Understanding our previous (as human), our future (in Christ), and our current (within the Spirit) is important for duly appreciating, chastening, and benefiting from our our bodies on this life. So let’s rehearse the story.
1. Sin has seized our our bodies.
After remembering that God designed and made our our bodies, and that “the physique is . . . for the Lord, and the Lord for the physique” (1 Corinthians 6:13), the following fact to recall is that we, and our our bodies with us, are fallen.
Sin wracks our our bodies, not solely within the results of the curse into which we’re born, but additionally in our personal culpable needing and doing of evil. The our bodies God gave us to picture him as we transfer about his created world have turn into our bodies of sin and demise (Romans 6:6; 7:24; 8:10). Now not the unique unfallen creations, nor but the approaching imperishable our bodies, they’re now “mortal our bodies” (Romans 6:12; 8:11), dishonored in our sin (Romans 1:24). We shall be judged for what we do within the physique (2 Corinthians 5:10) — and other than God’s redemptive provision, we shall be thrown, soul and physique, into hell (Matthew 5:29, 30; 10:28).
2. God himself took a physique.
That redemptive provision, beautiful in so some ways, begins with the incarnation, when God himself took a human physique within the particular person of his everlasting Son — and never solely took on the total flesh and blood of our human our bodies but additionally gave up his human physique to demise on a cross to cowl our sin and rescue us (Philippians 2:8).
When you come to the Christian Scriptures with questions on your individual physique, one of many first surprises shall be how a lot the New Testomony talks in regards to the bodily physique of Jesus Christ (Romans 7:4; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:24, 27, 29). His human physique is the turning level within the story of our our bodies. Jesus bore our sins in his physique on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). And Hebrews 10, so memorably, places Psalm 40 on the lips of Jesus, when he got here into the world as man: “A physique have you ever ready for me. . . . Behold, I’ve come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5–7; Psalm 40:6–8). Hebrews 10:10 then feedback, “By that can now we have been sanctified by means of the providing of the physique of Jesus Christ as soon as for all.”
As a result of sin, its curse, and demise have contaminated us in each soul and physique, the divine Son assumed each human soul and physique, and gave his physique up in sacrificial demise to rescue us, soul and physique, who’re joined to him by religion.
3. God himself dwells in our our bodies.
Subsequent, and maybe the a part of the physique’s story most frequently ignored, is that God himself not solely turned human in Christ but additionally now dwells in his individuals by his Holy Spirit. When 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Your physique is a temple of the Holy Spirit inside you, whom you could have from God,” the emphasis just isn’t on how spectacular our our bodies are. Somewhat, the main focus is the spectacular actuality that God himself, in his Holy Spirit, has taken up residence, because it have been, “inside you” — that you simply have the Spirit. That is nearly too good to be true. It’s information to obtain with the sort of pulsating pleasure that comes “with concern and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
Paul makes it plainest in Romans 8:9–11. In case you are in Christ,
the Spirit of God dwells in you. . . . [And] if Christ is in you, though the physique is useless due to sin, the Spirit is life due to righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the useless dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the useless will even give life to your mortal our bodies by means of his Spirit who dwells in you.
“You not solely have indwelling sin, however now even have the indwelling Spirit.”
In case you missed it, in case you are in Christ, “Christ is in you” — his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, “dwells in you” (as Paul says thrice). You not solely have indwelling sin, however now you even have the indwelling Spirit. Our human our bodies have turn into temples, dwelling locations for God, whom we have within the particular person of his Spirit.
4. We glorify God now in our our bodies.
Now, due to Christ’s work outdoors of us, in his human physique — and due to his Spirit’s work in our personal souls and our bodies — we stay to the glory of God. So 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says to us in Christ: “You aren’t your individual, for you have been purchased with a value. So glorify God in your physique.”
Our our bodies of humiliation already, although not but totally, have turn into devices for God’s glory. They usually are being redeemed each as we (positively) amplify God in our affections and actions of affection for him and neighbor, and as we (negatively) “by the Spirit . . . put to demise the deeds of the physique” (Romans 8:13).
So, we pray like Paul that “Christ shall be honored in my physique, whether or not by life or by demise” (Philippians 1:20). Given the depth and pervasive results of sin in our our bodies, we’d assume we have to get out of those our bodies to be able to glorify God, however due to Christ’s physique, and the dwelling of his Spirit in our our bodies, we will now honor Christ and glorify God in our our bodies. So, in Christ, we understand how our our bodies are “for the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:13).
Whereas we as soon as offered our our bodies to sin, we now current them to God as residing sacrifices (Romans 12:1). We don’t sacrifice our our bodies for Christ in the way in which he sacrificed his physique for us — that’s, redemptively. He died (and rose once more) to rescue us. We stay for him (which might result in dying) as these rescued by him. His sacrificial demise is the trigger; our sacrificial residing is the impact. And to that finish, we self-discipline our our bodies (1 Corinthians 9:27), refuse to let sin reign in our mortal our bodies (Romans 6:12), and so pray and act that our our bodies “be saved innocent” until the day of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
5. We await a spectacular bodily improve.
Our future, endlessly, shall be embodied — past our greatest imagining. At that coming day of Christ, he “will remodel our lowly physique [literally, “the body of our humiliation”] to be like his superb physique” (Philippians 3:21).
Right here we stay, as Jesus did, in a state of humiliation. Whilst we expertise a number of the authentic glories of our human our bodies, they’re short-lived. Quickly sufficient, we age, or undergo tragedies and losses, and we understand increasingly more what a state of humiliation this life is for our our bodies. And if Christ doesn’t return first, we quickly endure the humiliation of demise.
However for these in Christ, the dishonor of demise will give solution to the glory of resurrection. Our pure our bodies shall be sown, in demise, like seeds that can spring up and blossom, by means of Christ’s resurrection energy, into our bodies of glory like his risen physique.
What’s sown is perishable; what’s raised is imperishable. It’s sown in dishonor; it’s raised in glory. It’s sown in weak point; it’s raised in energy. It’s sown a pure physique; it’s raised a religious physique. (1 Corinthians 15:42–44)
Be aware: this shall be a religious physique. Not merely a spirit, like a ghost, however a religious physique match for the fullness of the Holy Spirit within the rock-solid world of the brand new heavens and new earth.
Reward the Man of Heaven
In case you are in Christ, your resurrection physique shall be spectacular. No extra aches and pains. No extra colds and COVID. No extra sprains, contusions, and damaged bones. No extra coronary heart assaults and strokes and most cancers. No extra devastating bodily and psychological disabilities.
Quickly sufficient, you’ll shine just like the solar in your perfected, sturdy, imperishable, glorified human physique. And one of the best a part of all of it isn’t what your physique shall be like, however whom our imperishable our bodies and souls will assist us to know and revel in and be close to and reward: “the person of heaven.”
Simply as now we have borne the picture of the person of mud [Adam], we will additionally bear the picture of the person of heaven [Jesus Christ]. (1 Corinthians 15:49)
Our focus within the new heavens and new earth received’t be our our bodies. Our perfected our bodies will get the numerous distractions of our earlier humiliations out of the way in which. They’ll improve and assist our making a lot of our King. However the focus in glory would be the one which we as Christians eagerly await proper now — the person of heaven.
