Tag: Body and Spirit

Your Body is a Temple

The last couple of months we’ve been doing a lot of meditating on whether or not we are more spiritual than physical, or if both are equally important to us. Today we’ll look at some additional supporting evidence for a blended combination.

 

Jesus indicated there are times when, although the spirit may be willing, the flesh fails to comply because it is weak. But does having weak flesh make it less important than our spirit? Even if our spirit/soul continues to exist immediately after physical death and simply moves on to be present with the Lord in a “new house?”

 

These three critical body and spirit Bible passages indicate that isn’t the case.

 

“[The body] is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (First Corinthians 15:44).

 

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (First Corinthians 6:19-20).

 

“…according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

 

Take-away—

  1. Temples are important structures. They’re built for a physical and spiritual purpose and are to be a source of respite, of rejuvenation and hope, joy and promise. If God considers our bodies to be temples, how can we regard them as anything less important? And treat them as such?

 

  1. God says there are both a natural body and a physical one. And both are equally important to us down here on Earth. (For more support, look up the passages having to do with eating and drinking unto the Lord.)

 

  1. Jesus bought us with His life. He has chosen to take up residence in the hearts of believers. He lives in us. Body and spirit. Because of this, we are to glorify Him in both body and spirit. Our focus should be to glorify Him. The spirit can drive the glorification; but the body does the glorifying.

 

  1. Every chance you get you must try to magnify Christ—in what you do with your body. What you see with it, experience with it, say with it. How you approach death with it.

 

Meditation—

In the weeks to come, remind yourself daily that your precious body is a special place to God. A hallowed place, a place set apart for Him.

 

To God be the glory, great things He has done—in body and spirit!

 

NEXT WEEK: One more proof that we are a lovely integration of body and spirit.

Until then, take care of your temple! It belongs to the King of the Universe.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Kirill Zakharov

Was the Resurrection More Spirit than Body?

What are you?

Are you spirit or body? Equally? Or more spirit than body? Or vice versa.

As I’ve said in previous body and spirit posts, I have a suspicion God thinks both are equally important. Today I’ll give you another reason why I believe that to be true.

What about the greatest event in human history?

Remember the Resurrection? After Jesus was resurrected from the grave, He appeared to the apostles and then to His other disciples in bodily form. In such bodily form that He tells His disciple Thomas to touch his nail-punctured hands and put his fingers into His lanced side to touch Him, really know that it is He—Jesus—returned from the dead and restored to life. Thomas is so overwhelmed by just seeing Jesus in the flesh that he doesn’t seem to need to do those things, even though he previously claimed he’d have to do them in order to fully believe Jesus had come back to life.

the facts—

Jesus’ spirit was rejoined with His body. He walked with the disciples; he ate with the disciples. He demonstrated a perfect, fulfilled melding of body and spirit by enjoying bodily activities and also performing a disappearing act when He suddenly departs from the disciples he joined while they walked on the road to Emmaus.

What others think—

Some religions that claim to follow Jesus believe His resurrection was purely spiritual, with no real body component. Whatever body we saw seemed to be a figment of our imagination, or maybe something the Lord willed His followers to see. I’ve never gotten them to explain that idea so it’s comprehensible.

I don’t see what the point of that kind of resurrection would be. It doesn’t make sense. Not with the promise of our own future, post physical death resurrections God talks about in Scripture. Jesus had a point to prove, a promise to fulfill.

 

And a future promise to foreshadow.

 

Jesus’ resurrection was a literal conquering of death. It was real, it was tangible, and it held a promise for our own futures. It is the hope we look forward to, the end reward for a well-run race. Being spiritually and physically reunited with Him to enjoy eternal life.

The Resurrection displayed the power of the spirit and its eternal existence. But I don’t think that fact negates the body’s importance.

While our spirit does return to the Lord upon our physical death, the story doesn’t end there. Scripture indicates there is much more to come.

 

 NEXT WEEK we’ll explore that more-to-come truth.

 

Meditation points—

Until then, I invite you to take a moment to explore the following questions:

  1. Why do you think it was so important for the disciples to see Jesus in the flesh rather than just “feel” or experience Him in the spirit?
  2. What do you think went through the disciples’ minds when they actually laid eyes on a fully (in body) resurrected Jesus?
  3. What difference would it make for you to see a loved one resurrected in the body rather than just in the spirit? Do you think Jesus knows the important of that to you and wants you to experience it, like He made sure the disciples did?

 

Enjoy pondering these questions until next week!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Andrea A Owan

In the Beginning—Are We More Spirit Than Body?

Body and spirit. That’s how the Lord made us. All we need to do is return to the first book of the Bible—Genesis—to learn that.

In Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:7, the New International Version version says,

 

“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,…

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

“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.”

 

Clearly, at that point, once God breathed life into Adam and Eve, they were both spirit and body. Combined. Melded perfectly—body and spirit—into human beings. A man and a woman.

 

And God said it was good.

 

So the question is—

If God thought the spirit was the most important aspect or component, why did He bother to encase man’s spirit in flesh? Why go to the trouble?

There’s no indication from Scripture that Adam’s spirit existed in heaven prior to his creation or “birth,” and there’s no indication ours do either.

When Adam started life, the intention was for him to be perfect, unblemished, living forever in perfect communion with God. No pain, no suffering, no illness, no death.

God even walked with them in the garden in the cool of the afternoon. Why would he bother to do that if flesh, and physical communion, weren’t as important as the spiritual?

 

I may be way off in my thinking, but I get the impression that—from the beginning—the body was pretty important to God, and still is.

 

I’ll explain why I think that’s true NEXT WEEK.

 

But I’d like to hear your opinion. What do you think?

 

Until next week!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Aaron Burden