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November 27, 2011

When WWI began, former President, Theodore Roosevelt knew that eventually the United States would have to fight. He preached preparedness. President Woodrow Wilson was trying to maintain neutrality. Roosevelt immediately began to organize a regiment of men to lead into the fight. Many of these men were former rough riders from back in the day when Roosevelt led the charge in the Spanish-American war in Cuba. These men would do anything for Roosevelt. He was a compelling leader, a man’s man.

Now on this first Sunday in Advent, I want us to understand that everything about the birth of Christ was very physical and material. The incarnation was certainly a spiritual event, but it was a spiritual event that was fused with physical realty

God was becoming man. The fact that God was becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ means that Jesus Christ is the most compelling person to ever live. And this morning I want say that Jesus Christ compels us to surrender everything to him, including our bodies.

 

I. WE HAVE BODIES THAT ARE WONDERFULLY MADE. Ps.139:13-14

Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” The human body is truly amazing. I went on line this past week to see what amazing facts I could find about the human body. Listen to these facts:

The stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve zinc and razor blades. Fortunately, the cells in the stomach lining renew so quickly that the acids don’t have time to dissolve it. The lungs contain over 300,000 million capillaries (tiny blood vessels). If they were laid end to end, they would stretch 1500 miles. Human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tons - that is four times as much as concrete can support. The largest organ in the body is the skin. In an adult man it covers about 20sq ft. The skin constantly flakes away. In a lifetime each person sheds around 40 lbs of skin. Each kidney contains 1 million individual filters. They filter an average of around 2.2 pints of blood per minute, and expel up to 2.5 pints a day of urine. In 30 minutes, the average body gives off enough heat (combined) to bring a half gallon of water to boil. A single human blood cell takes only 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body. A foreskin, the size of a postage stamp, from circumcised babies take only 21 days to grow skin that can cover three 3 basketball courts. Thanks to science. The laboratory-grown skin is used in treating burn patients. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet. The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels. The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools. Your nose can remember 50,000 different scents. Babies are born with 300 bones, but by adulthood the number is reduced to 206. You use 200 muscles to take one step. I could cite many more facts about the body, but you get my point. It’s no wonder that David writes that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Now the fact that God created each of us is very important. As our Creator God conveys value and purpose to our lives. Since God created mankind in his image, every individual has value just by virtue of existing. We reflect the glory of God. If God did not create mankind, if mankind is a result of an evolutionary process, then mankind has no intrinsic value. Without intrinsic value, people become objects to be manipulated. People are expendable. People have little meaning other than that which is assigned to them by themselves, significant others, and society. Your existence on earth is grounded in God’s intention to bring you into existence. God has a purpose for you. God loves you. He cares about what happens to you and about how you live and relate or don’t relate to him. In fact, the scripture says, “...even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Your body plays a key role in all of life. God has given us bodies so that we can express our personhood in society and in relationship to him and others. Our bodies allow us to act upon the world, to do things and create things. It is with and through our bodies that we that love others. It is with our bodies that husbands and wives become one flesh. We must never think that the body is evil. We can do evil things with the body and our old sinful nature resides in the body, but the body is good. God created it.

 

II. WE ARE STEWARDS OF OUR BODIES. 1Cor.7:4; Eph.5:28

Because God created us, our bodies are a gift from him; a gift to be treasured and cared for. Throughout the bible the word, “body” is often prefaced by the pronoun, “my” or “his” or “her.” In other words, in the Bible, a body belongs to a person. In 1Cor.7:4, Paul writes, “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.” Obviously the wife’s body does belong to her. The same is true for the husband. In Eph.5:29 Paul writes, “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it....” So it’s appropriate to say, “This is my body. It belongs to me.”

The fact that God has given us bodies means that we are responsible for the upkeep of our bodies. That’s why I say we are stewards of our bodies. Because of the Fall, we certainly don’t have absolute control over our bodies. Our bodies have genetic conditions which impact the way we look and walk. Some genetic dispositions cause illness and pain. We are subject to germs and bacteria in the world. And our bodies are limited in their strength and endurance. But that said, there is much we can do to care for our bodies. We use self-control over the kinds of food we put in our bodies. We exercise our bodies. We cover and protect our bodies with clothing and shoes. We go to doctors and surgeons to repair our bodies. At the same time, we can neglect our bodies. We can destroy our bodies by over eating, through addictions, abuse, and not getting enough rest. Smoking and drinking hurt our bodies.

But there’s more. Because we have a sin nature that is self-centered we are morally predisposed to use our bodies in sinful ways. So a man and woman decide to sleep together outside of marriage and they use their bodies to sin against God, themselves, and each other. Perhaps the woman gets pregnant and decides to have an abortion. She figures, it’s my body, I can do with it whatever I choose. And so she gets an abortion and uses her body to sin against God, herself, and her baby. The homosexual man or woman yields to the unnatural desires of their bodies to engage in sinful, perverted sexual activities. We use our eyes to look at things we shouldn’t look at. We use our tongues to say things we shouldn’t say. Sin is always committed with the body.

Is the body all that important? It is indeed. When the Bible talks about salvation and redemption it does not just refer to saving the soul. The Bible teaches that believers will one day have new bodies in the Kingdom of God. These new bodies will not be hindered by sinful, selfish patterns and habits. They will be fully alive to God. There will be no sickness, pain, or sorrow.

So the question that we must think about, is how can we best use our bodies. How can we best care for our bodies? The answer to that question is that...

 

III. WE MUST SURRENDER OUR BODIES TO CHRIST. Lk.1:26-38; Rm.12:1; 1Cor.6:13,19-20

Now here it is, the first Sunday in Advent, and I have not said anything that sounds even remotely Christmasy. So let’s begin to think about Mary as her situation relates to the stewardship of our bodies. Mary was a young woman like many other young Jewish women. (Lk.1:26-35)

In the betrothal customs of that day a woman could be engaged as early as 12 years old. We don’t know exactly how old Mary was but it is generally thought that Mary was a young teen. For a young woman, marriage was desired and expected and having a child was the primary means of living a fulfilled life. But there was a proper way to become a mother. You had to be married. At the engagement a bride price was paid and the woman was considered to be the wife of her fiancée. But the actual marriage did not take place for about a year after the engagement. Sexual intimacy did not occur until the marriage took place. If the woman became involved sexually with another man it was considered to be adultery.

So here is an angel, telling Mary that she had found favor with God and was going to be with child and give birth to a son. That Mary was troubled is not very surprising. Surely every woman would be troubled at this information. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Mary obviously understood something of the biology of the whole thing. Women don’t just get pregnant.

Now it’s at this point that Mary could have faced the temptation that every steward faces. It’s the temptation to think that you are the sole owner and not just the steward. After all a steward has an investment in what he or she does, but the steward isn’t the owner. The steward isn’t solely in charge. When it comes to our bodies, most people in our world see themselves, not as stewards, but as sole owners. Any imposition on our bodies by another is seen as oppression or manipulation. We don’t want anyone else controlling our bodies.

But stewards do not usually have the whole picture. The one in charge, the one who gave the stewardship to begin with understands the bigger picture. This is why it is foolish for us to think that we know best how to run our lives and control our bodies.

As Mary listened to the angel she began to understand something of the privilege that was being given to her by God. Mary was going to be the mother of the Messiah. That was every Jewish girl’s dream. She recognized from the angel’s message that this child would not be born through her marriage with Joseph; thus her question. Ah, this child would be conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. So Mary had to decide whether or not to relinquish control of her body to the Lord in order that she might bear Jesus, the Messiah. Clearly she chose to surrender her body to the Lord.

Well, why not? After all, our bodies belong to the Lord. He’s our creator. But if you know Christ it is important to recognize that our bodies belong to him because he is our Savior. In 1Cor.6:13 Paul writes, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” The Lord is meant for our bodies, to dwell in us. In 1Cor.6:19-20 Paul says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple 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 body.” Jesus gave his life in order that we might have his life dwelling in us. He owns us through his death on the cross for us. It is not too much to say that Jesus, the Messiah desires to be embodied in us through his Holy Spirit. Mary gave birth to the Messiah. But the Messiah dwells in us when we are born again through faith in him. This is why Paul writes in Rm.12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.” No one else could do for us what Jesus has done. No one else is worthy to inhabit and take charge of our bodies as Jesus is worthy. He is God in the flesh. He has the bigger picture about your life and all life. He knows best how to use your body for the glory of God.

So, like Mary, we must decide, “will I give my body to the Lord, or must I be the sole authority over my body? When we yield ownership of our bodies to the Lord, then we can trust him to use our bodies for his glory. Of course we know that these earthly bodies will eventually die. Can I trust the Lord with my death? Can I trust the Lord when I get cancer or heart disease or whatever physical problem comes to me? “Lord, my body belongs to you. You can do with it whatever you desire. Only let me be an instrument in your hands to accomplish your purposes. Amen